Online Personal Trainers Workshop - Why Online PT is Growing So Fast
- Hey guys, Chris Lynton here from TribeFit, and today what I wanted to talk to you about is why there is such a rapid growth, why it is really taking off on a global scale, online coaching and online training. A lot of people I speak to, if they haven't had an online client before, they question whether people really do pay, are happy to pay for an online coach, rather than a face to face.
Traditionally, people saw face-to-face trainers and they spent time with them, they stood by them while they were doing their sets, their reps, their breaks and all of that sort of stuff. And I guess when you're used to doing that, in that more traditional format, it is kind of hard to comprehend how an online trainer, not physically being with the person, could actually A, get the client results, B, the client actually being happy paying for those services, and C, how the whole thing kind of works, if that makes sense.
And at the moment, you're probably seeing left, right, and centre, online coaches and online trainers popping up everywhere, and wondering why there is such a growth in it, wondering why it is such a rapidly growing space. And pretty much there's two reasons for that. As the world's developing, as the internet's getting faster, globalisation, all of that sort of stuff, and the way social media is at the moment, there's never been more access to people on a global scale, from an ease perspective. You know, we've got Skype, we've got WhatsApp, you've got Facebook messengers, and all the different social media formats, and as a result, the world's becoming a smaller place. Training with your local trainer is no longer a necessity to do it. A lot of people are consuming information online, and checking exercise videos and all of that sort of stuff.
And people are becoming more used to consuming online information, instructional videos, all that sort of stuff, and kind of actioning on themselves. And the reason why there's so much growth in the online space, like I said, there's two main reasons for that. One, and it kind of comes from both sides, it's from the client side and also from the coach side. First and foremost from a client side, being a client and having to go to a face-to-face trainer day in and day out, week in, week out, there are some limitations around that. A, the person, if that face-to-face client has to travel, or if they've got kids, or there's holiday times, or summer, winter, all of those sort of things. What that does is actually puts a bit of a block in the way.
And if you are a trainer and you have trained face-to-face clients, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. School holidays, or times where kids are off. Most face-to-face clients, if they're going on holidays and moving away from the gym for a week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, or whatever it is. They can no longer physically attend the gym. They can no longer physically attend where you train them.
So, as a result, they have to pause or they have to cancel their classes, their lessons, or their memberships with you. In an online format, if you think back to the client, the client may still want results, the client may still wanna train, may still want information and advice.
But unfortunately, because they can't, if they go on holidays in a different area or a different location, or they go overseas, or they have to move for work's sake, or whatever it might be. If they can't physically attend there, then they can no longer train with you. They may love your services, they may love you as a trainer, love the results you're giving, and continue to want to, but they physically can't see you in a physical format. And that's why from a client's perspective, online trainers, online coaches, A, they can train anywhere, anytime, the client can, depending on what their calendars is. If they have a busy calendar, they don't have to attend and do their session at 9 a.m. every week or whatever it might be. They can do it in a time that suits them. And also, if they go on holidays or they move away, or whatever it might be, they can actually do their training sessions, take on the information, take on the advice, and execute it still, while they're in a different location.
In addition to that, online training has allowed people to reach out to coaches on a global scale. So rather than having to, if they have a specific issue, or a specific problem they're looking to fix, rather than having to train with the local generalist trainer, they can actually reach out to people on a global scale, anywhere in that country or around the world. They can specifically help with that problem, and make sure that they're getting the coach that has the best advice, the best area of expertise for what they're looking for. So, from a client's perspective, it's actually really fantastic. The other thing from a client's perspective, is face-to-face sessions, because that trainer is trading time for money, face-to-face sessions are actually quite expensive. Depending on what you charge and depending on what currency we're talking about. If you charge anywhere from $30 to $100 for half an hour, or an hour session, one on one. For someone to actually get results, they might have to see you two, three, up to five times a week, and that can be quite costly. Gym memberships and then also paying for your time for you to train them.
As an online coach, you can give them training programmes, you can give 'em nutritional advice. You can give 'em support, accountability, and you can do that all in your own time in a leveraged way. And if you've checked out the pricing things that we've talked about, as an online coach you should be charging anywhere between fifty, depending on, once again, on what currency you're talking about. $50 to $100 per week, for them to have a training programme, for them to have a nutrition programme, if you are delivering that support, motivation, accountability, and being able tap into someone at any given time, and have an expert deliver that to them, and give them the advice they need.
So, from a cost perspective, I get this asked a lot of times from people that only have face-to-face clients, are people happy paying those prices to an online coach? In actual fact, it is cheaper for the client to have an online coach, and in most cases, they'll be able to get more out of an online coach in regards to support, training programmes, nutrition, accountability, than they would as one or two face-to-face sessions for half an hour with a coach. That would actually, or a personal trainer, face to face, so it would actually cost them more. So it's better for access, they can travel at any time, still train, and from a cost perspective, it's actually cheaper to have an online coach than to have a face-to-face coach.
That's why clients are moving away from face-to-face trainers, moving away from face-to-face coaches and actually looking out for online coaches. From the other side of things, and the reason why fitness trainers are moving away in addition to that, moving away from their face-to-face time for money sessions and trying to get online clients, is because, A, you can do it at any time in your calendar, any time that suits your calendar, rather than having to work the early mornings, late nights, or lunch times, or weekends. Because you're doing face-to-face training, you have to do it around your client's schedule when they're free. As an online coach you can do it anytime. You can also do it anywhere, because you can deliver that programme. You don't have to live right next to your gym, you do not have to travel to your gym everyday and hang out waiting for the next session that's coming up as well. And the other format, as well, is it can be a lot more leverage. Like I said, you're not training time for money, you're giving someone your knowledge, a programme, nutritional advice if you're offering that, accountability, support, and you're doing that in a way that is leverage.
It's a system, a programme, that you've pulled out of your mind, you're putting out there, and you're impacting lives and helping people, and you don't have to stand by the client's side as they're doing a rep, a rest, a set. You don't have to be there every second, every minute as a person's doing the training or the nutrition format.
They get your programmes, they get your advice, they do it in their own time, not yours. So as a result, it is more leverage for you, you're not trading time for money, you can actually scale, and you don't cap out with your time. So, from both ends of the spectrum, an online coach is actually better for the client, it's more cost-effective for the client, and it's actually better for the coach, because it's more leverage, you're not trading time for money, and you can do it from anywhere and everywhere. And that's why there is such a massive growth in this space from loads of people moving away from face-to-face trainers, searching out online coaches, and a lot of face-to-face trainers actually moving away from doing face-to-face stuff to doing it online so they can have that freedom and aspect as well from that.
So, like I said, I speak to trainers on a day-to-day basis, those that are used to that traditional format, and they question and they wonder why or how online coaches are getting clients, how they're charging the prices that they are. And hopefully that dispels some of those questions, some of those myths and helps. If you haven't had online clients before, helps you have that clarity around why it's growing, and why it is continually going to be an ever-growing market. And sooner or later, two years, three years, five years down the track, a lot more people are going to be doing online training, rather than doing face-to-face, and they'll be moving away from that old, sort of traditional bricks and mortar time for money format, where you have to see someone face-to-face to get that support, to get that advice. So hopefully that helps, hopefully that makes sense.
If you have not had an online client before, and you're thinking about becoming an online coach, these are the reasons why it is rapidly growing. That's why it's important to get in the early stages while it's growing, rather than jumping in in two, three, four, five year's time, when it really is capped out and there's so many people in the space, and it's much harder to get into. So if that's something that is of interest to you, make sure you get into it today.
Check out people successful in the space. Make sure you check out our videos, check out our blogs. Learn as much you can and start actioning today, moving forward and taking advantage of that growth market that is online trainers, and obviously, getting online clients as well. So hopefully that helps. Looking forward to speaking to you soon, bye for now. (downtempo music)
