The PT Roadmap

A weekly newsletter for personal trainers that'll guide you in your career to become a better coach and build a better business.

Hey!

Thanks for opening up today's newsletter. I appreciate you being here.

Let's get into today's PT Roadmap.

One Coaching Cue

What's it for?

This isn't one for every client or group session you take, but for the right client, it's the perfect cue for understanding how to squeeze their glutes.

Use it for the top of a squat, deadlift, hip thrust or any exercise where you're looking for your client to create tension in their glutes (e.g. overhead press, pull-up.)

Better Business

How to scale a 1-1 PT business.

1-1 PT is amazing.

It's my favourite way to deliver PT.

You get to know people on a level that no other method allows.

But, it does have a ceiling.

You can only take on so many clients before you're maxed out.

And a lot of PTs want more income and some of their time back.

Here are some business models for scaling beyond 1-1:

Quick sidenote: you do NOT have to scale beyond 1-1. If you're happy with where you're at, there is zero need to do any of the below.

-- Price Increase

This one is less of a way to scale and more of a way to increase your income without increasing your hours.

Your prices should be going up each year.

Especially as you're the type of PT who reads newsletters like this!

If you're at a point where you want to bring in more revenue without adding in another service, increasing your prices is the simplest way to do it.

Should you increase your current client's rates?

Yes, IMO.

It doesn't need to be by much; 3-5% is reasonable.

A 5% increase across ten clients paying you £200 a month is an extra £100. It's not huge, but it is an extra £1200 a year for the same work.

For new clients, the increase can be larger.

I've advised PTs to jump from £30 to £40 (33% increase), as the demand was there, and they were undercharging.

This newsletter gives more detail on how to go about increasing your prices.

-- Semi-Private

Semi-private training (3-6 clients in one session) offers an effective way to work with more clients, charge more per hour and get some time back.

You can open up some semi-private training slots in your week and move your clients into them.

I always advise framing it as a trial so clients know they have an easy out.

Or you can set a date and tell all of your clients you're shifting over (I'm about to release a podcast episode on this topic - look out for it on Tuesday 16th.)

Rather than making £35 for a 1-1 session, you can charge 3-6 people £15 and bring in anywhere from £45 to £90.

-- Large Group Outdoor

The bootcamp style of training is still a popular way to train people.

I know trainers who do them with groups of 10 and 30+.

Price it appropriately, and you've got a profitable side to your business.

-- Hybrid

A mix of 1-1 and online.

See your client once or twice a month in person, and then support them online for the rest of the time.

For the right 1-1 client, this method can be a great way to move clients through your business.

For example:

• Months 0-6 = 2x 1-1 PT per week.

• Months 6-12 = 2x 1-1 PT per month + online.

• Months 12-18 = 1x 1-1 PT per month + online.

• Months 18 onwards = fully online.

-- 1-1 Online

This is probably the most common method of growth and the one I'm sure a lot of you are doing or considering.

Keep your 1-1 clients, and start doing some online coaching. Or move some of your in-person clients over to online.

It's much harder to get clients online than in-person, but it is a method that works well for many PTs.

5-10 online clients paying you £80-150 a month can allow you to up your income, drop some in-person clients and get some time back.

Learn more on this podcast episode.

-- Online Group Coaching

Another popular method offered by lots of PTs: run an online group coaching programme.

The most common way is to run it for a period of time (6-12 weeks) offering a specific outcome (e.g. fat loss kickstart) and price it slightly cheaper than 1-1 online would be (£50-75 per month.)

If you've got a following online, online group coaching can be a great way to monetize this.

-- Other

Some other methods are much less common but still allow you to bring in more money and get some time back:

• Paid writing gigs.

• Podcast sponsorships.

• Newsletter sponsorships.

• Products (e.g. a course or e-book on "The Foundations of Nutrition")

• Paid advertising on Instagram (like Alice Liveing does with this post.)

• Affiliate marketing (get paid a small fee by recommending a product or service to your audience.)

Better Coaching

"Does that make sense?"

I find myself saying this in 1-1 and group sessions often.

Here's a better way, that's more likely to get a response from your clients.

"I'm not sure I did a good enough job explaining that. Would anyone like me to say it another way?"

The latter question offers a safer way to say you don't understand.

H/T Jenny Rearick

One Social Media Post Worth Your Time

Nice post from Adam Grant on something close to my heart: the power of movement on how it makes us feel.

The comments section on this post is interesting - lots of people stating how difficult it can be to get going when you're in the depths of depression, or to even care.

I've never had depression.

But I find reading the comments section on posts like this helpful for empathising with how difficult it can be to get going when you're struggling.

I've made the mistake of saying or thinking things like, "well, it's never going to get better if you don't help yourself." without ever considering just how hard that might be.

Personal Instagram Growth (week 4)

TL:DR on this section - Meta decided my Fb & Ig violated their T&Cs and deleted my pages. I'm trying to rebuild them. So, I'm using this section as a form of accountability.

My goals just now:

• post three times per week (with at least one thread),

• and hit 500 followers by June.

The follower number doesn't really matter; I just want something objective to work towards.

Posts goal = 3 (Posts this week = 5 ✅)

Follower count = 361 (up by 13 from last week. Goal = 500 by June)

Thanks so much for reading.

Until next Friday, Stuart.

Whenever you're ready, here are two ways I can help you:

1) If you’re looking for a place to help you gain knowledge & develop your skills as a personal trainer, I’d recommend joining Lift the Bar on our trial for free for 14-days. You'll get access to courses, actionable webinars and time-saving downloads, and a community of PTs who have achieved what you're struggling to achieve.

2) Listen to the LTB Podcast. Latest episode #392: Helen Rothwell: Building a PT Business Working w/ Older Adults