5 X 5 Report

5 Things you want to know about

Finding a job Marketing your services Trends in the industry Improving your professional skills Starting a business

A Special Report Brought to you by

Leading The Way

Finding a job
1. Treat finding a job like a full-time job Before you start looking for a job, schedule time on your calendar each week where you will spend time on your job search. Your time will be easily filled with searching and researching jobs, customizing your cover letters and resumes, practicing interview questions and performing your follow-ups. You will also want to take time contacting your network of professionals to see if they can provide leads for you on jobs and to keep your references up to date on your progress. Searching for jobs: look for industry-related websites, rarely will you find specialized jobs for exercise professionals on Career Builder, but still give it a look. Ask your networks if they have ideas for job opportunities as well. Researching jobs: for every job you apply for, you will want to do your homework on the company in case you get an on-the-spot phone interview. This will also come in handy as you prepare for an in-person interview. Keep a copy of this information in a folder with a copy of your resume for easy access. Its a good idea to have two copies of the same information, one to keep with you at all times and one to have at home. Customizing your cover letter and resume: your cover letter and resume should be customized towards the job responsibilities listed in the job posting; highlight the qualifications you have that align with what they are looking for in their applicants. Practice interview questions: not only should you be practicing the standard questions, but research online for what types of behavioral or situational questions that employers are now asking. A good interviewer will ask very few, if any, standard questions. Follow-ups: Phone, Mail and E-mail before and after each interview. 2. Communicate like you have the job Your future employer should fully understand your level of organization, follow through and commitment to a job, even before they bring you in for an interview. If the job application is on-line, also send a paper copy on white resume paper in a flat 8.5x11 envelope. Always include a customized cover letter. You can get an idea for the appropriate style from a resume book, but all the content should be your own. The interviewer will know within minutes if
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the cover letter was something you duplicated and it will likely result in a short interview and no second interview. I also recommend having one of your references write a letter of recommendation for you to include with your resume. This will go a long ways, especially if it isnt asked for in the job application. A week following your resume submission, follow-up with a phone call to make sure that the appropriate individual received your resume. If you are able to talk with them on the phone, ask if they have any questions about your resume or any preliminary questions about your qualifications for the job. Also, find out when they will start interviewing so you can plan ahead. Once you secure an interview, send them a thank you note ahead of time by mail (e-mail if the interview is the next day) and express your gratitude for the opportunity to interview with them and the company. Then following the interview, send a thank you by e-mail and by mail. 3. Set the stage for your professional life If you are looking for a job right out of college, your profile shouldnt represent it. Create a non-university e-mail address with a basic name hopewood@yourmail.com to use for your resume and to communicate with employers. Record your voicemail to sound professional, short and concise. All you need to say is your name and please leave a message. Most voicemails provide more information than a caller needs to know and if an employer is calling several people, they will be in a hurry and will appreciate a short message. Perform a search online for your name. If employers are able to access your social networking pages, revise the settings on your profile so that it is not accessible. If there are other individuals with your same name that an employer may find questionable it would be wise to address this in your preliminary phone call. 4. Know the company Find out the mission of the organization, information about the area you are applying for and any recent activity of the organization. A great way to find out recent initiatives is to search the companys website or online for press releases about the company. Create a document (for preparation purposes) that matches your qualifications with the initiatives of the organization.

Often you will be asked to provide feedback about what a company can do better. This question is near impossible unless you have done your homework. It can be deal breaker if you are vague with this response or if you dont have an answer for their question. It is a good idea to put notes about the company into your business folder to reference in case you have an answer prepared but cant remember it on the spot. 5. Dance with the interviewer When appropriate, find out more about your interviewer. They will appreciate talking about themselves and you might find that you have a common interest that you can talk about. Opportunities for this interaction are the walk to the interview room, as you are waiting for others to join you for the interview or on the walk out to the lobby. While you are in the interview, adapt your style to the interviewers techniques. Even though you may have canned answers for questions, listen to how the question is asked and respond accordingly. A newer technique for an interview is to ask two questions back to back. Make sure that you answer each question. It is a good idea to write them down so that you dont have to worry about forgetting to answer one of them and that you answer the question they ask. If you find that your interviewers eye contact or body style changes during your response, dont get nervous. Ask them if your response answered their question. If they say no and rephrase, you have a second chance to answer. Hope Wood, MA, ACSM-HFS Hope is . . . . .

Marketing your services

1. Identify your ideal clients While it may seem as if anyone could be a potential client, it is very important to zero-in on a primary group of people you want to serve, and understand who they are and what makes them tick. The better you understand them, the more you can understand how your services fit into their lives. You need to identify the specific health and fitness challenges they are facing so you can address these challenges and how you can help solve them in your marketing. Here are a few things to think about and questions you can ask yourself to help you pick your ideal clients. Think about your experience and education. Who are you best suited to serve? Who can benefit most from what you have to offer? Who would you most enjoy working with? Once you identify this group of ideal clients, youll want to make sure you have a good profile of exactly who they are so you can target your marketing to them. Are they primarily male or female? How old are they? Where do they live? What type of work do they do? What is their economic status or household income level? What level of education do they have? What is their family structure? What are their lifestyle habits? Where do they find information and help on health and fitness? Once you have gathered all of this information you will be able to market to them more effectively because you will know where you can find them and you will be able to craft a marketing message that speaks directly to their problems and how you can solve them.

2. Develop a unique brand Your first question may be, what exactly is a brand? Some people mistakenly think their logo or their business name is their brand, but your logo and business name are just two representations of your brand. Your brand is everything you do and say with regard to your business. It is the idea your prospects and clients hold in their mind about you. Its what you are known for. Now, you may think that branding is just for big businesses. However it is even more important for you as an independent fitness professional. Why? Because you need a memorable image that will separate you from all the other fitness professionals out there, and that your prospects can hang onto. And you dont have millions of dollars to buy that awareness. The best way to create your own unique personal brand is to first identify what is special about you or your business. What do you stand for? Is there anything that
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stands out about your personality or the way you do business? What do you feel strongly about? How do you do business differently from other fitness professionals? Is there a special process you use? Is there a special way you work with people? What is your business really about? After you ask yourself these questions, see if you can come up with a business name or a label to represent this. Make sure that you represent your brand and what you stand for in all of your marketing, in the way you dress, in the way you structure your services, and in the way you do everything related to your business. A few well-known personal brands you may be familiar with include Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. Whether you like them or not, you absolutely know what they stand for because they portray a consistent image in all they do. That is your goal with your brand.

3. Consistently get your message out in various ways One of the most important keys in successfully marketing yourself is to make sure you market consistently. In most cases, being exposed to your marketing message one time will not move a prospect to take action. It usually takes repeated exposures. A very basic rule is between three and 10 message exposures before a person will take action. So you want to make sure your prospects are seeing, hearing or somehow being exposed to you or your marketing message at least three to 10 times. That means you dont want to run an ad just one time it wont be effective. If you plan to advertise, make sure you run at least three consecutive ads. The easiest way to build up this level of consistent exposure in a short amount of time is to use a variety of marketing activities to get your message out. Think about all the ways you could reach your ideal clients and put together a 12-month marketing schedule that includes at least three to four different marketing activities used consistently all year long. For example, you may do speaking engagements, write and publish articles, advertise, and publish a monthly newsletter. If all of these activities are focused on reaching your ideal clients, they will be exposed to you and your message over and over again and they will be much more likely to hire you. 4. Build your list One of the biggest mistakes people make when marketing is trying to make the sale on the first contact. This is like asking someone to marry you on the first date. It doesnt make much sense. Before someone is going to hire you, they first need

to get to know, like and trust you. And the way to do that is to build a prospect list and maintain regular communication with the people on that list. There are many ways to automate this lead generation and qualification process to make it easy. The first thing you need is a website with an offer for free information to anyone who provides you with their email address. For example, you could write a short special report on fitness, or you could put together a list of fitness tips, or even provide a self-assessment questionnaire. You promote this on your website and encourage people to register to receive the free gift. Once they sign up, you now have a prospect that has raised his hand and indicated he is interested in what you have to offer. Your job now is to maintain email communication with that prospect so he can get to know you better. You can do this by publishing a regular e-newsletter. Using an email service such as www.Aweber.com will make this process easy to manage and will allow you to send personalized emails to everyone on your list with the push of a button. Your marketing then focuses on driving people to your website to register for your free gift. You use your marketing to build your list, and you use your email marketing to build a relationship with those on your list and to promote your services. This two-step marketing process of lead generation and lead conversion is a much more effective way to market and in time you will have developed a large list of qualified prospects that can sustain your business for years to come.

5. Follow up Follow up Follow up Very often people believe their job of marketing is over once they get the client. In truth, acquiring the prospect or the client is just the first step. As we discussed in Tip #4, you want to focus your marketing on building an email list of interested prospects. Once you start building that list your most important marketing task is to communicate frequently with the people on that list. That means you want to share valuable tips and information with them on a regular basis via a weekly or monthly e-newsletter. You want to let them know when you have a new program they might be interested in, or when you are offering a special promotion. Your goal is to stay in consistent communication with everyone on your list so they remember who you are, so when they are ready to buy they think of you first. But you dont want to limit your follow-up to just your prospects. Its also important to maintain communication with your current and past clients. Weve all heard the adage that its easier to keep an existing client than to get a new one, but how many of us actually follow a practice to make the most of our existing clients? Stay in touch with current and past clients with your e-newsletter, with birthday or holiday cards, by offering them special VIP discounts or advance
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notice of new programs. Treat them well and stay in touch with them and they will be more likely to come back and work with your again, and to refer others to you. Do this well and it is possible to keep your business filled with clients through repeat business and referrals, for years to come. Debbie LaChusa Debbie is the owner of DLC Marketing, Inc., a marketing consulting firm, and its subsidiary 10stepmarketing where she provides coaching and home study courses to help solo-professionals market themselves more effectively. Debbie has spoken on marketing at meetings and conventions worldwide, her advice is featured in Entrepreneur Magazines How to Start a Personal Training Business and she has written and published over 140 articles on marketing. Debbie is also on the faculty of Wellcoaches Corporation where she has taught over 600 coaches how to build and market their new businesses. You may register for a free marketing plan template and free monthly marketing tips and advice at www.10stepmarketing.com

Trends in the industry

1. Personal Training The profession of personal training has increasingly become more of a reality and a necessity as it becomes accessible to more people in all aspects of the health/fitness industry. No longer is the Personal Trainer relegated to the commercial side of the health club business. Practically everywhere you look there is a Personal Trainer present. Personal training climbed to No. 3 from No. 7 between 2007 and 2008 and remains at No. 3 for 2009 in a recent ACSM survey of fitness trends. In the last couple of years, much attention has been paid to the education and certification of personal trainers. In at least two states (Massachusetts and Georgia), legislation has been introduced to license personal trainers. An associated trend is for health fitness personnel to graduate from accredited academic programs through the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), and to be certified by a national organization that is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). 2. Wellness Coaching This is a trend to incorporate behavioral science into health promotion programs. Wellness coaching uses a one-on-one approach, with the coach providing support, guidance, and encouragement. The wellness coach focuses on the clients values, needs, vision, and goals. Some people would argue (although ineffectively) that wellness coaching is just a spin-off of personal training and that there is just a very short step between someone calling themselves a Personal Trainer or a Wellness Coach. The effective Coach is specially trained in identifying barriers to wellness and allowing the client to identify ways to overcome those barriers. This is much different than a Personal Trainer providing effective exercise training advice. 3. Specialized Fitness Training for the Young and Old For the first time in the history of mankind (or at least since these kinds of records have been kept), the next generation of young people may not live as long as their parents or grandparents. It should be no surprise that health fitness practitioners see the problem of childhood obesity and its co-morbidities as an opportunity to make a significant impact on this growing health problem. The health and fitness industry has recognized this problem. All sectors of the health and fitness industry can benefit (as will their clients or patients) by developing health and fitness programs for children at risk for being overweight or obese. Likewise, there is a trend that emphasizes and caters to the older adult. As the baby boom generation

becomes grayer, and because they may have more discretionary money than their younger counterparts, fitness clubs can capitalize on this growing market. 4. The Medical Community Responds This is a trend toward a growing emphasis being placed on physician referrals to fitness professionals; partnerships with the medical community, resulting in seamless referrals to the health and fitness facility. There are probably two things happening simultaneously that make this trend important for those seeking an exercise program once their physician says, You need to get more exercise. As health fitness professionals become increasingly better educated and attain a recognized certification they can more easily become part of the health care team. Second, while physicians have long recognized the importance of regular exercise, few of them knew how to prescribe it. The trend is for physicians and Personal Trainers to become partners in the delivery of exercise programs for their patients. 5. Comprehensive Health Promotion Programming at the Worksite and Worker Incentive Programs This is a trend toward a range of programs and services provided to improve the health of workers integrated with systems to support the evaluation and reporting of their impact on health, costs, and productivity. This trend creates incentive programs to stimulate health behavior change as part of employer-based health promotion programming and health care benefit design. The health fitness industry should take note of this trend because of the thousands of small companies that employ less than 20 people who can take advantage of discounted memberships at commercial clubs or can use the community fitness center as a worker incentive to create meaningful lifestyle changes.

Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, FAACVPR, is a Regents Professor of exercise science in the Department of Kinesiology and Health (College of Education) at Georgia State University where he has a second academic appointment in the Division of Nutrition (School of Health Professions, College of Health and Human Sciences). He has lectured on health promotion and fitness topics in 22 countries on five continents. He has recently served on the Board of Trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine and was twice elected a member of its Administrative Council. He is currently serving as the Chairperson of the ACSM American Fitness IndexTM Advisory Board and Chairperson of the NSF International Joint Committee on Health Fitness Facilities Standards.

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Improving your professional skills

1. Listen until you dont exist Wellcoaches, Inc. Now, more than ever, personal trainers have to create value for their customers. I use the word customer instead of client to remind us that these people do have a choice: they have not signed exclusive agreements, and can take their business elsewhere. Its up to you, the fitness professional to give that customer the most value for their dollar. Are you really listening, or are you just nodding your head? Have you ever been listening to a client, only to realize that you just zoned out on the last 30 seconds of what she was saying? Wellcoaches, Inc. says, Listening is a skill, but active listening is really a demonstration of an attitude of caring toward another person. Its difficult to shelve your own thoughts and interests and become fully attentive to another person, but it can make an enormous difference in the level of trust and connection you foster with that person, as well as the quality and relevance of the program you create. Listen with your whole body and give the customer your full attention. Lean in, empty your mind of everything but what she is saying, and be sure you understand before you move on. 2. Positive, positive, positive Two of the greatest gifts you can give your clients are higher self-efficacy and improved self esteem. Customers come to us as trainers for many reasons, but as behavior change agents, it is important that these two elements are not ignored. With the help of a few coaching tactics, you can introduce positive psychology into your session, instantly increasing your effectiveness and your value. Self efficacy is related to self esteem, but whereas self esteem is more about happiness and self-worth, self efficacy is about the ability to sustain the positive changes the client has made. Wellcoaches, Inc. suggests asking clients to share stories of how they have been successful at something else that required perseverance and discipline. Many times this technique will help them realize that they do have the internal strength to be successful; theyve done it before! For the client that has struggled to achieve his or her goal, it will be important to acknowledge success as it occurs. Setting some milestones toward the goal can be very effective toward this end. Make sure you acknowledge and celebrate each milestone as it occurs, and minimize the emphasis on setbacks. Focusing on what is positive in the clients progress can and will often lead to further success.

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3. Be organized In 2009, clients expect much more out of their personal trainers than they did just 10 years ago. The personal trainer is now more appropriately referred to as fitness professional. The days of gym rats counting sets and reps are long gone. The expectations of the 21st century fitness professional are much higher. Strong organizational skills must be in the fitness professionals DNA if he or she wants to be successful. From managing his schedule, to creating systematic, deliberate program progressions, to ensuring that his monthly revenue allows him to pay his bills and make a living, this new professional must stay organized to manage his business and his clients effectively. The following tips will help you organize your business: Carry your schedule with you at all times. You never know when a casual conversation could turn into a session sold. Make a to-do list, and be sure you follow-up on phone calls and emails within 24 hours, no matter what. Plan your programs before your sessions, ensuring appropriate progression and content based on the clients assessment results and goals Schedule a reminder in your calendar for follow-up assessments to ensure the client is staying on track to achieve her goals. Track payment due dates and payments to ensure you can pay your bills and save for the future! A little organization goes a long way toward providing great service for your clients and efficient time management for yourself! 4. Exceed Expectations Even in good economic times, customers are looking for value. Providing a tough workout is only part of the equation. By building a relationship on trust and follow-through, your clients will learn they can depend on you. But youll need more than that to hold on to them when money is tight. What can you do to build even more value into the training relationship and exceed their expectations? Consider a full-service salon versus a basic barber shop. What amenities can you offer that the competition does not? You might consider emailing clients during the week with an uplifting motivational message if their issue is staying on track. You might give a small gift card when they refer a friend to you, or a free session on their birthday. Maybe you can provide an assessment summary with graphs of showing the clients progress from the beginning and end of a series of sessions.

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The goal is to make the experience of being your client feel like an incredible deal without breaking your bank. Just a little extra effort can go a long way in making a client feel cared for, appreciated and working with you for years to come! 5. Consider the Why How many times have you completed a goal-setting session with a client who wants to lose weight and tone-up? It is tempting assume that all clients who declare weight loss goals are the same. But what if you got more curious? Its a fact that one of the top reasons people seek a personal trainer is to lose weight, but what if you didnt stop there? If you ask questions in the spirit of interest and curiosity, you may find that there are deeper, more meaningful objectives for the average weight loss client, well beyond weight loss. Consider exploring questions such as, why now? and when you lose this weight, what will your life be like? or when you have lost this weight, what do you see yourself doing? Questions such as these help both the trainer and the client to complete the picture. A word of caution: some why questions can feel accusatory such as, why did you do that? You will need to word your questions carefully, so that your client does not become defensive. With experience, you can transform a monotonous goal setting session into a self-discovery experience for the client and a valuable informational session for yourself. Margaret Moore/Coach Meg, MBA, is the Founder & CEO of Wellcoaches Corporation, a strategic partner of the ACSM, widely recognized as setting a gold standard for professional coaches in healthcare and wellness. She is Co-Director of the Institute of Coaching, at McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School and co-directs the annual Coaching in Leadership & Healthcare Conference offered by Harvard Medical School. She co-authored the ACSMendorsed Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Coaching Psychology Manual, the first coaching textbook in healthcare and the Harvard Health Book published by Harlequin: Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life.

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Starting a business
1. Write a Comprehensive Business Plan to Secure Financing Any new business requires capital to finance start-up costs and operating expenses until revenues begin to equal expenses. Without adequate financing, the business may never get off the ground. In order to secure financing with a bank or investment group, you must submit a business plan. The business plan will include every last detail about your proposed business entity. These sections include but are not limited to: demographic data, marketing plan, competition, 3-year financial projections, and start-up expenses. This plan is a document bound together to provide potential investors with an overview of the businesses financial viability. This step is critical to getting your business off the ground. 2. Create Business Entity - (Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, LLC, etc.) Its important to consider the structure of your business from both a legal perspective and control standpoint. While you have the most control in a sole proprietorship, your personal assets and the business are viewed as one in the same under the eyes of the law. This means you run the risk of losing everything if the business goes in the tank. A partnership is often a productive route from a risk management standpoint, but youll be forced to compromise and share control of the company with another individual. A Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) is an excellent tool for dividing up ownership among a group of investors. Each investor purchases a percentage of ownership depending on the amount of capital they provide. The LLC also limits the personal risk exposure of the members and thus, makes an attractive option. 3. Develop & Execute a Strategic Marketing Timeline Once youve secured financing and organized your business structure, you should begin to execute your planned marketing strategy. This specific timeline of events should have been set forth in your business plan with minor adjustments. In order to create an effective timeline, work backward from your grand opening day. List the various tasks that need to be completed on each day and delegate responsibility to any employees you may have. Its important to stay organized and to follow -up with potential leads that develop during the marketing process. Remember, the goal of marketing is to attract perspective customers. Once you attract them, its up to you and your staff to help them understand why they should buy your product or service.

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4. Train Quality New Hires on Your Business Mission & Vision Staff quality is possibly the single-most important factor relating to business success in service industries. The fitness business is not nearly as much about equipment, facilities, or technology as it is about people. From your sales staff to first-line managers to the locker-room attendants, your staff must all believe in your mission and vision for the organization. Spend a good deal of time attracting, interviewing, and training your staff members. While costly on the front end, an outstanding employee will payoff many times over. 5. "Walk the Walk" as the Leader of Your Organization Whether you run a company with 2 employees or one with 200, remember that your employees are always looking to you for leadership. They will treat people how you treat them and they will behave as you behave. If you train your employees to provide outstanding customer service, its imperative that you do the same. Spend time with customers and employees as often as possible. Absentee leaders, no matter how many phone calls they make, are nowhere near as effective as those who are in the trenches. Make sure your employees know that youve performed any duty you ask them to perform. This builds trust, respect, and fosters a positive working environment for staff and management alike.

Matthew Parrott, Ph.D., is the Principal Partner of H-P Fitness, L.L.C. in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Parrott has held a variety of positions within the fitness industry including personal trainer, fitness director, business owner, and everything in between. He has published research in the field of Exercise Adherence and has held an academic appointment as a Professor of Health/Fitness Management. Dr. Parrott lives in Kansas City with his wife, Katie, where he owns and operates fitness centers while maintaining a busy consulting schedule.

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