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Billy Blanks Leads a Class at IDEA World
Billy Blanks: A Celebration of Creativity and Character

Billy Blanks was born with an anomaly in his hip joints that left him clumsy and subject to taunts. He found strength—both physically and of character—in karate, and he went on to a successful career as a martial arts champion, bodyguard and movie star. That in itself is a pretty amazing story. But in Blanks’ case, that’s just the preface . . .

2022 Personal Trainer Institute
The Synergy of Togetherness

We’ve all had to pivot these last 2 years—and not just while leading clients through multiple planes of motion). We’ve also learned that virtual training can add valuable dimensions to…

Developing a Unique Selling Proposition

Marketing
By Nicki Anderson

Developing a Unique Selling Proposition
Why having a USP will give you an edge over your competition. When I speak to personal fitness trainers about marketing strategies, I often ask, “What makes you and your business unique?” Sadly, most trainers reply that what sets them apart is the fact that they really care about their clients. While that sentiment is most admira…

Emptying Your (Head) Trash

Sales
By C. Noelle Brownson, with Gary Harvey

Emptying Your (Head) Trash
How self-limiting beliefs prevent us all from achieving our life’s goals–especially when it comes to making those sales. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day to exercise and eat well!” “My injuries prevent me from working out now that I am older.” “I tried exercising once, and it didn’t do any good.” Do any of these s…

Liability and Damages for Fitness-Based Lawsuits

Legal & Risk Management
By Sean Riley, MS, JD

Liability and Damages for Fitness-Based Lawsuits
Understanding the categories of legal damages awarded to plaintiffs. Over the past several issues, we have examined the risks involved in failing to prioritize legal responsibilities in your fitness career and discussed how to actively manage those risks in your daily operations. Now it is time to take …

Wink of an Eye

Technology
By Joe Dysart

Wink of an Eye
Add video to your website with the latest do-it-yourself software. Used to be, creating Web video was a laborious process requiring deep technical knowledge, great patience, a flair for tweaking, and hours–if not days–of production time. Consequently, many personal trainers shied away from adding video to their sites, concluding that while the medium repr…

Capitalizing on Referrals

Training for Growth
By Douglas S. Brooks, MS

Capitalizing on Referrals
Cultivate your existing core of clients to capture even more business. Now that you’re keeping your existing clients satisfied and happy, the timing is right to ask, “How do I get more clients?” The answers include service, trust, results and personal referrals. Part of your marketing campaign is grassroots and ongoing in natu…

Keeping the Fires Burning & the Systems Churning

Synergistic Systems
By Kay L. Cross, MEd

Keeping the Fires Burning & the Systems Churning
Follow these tips to maintain the synergy and momentum you’ve created for your clients and yourself. Creating synergistic systems–cleaning out, organizing, thoughtfully managing your work hours, planning, tracking, implementing and adjusting–requires time to think, plan and do. This has been a busy but…

The [Buyer-Seller] Dance Goes On

Sales
By C. Noelle Brownson, with Gary Harvey
For example, explain, “I like to think that my coaching services are available to people with a variety of budgets. I find that clients who are motivated and comfortable in the gym need a coaching session only once every week or two and then they can complete the rest of the workouts on their own, checking in with me for a new program at least once eve…

Face-to-Face Time: Meetings With a Purpose

Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan

Face-to-Face Time:
Guarantee your next meeting is a success with these helpful strategies. Why do most people dread attending meetings? It’s largely because meetings can be poorly organized and not thought out well. Many people perceive them to be time wasters that detract from getting more important work done. However, carefully plan…

Personal Training (data from the 2005 IDEA Programs & Equipment Survey)

IDEA Survey
By Patricia Ryan, MS

Personal Training
When it comes to the number of trainers you have and the quantity of sessions they conduct, how does your facility stack up to others? Since 88% of the businesses included in the 2005 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey offer personal training, it’s no surprise that trainers appear in virtually all facilities. Personal training businesses ha…

Proactive and Purposeful Client Management

Synergistic Systems
By Kay L. Cross, MEd

Proactive and Purposeful Client Management
Develop systems to track, organize and manage clients and their data. For those of you reading these columns in order, you may feel overwhelmed at this point, thinking to yourself, “I have so many systems I need to create. How can I possibly get started?” Remember the feeling you had in school of never being “fini…

The Importance of Protective Legal Documentation

Legal & Risk Management
By Sean Riley, MS, JD

The Importance of Protective Legal Documentation
Don’t leave home without it! Personal training is a business. All businesses, especially those–like fitness– that carry inherent risks of injury, must protect themselves from lawsuits. At some point, most people who work out will experience some sort of exercise-related injury. Without legal protectio…

The Legalities of Emergency Care

Legal & Risk Management
By Sean Riley, MS, JD

The Legalities of Emergency Care
Understand your risks and responsibilities. As a personal trainer, you work with a variety of populations, from seniors to athletes. This diversity perpetuates a number of legal issues, particularly with regard to emergency care. With the senior population, you must be able to identify the symptoms of, and remedies for…

Get Centralized and Automated

Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan

Get Centralized and Automated
Streamline your operations and hit revenue goals. As consultants who travel around the world, we see many personal training businesses or departments that struggle with the same issues: I no personal training director or a director who trains 30…

Wanted: Experienced Business/Life Manager

Synergistic Systems
By Kay L. Cross, MEd

Wanted: Experienced Business/Life Manager
Becoming a great self-manager takes practice and consistent discipline. How much fun did you have last month? Did you throw away what you didn’t need, and get organized and motivated for a year of synergy? Now that the cleaning out and filing are behind you, we’re on to the next step– the search for a great busine…

Speed Demons

Technology
By Joe Dysart

Speed Demons
Get back in the Web’s fast lane with the latest utilities.

QuickCleanTM, by McAfee (www.mcafee.com/us/) ($24.95)
One of the most prominent PC software makers, McAfee has been making products like QuickClean for years, with outstanding results. This little gem essentially goes on “space patrol” inside your PC, eliminating every performance-slowing file it can…

Smart Cancellation Policies

Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan

Smart Cancellation Policies
Establishing fair and consistent cancellation procedures is essential for business success. We’ve all been there. Your favorite client cancels 2 hours before her session because “something came up at work.” You say, “No problem”–after all, you don’t want to lose her business. The next day, another client s…

IDEA Data Show Business Is Booming

Trainer Survey
By Patricia Ryan, MS

IDEA Data Show Business Is Booming
New data reveal the expansion of training into new skills and new opportunities.

PERSONAL TRAINING GROWS INTO SMALL GROUPS
% of respondents offering program
Total of All Respondents Health Clubs and YMCAs PFTs in Client Homes PFT Gyms

n (number) personal training (one-to-one) personal training (2 clients share) personal trai…

Operation Organization

Synergistic Systems
By Kay L. Cross, MEd

Operation Organization
Don’t wait for spring to make a clean sweep of your working environment! If someone peered into your car, file cabinets, kitchen pantry, laundry room or closet, what would they assume about you? Would they guess that you are always in a hurry, loaded down with too much stuff and barely holding your act together in the public eye? Or …