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.

Before we begin, I have an announcement…

I’ve decided to end my time with Lift the Bar to return to 1-1 personal training. I’ve missed it and am looking forward to the challenge of building up a client base again!

I’ve been a staff member at LTB for seven years now. It’s shaped me and is run by some of the kindest and most intelligent people you’ll come across in the fitness industry.

I’ve enjoyed working on projects that I truly believe have made this industry better. The LTB podcast, my lovely essentials coaching members, this newsletter and numerous courses and webinars come to mind.

I’ll still be sticking around as a member of LTB as the community is family to me, so if you’re a part of that, I’ll continue to see you there.

When you signed up for this newsletter, you signed up under the understanding that it was part of Lift the Bar’s ecosystem. Moving forward, it will be moving under my brand. Nothing will change besides the occasional update about my new work and future projects. If this bothers you, you can unsubscribe by scrolling to the bottom of this email. And if it doesn’t, then just continue reading as you normally do 🙂 

Let's get into today's PT Roadmap.

One Coaching Cue

What's it for?

For the eagle-eyed readers, you’ll remember this one from 5-6 months ago. I love it, and I’ve yet to say it to a client and not see an improvement in their concentric speed during the squat.

If you’ve got a client who takes the up phase of their squat a bit slow, try this one. It could be a good one to use for push-ups or bench presses too.

Better Business

Two novel marketing ideas.

I love seeing people market their services and products in interesting ways. Plain old vanilla marketing works, but maybe a more out-there method would be more fun.

Here are two I’ve seen recently:

This one is from Ben Bruno on Instagram. It’s a creative way to market a discount for his online training program from

He could’ve just announced this as a $50 discount post. Or through a series of posts showing the results people have got following the program.

But instead, he’s used his personality and creatively shown the price reduction without doing it the way most people approach it.

I bet this got him a bunch of sign-ups.

This idea from Nick Huber on Twitter grabbed me.

Most PTs need clients who live locally. This could be a great way to speak to them without spending money on ads or time creating content.

Pick a local area where your target market walks and write a message.

“Try Personal Training For Free. Contact Stuart"

“Fed up with walking to stay fit? Why not try weights? @yourighandle”

If you need clients and are fed up with social media or traditional means, try one of these.

Better Coaching

Things you’ll never regret doing as a PT:

I know this one isn’t strictly coaching, but I liked the reminders I got from writing it so

• Sending thank you cards to clients and people who have helped you - who doesn’t appreciate a handwritten TY card sent in the post?

• Showing up for your sessions knowing this might be the only hour of your client’s week they get to themselves - A nice reminder to set your mindset before each session.

• Launching a service that isn’t perfect but needs to be out there - I sat on semi-private training for months. I kept trying to make it perfect. Getting all my ducks in a row before I launched. I eventually pressed go and realised what I should’ve done was started six months prior and worked it out as I went along.

• Increasing your prices - repeat after me: you are worth more than you currently charge.

• Hiring your own coach - the accountability will be helpful, and you’ll experience what it is like to be coached.

• Asking your current clients for a referral - your clients probably don’t know you want more clients. Tell them, then politely ask if they know of anyone who might want PT.

• Texting ex-clients to see how they are doing with their fitness - They typically always appreciate the thought.

• Texting a client and telling them how much you appreciate their business and dedication to your training - Think about it from your side. How would you feel if a business texted you out of the blue to say thanks?

• Asking for help when you’re struggling - We all have challenging phases. Don’t suffer alone.

• Telling another PT whose content you enjoy that you like what they are doing - We don’t do this enough. Have you got a PT friend who creates great content? Reach out and tell them. I bet they’d appreciate it.

One Social Media Post Worth Your Time

Should you tell people to go to '“your link in bio” on Instagram?

Here’s a nice post from Michelle Gifford on why you should stop doing this and what to do instead.

I will add: ManyChat is a bit confusing, and the user experience of integrating it into IG was a pain in the ass for me, so it’s worth noting you can do it manually.

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. A library of 400+ podcast episodes with some of the fitness industry’s finest minds.