At Home Personal Training
At home personal training is one option when planning your business. Generally, trainers that train their clients in their homes are independent... meaning they only work for themselves. You can charge a hefty fee because you're doing a lot of traveling. Your rate has to, at the very least, cover costs like traveling time (as time for service sellers equates to money), car fuel, and car maintenance.
If your budget when starting this business is very tight, and you have to choose between flyers or business cards, go with the flyers. Plain black and white flyers are fine. Just make sure the message on the flyer is to the point and is directed to your target client. An example would be "Guaranteed weight loss in 30 days or less + Private at home personal training + Call now to book your free consultation/evaluation". I suggest you also have a picture of yourself on the flyer; You'll establish trust faster if they already know what you look like beforehand.
People are more likely to respond to the flyers if they actually see them; Pardon the sarcasm, but most trainers (let alone local, small business owners in general), tend to forget about marketing or don't see the potential in it. This doesn't erase the fact that exposure (preferably repeat exposure) is vital to generating more income, regardless of the industry or area of specialization.
To increase visibility when promoting at home personal training, you may want to take a full week to personally distribute flyers to about 1000 homes. You'll save on courier services, and have full control over the selection of homes that receive a flyer. A very successful businessman once told me that 1000 flyers will get you 16 clients. Judging by my experiences... that sounds about right. To increase profitability, distribute the flyers to homes that are in the same neighborhood. This way you'll save on traveling time in between appointments, and create a buzz amongst an entire community... opening the possibility of word-of-mouth (i.e., free) marketing.
If you have practically no money to get started in your business, print your own flyers and ask a friend to help place a few bundles of them in areas that are very condensed with your ideal customer base. Also, make sure the flyers are set in clear sight, and where people have enough time to read through your offer. As an example, in the past I had chosen my brother-in-law's previous restaurant to post a single flyer because it was filled with my target clients. I taped a flyer directly behind the cash register, where his clients (& my potential clients) could see and read it while waiting in line to order their food. Also, included at the bottom of the page was about 20 vertical strips (with my contact info) that they can rip off if in a rush.
You may be wondering if you should buy your own equipment for when training people in their homes. Obviously, you have to be sure that the equipment fits in the car. Also, if it consists of anything heavy, like a barbell for example, it'll slow down the setting up process each time (not to mention increase the risk of sustaining an injury). Instead, ask your regular clients to purchase a few items to be used during their home workouts. You can get the equipment for them and they'll pay you upon receiving it. And of course, they'll keep it in their homes, saving you the trouble of driving around with this stuff. That said, in most cases, you'll just need a Swiss ball and a light set of dumbbells. These two plus a little creativity are usually more than enough for at home personal training.
Working with very limited space/equipment in a quiet environment may not be for you. If this is the case, there are other alternatives to at home personal training. I'll give you a few suggestions on where you can work besides the client's home. But before I continue, let me just say that working in a gym where you yourself work out may not be a great idea. It's good exposure because people will see the way you train and be inspired to approach you for advice… setting up a perfect opportunity to offer your services. But if you're like me and become friends easily with people, then pitching your personal training services could be awkward in that environment. By working in a separate gym, where no one knows much about you, the line is quickly drawn. It makes maintaining a professional relationship with clients more natural.
You can also work in a personal training studio. There aren't too many personal training studios around but they are rapidly increasing in numbers. You should be able to find a couple of them in the city where you live. Personal training studios don't usually hire trainers; They, instead, charge a rent to independent trainers who want to use their space (& equipment). Often, they'll even give you your own key, so you can train your clients at various hours throughout the day. It really is like having your own studio. As long as you're respectful, the owners will probably be glad to have you there.
At home personal training would be much more pleasant (and profitable) if you could train clients in your own dynamic home gym. Luckily, I've done all the hard work of sorting through thousands of pieces of equipment to make building your very own home personal training studio affordable (and effective). You can get more info on my choices for best pieces of home gym equipment and/or make a purchase right away from my Amazon store.
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