Promoting oneself as a trainer

[Kungfoolery]

What are the best ways to promote oneself as a personal trainer/teacher?

I have a purple belt and would like to teach private lessons. I've done so in the past and got good feedback.

I have a less than steller competition record ( 2-4) so I'm not sure how to advertise myself.

[RAB]

I would first establish yourself with additional education and volunteer to gain a wide range of experiences. Once you are in a circle of professionals you can gain credentibilty and experience.

What did you have in mind?

[elliotNess]

Word of mouth. Lead by example. Are you in shape? Are you buff and cut? Can you fight? What do your peers say behind your back?

[Scott Bolinger]

probably just need to budget some proptional stuff , like flyers or putting a article in the newspaper every so often

[13ang]

I would suggest geting your blackbelt, in any style, before you attempt to teach. In some taekwodo systems they wont even let you open your own school untill you are 4th don, wich is usualy about 10-15 years past blackbelt.

If you enjoy teaching I would suggest becoming an assistant instructor, then in a few years, once you have blackbelt, try some teaching on your own.

If you teach before you are ready you will end up teaching a false view of the art, and wind up giving your school, and style, a bad name.

[Maxx]

From my experience, the single most effective method of generating more clientele is though client referrals. If you only have 1 or 2 clients and they have been with you a while, have seen good results in their training and have seen an increase in skill and fitness levels, give them some of your cards to distribute. Then, if someone comes to you and said that a certain person in question recommended you, give them a free session or 2, afterwards sit down and talk about the cost of the investment (assuming that you sell training packages which include various numbers of sessions). If you close them and they sign up, reward the referring client by giving him/her a number of free sessions depending on the size of the package that you sold. I usually go by this standard:

Referring client gets 1 free session if new prospect buys a 6 pack.

Referring client gets 2 free sessions if new prospect buys a 12 pack.

Referring client gets 3 free sessions if new prospect buys an 18 pack.

This system has worked well for me and I'm not a very aggressive sales person. Out of all of the promotional methods that I have used, this one works the best.

A couple of other things that I recommend is to always keep cards on you and a note pad. If you happen to get into a discussion about jobs and the topic of training comes up, the majority of people will either say "I always wanted to do that." or "I really need to get back into shape." Offer then 2 free sessions to try it out and give them your card. Don't stop there though. Ask them for their name and number and write it down and tell them that you will call them within a day or so to schedule an appointment. Most people will take the card and put it in their wallet or put it down and lose it. the number of prospects that you see in your facility will increase dramatically if you are proactive and get their info as well.

[FightingEdge]

I know this is WAY after the fact...

What are the best ways to promote oneself as a personal trainer/teacher?

I have a purple belt and would like to teach private lessons. I've done so in the past and got good feedback.

The only way you have any credibility is if you offer private lessons through your school... and even then I would call it tutoring. You have no business teaching for money if your not recognized as an instructor. Unless of course you want to make yourself a 10th Dan in Kungfoolery... and there are plenty of instructors who have declared themselves just that... 10th Dan or Grandmaster in their own "style". Maybe they are good... maybe not...

While belts don't mean much (how many belts or certifications did Bruce Lee have?)... it's what the masses (especially the ignorant ones... jk) go by to know you are a "certified" instructor. Heck, I think a black belt should be seperate from the authorization to teach an art. There are plenty of great fighters who really suck at teaching others.

23Ang had the best advice... go get rank or certification that can be recognized as 3rd party endorsement to teach. Or go kick alot of arse so no one will question you when you do teach (you laugh... but plenty of people have done just that too! lol)

[Scott Bolinger]

I started teaching when I was a purple belt over 20 years ago. But I was allway looking at adding to my style.

the way to advertise yourself, may depend on what your teaching. If your teaching self defense or if you teaching competition fighting. If your teaching for competition, then put more infisis on that. And try and keep track of all the events and work on taking teams to those. Promoting the competitions and the results is sometimes helpfull.

[lorenzodamarith]

hello,

purple belt? this is a color commonly associated with jiujitsu. particularly what is sometimes called "brazilian" jiujitsu.

what seems to happen most often, is that the black belt who runs the school will make such a recommendation. i.e.: they will discuss the matter with you and if you both agree to terms, an announcement of some sort is made and students at your school will know "so and so is also available for privates".

part of the reason for this, is that many in the jiujitsu community believe a black belt is partially given to reflect teaching ability. so, from high level purple through brown, the candidate gets experience teaching classes under the watchful eye of the black belt.

yes. yes. this is not ALWAYS the case, but it seems to be the most common model. if you have the proper relationship with your instructor and you are "on track" this should evolve naturally. you will know it is time. if your instructor has not discussed it with you, you are likely not ready. don't worry. put in the time.... you will be.

thanks.

[thekuntawman]

i think the best way to promote yourself is develop your reputation from your skill and your accomplishments. most everything else means very little. why you trying to teach while your still a purple belter?

[wsdddoa012]

response

Well I have a friend whose in some hot water right now for a similar thing. He's a 2nd dan black belt in TKD. A friend of mine about 18 months ago asked him to test him (my friend) as a black belt 1st dan. He stupidly said yes. Well that's a mistake and dishonest. 1) he asked and my friend said yes 2) He was gonna go through with it, but luckly things came up and he had forgotten about it until just a few days ago. He dishonest himself by sayng yes. He never tested, but did pay the fee for the certificate and licensing. My friend got caught by his instructor and the organization he's apart of. Now He's facing a pretty big integrity problem both from my friend and by his instructor.... Pretty big consequences for that mistake.

Here's the bottom line, Unless your certified to do something by someone. Either dont do it yourself, or wait until your certified fully. OR just go do your own thing. But it's not worth self-promotion or favoritism promotion.. DO NOT ASK!!!

[Ghost]

Purple belt in what, if its BJJ then you can teach no problem, you only need to be a blue belt to teach that.

[migo]

What other system uses purple anyway? I know there has to be some, but the most common colour progression I see is White>Yellow>Orange>Green>Blue>Brown>Black or White>Yellow>Green>Blue>Red>Brown>Black

[Scott Bolinger]

obtaining free advertisement in the local newspaper would be helpfull.

usually new business sstart up , someone usually wants to do a article on that.

Also anytime you go to competition, let ether athletic department know the results, and that'll get your business in the paper for free again.


Another thing I do is i've made up a bunch of shirts for my school. When someone brings in a new person to practice, then I give that student a free shirt for bringing in someone. But I also do a thing to help with grades. They get 3 A's on there report card, they get a school hoody, if they get 2 B's, then they get a school t-shirt. You'll spend a little on that, but every shirt thats worn, that promotes your business. And you figure if your going to pay for advertisement in a newspaper, your going to be paying at least $40 for that.

[wim]

i think the best way to promote yourself is develop your reputation from your skill and your accomplishments. most everything else means very little.

I think that's solid advice. People may love or hate you but skill is harder to deny.

Speaking of which: as soon as you start teaching for money, people will come out of the woodwork to bash your name. For some reason, MAs are still considered untouchable as far as making a living teaching them goes. There's a strong bias against being 'commercial'.

Just my 2 cents,

Wim