How to Start an Online Personal Training Business: Part I

OK, so the first thing you need to understand is that online personal training is your answer to this so-called “Recession“.

Case in point:

Just lastnight, I received two separate e-mails. Both were from individuals who “couldn’t afford” face-to-face coaching but who both wanted to sign up immediately for online training.

And, of course, I simply sent them a URL to click and they were signed up. When they clicked on the URL, they were brought to a payment page, and when they clicked on the payment page, they were automatically sent a questionnaire form to fill out. This way, I didn’t spend 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there taking care of all the nitty-gritty details associated with setting up a new online client.

In other words, the recession is driving clients to my doorstep.

So…how did I actually set all this up?

When I first started online personal training just three years ago, I had no clue how to do anything. I would sit in front of my computer for hours just tapping away at the keys in an attempt to do something as simple as let somebody send me an e-mail from a website.

For a look at what I’m doing now, you can see a Web 2.0 based website at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com , or a traditional e-commerce website at http://www.pacificfit.net (we’re hiring highly qualified coaches and trainers, by the way – just e-mail me for details!).

I highly recommend that you begin by getting a domain name. You can easily go to http://www.godaddy.com or http://www.bluehost.com , two of my favorites, and create your virtual real estate. From there, you’re set to begin putting content up on your website.

To get the creative juices flowing, take at a couple great examples of personal training websites:

http://www.ginalombardi.com

http://www.jimkaras.com

These sites have a few things going for them…

They’re simple (include much white space or black space, not completely covered with text).

They have a few very clear pictures.

They show up well in search engines (more on that in future articles).

But one site is better than the other. The Gina Lombardi website actually has syndicated content, meaning that it gets updated frequently. And that is a very important feature that you need to make sure you plan for in your online training business. Include a section where you can add articles, news, blog posts, or videos. This will vastly help your internet search engine ranking.

So whether you design your site yourself (using templates or web design software that comes for free with a GoDaddy or BlueHost account) or you outsource (using a virtual assistant from a website like http://www.elance.com or http://www.odesk.com. make sure you plan ahead!

In the next couple posts, I’m going to teach you how to decide which services you can actually offer from your website, and how to actually collect payments online. In the meantime, get your virtual real estate, get a good name, and get good design!