20 Tips to More Midlife Fitness Clients Post Pandemic | #319

She Means Fitness Business

If you’re working with midlife women and love solving the problems of insomnia, weight gain, and belly fat with exercise modifications made for menopause, and want more midlife fitness clients… or health coaching clients… this is for you.

00:00

You already realize that the time of day a woman exercises may determine how her hormones respond. She can improve or devastate her hormone status by the time of day she exercises.

You’re probably already advising women about the difference between lifting weights and lifting them according to bone building and metabolism-boosting methods for women.

But… you aren’t as certain about how to help more women. You wonder how to market more effectively so that you can make a bigger difference. Buckle that seat belt, lace up your shoes, and let’s go.

1) 04:02 Become the expert – education above and beyond

Nothing comes before this. You’ve got to have the goods as much for yourself as anyone. When you know you know and you have something to say, your voice is strong. If your voice is soft, you lack confidence because of what someone will think, double down on education.

But not to a fault. Here’s where trainers get stuck in overcompensating for some feeling they aren’t enough by taking more and more courses and certifications. That isn’t going to fill up a confidence hole. If you need a coach, get a coach. Work on you and your personal sense of self. Know which kind of education and training you need before you go investing in something that will never help you over the real problem.

2) 06:10 Create relationships with experts

The doctors, dentists in your community, and coaches and authors online that serve your audience are golden resources for you (and you are for them). Connect with them, serve them. Like and comment and share their posts if you agree with them. That puts you on their radar. Ask to do a “live” with them on social and answer audience questions. (There’s a way to do this that sets you up for success).

Once you connect by serving and giving, you can explore opportunities for referrals or affiliate promotions.

3) 07:16 Leverage social media (don’t waste it)

When you have a message they need and are looking for, use it! Avoid common mistakes like incorrect use of hashtags, failure to warm up your feed before posting, and more. Are you aware of platform secrets for engagement?

4) 07:51 Avoid pitching on social media

The fastest way to kill your social media success is share programs, use it like an “ad” for your webinar when it’s not an ad. (Paid ads are fine). Your organic reach is going to be stifled by that.

5) 08:54 Build your email list

If you aren’t working on this daily with a juicy freebie you should be. Here’s how.

There’s both the science of knowing how to help when you get them. There’s the art of knowing who you work best with and who you repel. I gladly give client leads to our Flipping50 Fitness Specialists when I know they aren’t the right match for me. There is an abundance of midlife fitness clients who need help. Be open to the idea you’re not for everyone and that acknowledging that will bring you more business in the end.

6) 11:18 Send consistently valuable emails

Once a week is minimum. If you just called your best friend once a week, would that be a little weird? Consider bumping it up to two and see what happens. Valuable means, though, not a sales pitch every time. If that’s all it is, most of us will say no thanks and hit delete or at least never read really fast.

7) 12:44 Get media exposure

Every local news station needs news to fill their programming every day. If you have news, and it’s not your book or program or business, but real news you can talk about, and it’s timely and relevant, they’re interested.

What recent research study is relevant to your work and their audience. By the way, women in midlife are often still watching the news on TV, so go for it. It’s not actually the appearance on the news, it’s what you do with it after that matters.

8) Write or present for the industry

There are a dozen industry conferences that you can apply to speak at and share your expertise. If you have something special you’ve done and can teach other trainers and health coaches to do: a special workout, grown your social media, made X $ with a specific marketing strategy… it’s worthy of an application. If you’ve formed great relationships with physical therapists and have a unique referral process, that’s something other professionals can benefit from. I started teaching trainers the difference between coaching boundaries vs personal training back in 2000 and I’ve been presenting at major associations like IDEA, CanfitPro, NSCA, MedFit, FILEX, SCW and Club Industry, and Fitness Fest, ever since. It just takes one good idea and one conference to get started.

9) Make one call every day

This is the easiest way on earth to gain clients. Few trainers or health coaches will do it. Recently a coach said to me, “How will I get to [$$$$ amount she wanted]?” and I said, “Are you still making the daily calls?” No. It had been less than 2 weeks. When you ask for help, you’re given help, you have a choice. Fewer than 2% follow through. Nine out of 10 fitness businesses still go out of business or it’s still a hobby taking a loss at tax time 5 years later.

10) Be your brand

Work on your personal presentation in public. Look, I lived in a relatively small town before college, then moved to a college town that after 30 years had become pretty small. Everyone knew me everywhere I went. Then I moved to Boulder and then Scottsdale.

I loved the anonymity… until… I’m in line at Walgreens (and again at the airport to board) and a woman says, “Do you have a website?” or “You look just like someone I follow online.” I can’t make this up. In both cases, also can’t make this up… it had been a busy day in business and I slapped on a visor and had not yet showered. No make-up, just getting done what I had to do.

My point? I was not “representing” either of those times. In fact, was hoping to fly under the radar and not be recognized. But you don’t get to choose. So, make sure you are comfortable if it happens. (I’ve decided I am. I go on camera that way too. The message for me is more important than me getting made up and pretending I’m perfect. But you may not be. So, if you are the spokesperson for your business, decide).

One of the best organic sources of traffic for me was YouTube videos for 8 years. Until, that is the pandemic and everyone is on YouTube because there wasn’t another best choice. However, the foundation you lay there will support your efforts. While consistency isn’t a fast game it is always the best game. Call someone daily… no one does. Do videos 2 or 3 times a week… and keep doing it. No one does. You will win.

11) Talk About the Pandemic

Listen, this is stupid. Few trainers and health coaches are using this in marketing strategies and it’s ridiculous. Get on it. The problems today are not the same as problems pre-pandemic. Acknowledge it and offer a solution.

12) Offer free presentations to women’s groups

Every women’s group has a presentation almost as often as they have a meeting. Generally, it’s a monthly occurrence and often it’s during nine months of the year excluding summer. There may be holiday months off, but that’s 8 opportunities for you to let it be known that you can talk about exercise motivation, benefits of [your type of training], or bone density, for example.

13) Team up with organizations (for charity)

Charity events are held annually in every town and city and online. Find ones that resonate with your midlife fitness clients. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, American Heart or Cancer related events are a good start. Your local hospital and auxiliary are others. Be present to demonstrate how exercise or wellness reduces risk or improves outcomes. You can get in front of an audience who care about health and about community.

14) Get on video

On social media, on your website pages and anywhere you can do it, video is the easiest way to do what you do best. You teach, explain, and design exercise programs that are effective. Or as a coach you provide clarity and support to clients making changes. Capture it on video and then share it (market it).

15) Write a book

Anyone can write a book today. The barrier to self-publishing is low. Once you write it, it’s about marketing it shamelessly to get it in as many hands as possible. A book (well done) immediately builds credibility. That includes references, expert interviews, story, and reviewers. The complete process is not a quick fix but you can flesh out your outline for a home run book quickly if you really know your customer.

Link to 5 Day Flip: https://www.flippingfifty.com/midlife-clients

More midlife fitness clients (or health coaching clients) come from the trail that leads them to you. When they get there, it’s about your voice. Are you speaking the same rate as they are, making them feel more relaxed and confident they’ve found the answer? Test your voice, your literal voice. If it sounds childlike or is hard to listen to, you can change it with practice.

16) Trademark your system

You should have a unique method, system or protocol that is proven to work. You want to have clients who can give testimonials that it’s worked for them. You want to create video about why you created it. You want to talk about a single step in a presentation and mention this is just one of 5 (or 3 or 4) that you have.

17) Define your niche and stick to it

The mistake most trainers make is thinking they can serve anybody and that getting specific will narrow their reach. The opposite is true. You won’t attract anybody with “everybody” messages. If a reader, viewer, or listener doesn’t see themselves in you and your message, they aren’t going to take the next step.

18) Make it easy to start

Reduce the barrier. That might be free something or a money-back guarantee.

19) Go beyond “free trial” or “free consultation.”

Do a free class for a charity.

Meet clients where they are with a less intimidating first contact. The ones that really need you are not ask likely to register for a free consultation as you might think. That’s a big step for them. But a small challenge or a video or ebook that solves a problem for them is an easier, more convenient way to learn whether they trust you.

20) Always market.

Whether it’s paid ads you keep rolling on Facebook or it’s a partnership with someone in town, you’ll always want and need new leads. The most successful keep the lead sources always nurtured and never stop. If you had too many clients and couldn’t service them, wouldn’t that be a fun problem? Then you’ll need, 10 Ways to Serve More Clients in Less Time, right? You just tell me when you’re ready. And I’ll tell you, if you can serve 10 you can serve 100, and 1000, and if you dream and you have the vision you can serve 10,000 or 100,000. You first have to see it.

The best way to attract midlife fitness clients that you know you can help is to grow your support of them first. Gain confidence and strength in your voice. Gain the knowledge you need to do that without getting stuck thinking what you need is one more certification or degree.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

5 Day Flip: https://www.flippingfifty.com/midlife-clients

Best Freebies for Best Customer Attraction: https://www.flippingfifty.com/5-day-fmm-specialist-challenge-opt/

Flipping 50’s Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist

Additional Podcasts You Might Like:

Training Women in Menopause | Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/training-women-in-menopause/ Women’s Fitness, Health, & Hormones | Training Menopause:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/hormone-course/