There are only so many hours in a day and a Trainer’s income is limited to how many of those hours they can fill. Trading time for money means scaling is near impossible. So how do you advance your training career? Easy. Become a Fitness Professional.
What is a Fitness Professional?
This is a blog (and soon to be a YouTube channel) for Fitness professionals to level up:
- Earnings
- Knowledge
- Customer Service
- Career growth
Who are you to give advice?
It would be arrogant for me to believe I could advance your training career without first giving you some info about myself. My name is Stephen Allison. When I was 23 I asked what the most powerful experience of my life was.
My answer: getting fit.
Getting fit gave me confidence, friendship, awards, purpose, travel, and fun. I decided then that part of my life’s mission was to share fitness. I became a Trainer.
It’s been a bumpy ride but my 20+ year Fitness resume places me in the top 1% of my profession. I have won awards (Improper Bostonian Best of Boston) My studio gym (Fit) is one of the most successful you’ll find anywhere. Not saying this to brag; but to present social proof. I write from experience. What I say may improve your career, perhaps your life. When I say I’m in the top 1% of Trainers I have the receipts.
This is a blog for Trainers who want to grow. I’m not here to lament the ups and downs of my career; I’m here to share experience, find solutions, learn new ones and, importantly, and above all else to serve other trainers. Don’t make the same mistakes I made. A great Trainer makes other’s lives more vital. The world needs more Great Trainers. Look around. People don’t eat well. They don’t move well. They need intelligent fitness professionals to show them the most powerful experience of their lives. Tough hours, the inability to scale, the physical demands, and the unpredictable income swings, may knee cap your growth in the field; unless you grow your business purposefully.
Your Vitality first
Vitality (n): the state of being strong and active; energy.
If working out increases, strength, endurance, and energy then Trainers are arguably in the vitality business. Furthermore, vitality is infectious. Increase strength, endurance et al in the gym, you’ll likewise increase vitality in other important areas of life. The confidence vitality brings positively effects other aspects of life such as career and family.
Given that we’re selling vitality it makes sense to prioritize our own. We’ve got the working out thing on lock. Some of us can even program and teach effectively. However, when it comes to running a business most Trainers lack the skills to advance their career. Everyone is furiously posting selfies on social media trying to impact the world while neglecting basic strategies that create a more lucrative and manageable career for themselves.
My best advice: Work for yourself.
You trade time for money. To make more money you can:
- Work more hours
- Make more in the hours you work.
We’ll assume a few things going forward; firstly gyms set your price. Secondly, gyms take 40-60% of what you charge. This data gathered by the NSCA backs me up.
Below find some data on the typical cost of personal trainer.
Nationwide the avergase Trainer makes $40-$70 per session.
In my experience (and as shown above) the gym takes about half of what the typical trainer charges. They use that money to cover insurance, rent and profit.
Make more, don’t charge more
Let me speak from experience here. Training in Boston is expensive. Trainers typically charge between $100 and $140. Now I have a question for you. Do you think you can sell more $140 sessions, or $100 sessions? Less expensive anything sells easier. Therefore selling more sessions equals working more hours.
Your problem shifts: henceforth you ask where do I train these less expensive sessions? The gym won’t let you sell less expensive anything. I’m willing to bet a small independent fitness studio in your area (like mine (wink)) rents space to Fitness Professionals like you. The typical hourly rate for a one hour rental around Boston is $30-$40/hour. As an illustration, assume you charge:
- $100/hour you make $60-$70. If the gym takes half you make $50. You sell, and render, more sessions bc they are less expensive. You make more money.
- $110/hour you make $70-80. You beat what you made at the box gym selling less expensive product and rendering more sessions. You make more money.
- $120/hour you make $80-90. Still selling less expensive sessions. Still making more money.
- $140/hour you make over $100/hour. If you work 4 hours a day, 5 days a week you’re making over $100k. Count that cheddar, baby.
Working for yourself you set your price. Need to drive up sales? Cut rates, or offer special packages. You decide this instead of the gym.
As can be seen above Greater control over your business and your finances creates vitality for you. Consequently the effects of this vitality spill into every other aspect of your life.
What the “best” do
I was a top trainer for 2 of the largest most successful gyms in the industry. Surprisingly they only have 2 sales tactics.
- 1 to 2 free sessions for new members of the gym.
- Raise prices at the end of the year (typically by 5%). Here they encourage customers to stock up on sessions at the previous year’s rate.
When they raise prices you inherit the risk. If a 3 year client sees they are paying 15% more for the same sessions they were getting 3 years ago they look around for a less expensive option, often provided by your gym in the form of newer, cheaper trainers.
This is certainly not a working financial model for the Trainer.
Financial vitality
Now I figured all this out whilst grinding away selling $140 sessions. My peak sales came to over $150k while I juuuuust made 6 figures. I worked around the clock; I didn’t really have it in me to work more hours. In addition I thought No one wanted to train in a smaller studio, I thought. Thankfully, I was wrong.
You have options.
- Work for yourself in homes. Travel to the client and render their session in the living room, or of you’re lucky, the home gym. Some clients hate the gym and want the convenience of their home.
- Work for yourself virtually. Cut out the travel. Some clients are so busy. They want to turn on their screen and have you guide them through a workout.
- Work for yourself and Rent space in a studio. Clients love the smaller gyms, smaller crowds, and supporting a neighborhood small business.
I’ll investigate all of them options in more detail later. For now, know that a thriving career making more money, creating more vitality, working for yourself is possible. The start up costs are very small and easy to take care of, i.e. starting an LLC through some simple websites (a few $$$ hundred bucks), buying some insurance (a few hundred bucks) and hiring an accountant to do your taxes at the end of the year. You’re in business.
Fitness changes lives. Trainers change lives. You deserve to have a vital and sustainable career.
This is your roadmap.