For many personal trainers and fitness instructors the best part of the day is working with clients – Helping them achieve and succeed is why we do what we do. It’s fun and it’s satisfying to know that we made a difference in someone else’s life.
If that’s the best part of the job, what’s the worst?
A lot of fitness professionals would suggest that they don’t like selling or marketing their business. If only new clients would just show up ready to get started!
Actually, this can happen!
Your website can be your “silent salesman” who recruits and sells new clients on your behalf. In fact, research has shown that 88% of consumers search online for information, offers, and reviews BEFORE they will ever make a purchase.
Is your website ready to sell for you?
Here are 5 steps you can follow to make sure it is!
Step 1. Show Your Authority
The Internet is an amazing tool for marketing and selling your business, but you have to be quick about making an impression. On average, web surfers spend 15 seconds or less on a page they visit. How are you going to entice them to stick around on your site?
Prove that you are THE authority.
You have just a few seconds to show your visitors that you know your stuff and that they will personally benefit from staying on your website for longer than 15 seconds.
Take a look at the home screen on my website (makeyourbodywork.com). Notice what I’ve included front and center by my picture?… ”Canada’s Top Personal Trainer, 2013”.
This is my way of instantly building authority. No, I’m not some regular old personal trainer – I’m the “top” trainer so you can trust me!
How can you show your authority?
Have you ever won an award?
Have you been featured in a newspaper or magazine?
How long have you been training? (e.g. “Personal trainer for over 10 years” – this builds authority!)
Are you an expert in a specific niche within the fitness industry?
Tell your website visitors why they should trust you and why you are the authority who can help them or answer their questions.Step 2. Display Social Proof
It’s great to tell visitors that you are an expert they can trust, but it’s even more powerful when someone else will do it for you. This is called social proof.
There are two easy ways to generate social proof. First, you can show your status in the world of social media.
Take another look at my home page and you will see that I’ve prominently displayed my social media stats.
To be honest, I need to work on this area of my business a lot, but 5 thousand shares isn’t bad either! This quickly shows visitors that other people are talking about what I do – This builds trust.
If you have followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or any other social media site, display these to build your social proof. You can use Sumome or other free website add-ons that will do this very simply.
Second, you MUST be using testimonials.
Including a real testimonial along with a picture of your client is powerful. This shows that you can get results for real clients and that these clients had a positive experience they are willing to tell others about.
See how I use testimonials on the sales page for one of my programs:
If you don’t have testimonials, it’s time to start collecting as many as you can. Again, it’s important that you have your client’s photo to go along with the testimonial, or even better is a video of a client singing your praises!
These two forms of social proof are an excellent way to calm any skepticism a new visitor to your website might have.
Step 3. Demonstrate Your Personality
It’s often said that consumer buy from sellers who they know, like, and trust. We’ve already discussed how to get your website visitors to trust you – Now it’s important that they grow to like you.
How can you show off your engaging personality online?
Video. Video. Video.
You can write blog posts all day long, but it’s very difficult to convey your personality and develop a relationship with your audience via written words. Instead, you want visitors to hear you speak and to see your face. Video is required.
On my “about” page (see makeyourbodywork.com/about) you will see that I feature numerous videos that allow visitors to see my personality and (hopefully!) grow to like me.
The same is true on my blog. I include video in as many posts as possible to further build upon the “friendship” my visitors feel between us.
Take a look at your website.
Are there any videos of YOU prominently displayed?
I know that filming video can be intimidating, but it’s all about practice. Pull out your phone and try recording a 1-minute video showing you discuss or demonstrate something you’re passionate about.
It might require a lot of takes to get it right when you’re just starting out, but you will get there. The key is to keep it short, useful, and full of YOUR personality. Show prospective customers how enjoyable it will be to work with you.
Step 4. Generate Leads With A Magnet
At this point you’ve proven your credibility and you’ve allowed your visitors to get to see your personality. They are starting to know you, like you, and trust you. It’s time to take this relationship to the next level.
Create an offer that your visitors can’t refuse. This is called a lead magnet and it could be a special report, an eating or exercise guide, a short e-book, an exclusive video, or anything else that your ideal clients would highly value.
Here’s an example of one that I use:
Visitors are offered my “Body Reboot 7” for free. I am offering them a chance to build a deeper relationship with me by getting something “special” that isn’t available on my website. In exchange, they are required to give me their name and email address (these two things are HUGELY valuable!)
What can you offer that will take your website visitors to that deeper level of relationship with you?
Why is this offer so irresistible?
Be sure to create a lead magnet that really is valuable. The worst thing you can do at this point is offer something that sounds great, but doesn’t deliver value. You want to continue building your authority by over-delivering on your lead magnet offer.
Step 5. Mine For Qualified Leads
This last step is one that is often overlooked:
What happens AFTER your website visitor requests your lead magnet?
To deliver your lead magnet you will need to use some sort of email marketing service. I use Mailchimp, but there are many others that offer similar features.
These services allow you to set up an auto-response, an email that is instantly sent to anyone who requests your lead magnet. This takes all the work off your plate and automates the process.
Your auto-response email should include 2 things: First, you need to include the lead magnet that your site visitor requested. You can link to it within your auto-response email or include it as an attachment.
Second, and more importantly, you should qualify your best leads.
Let me explain…
A lot of people will request anything that’s free even if they don’t really want it or need it.
“It’s free! YES, I’ll take 7 of them!”
You don’t want to waste time on these people.
Instead, you want to find out who is really interested in services like those you provide and who is most likely to pay for them.
To do this, I recommend adding a question in your auto-responder email, something like this:
“Thanks for downloading this Women’s Guide to Building Leaner Legs in 12 Days. I’m excited to hear about your results!
I have just one quick question for you:
What’s motivating you to get in shape right now?
I’d love to learn about your goals and offer some ideas that will help you get even faster results.”
See what this just did?
It requires your lead to respond. Only those who are seriously interested in getting in shape right now are going to do so – Those are your qualified leads!
When they respond to your question, be sure that you follow up quickly and offer even more value. Again, show that you are an authority and do your best to help them grow to like you even more.
It might take a few minutes to respond to their email, but that’s okay because you are developing a relationship that is required to turn this lead into a paying client.
Best of all ?
You don’t have to give anyone a hard sales pitch. Your website is nurturing qualified leads for you and delivering them directly to your inbox. Now you can focus on what you enjoy most – Help your new clients get fantastic results!
What are your tips for optimizing your website and get it selling for you? Share your tips below!
