I too was one of those trainers that in starting my business spent countless hours on thinking of that catchy name, you know the one everyone would remember; that is if they ever heard it in the first place.
Like me, you may have now been met with the realization that your name and your visual brand are not as important as you once imagined they would be. On a local level it simply costs too much money to maintain the frequency you need to maintain and grow a true brand identity in your local marketplace.
Instead you're much better suited to leverage other branding vehicles:
1) Build your website on a logical, easy to remember keyword string. My fitness studio One-to-1 Fitness in Red Deer, Canada for example is well situated at PersonalTrainingRedDeer.com. Not only is it a likely keyword string for anyone searching the internet it's really easy to remember when we do use more brand related marketing mediums (like radio for example.)
2) When communicating with any audience it's really important to understand your point of differentiation and be able to explain it enthusiastically in thirty seconds or less. I really struggled with this until one day it dawned on me it's often represented in what you are most passionate about. In fact since I've coached a number of clients on this very topic.
It's my belief in this connected world where technology affords anyone the luxury of access to tools, information and an easy to maintain professional image that the only thing that keeps your service from becoming a commodity is being able to continually articulate your passion to the people around you. It just so happens that you will notice within how your passion manifests that you are really good at something in particular.
Let me give you an example. At One-to-1 Fitness we teach people the advantages of metabolic training and have our own unique nutritional system called "48hr Fat Loss" but what really makes us unique is we're really good at is setting personal strategies for long term change, in other words we're personal trainers who focus on helping you understand and eliminate your personal mental and emotional road blocks as the workout and nutrition is the easy part!
3) Use the power of real heart felt communication. Too often any more we're sending people information for the sake of sending information. Or even worse all we're sending them (and infrequently at that) is marketing material asking them to do something for us. The most powerful tool you have to build your brand is your own sense of sincere kindness and desire to help. Much like this column, as often as you can share a piece of your passion in an effort to help someone else start tapping those keys or get in front of that camera. The more times you share your message with all the passion and enthusiasm that you can the stronger your brand will be and the better your responses will become when you do deliver those offers later.
After struggling for eight years as a personal trainer, Cabel McElderry challenged the typical gym setup and created quite a reputation for himself. His 7 figure studio, now five years old, has won multiple awards for business excellence. Cabel has been recognized as one of the top 100 fitness entrepreneurs in North America and is currently one of 50 nominees for Optimum Nutrition's Canadian Trainer of the Year. He now mentors fitness professionals worldwide in an effort to help them achieve similar or better results than his own. Cabel's advice and writing can be found amongst some of the biggest blogs online and he is constantly called upon to offer his advice and strategies at some the largest fitness events worldwide. www.ProfitablePersonalTrainer.com
Like me, you may have now been met with the realization that your name and your visual brand are not as important as you once imagined they would be. On a local level it simply costs too much money to maintain the frequency you need to maintain and grow a true brand identity in your local marketplace.
Instead you're much better suited to leverage other branding vehicles:
1) Build your website on a logical, easy to remember keyword string. My fitness studio One-to-1 Fitness in Red Deer, Canada for example is well situated at PersonalTrainingRedDeer.com. Not only is it a likely keyword string for anyone searching the internet it's really easy to remember when we do use more brand related marketing mediums (like radio for example.)
2) When communicating with any audience it's really important to understand your point of differentiation and be able to explain it enthusiastically in thirty seconds or less. I really struggled with this until one day it dawned on me it's often represented in what you are most passionate about. In fact since I've coached a number of clients on this very topic.
It's my belief in this connected world where technology affords anyone the luxury of access to tools, information and an easy to maintain professional image that the only thing that keeps your service from becoming a commodity is being able to continually articulate your passion to the people around you. It just so happens that you will notice within how your passion manifests that you are really good at something in particular.
Let me give you an example. At One-to-1 Fitness we teach people the advantages of metabolic training and have our own unique nutritional system called "48hr Fat Loss" but what really makes us unique is we're really good at is setting personal strategies for long term change, in other words we're personal trainers who focus on helping you understand and eliminate your personal mental and emotional road blocks as the workout and nutrition is the easy part!
3) Use the power of real heart felt communication. Too often any more we're sending people information for the sake of sending information. Or even worse all we're sending them (and infrequently at that) is marketing material asking them to do something for us. The most powerful tool you have to build your brand is your own sense of sincere kindness and desire to help. Much like this column, as often as you can share a piece of your passion in an effort to help someone else start tapping those keys or get in front of that camera. The more times you share your message with all the passion and enthusiasm that you can the stronger your brand will be and the better your responses will become when you do deliver those offers later.
After struggling for eight years as a personal trainer, Cabel McElderry challenged the typical gym setup and created quite a reputation for himself. His 7 figure studio, now five years old, has won multiple awards for business excellence. Cabel has been recognized as one of the top 100 fitness entrepreneurs in North America and is currently one of 50 nominees for Optimum Nutrition's Canadian Trainer of the Year. He now mentors fitness professionals worldwide in an effort to help them achieve similar or better results than his own. Cabel's advice and writing can be found amongst some of the biggest blogs online and he is constantly called upon to offer his advice and strategies at some the largest fitness events worldwide. www.ProfitablePersonalTrainer.com
