It’s frustrating isn’t it?
You’re a great trainer, your clients love you, you get fantastic results and you have (what you think is) a great website to showcase your services with great graphics, great pictures and neat, jazzy logo’s and such and yet still you’re finding that despite your greatest efforts, you’re simply not getting any appreciable business.
Worse still, the small number of people who actually find your website in the first place don’t stay long enough to find out what you’re about or bother to follow up with a call, an email or anything remotely resembling interest.
What’s going wrong?
Why isn’t this site, that cost you a fair bit of your hard earned cash and tons of your even more valuable time actually delivering results for you?
I bet this is a question you’ve asked yourself HUNDREDS of times right? And you’re not alone.
Virtually every personal trainer I have ever coached has had the same problem and I receive thousands of emails a year from others who echo it too.
Well, I’ve never even seen your site but I guarantee you that if the above describes you then one or more of these 5 factors are contributing to the lack of traffic and lack of interest from your hottest prospects:
1. Your site lacks WIIFM factor –
When prospects arrive at your site the first thing they’re looking for a reason to either stay on your site or press ‘back’ on their browser toolbar. Like you, their time is precious and they simply want to know “What’s in it for me to stay on this page?”. Quite obvious really isn’t it?
So why is it then that 99% of personal trainers have their landing page all about themselves?
You know what I’m talking about. There’s a picture of themselves, usually in a tank top (!), and a list of their certifications, work experience and some inane or even INSANE drivel about how they promise to help.
Talk about lacking WIIFM factor!
Successful sites, those that get lots of traffic and people that actually take action as a result of visiting them tell the prospect UP FRONT what’s in it for them to stay by demonstrating clearly an understanding of their problem.
They don’t say ‘Bob’s 1-to-1 will get you fitter than you’ve ever been before’ they say ‘Have you tried every fad diet, every celebrity workout and bought every fitness gizmo off of the shopping channel and yet you’re STILL struggling to lose weight?’
See the difference?
The successful site understands what they prospect is going through and feeling and shows that understanding by describing the problem and coming up with a unique solution to it.
Does your site do this?
2. You don't attract prospects that would buy your product or service in the first place –
In short, you’re marketing to everyone, the entire world in the hope that, if you put out enough bait you’re bound to attract someone eventually right?
Wrong!
Put out bait for everyone and you’ll get no-one.
Why?
Because people want different things.
One wants golf conditioning, one wants weight loss, one wants to increase his jump. Sure, you might have the knowledge, skills and abilities to achieve all this and more but if you tell everyone this what are you saying?
How about “jack of all trades master of none”?
If you want golfers then build a site dedicated to golfers. If you want weight loss clients then build one for them. Likewise athletes.
Without adding a single certification or doing another minute of study you’ve moved into expert status and are much more likely to appear attractive in the eyes of your prospects and made it much more likely that those with a particular goal or interest will seek you out.
You doing this?
3. Your website doesn’t look professional –
Most fitness website look like they were put together overnight by a 6 year old.
They use uncomplimentary mixes of fonts, colors and graphics, cheesy stock photography or poorly framed digital pics that they took themselves and have navigation and page layouts that make the whole site look and feel ‘clumsy’ to navigate.
If this describes your site then you’ve got to know, this is simply killing your credibility as a professional!
It’s the internet equivalent of turning up to a top-notch business meeting in your working out clothes and muddy sneakers. You just wouldn’t be taken seriously would you?
The web is no different.
If you want to be seen as a professional then your Netiquette needs to be on the ball. Clean, crisp page layouts, professional fonts (NOT Comic sans), relevant or deliberately abstract graphics (but not a haphazard mix) and lots of ‘white space’ between sentences and paragraphs.
Also, keep your sentences shorter than normal as well as light and conversational in tone rather than using the grammar and punctuation you were taught in class.
Does your site look like this?
4. You don’t tell people your story –
Could you imagine walking into a bar and asking the first person you laid eyes on to marry you? Wouldn’t be very likely to a yes response would you?
So why do you try that approach with your website?
You know what I mean.
You simply post your services in a list that says ‘this is what I do and this is what I charge’. In effect, you’re proposing before they know anything about what you’re offering… and you’re wondering why people aren’t buying?!
A buying relationship isn’t really that different to any other relationship really. Simply spend some time building trust before you ask for their hand in marriage. Online (same as offline) you build that trust by telling your story.
Your story is not just WHAT you do but also WHY you do it, WHEN you found this out and HOW you have used it to generate better results for your clients.
When you tell their story to your prospects they trust you, they start to feel that they know you, they like you and they feel much more inclined to ‘give you their hand’.
Do you tell your story?
5. You don’t give people a reason to come back –
Chances are, a prospect won’t contact you from their first visit to your site.
They’re shopping. They’re looking around and they’re comparing you to all of the other trainers in your area to see who looks most up to the job. You most probably do the same right?
Now, if your site is like most trainers sites, it’s what I call a ‘static ad’. A few pictures, an ‘about me page’ and a list of services and fees. It’s a kind of online flyer with all the important facts about your business laid out for the world to see.
So, answer me this;
If I left your site to go off and compare yours service to that of the other trainers in your area, why would I need to come back? I mean, I already have your number and the prices right? Why do I need to come back?
They answer is; I don’t!
Worse still, because I don’t come back, I forget about you altogether!
You’ve GOT to have a ‘come back strategy’ for your site or you’re simply throwing your money away.
But what makes a person come back?
Information!
Information is the currency of the web and those who have the most and the best get the prize everytime.
You need new articles on a regular basis that demonstrate your knowledge, skills and abilities as a trainer and that give your prospect real, tangible, useful advice that they can use.
You need an permission item. Something of value that you’re willing to give for free in exchange for the permission to contact the prospect again.
Free reports, ebooks, audios, interviews and the like can be extremely valuable to helping prospects make their decision about who to work with and make it much easier for you to establish expert status in their eyes.
And the best thing is, in exchange for information you WANT them to read, you get their email address and permission to contact them again with other useful stuff. In other words, you’re not a spamming pest, you become a welcome guest!
Do you give your prospects a reason to come back?
It ‘Ain’t Rocket Science!
Look, none of this is exactly rocket science is it? I mean, all you have to do is look around the internet at the sites that YOU like, that YOU visit and that YOU re-visit and you’ll see that every single one of these points have been covered to great effect.
They tell you clearly what’s in it for them to keep reading.
They target specific prospects and talk to them about the problems that they’re facing.
They have a crisp, clean, professional look that is befitting of an expert in their field.
They tell the full story about what, when, why and how they provide their service and build a relationship of trust.
They create a reason to comeback, a reason to maintain the relationship and in doing so vastly increase their chances of eventually getting the client.
That’s it!
Forget meta tags, search engine optimization and all that other technical stuff for now, it’s not that important… yet. What is, is making sure that when a client finds you that they’ll hang around long enough to hear what you have to say and, like it.
Sounds simple and it is.
However, simple doesn’t always imply easy does it?
You’ve got to put some thought into this.
You’ve got to start treating your website as what it is… The front of your store!
Start today. Don’t delay. Don’t procrastinate.
Every day you wait is another client lost. Maybe more.
In less than a week from now you could and should have a website that actually enhances your business and generates an endless stream of clients.
But you have to start!
So start! : )
Dax Moy
www.personaltrainersuccessacademy.com
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