Something I learned back in my coaching days was that to be successful you either needed to be better or be different.

The ‘easy’ answer is to be better, but in reality it isn’t always so easy.

If someone is more established or has a bigger marketing budget they may be perceived as better.

And like it or not – for consumers, perception is reality for the most part.

My preference is to think beyond the obvious. To not settle for easy answers and not allow conventional wisdom to blind you.

Be willing to stray from the norm.

Forever, the status quo in the personal training world was:

  • Train clients one-on-one.
  • Sessions are an hour long.
  • Client pay by the session or buy packages of sessions.
  • Personal training was almost exclusively for the affluent.


Most of the successful fitness pros that I know have strayed from this norm by integrating some or all of the following into their businesses:

  • Semi-private training.
  • Group training or bootcamps.
  • 30 minute one-on-one sessions.
  • EFT billing and monthly payment plans.
  • Options that are affordable to not only the affluent.

If you’re reading this blog, that’s probably old news for you – wonderful!

So take it up a notch.

How else can you improve / grow your business by thinking beyond the obvious?

Steven Hope offers his clients the opportunity to buy a chance to win a year of training – raffle style – and probably doubles the revenue he’d normally generate from those sessions.

Steve Krebs used my fundraiser promotion and generated 120 new bootcamp leads this month.

But that’s just using our industry as an example.  Think outside of that.

Fed Ex borrowed the way banks processed checks and applied it to shipping – and revolutionized an industry.

Zappos took Nordstrom’s offline customer experience and applied it online to build an empire.

What can you do in your market – in this industry as a whole – that is different from the way it’s currently being done?

Think beyond the obvious and you might just be well on your way to building your own empire.

Do me a favor, share your favorite business idea, strategy or tactic – or just your favorite business – outside of the fitness industry below.

 

Dedicated to your success,

Pat Rigsby

Pat Rigsby is a Co-Owner of the International Youth Conditioning Association & the youth fitness franchise Athletic Revolution as well as a fitness industry consultant serving thousands of personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs. Sign up for his fitness business free newsletter to discover proven marketing, sales and business strategies, along with blog updates, news, and more! While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.

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