Forming a strong community bond with and between your clients and neighbors can help reinforce your fitness brand and strengthen your business presence. Here are ways to help your surrounding community get to know who you are as a professional.
Form Support Groups
Nothing beats having someone in your corner that supports you. Now imagine having a GROUP of people with the same goals and desires as you. Part of being a fitness professional is to support, inspire, and motivate your clients. That doesn’t mean you can’t encourage clients to also support each other.
I found a way to do this by forming a group chat using WhatsApp with all of my clientele.
Within this mini social media community, I keep my clients updated with the latest dietary information on food/meal swaps and workout scheduling. It also gives my clients a platform to address any concerns or questions they have regarding my services.
More notably, clients rally each other on when a member of the community is feeling less motivated than usual and can use a boost in moral support. Since forming this group I often hear comments of how the people that I train have become close, like a family; a family of people with respect and compassion for each because they all share the same goal: self-improvement and growth.
Expect that the fitness family you have formed will talk about it with their friends, loved ones, neighbors, business associates, grocery bagger, hair stylist, car mechanic….whoever! The point is, the more tight-knit and reinforcing your community becomes, the more they will market your brand for you by word of mouth.
Use Different Forms of Media
Group forums are just the tip of the iceberg of methods in which to build your brand via media. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and various photo/video editing software can help you take the mundane or average moment and make it stand out.
With so many trainers out there it is important for you to stand out if you hope to build your brand. Before & After pictures are wildly popular and do wonders for showing just how effective your services are.
Posting client workout videos (with permission) and sharing their social media posts when they are praising my brand and the services I provide will ensure your quality work stands out. When care is put into editing well-lit photos or workout videos that hold your attention with various angles.
Be Professional
It can be surprising to note how many in the fitness industry fail to behave professionally and be responsive at all times. Represent your brand well and build a positive reputation in your community by insisting on unfailing professionalism.
This means being responsive when potential clients inquire about your services, following up with these potential clients after a few days have passed and not dropping the ball on communication.
Essentially, various forms of media, including boasting a professional social media presence, a well-conceived business card and even a website are integral to creating a brand that customers and clients can relate to positively.
Break Out of Your Comfort Zone
In what ways have you challenged yourself to grow as a fitness professional? Our industry is constantly growing, changing, and exploring new research frontiers. We can’t know it all! Why not take on that extra course to further your knowledge in Diet and Nutrition?
Are you as busy with clients as you want to be? Why not take the trip across town and visit that park? You may run into a slew of potential clients that you can introduce yourself to or do a bodyweight workout wearing your branded t-shirt.
The keywords here are, “Why not?”
Break out of your comfort zone, grow, and explore uncharted territory. Is there a way that you can build your brand by forming a fitness community? Whether it be through social media or expanding your community horizons, build it and they will come: clients, that is!
Mr. Dassin is an NFPT certified trainer, NFPT author, and fitness model. A staunch humanitarian and intellectual, Stephen boasts over 15 years of experience in the areas of health and fitness. Stephen’s approach to personal training is methodical in nature; his methods take an interpersonal and scientific based view of the connections of the human mind and the human anatomy and it’s capabilities. His passion for fitness is unparalleled. His athletic background fueled his poise in becoming knowledgeable about nutrition as well. This added fuel to his desire to help others achieve their own individual goals in the area of fitness such as himself. Join Stephen on his journey, not just a fitness journey but the greatest journey of them all: Life.
