Is Online Personal Training All That It's Hyped Up to Be?
Posted on: 7.30.2008 2:40:31 PM Posted by Dan Gaita
I sought out to investigate the revenue and profit potential of online personal training programs. You know, those online personal training services that promise to broaden your market base and increase your revenue potential by allowing you to create, market and sell your personal training programs to anyone on the Web.
After questioning over 1,000 certified, educated and experienced personal trainers, the results we received were not only shocking, but downright lopsided, so much so that I now have a professional obligation to share these results with not only my listed trainers but all personal trainers — no marketing hype, no nonsense, no misinformation.
The Questions
Each trainer was asked the following questions:
1.Do you offer online or web-based personal training using an online program or service?
2.Who do you use?
3.When did you start using them?
4.How much direct revenue have you produced from the service?
5.What does the service cost?
The Answers
Almost every trainer had tried one of the available online training services, yet not a single trainer reported making a dime, let alone a return on investment or profit! I couldn’t believe it. Many of the trainers reported that they felt misled by the marketing, that the guarantees they had been given never came to be. What’s more is the trainers who had been given guarantees had lengthy issues when obtaining product refunds.
The Other Side
Since the results of our research negatively impact many online training companies, I also had a professional obligation to get their side of the story. While I reached out to the different companies, only one, youPump’s founder Declan Condron, took a great deal of time to provide me with an in-depth explanation:
“I know thattheonline personal training business has gotten a bad rap, and a lot of trainers have not made money out of whatever programsthey were using. The major reasons for this are becausethey did not do anything to promotethemselves. Unfortunately, thesad fact is a lot of trainers are lazy. They want to maketheeasy buck, andthey think, ‘Oh, allI have to do is sign up to this online training program, andI will make a ton of money.’”
Don’t Believe the Hype!
Declan, to his credit, is correct. Too many of us get caught up at the industry shows with all the great ideas and the hype surrounding them that we are seemingly cast into a product- or service-buying frenzy without ever delving deeper into the details.
The point here is simple: If you don’t know what is required to make it work or you don’t take the time to learn how to make it work, you’ll spend a lot of your time and money — but won’t make a dime.
My advice: Find out what is required, test drive it, dig into the details, and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Remember, personal training is just that: personal. One thing the web cannot yet do is make online training personal. While we seem to be getting closer, we certainly are not there yet.
What do you think of the potential and integrity of online training?
Comments:
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:39:38 AM by Anonymous
I find the whole concept of online training rather ridiculous. While I am working with my members and clients I am constantly correcting posture and technique, how can you do that "online". Personal training is just that-Personal. How would a potential client even know that you have the credentials and experience to be training. I think this is a really BAD idea!!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:40:29 AM by Brian Calkins
Interesting results.
The concept of online training was a hard one to grasp. Although there are certainly reputable people & organizations selling products, programs and services to trainers, many are out to make a buck with little concern for the offering's viability. Be leery of products sold with a lot of hype. Take caution when someone is a self-proclaimed "expert". Ask the product or service seller how long they have employed the program or service and what you can expect in your first year of revenue following their system. You want to know the track record before making a commitment. Research the seller. What's his/her or the company's background.
When you do find a quality program or service to offer to clients, you absolutely must put in the required energy to make it a success. Programs and services do not run themselves.
Agreed, my club has experimented with online training and found that the market is very narrow. Only those who understand general fitness requirments are able to benifit from online services. This means that the results are limited on average. We use it as a supplement to our PT program and have found it a nice compliment to our in house PT.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:45:40 AM by Anonymous
Online personal training is something of a gimmick. However if utilized correctly and in the rigth format it can help certain aspects that relate to client retention. The Personal Trainers Organization offers a client management system that permits fitness professionals the opportunity to compile client relative work outs and offer them an element of opportunity to construct workout systems for personal use. This is good as a client retention tool but not to make money from. Otherwise, stear clear of online personal training applications on the whole, they don't bring you any money... they just build someone elses site up!
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:51:36 AM by Anonymous
I feel online training is in-personal. One of the best parts of my product is getting to the know the person and finding out about their day or weekend. A lot of times that what I gear the workout towards. There is so much more to personal training then a generic workout you have trained all your clients on that day, telling them to pick up that weight and lift it 15 times. My goal with each of my clients is to leave with a greater self image than when they came in. Which in my opinion can not be done through online training.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 12:20:53 PM by Anonymous
I recently tried out the whole personal training online with a trainer and it was a huge joke. How can you be held accountable? I totally agree with the comment left by anonymous on July 31, 2008.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 12:33:18 PM by Anonymous
what about people like jillian michaels who has online business. does hers work?
Thursday, July 31, 2008 12:47:59 PM by Anonymous
I am a personal trainer and I have had a huge success with adding Online Training to my In-Home services. Yes, it's not as personal, and yes...your clients have to be motivated enough from the start to be committed to the program. But, there are so many people out there that frankly cannot afford a personal trainer but truly want to work out, get in shape and need the advice of a trainer to get them on the right program. I train clients online from all over the country and in Canada. I have put in a lot of hard work and time into marketing my online business, but it truly paid off. The clients I have are devoted to their programs, they are meeting their goals and they continue to refer their friends. I get new clients weekly. I treat my online business as seriously as my face-to-face training and I feel that is what has made it so successful. I have been training online for over 3 years now and each year gets better and better. It's a great supplemental income, but you need to work it. The negative comments I have just read are not fair to us trainers who are really committed to our online training business. I am making a difference in people's lives online and in-person. That's what matters in the long run!
Thursday, July 31, 2008 1:24:13 PM by Anonymous
While it is a gimmick and I don't believe Jillian Michaels or any other busy Personal Trainer is sitting at a desk all day addressing the on going needs clients. However, it can be a useful marketing tool, people like "fluff". Online training takes time, time most busy trainers don't have. The only ones making money from this is the creators of the systems.
I use a combination of online and face to face training with my clients. I will absolutely not train anyone that I have not personally evaluated face to face.
Best approach is to see your clients in person at least once a month and the rest of the time guide them online for a small fee or what I do is charge a flat fee for 1 session a month and unlimited online monitoring and consultation. This gives clients the value of professional monitoring but without having to pay for 10 sessions a month and matching up schedules.
Problem is that most trainers are lazy and unfortunately many are just hustlers. They sign their clients up for online training programs which spit out a standard workout with no involvement from the trainer. These trainers are full of you know what if they say they're truly engaged in their clients' programs. Clients aren't stupid which is why you might trick a client into paying for one month but certainly no more.
Think of it, why on earth would anyone pay an online "trainer" for workouts they can get for free all over the net? The value of a trainer is the expertise and personal evaluation. No one with any sense would pay a fee for some canned workouts and a few form letter emails. The only exception are the famous trainers and coaches (Bob Green, Mark Versteggen, etc.) who have a reputation.
My advice to trainers, beware of all the self appointed "expert" trainers who claim to be making zillions in online training. They're just trying to sell you their $399 millionaire's kit so you too can get rich like them.
Do the work, put in the time, be honest, and deliver results to your clients and you will succeed.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 1:47:26 PM by Connelly Hawyard
Training is person-to-person interaction, at least, at first it should be. The Trainer needs to get to know the person/people he is working with how they move, talk, act, what they look like, their habits, and so on. Things that can't be learned in an online environment. It's called Personal Training for a reason. There are plenty of materials out there for the self-motivated person: DVD's, books, online videos and articles, magazines and TV shows. When people seek out a Trainer, they are looking for something a TV show or book can't give them and that is live person-to-person interaction.
That is not to say that online isn't of any use, quite the contrary. Blogs are great support venues. There are many articles and videos a Trainer can have a client look at, but this is after a relationship has been established. The online information plays a supportive and educational role. Which brings me to Coaching. This is an area where online, specifically email, can be a great tool. Once the relationship is established and there is trust and rapport, email is a great tool to coach the client. When used in conjunction with live sessions, e-Coaching is a great way for a Trainer to leverage his time freeing him to add more clients to his business.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 2:59:51 PM by Anonymous
I use Online training with all of my clients so that they then know what we did in the club. They have proper form instruction from me, and visual reminder of what to do on their workout. I always send them what we did together in the club so it is always familiar to them.
Online training can always be a great Add to your programs, but you just have to be smart about it and know who is using the program. If you market it along with your other programs, it can always be used if your client s out because of "$", then you have a fall back and can keep connected to them. Might save you some marketing on the back end.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 4:20:55 PM by Anonymous
I also run an online training business and am successful. I charged a little more, require fitness assessment, get doctor releases when I need to and personalized each clients workouts. My clients are very happy and keep coming back for more. Most of clients do not have time to make schedules work with a trainer or don't have money for an in-person trainer. I started with my past clients and have converted many inperson clients to in-person/online clients. I have a newsletter that I am also adding people too all the time. With referrals, my newsletter, and various public speaking events I have made online training successful. At first, online training was hard, but after some hard work, now the clients keep coming. I can't beat the pay off of online training with gas prices so high. If I only was going into the gym to trainer 1 person I am almost losing money plus I lose time with my kids. Online Fitness Training can be profitable.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 6:05:07 PM by Anonymous
Thank you Anonymous...great to hear some positive comments. I too am very successful with my online training. I am very personalized with each client, I communicate via email to get as much info as possible, I then have them fill out all my required assessments and Dr. releases and I even have phone confrences with some. Online training has enabled me to train clients all over the world and truly make a difference in their lives. I always get referrals, and my clients re-sign up all the time. I've never sent out a "form" email or put someone on a cookie cutter workout program. This is a serious business and there is great money to make and lots of people looking to use this service. You just have to take it serious and keep it personal. It can't be as personal as "in-person", but that's why they call it "online training" and that's why it's less expensive for the consumer.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:52:37 PM by Anonymous
My comment is to "John" who referred to most trainers as lazy hustlers. That is a pretty inflammatory statement and how can you make a statement about "most" trainers.. you don't know them. Personal Training is like any other vocation - there are good trainers and bad trainers. True - there is a lot of information out there on fitness and nutrition - so much that anyone can find something to help them... right? Then why do we do this job? Why does someone sign up with us? Because they want someone to pay attention to them.. they don't want to be alone this time. They want someone to care about their health and fitness with them. Whether it's in person or online if we, as trainers, truly care then we can use both modalities to meet our clients' need for personal attention and accountability.
Saturday, August 02, 2008 12:30:42 AM by Anonymous
I do online personal training as part of my business and, so far, have found it to be quite successful for my clients. It's more than just push out a workout and call it good. I offer a few levels of service, some of which have me interacting with my clients 1-3 times a day looking at workout logs, evaluating food logs, answering questions. It is extremely personal. As others have pointed out, some people can't afford one on one training, or live in an area where it isn't accessible. Others just need daily accountability. Yes, they can get it somewhere else, so why pay me? Because I'm a human behind the workout. I'm there to say "Oh, that isn't working? Let's try this instead." and "Way to go on the veggies today! When is that 5k you signed up for?" and most important, "You can do it!" A lot of my clients are working on making lifestyle changes that don't come easy. They need someone to tell them it's okay to be imperfect, to help them find success in a bad day, and to give them permission to be a little selfish in acquisition of better health. I can actually do that much better through daily email support than once a month face to face meetings.
Is it the "best" way to train? No, but it is one way to do it and it's not inherently bad, nor inherently good. It just depends on the trainer, the type of clients he/she works with, and the amount of time the trainer is willing to put into getting personal with his or her online clients.
Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:14:34 AM by Anonymous
I offer Online PT as a stand alone service and as a service I can upsell to existing one-on-one clients to add value to their workouts. True, you cannot see posture or form for an online client but the truth is many people follow workouts from DVD's, books and magazines, so if you are staying in touch with the client via phone/e-mail, you can offer more than a book or DVD because they can ask questions about the workouts you are creating. It has not become a cash cow for me but I have made back my ROI and then some.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 2:01:07 PM by Ken P Babich
As a trainer for 30 years trained by the late Vince Gironda I have found it more valuable to post still shots and videos of my training style on my site www.quadfather.com. Just lately I decided to totaly revamp the site with that focus in mind and all my advertisements send you to my site so you get a glimps of who I am and how I train, thats the closest I come to selling myself online. Its working great!
Tuesday, January 05, 2010 11:37:43 AM by Anonymous
Frankly I think that personal training in general is incredibly hyped. Moreover there is a glut of "paper" certified trainers many of whom are in bad shape and poorly qualified to be dispensing advice beyond basic information easily found in books and online. Its fairly common to see "trainers" sporting an unbalanced look (underdeveloped legs in comparison to upper body) and some even have beet guts ! A person could go to a public library and checkout a weightlifting book from say 1970 , apply the information therein and be much better off than listening to the average trainer down at the local gym. All this said there are some good trainers out there - they are just much, much harder to find than is commonly believed.
