An Open Letter From A Formerly Struggling Personal Trainer
An Open Letter To My Fellow Personal Trainers Who Want A Simple, Tried-And-True Method For Quickly Getting More Qualified Personal Training Clients To Work With You
How A Small Town, Middle-America Personal Trainer Turned A 37-Cent Investment And A 19-Minute Conversation Into $6,103 In New Personal Training Business In Just Six Days!
From: Bill Hartman, PT, CSCS, ART
Late at Night
North of Carmel, Indiana
Dear Fellow Personal Trainer,
I'm writing this open letter to personal trainers because I'm a fitness professional who struggled mightily with how to get more clients.
Then I found a method for attracting QUALITY personal training clients that has changed everything for me.
In about a year, I went from being financially strapped to initiating the plans for my new house that will include a 1,000 square foot personal training studio.
It's pretty exciting. I know my wife (the CFO) is psyched.
If you're willing to hear my story in this open letter to all personal trainers looking for a simple, repeatable, automatic way to get more personal training clients, I'd like to share it with you.
I imagine that since you're reading this, you and I are a lot alike.
You studied hard. You got your education. Acquired a few top-notch certifications. And then you waited for the clients to show up.
BUT (there's always a BUT)...
Nothing happened!
It always seemed logical to me that if I became the best trainer that I could, clients would seek me out.
If you were trying to build a house, would you hire the first person who looked like a good homebuilder or would you seek out the best?
It makes "logical" sense that you'd look for the best, but unfortunately most buying decisions are not made logically, they're made emotionally.
Here's the hard lesson that I learned real fast. The best trainers are not necessarily the busiest trainers. The busiest trainers and the most financially successful trainers are simply better at marketing themselves.
I know...it sucks.
Sure there are the select few trainers who get "lucky" and hook-up with some big-time celebrity or successful business person (who doesn't know a good trainer from a hole in the ground) who fills their schedule with equally famous or well-to-do friends just because their trainer is a likeable person.
For the rest of us who live in reality, it takes plain old hard work and a solid marketing plan. The only problem was while I was studying the exercise sciences and physical therapy, I should have slipped in a few entrepreneurial marketing classes.
But I didn't.
When I finally realized I needed to learn how to get clients, I went out and bought some marketing books. Lots of 'em. I even bought some of those "How to Build Your Personal Training Business By Putting Flyers on People's Windshields Books" which really weren't much help.
Now before you go feeling sorry for me, after many failed attempts, I finally did get my first client. And then a couple more. Granted, I wasn't fighting new clients off with a stick, but with time I developed enough of a client base to support myself. I could pay my bills, but the vacation and new car were not within my grasp, and I continued to worry about where the next client was coming from.
I didn't want to continue like this...
something had to change.
So I bought more books. I talked with a local business consultant...and wasted hundreds of dollars.
I knew that I could take my business to the next level, but I lacked the marketing know-how to get there.
Then I got this little yellow postcard in the mail from a guy who said he could help me grow my business.
The guy's name was Eric Ruth, and he was right.
I'll tell you a little more about Eric in a minute, but first let me tell you about this one simple marketing tool that Eric introduced me to that totally changed my approach to attracting clients to my business.
Imagine selecting a name at random from a phone book and calling them to ask if they'd like to utilize YOUR personal fitness training services.
You wouldn't be very successful
now would you?
Why not?
Well, first of all, your telemarketing "victim" wasn't prequalified. In other words, you don't know if that person had any interest in improving their health, physical appearance, or personal fitness (Tip: never offer your services to someone who is not prequalified!)
Second of all, there are so many options for people to use to get in shape. Have you ever watched any of the "hundreds" of infomercials touting the next "GREATEST FITNESS BREAKTHROUGH!"? Have you ever seen how many "GET IN SHAPE IN ONLY 7 MINUTES A DAY" books there are? Have you noticed how many personal trainers there are in your city right now?
So how do you prequalify your potential clients and NEVER have to "sell" them on the value of your services?
Well, before I give away the "Big Secret" that Eric shared with me, let me tell you just how powerful this little tool really is.
Six days after using this simple little marketing tool that Eric showed me how to use, I got a two new clients signed up for long-term training packages as a direct result. I was shocked to say the least.
The best part was that they called me and requested my services.
I didn't have to throw them a single sales pitch. They came looking for me.
Now here's the "BIG SECRET"
The way I "hooked" these new clients, without having to "sell" them, was by giving away information...for FREE.
Now I'm not talking about my business card or my brochure or anything like that.
Let me tell you the whole story.
I had to check on some equipment that I had ordered for a client of mine, so I stopped in at my local fitness equipment retailer. The sales rep and I chatted a little about my business (I was wearing my logo on my golf shirt), and I mentioned that I was expanding my business and was always looking for referrals from related businesses. He said that they were already working with a trainer (actually it was a guy I knew but was never impressed with) and were pretty satisfied with his services.
Needless to say I was disappointed.
We finished our business, but before I left I asked the sales rep if I could send him some information that would increase his ability to close sales with those customers who were "on the fence" about making a large fitness equipment purchase for their home gyms.
What did I send him?
It was a special report that he could give to potential customers, which "taught" them the ins-and-outs of how to buy the right fitness equipment and save money in the process.
That's it.
I called the sales rep a couple of days later to make sure he got the article, and he was thrilled with the concept. My thirty second follow up call then turned into a nineteen-minute discussion of my training philosophy and my business.
We struck up a relationship...and a deal. He'd provide my free reports to his customers.
Six days later my two new clients handed me checks for long-term training services.
By the way, my new clients also went back to the same sales rep and purchased some equipment for their home gyms. I think he was happy.
And I was happy.
Now, I know what you're thinking.
"Bill, I'm a trainer not a writer. I don't have time to write special reports."
Believe me, I understand. It was difficult for me to find time to make my own marketing tools and write reports. Get up 5 a.m. for your early clients. Go to the "real job" (if you've got one). And then work late with your evening clients. There really is no time left to work "ON" your business because you're spending all your time working "IN" your business (unless you don't have to sleep).
So I created the 27-Hour Day. I literally created time within my already busy workday.
The entire concept is explained in a special report you can have called How I Created the 27-Hour Day. I hope you'll read it, learn it, live it.
Now back to Eric Ruth.
If you've been in the "training biz" for a while I'm sure you've heard of Eric. He's one bright guy. Everything I do from a marketing standpoint in my business I learned from talking to Eric or by reading his materials. His information is a "must have."
Anyway, Eric showed me how to create the special reports.
It turns out I was pretty good
at writing reports.
In his experience in working with thousands of trainers, Eric mentioned that one of the biggest challenges for trainers is the actual writing of the reports. After all we're experts in fitness and sports training, not expert writers.
So let me tell you about the special reports I've created, how I use them everyday in my business to get more pre-qualified new clients, and how you can do the same. See, Eric convinced me to share these reports with you because he was impressed with my ability to write powerful copy - but even more impressed with the fact that I was doing what he preaches - actually USING them to get more clients and make more money.
If you know anything about Eric at all, you know he's a really big advocate of taking action. Since I took action by writing and testing these reports in the real world, and proving they work, he wants me to "share the wealth" with other personal trainers looking for a rock-solid method for getting more clients.
Here's a little bit about each report I've created and how I use them. In a minute, I'll show you how you can get these reports, instantly, and for a dirt-cheap price.
SPECIAL REPORT #1
6 Keys To Getting Maximum Results In Minimum Time With Your Home Exercise Equipment
This is the report that turned a 37-cent investment (and a 19 minute phone call) into $6,103 of NEW business. How's that for return on investment?
Basically, I've already explained how I used this report in the story above. Here's a couple of added recommendations to make this report a successful tool for you.
- Initiate your use of this report with smaller local retailers rather than bigger franchise retailers. The retailer I started with has one location and is well known in the area. I found it was much easier to develop a relationship with such a place, as the sales manager understood the value of how the information I provided could help him with his customers. The larger stores with multiple locations tend to rely on splashy, more expensive marketing techniques with discounted prices on lower quality equipment to draw customers.
- Buy something from the equipment retailer you'd like to work with. It demonstrates your confidence in the retailer, and it's the perfect opportunity to establish some rapport with the sales manager. It doesn't need to be anything big. Get yourself a new medicine ball or some platemates. You can then direct conversation toward discussing how you can develop a WIN-WIN working relationship with each other.
SPECIAL REPORT #2
The 8 Keys to Golf Fitness Success
I specialize in designing training programs for golfers, so this report has been my most popular. I use it in a few ways.
- Everyone who logs on to my website at www.yourgolffitnesscoach.com has the opportunity to receive this report for free just for signing up for my newsletter. This allows me to grow a list of interested golfer to which I can market my products and services.
- I provided this to a local golf instructor who really liked it. He liked it so much he is now a long-term client of mine. He provides it to his clients with a strong recommendation to contact me directly. My little sales pitch at the end accounts for about 80% of my new clients, many of whom become regular clients.
- Twice a year, there is a big golf trade show in my hometown. I put a sign-up sheet for this free report in my golf instructor's booth with a big sign that says FREE Report and the title. I get about 100 new names in 2 days. All prequalified golfers. How's that for targeted marketing.
- Eric showed me how to do a small, inexpensive mailing to a community of homes that surrounds one of the best golf courses in the state. Instead of begging for business, I offer this free report by mail or direct them to my website. My first client from this method, turned into 4 regular clients when he mentioned it to his regular foursome he plays golf with every week.
SPECIAL REPORT #3
How to Build The Perfect Athlete For Any Sport: The 6 Secrets of Successful Sport-Specific Conditioning
You can attract athletes from ANY sport with this free report.
I use the same direct mail method that I learned from Eric Ruth that I used for the golf report. You can target sports team coaches via coach's associations as well as martial arts instructors, private tennis coaches, and even golf instructors.
The real impact group in using this report is parents. All parents want their kids to be the next Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, or Barry Bonds. They are always looking for something to give their kids an edge over the competition. That edge could be you.
Rather than clubbing them over the head with a sales pitch, encourage them to request the FREE report. You are now the expert they will contact to help get Johnny to hit more home runs.
This requires a little legwork to coordinate addresses and Eric Ruth also has some great guidelines to help target your marketing. It's a very powerful report to allow you to diversify your business to include sports training.
A word to the wise: Sports training is one of the strongest methods to build your business. You need this report.
SPECIAL REPORT #4
Solving the Supplement Mystery: Is There A Magic Pill Out There For You?
I use this free report as an added bonus with just about any other report.
It plays on people's desire to find that little secret that will accelerate their progress. The report gives them a bit of the reality when choosing sports supplements and also gives them a pitch to contact their local fitness expert (that's you).
I also include this report in a listing of reports that I market through my quarterly newsletter that I send out to my mailing list. It's a great way to keep clients and potential clients interested in your services.
SPECIAL REPORT #5
16 Tips For Looking And Feeling Better Than You Have In Years: Top Certified Fitness Expert Reveals The Essential Strategies For Lasting Weight Loss And Lifelong Fitness
Eric Ruth gets full credit for this report. He graciously gave me permission to add it to this program. I've used this report in countless different ways and so can you - it's MAGNETIC.
Women are really attracted to this report. (I guess Eric's in touch with his feminine side :) If you do any regular presentations to groups, especially ladies groups, offer this report as an added bonus to all in attendance.
SPECIAL REPORT #6
How I Created The 27-Hour Day
This little doozey is not a report that you use to attract new clients, but it is full of tips for getting the most out of what you've got. If you're struggling with time limitations when it comes to the marketing of your business, you will want to absorb every detail of this report.
SPECIAL REPORT #7
Power-Positioning With
Lead Generation Marketing
This is a report written by Eric Ruth that reveals 4 power-positioning strategies in which you can use special reports to get the highest quality, eager and ready-to-act prospects to chase after you.
Essentially, it's a special report on how to use special reports (among other things). The information in Eric's report, when combined with the 5 special report marketing tools already created for you, is just about everything you need to start raking in clients like I do.
I say "just about" everything, because the one ingredient neither Eric nor I can give you is the desire and willpower to TAKE ACTION. It's up to you to use this stuff.
There you have it.
Five kick-ass special reports that will attract and prequalify your potential clients and have them call YOU ready to purchase your training services, plus my report that will help make you more productive by teaching you how to work "ON" your business instead of "IN" your business, plus Eric's report on how to effectively market with special reports.
Here's A Quick Summary Of Everything You Get In The Free Report Personal Trainer Marketing System
SPECIAL REPORT #1: 6 Keys To Getting Maximum Results In Minimum Time With Your Home Exercise Equipment
SPECIAL REPORT #2: The 8 Keys to Golf Fitness Success
SPECIAL REPORT #3: How to Build The Perfect Athlete For Any Sport: The 6 Secrets of Successful Sport-Specific Conditioning
SPECIAL REPORT #4: Solving the Supplement Mystery: Is There A Magic Pill Out There For You?
SPECIAL REPORT #5: 16 Tips For Looking And Feeling Better Than You Have In Years: Top Certified Fitness Expert Reveals The Essential Strategies For Lasting Weight Loss And Lifelong Fitness
SPECIAL REPORT #6: How I Created The 27-Hour Day
SPECIAL REPORT #7: Eric's special report on how to use special reports.
All the reports are in MSWord documents, and are available for instant download. You can have them within minutes, substitute your name and contact information for mine, and be using them later today to get you more clients tomorrow.
Now the BIG question:
How much is your time worth?
If you bill out your training time at $30 or more per hour (hopefully, you're in the $50 - $70 range, if not, raise your fees), then it would cost you at least $450 (15 hours of your time) to research and write these reports.
Then you've got to test them. Because you won't know if they're any good unless you test them and they bring in clients. The testing of your reports could cost you another $200 to $400 bucks, conservatively.
And what if the reports you wrote sucked? What if they didn't work?
Well, then you're back to the drawing board. More time, more effort, more money.
Heck, it could take you months and months of writing, testing, rewriting and testing again just to get your own reports to work for you.
Why bother?
Well, because this is definitely one of THE most powerful and effective ways to attract high-quality prospects, educate them on your services, impress them with your knowledge and get them to chase you, willing and eager to pay your fees.
It's An Automatic Client-Generating System
Listen, this special report strategy that Eric taught me is as close to an AUTOMATIC CLIENT-GENERATING SYSTEM as you'll find anywhere. It works. It's working for me right now.
And it can work for you. But the "secret" is having really good reports that are tested and proven to do the job for you. My reports are exactly that - tested and proven.
And you can have them all for pennies on the dollar, plus the report Eric Ruth wrote revealing how to use these reports (and other lead generation marketing strategies).
As I mentioned, it could cost you up to $450 of your TIME to research and write these reports. Then another $200 to $400 to test them. And they still may not work for you the way mine have proven to work.
That's an investment of $650 to $850 of YOUR time and YOUR money to try to replicate this system
Or, you can take the easy, proven route and get your hands on my reports right now for just $97.
If that seems like a lot to you, then hold on, I'll sweeten the pot a bit.
If you're one of the first 29 people to order this package, you can have the whole ball of wax for just $67.
You save over 30% off the regular price if you take action right now. So don't put this decision off. $67 for something that would cost you over ten times that much to create and test on your own.
It's pretty much a no-brainer, right? I mean, I made $6,103 the very FIRST TIME I used these reports. You could do even better.
All the reports come in MSWord format, so you can just substitute your name and contact information where mine is, print them out and you're rockin' and rollin'.
Note From Eric: I want you to be clear on why there is a 29-person threshold on the $67 price (and give you a little marketing tip) so you don't think we just randomly pulled that number out of thin air to create a sense of urgency. See, after we've sold 29 of these programs (which should occur pretty quickly), we'll know that we have a winner on our hands and will then TEST the higher price-point of $97. Remember, marketing is about testing, so test we will! Now, I'll give the floor back to Bill...
And keep this in mind, if you've got an idea for a report (maybe something for new mothers who want to regain their pre-pregnancy shape, or for seniors who want increased flexibility, or for tennis players who want sport-specific training, or whatever), you can simply substitute the specific technical information for each niche you service, while keeping the sales copy I've already written.
Essentially, you can "plug-in" whatever niched information you want and bang... you've got your report for your niche.
So you're not just getting the actual reports, you're getting a tested and proven FORMAT you can copy to produce any report you like. You'll understand this better when you see the reports, but it's really simple to just plug-in your own specifically niched training information (that's the easiest stuff to write) and you could have reports on literally dozens of different topics just by following my format.
It's "plug-n-play" baby!
What could be easier. But, you don't have to do that if you don't want to, because with the exception of the Golf report, they're all pretty generic and will fit into any personal trainer's marketing arsenal.
Look, this special report strategy has changed everything for me. Clients come to me now, instead of me chasing after them. Isn't that what you want, too?
For just $67 bucks you can have everything. You're gonna spend that this weekend on dinner and the movies. Yeah, you'll have a good time, but then it's over.
These reports will be your marketing WORKHORSE for years, possibly putting thousands and thousands of dollars in your pocket, just as they have in mine.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "Yeah, Bill, this sounds good, and Eric is a straight-shooter and all, but I'm still on the fence about this."
Well, allow me to shove you off the fence and into a pile of even more personal trainer money-making information. To quote Eric...
"Wait...there's more!"
You know, Eric's got a reputation for over-delivering value to his customers (and even his free newsletter subscribers) and he insisted on maintaining that rep by piling on some amazing FREE BONUSES for the first 29 buyers of The Free Report Personal Trainer Marketing System.
He did tell me, though, that he will probably yank these bonuses after the first 29 orders come in because he wants to package them and sell them as a separate product.
So, now's your chance to not only get the marketing system that has made my business many times more profitable, but also these incredible free bonuses - if you act right now:
FREE BONUS #1
A "Secret" Source For Instant, Ready-To-Use Health And Fitness Reports And Information Products: That's right, we'll show you where you can get a truckload of articles, reports and booklets on very
specific health and fitness topics to fit just about any niche you may service, that you can use as your own as lead generation tools or even to sell for profit. And we'll reveal the "pro copywriter's" secret for legally "stealing" powerful headlines and titles to use on your reports and information products that
force people to request or buy them.
FREE BONUS #2
Ebay.com Personal Trainer Marketing Secrets: How To
LEVERAGE The Ebay Trading Community To Get A Flood Of Hot New Prospects For Your Products And Services. With over 35 Million registered users and 5 Millions visitors per DAY, this is the greatest online marketplace in the world - and now you can tap into it to sell your health and fitness products
and services. You probably already know the obvious way to sell products on Ebay, but this report will show you a lead-generating system that gives you an "insider" advantage over the other merchants and exposes how to get
clients for your services, too. Ebay is no longer just a community for antique and collectible buyers and sellers, it is an incredible marketplace for any and every product or service you can imagine.
FREE BONUS #3
Amazon.com Personal Trainer Marketing Secrets: Like Ebay, Amazon offers you incredible opportunities to
LEVERAGE their marketplace to generate product sales that can lead to service sales. We'll show you how to make an extra $200 (or more) per month (hey, it's practically a car payment!) and generate
HIGH QUALITY LEADS for your fitness products and services using these Amazon.com marketing secrets.
FREE BONUS #4
How To Create Your Own Reports And Information Products Fast And Cheap, Without Having To Write A Word! After seeing all the powerful marketing strategies for free reports and other information products Eric and I reveal to you in The Free Report Personal Trainer Marketing System, you're probably going to want to get on the fast track to create even more of them than the five I'll give you because, honestly,
they're like a legal way to print money. So here's an amazing service you can use that will "write" your reports and information products for you in just days for a penny a word! A 160 page book has about 220,000 words, so that's just $220 to get your book written for you in less than a week!
That's a ton more money-making, client-generating information for you, all packed into this system. Just be advised that Eric is serious about the 29 customer limit, so don't procrastinate on this, okay?
One Last Thing... Eric says he won't sell anything that doesn't come with a full, unconditional money-back guarantee. I told him I thought he was nuts because these things can be so easily copied and then some knucklehead could just get his money back - effectively ripping us off.
Well, God bless him, Eric says there's always gonna be cheaters, but they're in the tiniest minority.
His experience with personal trainers is that 99 out of 100 are straight-shooters, ethical and moral and he wants to assure them - the honest ones - that he stands firmly behind EVERYTHING he sells.
So there you go, not only is this an incredible bargain at just $67 (for the first 29 people who take action), but this program is completely guaranteed to be everything I've talked about here, and to work for you like it worked for me, or you can request and receive a full refund anytime in the first 90 days.
Click here now to order via Eric's secure server using your MasterCard, VISA or American Express card and get instant access to the most powerful marketing tools I know of.
And be sure to let Eric and I know how you're doing. We're both accessible to help you make the most of this program. If you know Eric, you know that's one of the things that sets him apart - he sincerely wants to help. And I do, too.
CLICK HERE NOW TO ORDER VIA SECURE SERVER
Respectfully,
Bill Hartman
Bill Hartman, PT, CSCS, ART
USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach
www.yourgolffitnesscoach.com
www.prperformance.com
P.S. The Free Report Personal Trainer Marketing System is completely and unconditionally guaranteed for 90 full days. It's so ridiculously easy to use, you can be up and running literally within hours after you download it. This information is responsible for propelling me from a struggling personal trainer to a guy who's building a new house with a 1,000 square foot home studio. My wife could not be more thrilled. This is information and real, useable, tested and proven tools for your success. Don't try to justify why you shouldn't get this, you'll be making a big mistake. I promise you that. Just do it. Eric and I are here to help you. Click the blue link below to order now.
P.P.S. Remember, the Free Report Personal Trainer Marketing System is a digital product. As soon as you place your order and it's approved in real time by Eric's merchant account, you'll be able to download everything right now, so you can start using this immediately. I know you see the blue link below, I know you do... so click it. Eric's reputation in this industry is second to none for providing the best personal trainer marketing strategies and tools. He wouldn't be doing this with me if he didn't know my reports work! They'll work for you, guaranteed.
CLICK HERE NOW TO ORDER VIA SECURE SERVER (C) Copyright 2003 Eric Ruth
All Rights Reserved
Fitness Marketing Systems
1474 North Point Village Center #500
Reston, Virginia 20194
(703) 395-2465
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