How to Stand Out As a Personal Trainer

Have you ever glanced over the Personal Training bios displayed in your gym? What did you notice that would make you want to choose one trainer over another? More importantly, if you are one of these trainers, what would you want to do to encourage a potential client to select you? There are several ways you can stand out from the crowd as a personal trainer, helping to attract and maintain a strong client base.

1. A great photo - Your photo is a reflection of your brand. Decide what image you’d like to portray; fun and energetic, serious and smart, athletic, or sympathetic and caring. Once you know how you’d like to appear, you can select the appropriate attire and setting. For example, if you are going for an athletic image you may choose a full body shot, athletic attire, and engage in a sports activity. Having the photo taken by a professional will ensure the image is sharp with great lighting that will highlight your best features. You’ll want to update the photo about every couple of years to keep your brand current and fresh.
2. Strong credentials – All trainers (hopefully) have a personal training certification, whether it be American Council on Exercise (ACE) or American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), so at this point the playing field is fairly level. You can start to shine above the others by obtaining additional certifications and trainings. For example, you might add yoga to your repertoire by obtaining a yoga instructor certification or add a nutrition certification to increase your authority in this area. Again, it all ties back to your brand. A yoga certification will support an image that is focused on being sympathetic and caring.
3. Specialize – Being an expert in a certain area allows you to target your bio to a select niche. You’ll want to build on your strengths and passion when choosing an area of specialty. You’ll also want research the niche to make sure it will yield a viable market. For example, if you love running and successfully compete in races of all lengths, you may decide to target those wanting to begin a running program or improve their race times. Or if you have a passion for food and nutrition, you may focus your bio on helping those desiring to lose weight and improve overall health.

Using your well-crafted bio and photo consistently, whether it be on the gym wall, gym website or your personal website will help create a strong presence in the community. A professional photo and targeted bio that supports your brand will put you leaps and bounds ahead of other personal trainers with a grainy photo and bland, generic bio.