Up until most people started being conscious about their health; eating clean and exercising, personal training was considered to be a thing for celebrities and the affluent in society. Well, this coupled up with the fact that the rates charged were a bit on the higher side by the few trainers who offered these services.
Now, things have changed. With more and more people venturing into this line of work, it’s becoming easier to hire a personal trainer for your specific needs and at affordable rates.
Who is a personal trainer
A personal trainer is a professional trainer who creates and delivers safe and effective workout plans for a wide range of clients. This is ensured by conducting health and skill assessments on their clients (agility, body composition, flexibility, balance as well as cardio-respiratory fitness amongst others) as well as providing advice on matters of diet and wellness. All this comes in handy when developing a program to help meet the client’s goal.
As such, not just anyone can brand themselves as a ‘Personal Trainer’. For this, you will need to go through training and assessment for you to receive certification to allow you to practice this craft.
Where do Personal Trainers work
Of course, the obvious places include gyms and fitness studios. However, there are a ton of other places where you can find opportunities as a personal trainer such as in apartment complexes, working in boot camps, community centers, online (on YouTube), resorts and cruise ships and in people’s homes among other places.
Different ways to make money as a Personal Trainer
On average, the annual income of a personal trainer varies from $30,000 to $80,000. Your annual income is dependent on several factors such as your level of expertise, the city you live, the number of clients you train (number of sessions per week), and your average price rate per client.
Work in a gym
If you have the resources to start your gym, then go for it. having your gym provides you with enough flexibility to venture into other money-making opportunities such as in-house training. If not, then you can always find a good local gym and enroll to work as a personal trainer.
The downside about working in a gym is that it does not pay that well however, you have the much-needed job security. Besides, you can always supplement your income in other ways on your off days/hours. The upside is that it is here where you get to meet your potential clients.
In-Home personal training
There is a group of people who would prefer not to go to a gym to work out for various reasons. For such, you can provide one on one personal training for them at the comfort of their homes. In-home personal training is a good way to make extra bucks as a personal trainer; people who prefer training at home are always willing to pay a little more than the normal gym rates for privacy and convenience. As such, you as their trainer are free to up the fee (to a reasonable rate) and determine how you will get paid.
In-home training is a good opportunity for a personal trainer for various reasons since you do not share any percentage of the money with the gym and you have no overhead costs to worry about.
Start a Boot camp business
This is an easy and fun way to market yourself as a personal trainer. For a boot camp business, you will only need to get a group of people together at a park, stadium, rent out an indoor facility, or even at a school field. You will then charge them a few bucks, $5-$10 for maybe up to an hour of an intense workout.
Since the boot camps take less time. You can have them lined up at various hours during the day so that people can enroll in one that is convenient for them. All in all, boot camps are a perfect way to find clients to enroll at your gym (if you have one) or have them pay you to be their in-home personal trainer for those who feel they might need a more personalized training.
Become a brand ambassador
Instagram has become more like a one-stop-shop for almost everything. Besides marketing yourself on Instagram by taking cool workout photos, you could also earn a few extra coins, especially if you have a large number of relevant followers.
Companies in your area (health and fitness) can ask to partner with you to market/ shout out their products. As a brand ambassador, companies, for example, one that sells fitness attires, could pay you to post pictures on Instagram while wearing/ using their products (leggings, sneakers, head/wristbands, water bottles). All you need to do is to mention (shout-out) the company so that people can be aware of them and hopefully buy from them. This can either be a one-time working opportunity or they could hire you to be their permanent brand ambassador.
As a permanent brand ambassador, you will be paid a certain percentage each month and be required to post a certain number of pictures per month whereas, if you work as a temporary brand ambassador, you will be paid as per the number of sales you make for the company (you are likely to be given an affiliate link that buyers can use to purchase items from the company)
Start a YouTube channel
There are quite several trainers doing this already and they have a huge following. All you need to do to make money as a personal trainer on YouTube is to upload workout sessions and monetize your channel. With YouTube, you will be paid according to the number of watch hours your videos receive per month. A YouTube channel will give you far more reach meaning that your potential client base is infinite. You can use it to advertise your Boot Camps, gym, fitness attires, eBooks, etc.
In Conclusion
Being a personal trainer is a business like any other. Therefore, to beat the competition, you should seriously consider investing in yourself. Aim to be a certified trainer in many fitness disciplines, go down the roads least explored such as fitness for pregnant women, people with certain health conditions, rehabilitation fitness. Familiarize yourself with fitness regimes such as yoga, Pilates, Zumba amongst others.
The wider your skills, the more opportunities that will be available for you to generate income. Also, it is no use having a great service if no one knows about it. Market yourself widely, ask for referrals, get your name out there, and watch your brand grow.
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