How to Become an Online Personal Trainer
With the popularity of exercising at home, many are wondering how to become an online personal trainer. However, we understand the amount of information needed to get started can be overwhelming.
Contents:
- Step 1: Qualify As A Personal Trainer
- Step 2: Find The Right PT Course Provider
- Step 3: Choose Your Speciality As An Online Personal Trainer
- Step 4: Choose The Right Platform For Your Online PT Business
- Step 5: Secure Your First Online Personal Training Clients
- Step 6: Expand Your Online Personal Training Clients List
Ready to start a new career or change your current one? Enquire about our Personal Trainer Diploma now or download our course prospectus to see exactly what we offer.
About the Role of an Online Personal Trainer
Before we break down the steps on how to become an online personal trainer, let’s explore the job!
One of the biggest roles for any personal trainer online or in-person is to design and deliver bespoke training programmes to support clients in reaching their short and long-term goals.
Depending on the kind of service you offer as an online PT, you might also spend time performing weekly check-ins and creating marketing materials for your social media.
Many PTs work early mornings, evenings, and weekends to fit around clients schedules and complete the roles and responsibilities of a personal trainer. These hours will differ for online personal trainers, but we’ll get to that later.
Although the average personal trainer salary is around €19,337, this varies depending on factors such as:
- Number of hours worked
- Number of clients
- Amount of experience
It can therefore be difficult to calculate an ‘average salary’, but as an online PT you will have direct control over how much you charge, as you will be setting your prices.
Become a Master Personal Trainer With OriGym Continue attracting new online clients with our range of Level 4 Personal Training Courses!
Step 1: Qualify As A Personal Trainer
To become a personal trainer online in Ireland, two qualifications are required:
Once completing these courses, you will:
Qualify as a Fitness Instructor and use this as a stepping stone to enrol on a Level 3 Personal Trainer course and work towards becoming a certified one.
Become a fully qualified Personal Trainer, with all the necessary skills and knowledge required for designing & delivering bespoke training programmes and working with clients on a 1-on-1 basis.
However, the most affordable and quickest way to get qualified is with a Personal Training Diploma, which combines both the Level 3 and Level 4 qualifications.
Whatever course you decide on, you must check they’re accredited by CIMSPA and regulated by an Ofqual-approved awarding body such as Focus Awards.
CIMSPA is the professional body for sport and physical activity. They ensure fitness professionals qualify with a high level of knowledge by working with awarding bodies and course providers.
Ofqual is responsible for regulating England’s vocational qualifications. These regulations ensure any Level 4 Personal Trainer provides the same high level of training regardless of the course provider.
Step 2: Find The Right PT Course Provider
One of the biggest factors when it comes to your studying experience and your future career prospects is the vocational training provider you decide on.
Some questions potential students should ask themselves include:
- What study methods are available to me? Course providers may have the option to study entirely online, fulltime, or parttime. Here at OriGym, we offer all three to allow our students to decide on the most suitable study method for them.
- What post-course support do they have? A course provider that offers plenty of support after qualifying means you’ll find it easier to get your foot in the door when you enter the industry. As a result of our range of free career services, we have the highest work placement rate among competitors. This includes CV analysis and distribution, as well as opportunities for interviews.
- What do past students say about the provider? Potential students should check out reviews on websites such as Trustpilot and Google Reviews to have an insight into the experience of previous students.
Step 3: Choose Your Speciality As An Online Personal Trainer
After completing your Level 4 Personal Trainer and gaining practical experience, a couple of questions you should ask yourself include:
- Who do I want my potential clients to be?
- What services do I want to offer?
There are various CPD Fitness Courses available to online personal trainers, such as:
Not only will these courses deepen your skills and knowledge, they allow you to carve out your own niche. When you become an online personal trainer, you need to separate yourself from others by offering something they don’t.
For example, by offering boxing and pad work, you can target amateur boxing clients as well as general fitness enthusiasts.
Ben Malton is an example of an online personal trainer who offers a range of services, such as fitness training, nutrition coaching, and health & lifestyle advice. Ben uses his knowledge to help clients with health issues, going beyond just fitness:
The bottom line is, when deciding on what you want to focus on as an online personal trainer, you should consider what you’re most passionate about and build your service around this.
Step 4: Choose The Right Platform For Your Online PT Business
For those wondering how to become an online personal trainer in Ireland, there are two ways you can offer your services to clients:
- Operate from a website
- Operate from social media
To ensure you reach as many potential clients as possible, you should use a combination of social media as well as your own website.
You should clearly outline your pricing packages when you create your website and start advertising your services on social media.
#1 - Operating From a Website as an Online Personal Trainer
For those wondering how to make a personal training website, it’s important to set up vital features to attract clients and make them take action to use your service.
Important website features to include are:
CTA Buttons
These are ‘Call to Action’ buttons, prompts used on a website to make visitors perform a specific action. An example of these can be seen on the website of CW Fitness:
As you can see, buttons such as ‘ENQUIRE’ and ‘START NOW’ command or persuade visitors to take further action.
Enquire Page
To have a successful personal training website, you need to have an enquiry or contact page. This gives potential clients a direct way to contact you to let them know they’re interested.
You can use this page to schedule a consultation meeting to discuss prices and the services they want from you.
Use a Landing Page
Essentially, a landing page is a single webpage where you can provide an overview of your work and success with training people. You can also include a section for potential clients to enter enquiries and contact details.
These pages can be easily linked to or advertised through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Become a Master Personal Trainer With OriGym Continue attracting new online clients with our range of Level 4 Personal Training Courses!
#2 - Using Social Media as an Online Personal Trainer
Having a social media page for your service means you can:
- Advertise your online programmes
- Share success stories
- Reach out to a greater number of people
As platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are built with communication in mind, it’s important to utilise these features to be a successful online personal trainer.
By posting regularly, you can promote your service and show social media users how effective your online personal training is. For example, take a look at the Instagram of online personal trainer GymWolfPT below:
This page keeps visitors engaged by providing tips, advice, and real-life testimonials to not only attract clients but boost the credibility of their service.
Step 5: Secure Your First Online Personal Training Clients
When you become a personal trainer online, it’s important to spend time marketing your business and utilising these online platforms. We have plenty of personal trainer marketing strategies for you to read about in more detail!
#1 - Gain Experience Before You Become an Online Personal Trainer
Although your goal is to be an online personal trainer, it’s important to gain experience working in a gym or fitness centre. This helps you understand how to effectively train clients before taking your service online.
It also means you can start your service with a handful of loyal clients who can then refer your training to others, rather than having to start from scratch.
#2 - Reach Out to Potential Online PT Clients
Don’t be afraid to reach out and message new followers or those who interact with your posts!
As an online personal trainer, you will largely gain clients virtually, meaning you need to utilise your social media.
Just be sure to keep your message concise and to the point, asking potential clients about their training or goals. If they’re looking to lose weight or train, ask if they’re interested in you training them online.
#3 - Offer Packages as an Online Personal Trainer
This is a great way to build a base and gain an idea of how many clients you will be training. Monthly packages are also your best option as they don’t come with an end date, meaning clients won’t need to subscribe again, they can simply set up a direct debit.
When creating these packages you should try to keep things as simple as possible, which is why we recommend giving your clients 3 possible options. Naturally, the more sessions someone wants the more they will have to pay, like in our example below:
This is important for attracting clients to buy more classes, even if they’ll be getting them for slightly cheaper.
Step 6: Expand Your Online Personal Training Clients List
Simply put, the more clients you have, the more income you’ll make! As an online personal trainer, you’ll want to continually gain clients and there are various ways to do this.
Once you have a website and social media, it’s important to continue optimising your website for ranking purposes. Make sure the information on your website is utilised to help users find your services, which is crucial to set you apart from the crowd.
You should also be sure to post regular updates and results on your social media to show you’re still actively seeking new clients.
You can also increase your client list by gaining additional qualifications such as CPD Fitness Courses and Level 4 Personal Training Courses. By having more specialised qualifications, you can attract a greater number of clients and carve out your own niche.
Another way to gain clients is through personal trainer referrals. You can ask for referrals from existing clients by incentivizing them. For example, you might offer free or discounted sessions for each new client who signs up.
Our guide about how to get personal training clients as a personal trainer explores this in more detail, with 17 strategies to get new clients!
Ready to Start Your Career as a Personal Trainer?
OriGym specialises in supporting both experienced and aspiring fitness professionals to reach their career goals.
For more information on our range of health and fitness courses, enquire about our Personal Trainer Diploma or download our course prospectus here.