Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions To Personal Trainers And How To Answer Them

By Author: Lisa Kowen
Total Articles: 13
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Whether you run a small operation or are CEO of a worldwide operation, no business can afford to be without some Social Media presence. Everyone is online and everyone uses the internet to find businesses that can provide them with what they need. If you are not present, then you competitors will be.

You have a wonderful opportunity to create and build relationships with customers that will hopefully turn into long term support and success. You are in the service industry and your most important asset is your relationships with your customers.

Social Media allows you to interact swiftly and to share new information or products instantly and directly to your clients or customers.

BUT, and this is a big BUT. Social Media is not your whole business. First and foremost, you are a trainer, coach or fitness expert and the service you provide to your customer should be the key focus of your business. Social Media is a very important extension of this, and should be a reflection of the top quality service you provide to your clients. If you are late for appointments, or cancel all the time, or the quality of your ...
... training is not consistent, Social Media is not going to fix this.

Where do you start?

With over 500 different platforms to choose from, it can be a daunting task to decide how to integrate your Personal Training or Fitness Specialist business into the realm of Social Media.

Don’t worry too much! It is absolutely not necessary to belong to every social media platform- you will drive yourself crazy trying to keep up!

It is safe to say that Facebook (1.1 billion active users) and Twitter (240 million users) are by far the most popular Social Media platforms and most of your potential clients would have a presence here.
It is important to ask yourself a few questions before registering on too many networks:

1.Who are my potential customers?
2.What kinds of information do I want to convey to them? e.g. if I want to post manuals or videos, then a YouTube account is essential.
3.What is my client’s online behaviour? E.g. when you train with them, ask them what platforms they use, a corporate executive is most likely to use a platform such as LinkedIn as well as the usual suspects such as Facebook. This will give you a good idea as to what their online behaviour is.

4.Do I register as my own personal name or am I creating a brand? Do I register as Joe Smith or Joe Smith Personal Training? It is important to distinguish yourself from your brand. Rather have a separate business account that you can keep a tight focus on your ultimate business objective. Your clients do not want to see your own personal posts. Be professional at all times in your client/trainer relationship and especially on Social Media.

A good start will be to research some of these questions above and start to formulate your brand and the direction you want to go in.
In the next blog, we will deal with the various types of Social Media Channels and what they can offer, as well as relevance of content you should be posting. Here are some interesting statistics to get you started.

Lisa Kowen has 20 years experience in the fitness industry in South Africa She is director at The F.I.T. Principles Academy, American Council on Exercise (ACE) representative in South Africa, co-owner and developer of http://fitnessconnect.co.za/