It has been my pleasure to work with over 150 fitness professionals in my fitness business mentorship program this past year. As a business coach, I help my clients set goals, develop a plan, implement sound marketing strategies, and take their businesses to the next level online. I have been a part of the fitness industry for 10 years, and it has changed drastically over the years.

Here are my Top 5 Tips For Trainers in 2015.

1. Take your business online. It makes me smile when a mentoree remarks that social media marketing or online training is the future of personal training. Those who think an online business is the future, are already behind. It’s the present, and it’s been the present for a few years now. I was one of the first trainers to start online training and I’ve enjoyed the pleasure of working with clients all over the world, and scaling my business in a way that I never could in the gym.

2. Provide options to your clients. When a prospective client fills out the information request form on my site, I quickly learn more about their goals and then recommend one of a few options to meet their needs. If you only have one program or one way of training, you will leave many clients needing more.

3. Capitalize on programs that you know clients are already trying or hoping to try. Did you know that out of the Top 10 workout trends of 2014, 5 are BeachBody programs? Insanity, T25, PiYo, Body Beast, and P90X. This year I decided to capitalize, and start Team INSPIRE. I am now able to offer these programs as part of my online training, and as a result, I’m generating around $600 per week in extra income.

4. Be a good coach. Clients can find information anywhere: YouTube, Google, magazines. We are living in a freemium culture and information avalanche online. You must provide value to your clients that goes beyond technical information. Are you a good coach? Do you know how to encourage, to inspire, and to motivate your clients to work toward a goal that is bigger than themselves?

5. Be living proof. It sometimes baffles me when a trainer in my mentorship program tells me they have no helpful tips or content to share online. That usually indicates one of two problems. 1) My mentoree is not planning ahead and therefore does not have a strategy for online content, or 2) My mentoree is not living proof that a healthy lifestyle is vital. If someone is not working out or eating healthy day in and day out, they will not last for very long in the industry. A consistent healthy lifestyle is key.

Here is a great resource for my PT friends — The Top 10 PT articles in 2014.

If you are curious about how to start-up and successfully scale an online PT business, how to become a certified personal trainer for $148 via my partnership with the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers, or you would like information about joining my Team INSPIRE, please fill out the request form below. Let’s work together to make this world a healthier place one person at a time.