Originally Posted by Buk
There are hardcore business men out there, but you still have to do more than just find them. The problem is that the more desirable the trainee, the more likely they are going to be able to train themself(or at least think so). Athletes are used to pratice, and working out and are comfortable in the gym - it is hard to convince them that they need to spend extra for a trainer. Take someone that played football in highschool with daily weightlifting, lifted all through college, and on and off from 20 - 30. How do you convince that 30 year old dude(who is string and still athletic - the kind of client that you want) that you have anything to offer. He has spent 10 years in the gym, working hard. House wives need your help, they don't know what they are doing; but desirable athletes don't realize that you can benefit them.
That is part of every business - some tasks are good, some suck ass; but they are all part of the job.
As I said before, those are all strong tough dudes that aren't intimidated by a hardcore gym, in their mind, what do they need you for?
I have a great gym that has tons of iron, cages, stones, logs, tires, bumper plates, etc - the "meat head" section. That is what some of the women from my work call it. They never venture to that half of the gym, they use the gym for the treadmill and aerobics gym. I O-lift there and there are quite a few powerlifters, there used to be an olympic level O-lifter girl that traind there till she moved back to Colorado Springs. I often worked out with her and a gym trainer that also O-lifted, getting free advice from both. I never considered using a gym trainer though. I just couldn't figure out what value they would add to my workouts. For the last feww weeks I have been going to a group traing crossfit gym. It is fairly expensive, and I never would have considered going for myself. But I signed up with my wife to get her to go regularly. Scheduled classes(or a trainer) are best for her because she is busy and never makes time just to go to the gym. I am seeing value in having a trainer, even for me, even in a small group setting though: identifying weakness, keeping form from slipping, forcing work on the under-performed exercises, etc.
I really think the biggest problem is that the kind of people that you want to train are the ones that don't think they need a trainer. I am a competitive beach volleyball player, 30 years old, athletic, know my way around a gym - solid in O-lifts, fairly well read up, treat weightlifting as a hobby. How would you sell me that fact that it is worth my money to have a trainer. Figure that out and you will have some clients.
One Idea I have for you that could generate some revenue and maybe create some training opportunities. Go meat the local Crossfit affiliate that is training out of their garage. Do they need more space? There is probably good equipment crossover between your gym and what they have. Can you rent them space for their classes, provide their members with "open gym" time(something most crossfit gyms don't have, espically if it is running out of a garage) Just go meet them, see what they are like, if there is a fit, it might be worth some sort of partnership. Then let them do the marketing for athletes that are more interested in being trained than just having a gym to workout in.
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