Questions for Personal Trainers: Business

[VALIS]

Hi,

I'm looking for some help. Hopefully this is the right board. I'm contemplating getting my personal training certification and am looking for some answers on how to be as successful as possible. These questions are directed to Personal Trainers or anybody who might have some insight into the business side of PT.

Clients... What are some of the best ways that you receive new clients? What are the demographics of the clients that you work with? i.e. Are they primarily male or female, what is the typical age that you work with, what are their primary fitness goals etc?

Location... Do you work primarily out of a Gym or are there other venues that you do your training? Is it necessary to work out of multiple gyms, and what are some typical policies of the gyms before they allow you to train there? i.e. Do they make you pay a fee of some sort?

Supplements... Do you advise your clients to take certain supplements, and if so, which supplements do you advocate that they take. Also, if you do advise a client on certain supplements, do any trainers actually sell supplements themselves or receive any commissions somehow by recommending specific products or lines.

Are there any other certifications that one would recomend completing along with a PT cert?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[spydercustoms]

I get all of clients, besides referalls from other clients, from the internet. I have clients ranging in age from 16-61 years of age. Its pretty much a 50/50 split between male and females. Typically the kind of people that contact us are those who are wanting to lose weight, but I occasionally get a fitness competitor and or bodybuilder. Most corportate gym like 24hr fitness, French Riviera, or Bally's don't like you to work anywhere else but their facility. I have found several private studio gyms in my city that let you bring clients in. The client has to join said gym with no contract and then I give the owner 10 dollars for every appointment i do in a given week.

Supplements.....as far as those go....I'll recommend a Multivitamin and or protein powder. I know some trainers that sell supplements on the side, but don't really sell enough of them to brag about. I really think its a waste of time and effort. A trainer should really concentrate on over delivering the service and always make sure their clients get the results their looking for.

a useful cert. to get besides the PFT is a dietary cert or special populations cert. 9 times out of 10 the person that comes looking for a personal trainer will have a health problem you'll need to work around. Check out my website www.totalimagefitness.com

 

[atomicgym]

I have been a personal trainer for over 8 years now.
If you are starting I suggest to go through a gym for your first couple years. Establish your name. Your going to get paid crap but be patient. Once you have enough experience you can open your on studio and charge more and you get all the cash.
Always recommend supplements. Supplements will help your clients achieve there goals faster. I have an arangement with Dorian Yates Approved. One of my friends works for them and I get the product at wholesale so I can make money on the products as well as the hours of personal training.
Some companies won't sell to personal trainers. DYA is pretty good for that. Well at least my buddy. And they are probably the best supplements on the market. I have been taking them for 6 years now and will not take anything else.
Remember your clients listen to everything you saw. They are going to do and take what you say.