Personal trainers are generally not very concerned with personal branding. If they achieve good results with their clients, that news spreads quickly by word of mouth. Practice then shows that personal trainers hardly need to be busy with their own Brand. And there's often a reason for that: Good personal trainers often run so many sessions with their clients that there is hardly any time to spend working on their own Brand. But is that a wise strategy in the long run?

Suppose after several years you are looking for new challenges, an expansion of your offerings, or you want to work with multiple personal trainers. Then it makes sense to start working on a good online appearance. These 7 tips and the presentation you can download below will hopefully give you the right incentive to make new strides on the web.

I want help with my personal branding!

What is a Fire?

A Brand is a collection of consumer perceptions. Also called the gut feeling. Consumers have long since stopped buying exclusively from large companies, but also from individuals. That person is you, for example. Because your personal brand is born from your experience and reputation, it is important to ensure that this reputation is also visible online. Thus, with the right online reputation, you can connect with your target audience and ensure a long-term good relationship with your buyers.

In a Personal Brand, the individual differentiates by consistently using his or her unique value proposition.

So we are actually all a Fire. Because each individual is unique!

A few things are important, though, to give your own Brand the right direction on the Web. Be authentic and consistent in your approach. Ask yourself every time what message you want to communicate and, above all, keep it simple.

How do you start your own Brand on the Web as a personal trainer? Here I offer 7 simple tips to help you get ahead.

1. As a personal trainer, find your own niche market

For example, specialize in something like small group training or e-coaching using an app or an online system. You can also, for example, choose to focus only on elite athletes. So be a specialist and not a generalist. We always advise personal trainers to really work on their brand in order to be distinctive.

2. Take lots of pictures

Social media is mostly built around photos. Consider the huge rise of Instagram.com, but also still a very important and large platform is flickr.com. There are many more interactions on posts with your own photos. And a smartphone today offers everything you need to quickly develop into a skilled photographer!

3. Always take a Google Account

Unfortunately, without a Google E-mail address, you have almost no access to the Web. Google offers and enormous package of services and Apps that you can mostly use for free. If you have a domain in your own name, you might consider using Google Apps for Work. Then your E-mail runs through Google and you also get access to all kinds of Apps to collaborate in documents. Moreover, installing E-mail through Google is a piece of cake these days.

4. Launch Your Own Website or Blog

Creating your own website can be relatively easy these days. There are already countless online providers of ready-made templates. Think of Wix, Squarespace, Blogspot, Tumblr. By far the most comprehensive options offer WordPress. Most commercial providers work with a fixed monthly or annual fee. WordPress is free and also offers the ability to install numerous free templates. What is very important these days is to look for systems that look good on a smartphone or tablet.

5. Devise an Elevator Pitch

An Elevator Pitch allows you to explain in a short time (max 60 seconds) what you actually do or what product you sell. People have less and less time (and patience) to listen for a long time. An Elevator Pitch may seem a bit artificial, but it gives you the option to explain in a short time to another person what your unique value proposition is. A short example of an Elevator Pitch:

I am a personal trainer and help people who want to achieve maximum training results in a minimum amount of time. In doing so, I focus mainly on weight loss, increase in body strength and/or endurance. Thus, I give my clients a better sense of overall fitness and well-being.

6. Delve into SEO (and SEA).

Everyone wants to be No. 1 with their Web site or product these days. However, this does not happen automatically. Google nowadays uses very complicated and, above all, secret algorithms to determine who comes out on top in a search. Fortunately, we now know a lot about Google's way of working and you can come a long way by making smart investments in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). There are numerous Blogs that deal with SEO. We have also written about these four tips. You might want to start by reading the comprehensive WIKI (article on Wikipedia) on SEO. If you want to get immediate and measurable results from Google searches, you can opt for Search Engine Advertising (SEA). Better known as Google Adwords. Here the main issue is to research what are the right keywords for your product and the budget you are willing to spend to get a click to your Web page.

7. Share your knowledge

This is a simple tip, but a very crucial one. With the rise of social media, people may learn about your product through videos on youtube or through an eBook you offer. Right now, there are an awful lot of channels to send your own message towards your target audience. By the way, writing a book or eBook is one of the best ways to become an authority on something.

I gave a presentation on this topic at the 2014 LAPT Megaconvention. This presentation also contains some useful links to things that can help you further with your online branding. You can download the presentation here:

I want help with my personal branding!