Don’t Be Held Back by Your Postal Code
I remember talking to my business coach and sharing with her my big, crazy dream, which was: “I love my fitness studio and my clients but I’d love to live somewhere hot!” (Who doesn’t want to live somewhere hot! Canada can be cold!)
She replied, “Why don’t you?”
I replied, “When you can miraculously move all my clients and my family somewhere, I’ll do it.”
Fast forward one year and I moved my family to Costa Rica for over five months. I lived the ‘lap top’ lifestyle, giving my fitness clients one- on-one attention in an online world. While living in Costa Rica, I could focus on my personal and professional values and give my clients even more, which helped my business to almost triple in size. I had a platform to serve more women in different locations and provide my family with the opportunity to experience more of the world.
- Imagine yourself serving men and women in different postal codes and countries with your fitness expertise.
- Imagine yourself living where YOU desire to be, NOT where the economy is or where your clients are.
Drawing on my experience and success, here are my five recommended steps to help you create your own ‘Lap Top’ fitness business:
Hire a business coach that understands the industry and your dreams.
You must know what your goals are first in order to find the right coach. Look for someone who is where you desire to be one year from now. Not everyone desires to travel while training. Some coaches are happy to live the lap top lifestyle and never leave their home.
Make sure their fitness values align with yours (DO NOT change your values, your values make your business unique, hold them tight!) Make sure they understand your vision, your message, and your intentions.
Book a consultation. Here is where I suggest having an open and honest conversation on your big goals, your hopes, and your commitment level. Be open and real. What does the coach expect of you and what can you expect of the coach. Will your program be unique to you and your goals or is it a group program where every trainer is lumped together as one? Make sure expectations and contracts are clearly laid out. Ultimately, you should feel aligned, supported, and motivated.
Visualize and write down your 3, 6, and 12 month goals.
Refine them to know exactly what they are and who you are serving. START BIG. Start by thinking about where you hope to be 365 days from now. Lay everything out, no dream is too big, no dream is too small. WRITE IT ALL DOWN. You’ve probably heard of a brain dump, this is exactly what you will be doing here. Include your family, your friends, your environment, your clients, your work-life balance, your lifestyle. Why include all of that? Because your big dreams of switching to the lap top lifestyle will affect loved ones and will open opportunities. Imagine your family going for a ski trip mid week because you were proactive and finished your work early. Now it’s time for the family to hit the slopes on a week day and have the mountain to yourselves, all while others are working in a gym or office. Your big dreams are going to have a ripple effect. Include how their lives will change too.
From that large 12-month goal, zero it down to six months from now. Be realistic. What can you accomplish in six months? Again, include the family. Will the kids be on summer break? Will it be camping season? Will you be working on the camp ground picnic table while the sun rises overtop of the lake?In six months, where will you be, where will your clients be? How will they be served? Will you be 100% online with a sales funnel, Facebook ads, and clients all booked in through a calendar system?
Now it’s time to get even clearer. Three months from now, what is life like? Will you be set up online? Will you slowly be transitioning from gym to online app? Will you have your website set up, social media in place, and gaining a following? What will the family be doing in three months? What is your lifestyle like three months from now?
I’m going to challenge you further and ask you to make 30 day goals! Where can you be in 30 days? What action steps can you make TODAY to get you towards your 30 day goal? This is going to get you closer to your three month goals and propel you towards your six and 12 month dreams!
Implement an engaging website and relevant social media platforms.
This is where you really need to understand and KNOW your potential client. Let’s start with Social Media:
Where you will find them? Are your clients more on Twitter, Snap Chat, Instagram, Facebook or Linkedin? From those answers, invest your time, energy, and marketing strategies into boosting those platforms. If you are confident in front of the camera, begin doing videos. Online video accounts for over 74% of all online traffic (KPCB), 55% of people watch videos online every day (MWP), and over 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound! Videos are one of the best ways to reach your ideal clients.
Your website:
Your website needs to be CLEAR. Three tips I can give you on having a high converting website are;
- Have an engaging and direct message for your potential clients.
- Talk TO your potential clients -not AT them.
- Have great visuals and I don’t mean spam your site with before and after photos. Show your potential clients you care, show them your lifestyle, your passion, your zest for fitness and health. If you haven’t read “You’re a Bad Ass” by Jen Sincero, do it! This will reinforce my message that you must have a strong vision and voice – be the best version of YOU!
Invest in a fitness app.
This will help you connect, communicate, and coach your clients from your dream desk location. In this app, I would suggest looking for proper support, compatibility, branding, and accountability. Think about your potential client and what they would want or expect from you as a personal trainer (how to video tutorials, scheduling, accountability, communication, progress sheets…etc.). Find an app that delivers this for you and your clients. The last thing you want is to be held back by technology and this is the GAME CHANGER if you want to deliver high end programs (I personally use Trainerize).
Pick your new office location.
Hawaii, Ottawa, Costa Rica or Spain. Anything is possible with a strong passion and internet connection. Having all the right support and tools in place will help make this possible.
I ask you: “Why be held back by your postal code?”
Being a personal trainer is a personal service and I truly believe you can deliver this in an online world. I have, and you can too.
Go explore. Coach even more men and women with your unique expertise. Show the world who you are and what you do!
Kelsey Davidson is the founder of Alive Fitness & Wellness. With her passion and contagious energy, Kelsey is sure to show you what feeling ALIVE is all about! Since 2013 she has been a fitness business owner and in 2016 she transitioned to working exclusively online.
She serves her clients with her numerous certifications in Personal Training, Life Coaching and business management. Recently, Kelsey has also branched into inspiring girls aged 6-14 yrs. old with her message of Alive, Strong & Fearless and has teamed up with local and large businesses to deliver this message to local communities.
Alive Fitness & Wellness is more than fitness, more than wellness, more than business, it’s a family and a way of life.
Connect with Kelsey on Instagram @alivefitnesswellnessbykelsey or Facebook www.facebook.com/alivefitnessandwellnessbykelsey