Knowing that a client has the ability to unravel a perfectly designed exercise program with only a few poor consumption decisions on their own time has left many a fitness professional frustrated… and I’m sure a few just plain pissed.

Clients as well as the majority of the population love to search out and buy into the latest greatest diet fad creating an often uphill battle with the topic of nutrition.

Because of this, I have for years been on the lookout for a scientifically based, sensible dietary tool that could be used to assist the client without taking myself out of my scope of practice.

That solution has been found, used by us locally, and with a little negotiation I am very happy to be able to provide this same opportunity to other trainers…

You already know the truth:
Real success for your clients comes from just a few basic elements.

• complete balanced nutrition
• at the correct level of calories
• from real healthful foods.

Our company FIT Launch has entered an excellent collaboration with Vitabot. I’ll get to details in a moment, but through that partnership you have an opportunity to utilize their technology (under your own brand) at a better price than through any other source.

The Vitabot system works with you like your own private nutritionist to help you create completely balanced diets using your favorite foods, evaluate (grade) client diet’s, print shopping lists, track assessment data, and/or offer access directly to the client.

As a Fitness Professional you can view all details on utilizing this program and the benefits of doing so on the FPT Vitabot page……..  If you are nervous about the relatively small investment to get your own program started you might also consider purchasing your own account and then when you receive a diet log from one of your clients, simply plug it into your account to gain valuable information you can pass on to you client.  The system evaluates the program for you and offers appropriate suggestions.

Check out one of the ways we are offering this program to our clients through our Diet Grader program.  There are many great reasons you should be offering something similar to your clients as well (you don’t have to build a specific website for it… don’t even need one at all)

This type of program will be a bonus to your client and make you look like a hero as their likelihood of goal obtainment will go through the roof.

It can also be a stand alone tool, similar to the primary option we have at Diet Grader. This makes it excellent for group fitness and mind/body instructors to offer for the benefit of their students…. Coaches & Athletes, its not only built to handle weight loss. It is a very versitle tool that is great for the fitness professional and client.

Life of an Entrepreneur – This a guest post / re-post, but points 3 & 4 are very true to the independent fitness professional making it worth showing here as well.  Simple and to the point.

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Ah, the life of an entrepreneur. Come up with a business idea, write your business plan, line up a bunch of venture funding, and retire to a private island a few short years later when you go public.

1. You’re more likely to make a living than make the Forbes 500. Most entrepreneurs end up making a living, and some make a really nice living doing what they love.

2. There is no money line to get in. There are a lot of you’s out there competing over very scarce resources. But don’t think you’ll just get in line and pick up your check.

3. It’s more about you than your plan. Business success has more to do with you than anything else. The best plans mean nothing in the hands of the wrong person.

4. You’re in sales, whether you think so or not. Every business on the planet is selling something.

5. You’re going to fail. Yep, you will fail. You will probably fail multiple times. If that concerns you, pick another path for your life. If it doesn’t concern you that you will be an utter failure at some point, good – with every failure you get one step closer to success, cliché but true.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Judging by the number of questions I’ve received about adding this to the Fit Pro’s business mix, I have to believe this may be new to the majority.

“Selling Other People’s Stuff” is an excellent way to diversify your personal or business offerings, provide valuable related products/services to your clients, and provide you a low/no hassle extra stream of income.

I’ve played with affiliate marketing some and hope the below video gives you a descent overview of what it is and how it works.  The video is a much shortened version of a larger strategic and tactical training module, and it is specific to the Fitness Pro Travel Professional Network.

The Fitness Pro Travel affiliate program was designed with a few thoughts in mind.  As a community member Fitness Pro, I hope you take advantage of the network affiliate marketing opportunity and also investigate further to other affiliate options.

Why we added Affiliate (referral) features:

1. Continue to encourage professional network growth
2. Compensate the membership who already refer 80% of the daily influx of new members
3. Assist our network members in keeping their businesses healthy through diversification of their offerings

Fitness Professional Affiliate Marketing

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To stay on top of information that will help your fitness business be sure to sign up for the news and notice emails on the right.
If you have topics you want to see discussed… feed me the thought and I or an expert in the specific fitness industry discipline will bring it to you.

]]> http://fitprobiz.com/fitpro/fitness-marketing/fitness-pro-affiliate-marketing/feed/ 13 http://fitprobiz.com/fitpro/fitness-business/fitness-trainer-success/ http://fitprobiz.com/fitpro/fitness-business/fitness-trainer-success/#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:06:11 +0000 FitPro http://tombomar.com/?p=68 Continue reading →]]> The IDEA Trainer Success Journal provided a few interesting articles for the month of February. Three articles focused on “list articles” for the business of personal trainers… each can easily be adapted to group instructors and coaches.

The following table contains the heading points for the three articles. Column one is the list from Todd Durkin’s article “Top 10 Ways to Drive Revenue in a Downtrodden Economy”.  Column two is from Tom Terwilliger’s article “Your Business and the Economic Slowdown”. The third and
final column “The Scary Times Success Manual” is the list by Dan Sullivan.

Each offer some great advice for the fitness professional, not just the personal trainer. Below the table I’ve taken the opportunity in
combining these principles row by row.

This is a very important time to be positive and proactive in your fitness business. There are many things you can do to not only maintain, but also expand your training business, even during tough economic times.

Row 1 – Don’t devalue yourself. During tough economic times you will see many reduce the service or product fees they charge. This ultimately reduces the perceived value of your product or service. Instead provide add on services as bonuses. These do not have to take extremes in added time or expense, but can easily increase the value of your offering.

Row 2 – It’s all about amp-ing up your message. Marketing is simply building relationships and your job during times like these is to strengthen existing bonds and to actively pursue new ones. Writing new health & fitness articles is a great example of providing more to your existing relationships inexpensively and functions greatly for marketing when published to the public via the internet or print.

Row 3 – Establishing services that are economical for the participant can also be lucrative for you. Take the growing “bootcamp” model as an example. Providing training to groups will lower the cost to the participant/client and also allow you an opportunity to make even more revenue for your time invested. These are nothing more than session camps and can be provided under any format. Take a look into bootcamp training and adapt it to fit your expertise. These programs are in demand and growing for very good reason.

Row 4 – This row seems to echo row 3. Look to group opportunities, related offerings, add on products,  membership (continuity) options, inside and outside the club setting, etc.  Now is not the time to sit back and hunker down like so many are. It is a great time for looking outside the box for new solutions and opportunities.

Row 5 – This time we look more internally. Take the time t0 review your marketing plan. Is it efficient and effective? Does it take advantage of on-line and off-line options? Are the terms for whatever setting you use the best you can find? Are there other billing options you could provide such as credit cards, automatic recurring billing, or paypal that would benefit your customers? When is the last time you looked to optimize your website or mailing materials?

Row 6 – Retaining your current customers is key at this time. How else can you improve upon their experience? Daily look at what you can do beyond what your client would expect. Your genuine interest in their health should shine through and will direct your actions. One idea we have ran before is offering a wellness class for all our personal training, bootcamp, and yoga program clients to attend. We simply offered it for free, as a bonus, and as a surprise to say thank you and let the law of reciprocity handle the rest.

Row 7 – Lets see… follow-up = customer service essential. Start small group training = already mentioned and still a great option to be investigated for any fitness pro. “Who you can be”… Here it is suggested that you concentrate on what you can control – YOU. Become self-directed, self-managed, and self-motivated. Today’s example is the economy. You cannot directly control it or how it effects your clients. What you can control are your actions/re-actions, customer service, product and service offering mix,
your specialty skills, and marketing avenues.

Row 8 – This mix is looking a bit tough to combine, but each are important elements suggested by the authors.
Networking - This investment of your time is worth far more than you can imagine. Todd suggested the partnership with local professionals, but I want to suggest you also take advantage of online  fitness industry networks and utilizing partners and JV. Many opportunities present themselves through networking as well as chances to learn from each other.
Passive Income – When times are economically a bit tougher you’ll have a huge advantage if you have passive income options available to you. These can be small or large financial quantities that add to your bottom line without taking up significant time on your part. Think a paid newsletter, or adding product sales to your services.  Having an online presence can open a world of affiliate opportunities or without you can affiliate through a “tell a friend” program. Your Fitness Pro Travel program offers you one easy affiliate option, but there are many more (ie. commission junction and click bank)
Your Responses – This is one item you can control. Things happen, good and bad that you rarely have direct control of. You can control how you respond though. Focusing on controllable items rather than the uncontrollable will reduce your stress and anxiety and allow you to progressively develop your response plan.

Row 9 – This is all about keeping your motivation during difficult times. It is important that you take steps to keep your engines fired up.  Look at the resources immediately available to you that allow you to make daily progress.  Simple small steps will build your confidence and momentum as you lay the ground work for larger program achievements. Learning new things will similarly build confidence, encourage networking, and offer momentum when the general business climate is struggling. There are many fitness workshop event calendars available to you online that present many learning options including our at Fitness Pro Travel.

Row 10 – Give back. Make a positive difference to others, without expectation, and it will come back to you. The internet marketing folks I have followed speak of “raising the free line”. Giving as much as they can before ever asking for a sale or action from the prospect.  They are relying on the law of reciprocity. When you give, people tend to like you more. When they like you more, they are more likely participate in your offerings. Stated another way, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

The economy is not being overly helpful in keeping your business running strong, but multiple fitness industry evaluators continue to forecast growth for 2009 and 2010. You want to be active and progressive in how you view your fitness business to take advantage of the industry growth rather than fearful and stagnant during the economic slowdown.

Visit sites like Fit Pro Biz and sign up for fitness professional networks like Fitness Pro Travel. And, do sign in for the fitness business news and notice mailing list found in the right column to stay on the front edge.

I hope this summary of these three articles offers at least one item that resonates for you.  What do you think of the ideas provided by these industry leaders? What are you doing that’s not mentioned that’s making a difference for you?

The most glaring example to me, at the moment, occurs when I am discussing membership levels to the Fitness Pro Travel site.  The fitness professional sees the option of upgrading an account and can only equate the value of that membership in how fast they can make that money back in discounts.

I have to tell you, the discounts are simply thrown in as a small bonus to the other features from both Fit Bodies and FIT Launch.  Should you want to travel 5-8 times each year you can make all your money back, but that is certainly not the idea behind it. It’s just a piece.

… We are intending to go outside the box and offer far more to you than any other website or community through the tools we have developed.

Any one of the current (yes, there is intent for more) promotional tools (ads, jobs, classifieds, events, etc.) would cost you no less than $50 per month to utilize outside of this FPT community.  That’s $600 for the year, for just using one of them. You can do the math if you used them all.

These items are made searchable and viewable to thousands of fitness professionals, and soon will be made viewable to many times more enthusiasts in our partnering sites.  That puts you and your offerings in-front of a large targeted number of people.

A chance to earn commissions is another overlooked feature.  Affiliate programs have been common place on the internet for at least 10 years.  It’s ok if it is new to you, but take a look at how it works.  Our Business and Enterprise members receive 20% commission on their referrals to this community (free accounts still receive 8%).  That’s about $75 for every one fit pro you refer that also buys into a member level.  Additionally, you receive a smaller percentage off of all future purchases that referral does.

Continuing with affiliates, we have partners who offer greater commissions for their products to our advanced members. Ultimate Ice Wraps gives greater commissions to our business and enterprise members than they do to affiliates who sign up directly with them as does the Healthy Gatherings programs.  There will be more affiliate opportunities when we release the Better Body U and Wellness together websites directed to enthusiasts.

Our phase II features includes the feeding of the your advertisements and content to our consumer sites. Business and Enterprise members not only have greater quantity of their materials that will go these sites, but all referral widgets that we set on third party sites will list those FPT community members first.  Not to penalize everyone else as you will still be in the referral que, but to best support those who support the community.

It does not bother any of us if you are a part-time fitness professional who simply likes to utilize a working vacation from time to time.  Continue on use any of the features that are available at the free level (there are several).

…But, even the “part-time” or “club employee” will benefit with a few simple steps to get outside the box and expand yourself.

If you are not on the internet with at least a simple brochure site you are falling behind fast. These can be done easily and provide simple communication and information tools that your club yoga students (athletes, participants, etc.) WANT to see from you. I guarantee they are looking somewhere online for that support right now, and I’m pretty sure they would like to have a bit more access to their trusted fit pro – YOU.

Once you accomplish that step, the world outside of the standard fitness industry career is immense.  You can utilize this and thousands of other affiliate programs and list them as advertisements on your simple site. You can build a list and offer a digital newsletter. You can get fancy and learn the tools for putting together online video or webinar trainings.  The list goes on and many have not even been thought of yet.

Comments strongly encouraged on this post. What else should be considered for adding at Fitness Pro Travel, what do you never foresee using, what still makes no sense at all?