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 least) cover costs like traveling time (because time is 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 (eg: “Guaranteed weight loss in less than 30 days + Private at home personal training + Call …). 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 before they call you.

People are more likely to respond to the flyers if they actually see them. To increase visibility when promoting at home personal training, you may want to take a full week to distribute flyers to about 1000 homes. 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.

If you have practically no money to get started in your business, put a few black and white flyers in areas that are very condensed with your target clients. Also, place the flyer where it will be clearly visible and where people could take at least a minute to look at it. For example, I chose my brother-in-law’s restaurant to post a flyer because it is filled with my target clients. I placed a flyer behind the cash register, where his clients (& my potential clients) could see and read it while they wait in line to order their food. When preparing my flyer on the computer, I included at the bottom of the page about 20 vertical strips (with my contact info) that they can rip off if they’re 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 make sure that the equipment fits in the car. Also, if it is very heavy, like a set of dumbbells for example, it'll slow you down if ever you're in a rush. Expect to have a sore back the next day as well. 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 traveling with this stuff. In most cases, you'll just need a swiss ball and a light set of dumbbells. These two items plus a little creativity are 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 train yourself 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 no one knows much about me and I prefer that. 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 charge a rent to independent trainers who want to use the 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 act professionally, the owners will probably be glad to have you there.

FINAL TIP: 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). Click on this link to be taken to my Amazon.com store (aStore). You can get more info on my choices for best pieces of home gym equipment and/or make a purchase right away.

Return to 'How to Become a Trainer' from this 'At Home Personal Training' page