Building your online fitness business as a brand is challenging at the best of times, but especially now that everybody’s bringing their business online. It’s the perfect time for it, but also going to become increasingly harder as time goes on with the future of you, the fitness professional in most cases having at least one revenue stream coming from online.Setting ourselves apart from the competition and establishing our brand to attract clients and retain the current clients we have is the key, the key feeling like your brand is a reflection of not only but also what you offer your current and new online personal training clients.When a Fitpro develops his brand, they should have a full grasp of the principles and values that you’re going to communicate with your target market, these first and foremost should be the principles you stand by and expect yourself and your online clients to abide by. You should stand out from your competitors and be able to convey the top grade coaching strategy that you have. Having a clear vision or focus on where your fitness brand wants to be may seem daunting, there are some considerations that you need to follow and this blog will I hope give you some deeper understanding of where to start.
Figure out what your brand is and what it isn’t
Let's clarify first what a brand actually is. It's not your company name, it's not your logo, it's not your advertising strategy. Brand is meaning. Your brand is whatever your customers and audiences think of your business and how they interpret the images, texts, and thoughts they have of your product or service. Building a brand is about creating 'meaning' to your customers and that starts with you the owner.You do this by taking in mind your business' distinctiveness, authenticity, and a compelling, humane narrative.According to Brand Strategy Guru Simon Middleton, "your brand is vital to the success of your enterprise, and you need first to understand it and then apply its power". Here’s a couple of examples to think about. Do you work with a specific niche of clientele, perhaps the elderly or do you work with a specific goal such as weight loss which can be people from all walks of life? Do you like to have a joke and make sessions fun or are you an, in the zone, in the moment kind of coach?Both examples have their place within the fitness industry and especially online, but understanding where you fit in is something you need to take a moment to reflect on.
Finding your authentic purpose
Finding your purpose is one of the most essential steps we have to undertake as people trying to navigate a big world, your brand and business is no different. What is your real ‘Why’ for getting up each day and training your clients both in person and online? Yes you can say “I like to help people” but go further, go to the next line on your pad and continue to write at least two more reasons.The ‘purpose’ is what motivates us to do what we have to do. It's the reason we look forward to a new day of challenges, why we constantly want to do better, and why so many of us just won't give up, despite the adversary. Just like above thinking about your ‘Why’ In business, it must be said first hand that there is more to purpose than just money. So you have to ask yourself: what is the purpose of my business? Why does your business work with clients every day? What makes my business better than my competitors and how can I improve it? What do I want from this? Ok, so hopefully the above has got you thinking. Which leads us to the notion of values and beliefs.
Understand your values and beliefs
The best brands are established on the most solid values. It's what we use to guide our decisions and behaviour, and they are fundamental. As said earlier, brands are about meaning, and nothing generates more meaning than values. It is at the core of every business decision, purchases, and action. What are your values and beliefs that set you apart from the other online personal trainers? Again don’t try to overthink this, just think about yourself.
Here’s three of our values at KLIQ:
- Commitment - to helping fitness professionals do their jobs easier!
- Passionate - about helping remove barriers for clients to gain online personal training.
- Simplicity - in all aspects of using the KLIQ platform for both clients and their coaches.
Take time with putting your list together and some you might have heard many times before but to help here are some questions you can ask yourself. What is your niche? What are the things that you do best? A program that you design and has worked for most of your clients? What are the skills you honed for years that you believed has worked and has shown notable results to your clients?You should have an idea now of what brand you want to communicate with your clients online. These will identify all your service offerings, your target market, the output, and the goals you want to achieve through your Online PT clients.
Focus on the right communication with your customers.
Now that you have a full grasp of what you want to communicate with your clients, let’s get now to how you're going to \communicate with your clients. Let’s build your “persona”.
Establishing a narrative
First, establish a narrative. In the fitness world, you've got a lot of competition coming up in every corner. You've got those who sell the same products and services as you at the same price, you've got those who are less quality but cheaper, and you have those that have a more expensive, luxury fitness service. How can you differentiate yourself from all of them?By creating a unique narrative...Many marketers swear by the power of the story, and they're not lying when they tell you that it's the most important element in branding. People are just naturally attracted to stories. We have told and listened to them for a million years, and will continue to do so, and the reason we never get tired of hearing good stories is because it's how we make sense of the world. When you've got a narrative that deeply connects with your customers, you satisfy their purchase and heighten their experience, and they never feel 'guilt' from having purchased your services.When your customers understand your story, they understand that you deserve their support.
Increasing your online presence
There is no doubt that you have to come alive online. Your business must have a significant online presence to be able to get the “meaning” of your business to an audience. The first rule of any business or marketing book is that you must have a compelling and engaging web life. You can do this by contacting some expert web developers who understand your brand thoroughly, then have them set up a website that is visually attractive and engaging, the interface must have a clear and easy sense of direction, and offer information that is useful and interesting to your market. It must also deliver a clear action to what you are trying to achieve. My advice on setting your website up is to finish with the home page, this will give you a clear understanding of where the real value of the website is and how your new online fitness clients will find it. If you’re building an online program or want clients to start virtual personal training sessions with you, then focus on where that information is on the website and send them their from the homepage.You can use free domain hosting sites like WordPress or Weebly to create a site that will provide you with the basics. And use free social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to your whole advantage by being consistently active on them and posting great, engaging content. These are all, of course, easier said than done. Building a brand is on going work, but it might be the most essential step you need to take in order to get your business to the next level. By falling in love with the process, you will reap the rewards of the outcome.
