In this article we share with you 5 tips to help you find the best niche for you to succeed as a personal trainer.
This article is proposed by Gymkee, the personal trainer software that allows you to deliver the best coaching experience to your clients while saving time and growing your personal training business.
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It's a frequent question amongst the community.
You must have heard a lot about it without really knowing what it means and how to figure out which one suits you the best.
I'm here to clear you. 💡
Nowadays, it is mandatory to have a niche to grow your business and your brand and i'll tell you how in this article. 😉
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In marketing, a niche is a portion of a larger market that can be defined by its own unique needs, preferences and characteristics that makes it different from the larger market.
So instead of trying to sell your services and programs to everyone, you will focus on a specific group of persons who shares the same characteristics defined by you.
Here's some examples of great fitness niche markets :
And a lot more...
At first, it can seem counterproductive to only focus on a small portion of a larger market but believe me, that's the best thing you can do for your business.
It will benefit you because you can really become the best at answering those specific needs and will attract clients way more efficiently.
Everyone wants to find a coach that is a pro at what they need, everyone wants a coach that is an authority in his domain. 😎
Do you need to define your niche at the very beginning of your business ? It would be great but you can figure it out later.
First thing to do is to look around, look at what and who the other personal trainers focus on. By looking at them you'll get to see how they work and what they did to find their niche.
Here's some questions you can ask yourself during your watch :
Keep an eye on what’s being done on Instagram, you'll see how other trainers target their niche :
Either it's through your circle, who you keep in touch with on Instagram if you can,
Or still via Instagram, but outside your circle : go look at what's being done on other coaches' public accounts, on special fitness pages or on trending hashtags.
It will be so beneficial to you if you use everything you see to understand how to target specific niches and stay relevant to them !
As I said you don't need to decide on a niche at the very start so work with different types of clients with very different needs because practice is way more efficient than theory when it comes to figuring out your own desires.
You think you only want to work with athletes ? Well how do you know it's the right niche for you if you never worked with them or tried with other kinds of clients ?
Put your expectations aside and try new things. Each niche has its own perks and allows you to do different things.
Maybe your interest is more focused on one group of people but do they exploit your full potential ? Do their needs meet what you have to offer ?
It's what the market is all about, it's the place where offer and demand meets.
You have skills and assets you might not even be aware of because you don't even try to practice them, and trying them on different clients is the best way to figure out what you love most and what you're the best at.
Finding your niche is not about closing doors for yourself and on people but opening new doors for you to truly thrive in your activity.
The Hedgehog Concept was shared by Jill Collins in his remarkable book Good to Great.
If you haven't read it i suggest you do ASAP ! 🤩
This theory implies that in order for something to be great (here, your coaching and choice of niche), it needs to find the perfect balance between :
By applying this concept, it will be easy peasy for you to find the best niche for you.
You might think that fitness is what you're deeply passionate about but be more specific.
Narrow it down and figure out what exactly in personal training drives your passion.
Is it motivating people ? Is it giving hope to specific clients who feel helpless ? Is it being a part of big transformations and seeing huge results ? Is it having an energetic and hard approach ? Is it having a very calm and relaxed approach ? Is it the training sessions in itself or the follow-up ? Is it creating content for your clients ?...
Of course it might be a mix of all that but there are aspects that touch you more i presume so try to write down very specific points.
For what you can be the best at, this is in line with what i said earlier. You can only figure it out by trying new things. Don't be shy and don't stick to what you've learned you were the best at or what people told you you were the best at.
You can't know if you don't try and there's nothing wrong with stepping out of your comfort zone.
Well when I said don't listen to what people tell you you're the best at, I don't mean don't listen to feedbacks. Of course you should listen to your desires first but take in consideration your clients opinions.
Maybe your training is more efficient on a certain niche and you don't realize it.
You need to see for which kind of clients you're the most helpful.
Ask them, nothing more, and you'll quickly see if your clients are happy with your work.
Now for what drives your economic engine...
Keep an eye on things. Stay aware of the prices others have set, stay aware of the economic situation of the fitness market...
It's shifting and evolving and the only thing you can do is to adapt yourself to it while never losing sight of what you're worth.
You can start with one niche and refine it over time.
Your passion can shift to a thing from another, your skills can improve in doing other types of training, some trending programs can become more expensive, so it's completely normal if your niche changes overtime to adapt itself to your ever changing life and desires.
The thing is to not lock yourself in a box 📦 but to keep listening to yourself.
That's how you'll be the best at what you're doing and attract the right people and a lot of them.
Now to build your niche, market yourself and your services to these people using their specific codes and values, keep in mind what moves them and what doesn't and pay attention to what works with them and what doesn't in terms of communication.
You must have done a watch before starting to offer content yourself, to best answer the needs of your target.
You should understand that they have expectations and each niche has a different understanding of fitness.
You might have a global vision of the discipline but they don't, they only perceive what is in for them and what is convenient to them.
Some focus on the process, others on the results, others on the long term benefits.
Some will see exercising as a burden, others as a source of pleasure.
It's really important that you try to put yourself in the shoes of your target, to understand their perspective on the whole training thing to better reach them.
Also, you don't communicate towards senior clients with the same mediums you'd do with athletes.
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Most targets are sensitive to social medias. Whatever niche you decide on you should be on Instagram because you still need to grow your brand and reach a maximum of people, even outside your niche.
Why ? Well, even if your desired niche is elderly people and they're not very active on social medias, their children or grandchildren might be and could be likely to recommend you to them.
Networking is very important. Inside and outside your niche.
Whenever you get the chance, you should introduce yourself and what you do.
LinkedIn isn’t really what’s efficient for personal trainers so keep it real and whenever you can, don't hesitate to meet new people and share what you do.
Don't be a snob and get close to a wide variety of people.
Everyone ends up knowing someone who fits your criteria or someone for whom you fit their criteria.
The network is a very powerful lever to develop your business.
I hope you understood the importance of finding yourself a niche, for your own good and to grow your client base. 💯
Don't forget to take the time to observe, don't rush it just because you always wanted to work with athletes only ; if you never tried working with them and other types of clients how you'd know it's the right target for you ? 🤷♀️
Listen to yourself and pay careful attention to what is done around you and the ever changing trends.
🙌 Thank you for reading my article you can :
❤️ Share this content with your friend's personal trainers, it can help them achieve more in their personal training business.
❤️ Don't hesitate to check out our video on the topic on our Youtube channel.
❤️ And of course, if you're not using the app for personal trainers Gymkee yet, you'll find the link at the top of the page to get a 7 days free trial and start delivering the greatest coaching experience ever to your clients while maximizing your time & activity.
📧 If you need more pieces of information, feel free to mail me at marine@gymkee.io !
Take care ! ❤️
This article is proposed by Gymkee, the personal trainer software that allows you to deliver the best coaching experience to your clients while saving time and growing your personal training business.
Start for free
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