The PT Roadmap

The weekly newsletter for personal trainers who want a great business filled with clients you love, that runs efficiently and provides a level of income to live comfortably.

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

I watched a great documentary this past week. NYAD. It will make you want to run through walls. Here’s the Netflix blurb:

“Athlete Diana Nyad sets out at 60 to achieve a nearly impossible lifelong dream: to swim from Cuba to Florida across more than 100 miles of open ocean.”

Let's get into it!

Business

Offline Lead Generation Strategies Every PT Should Try

I love creative offline lead gen ideas.

Back when I lived in Dundee in Scotland and was a brand new PT, I tried all kinds of stuff for offline lead gen.

I wrote a weekly article for a high-end butcher for 6 months.

I tried to host a seminar on weight training for older adults in my Doctors surgery.

I ran seminars of my own on a wide range of topics in the gym where I worked.

I sponsored charity events.

I attended local business meetings.

I wrote to loads of local businesses to try to get into partnerships.

I did a month-long test of having to tell someone new about what I did every day.

Basically, I experimented.

This is a marketing principle of mine: try stuff. Experiment. Get out there and see what works.

The worst thing that happens is it flops. And people reject you.

Some of it worked.

And some of it did not 😂 (I would not recommend writing for a butchers, for example)

Since those early days of throwing 💩 at the wall and hoping it sticks, I’ve learned what works and doesn’t.

So, here are five offline strategies worth trying:

1. Talk to people.

I know, what a strategy, right?

Your local area is FILLED with potential clients. But they do not know you exist.

Let’s change that by telling them.

Here’s how I’d go about doing this one:

• set yourself a daily goal of talking to one new person for a month. It could be the barista who makes your coffee, the store owner who packs your food into a bag, someone you smile at on a walk or a random person you’re sitting near in a coffee shop.

• Tell them you’re doing a challenge where you have to tell someone new about your business, and you’ve chosen them. Ask for permission, then tell them you’re a PT who helps people [insert result you help people attain] using your [insert method].

• That’s it.

• Tell them a bit more if they seem interested, and give them a business card. If they don’t, thank them and say bye.

2. Run a seminar.

Pick a topic you’re confident talking about for 30-60 minutes, give it a catchy title, pick a date 3-4 weeks away, invite all of your clients, tell them to bring friends, post about it on your socials, and make a Facebook event for it.

Assuming you get a bunch of new faces there, make a pitch at the end for a discounted 30-day trial or a reduced-price 4-session package that expires in 20 minutes. You make it expire so soon after finishing because you want people to act there and then. They'll leave and do nothing if you give them too long to act.

3. Offer free PT to local business owners.

You could go out and play the long game of building a relationship with a local business…

But I’ve found you’ll get much better results if you offer some free PT.

Hairdressers, massage therapists, cafe owners, barbers.

They all have client bases that are similar to ours.

I frame this by saying you’re trying to get your name out there and want to help another local business owner.

4. Wearable lead gen.

Get a t-shirt or hoodie printed with the statement “I’m Stuart! Ask me anything about fitness or nutrition. Even if I look busy. If you’re shy, go here…”

Or if you serve Dads or Mums or you help people lose their first 5lbs, get specific about who you help and what you do and throw that on it.

Canva has made this kind of thing very, very easy.

You are a walking billboard. Take advantage of it.

5. Ping pong ball challenge.

Get a big transparent plastic jug and fill it with ping pong balls (or whatever you’ve got - chocolates or skittles could work, too)

Get people to guess how many balls there are and grab their contact details.

The winner wins a month of free PT. Everyone else wins a free session.

This works well in commercial gyms, but why not partner with a local business and put it on ? Or stand on a street corner and do it? Or go door to door?

Go forth and start pushing for clients offline.

Social media can be great.

But I know so many PTs who HATE creating content and posting on socials.

This type of marketing is both effective and fun. The best mix.

Get Clients Corner

This Week’s Tip: Drop a business card in a health book

Do you have a bunch of spare business cards lying around?

Head to your local bookstore, find the health and fitness books and stick them inside the books.

You’re marketing where people are shopping.

It'll work even better if you go and make some creative cards.

“Nobody ever got fit by reading a book. Let me help you take the first step. Try a session for free.”

H/T Mike Doehla

Social Post

I adored this post from Eventus 22

I’d love to see more PTs and gyms do this: interview their clients.

Some clients will not be well suited to this, but some 100% will be. Stick your phone on a tripod, press record and ask your client a few questions about their journey and why they train.

Social proof done right.

Thanks so much for reading.

Until next Friday, Stuart.

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