
5 Steps to Build a $10,000/month Fitness and Coaching Business in 2025 Fitness coaching is rewarding if you love fitness and people. (1:05) Why is the turnover rate so high? (4:23) 5 Steps to Build a $10,000/month Fitness and Coaching...
Loading summary
Ritual Sponsor
Big shout out to you for making it through the hectic holiday season this new year. Get clean quality pregnancy nutrient support off your to do list, including Ritual's best selling Essential Prenatal multivitamin designed with 12 traceable key ingredients to support a healthy pregnancy. With big changes coming up, take the small steps now and start today with 30% off a three month supply@ritual.com podcast these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Sal DeStefano
If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go.
Adam Schaefer
Mind Pump. Mind Pump.
Sal DeStefano
With your hosts Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer.
Adam Schaefer
And Justin Andrews, you just found the most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is mind pump. Today's episode five steps to building a $10,000 a month fitness and coaching business in 2025. We break it down for you now. This episode is brought to you by a sponsor, seed. This is the world's best probiotic. Go check them out. Get yourself a discount. Go to seed.com mindpump use the code 25mindpump get 25% off. Also, the February special is amazing. This is the original workout program Stack Maps, Anabolic and the no BS six pack formula. Get them both together. They were made to go together. Get them both together in this bundle. $59.99 gets you both right. Now go check it out. Go to maps february.com all right, here comes the show. Here are the five steps you can take to build a $10,000 a month business. As a fitness coach or personal trainer. You can do it, but you got to do it right.
Justin Andrews
Let's talk about it.
Unknown Trainer
I like this.
Justin Andrews
We're starting to create some content specifically for trainers and coaches or aspiring trainers coaches, which I love to speak to. I think most of my career I did that. More of that than I did with actual clients.
Adam Schaefer
Well, I think if you know, for people who don't know, when we started the show, our biggest motivator was to try to shift the fitness industry in a better direction. Right. Because we know that when it comes to fitness and health through exercise and diet and lifestyle, you could solve a lot of the chronic health issues that are out there. A lot of the answers are out there. But the fitness industry really wasn't doing a great job. So our goal was can we influence the space in a way to where it really starts to make more of a difference? I can't think of a better way to help people through health and fitness than by creating and training and coaching trainers and coaches. Why do I know this? We were trainers for years. For two decades, I trained people. And when I got good, and it took me a while to get good, it took me at least 10 years to get really good at what I did. The impact that I had on people just through my ability to coach and the ways I was able to coach them, I mean, it's pretty incredible. There's almost nothing more rewarding than helping someone transform their life through better health. And nobody could do that more effectively than a good trainer or coach, period. There's no doctor that could do it as effectively. There's no podcast that could do it as effective. There's no book. Then actually having a person there with you week in and week out, coaching you through the process again, we saw it firsthand, and it's. It's incredible. So I love speaking to trainers and coaches because if they get better, I mean, we get a step closer to solving these problems.
Unknown Trainer
There's such a need right now, too. And it's. It's interesting because you'd think that because there's so much information out there that's accessible now, we used to have to get. You have to pay to get access to a lot of this information and go through these certification courses and, you know, build a network to finally kind of learn how to. How to do it, how to actually, like, operate a successful business with this. But, you know, there's such a need for trainers right now, for people to be able to sift through all the nonsense and be able to be guided on, like, real, true, valuable fitness practices.
Justin Andrews
Well, you know, this one, obviously, this episode in particular is geared more towards the business side of the trainer, but indirectly, we've been speaking to trainers since day one. I mean, I think that when we came together and decided that we were going to create this, it really was kind of scratching our own itch. Like, what would we have wanted as a young trainer coming up as far as information? And so I think a lot of times when we communicate on the podcast, even though it's attracted the general population and helps a lot of people that may not even be in this field? It really was what would I have wanted or needed communicated to me as a trainer who's up and coming and who's helping all these people. So really, we've been talking to them the entire time. I. I think this episode in particular is a little more business focused, which I think is important because you.
Unknown Trainer
You got to be a good Communicator.
Justin Andrews
You got to be a good trainer. You got to know the things that we talk about on the show if you're going to be effective, but you.
Unknown Trainer
Also have to be able to make.
Justin Andrews
Money if you're going to stay in the business, Right?
Adam Schaefer
Totally.
Unknown Trainer
Because whenever I. The those that don't know this, that.
Justin Andrews
The turnover rate in personal training is very high. Yeah, Very, very high. And so even though I was only leading trainers for, you know, a small window of, you know, say, eight years or so, eight or nine years in my, my life, I got the opportunity to train a lot of trainers because it was normal to always be hiring or letting go or watching trainers go. It was just constant turnover. I never had the same staff month after month. Like there was always somebody new onboarding or somebody going out, you know, and the kind of the 80, 20 rule was always really true with the, the staff, which was, you know, 80% of them were struggling, only 20 of them were really thriving. And of course, my job was always to try and bring those, the struggling ones up to thrive. But that was, that was what the challenge was.
Adam Schaefer
Yeah, you know, it's part of the reason why it's the turnover. Turnover is high. Is a lot of people who become trainers and coaches. Well, first off, it's a very rewarding career if you love fitness and people. So if you love fitness and you love people, it sounds like the perfect job. And it is when you do it right, because it's incredibly rewarding. Like, if you, if you're listening to this and you, you love the gym, you love fitness modalities, you love what strength training and cardiovascular training and mobility training can do. You love how the human body moves and how you can transform yourself from the inside out through fitness. You love that. And you love people you love, you find them interesting, you're curious, you love meeting new people, you, you can, you're a bit of a chameleon. Like, I can hang out with almost anybody if we're talking fitness or if I'm. If I'm coaching them. So rewarding to watch people blossom. I mean, you get somebody to alleviate knee pain that they've had for 10 years, that's life changing. Somebody loses 30 pounds and keeps it off, that's life changing and you are a part of that. It's incredibly rewarding. But the turnover is high because there isn't a lot out there that teaches these trainers on how you, how do you turn that into a career? Right. I think a lot of people, I think trainers often will make the mistake and think, well, I'll get someone in shape and then I'll find another client. You know, the ones that really do well, they end up building a client base that stays with them for a long time.
Justin Andrews
Yeah.
Adam Schaefer
So that's just, that's just the truth. In other words, if you do a good job over a few year period, you'll end up building this client base that kind of sticks with you, very little fall off, and then you'll fill in the gas. But that stays with you for a long time. The back half of my career was mostly the same people. The front half of my career was a lot of different people because I would turn, I would have lots of turnover with my clients. Trainers with lots of turnover. Turnover of clients become trainers who are part of the turnover themselves. So that's just a fact. So when you look at really successful trainers who do well, who've done this for 10 years or more, who've been able to support themselves and their families, what you'll find is they have a base of clients. How do they do it? How do they do it? How did they get there? How did they build their business? How did they turn this passion that is rewarding into not just a job, but a career? That's, I think, what we need to talk about.
Justin Andrews
Yeah, I love the, I mean, you, you wrote, you wrote out the five steps. And when I looked at the very first step, I love this as the first one to talk about because I think every staff I ever had, this was a constant conversation with them. I'd catch trainers in the back area where we used to have a break room, and they'd have downtime and they'd be BSing in there or playing games or take off for lunch and get out, or they'd have, they'd have time to walk the floor and re rack weights and you know, they, a lot of times would overcomplicate the, the sales process or getting clients so much that it just starts with talking to people every single day.
Unknown Trainer
We used to say, be the mayor.
Justin Andrews
Of your club, right? Like, and you don't have to be.
Unknown Trainer
The most educated, you don't need to be the most experienced, but you quickly can become the trainer that is recognized by everybody that comes to that club.
Justin Andrews
More than anybody else by simply just being that person. And this one for me is very powerful because I've admitted that on this.
Unknown Trainer
Podcast many times that I was the.
Justin Andrews
Youngest, the least educated, the least experienced, definitely wasn't super jacked or fit.
Unknown Trainer
I didn't have a lot going for.
Justin Andrews
Me when I got into the space. But what I did do was I liked people. I liked meeting new people, I liked talking to people.
Unknown Trainer
I was excited about the information I was learning. Even though I didn't know a lot yet, every day I was learning something new and I loved teaching it and.
Justin Andrews
Sharing it with my peers, with the members.
Unknown Trainer
And so I just was on the floor always and very quickly.
Justin Andrews
I was kind of known as the.
Unknown Trainer
Trainer in the club, but not because I was super knowledgeable. It was just because I literally just talked to people and help people on the floor. And it was so much more than any of my peers that it quickly built that reputation that if anyone ever.
Justin Andrews
Had a question, they would come find me first.
Unknown Trainer
And that allowed me to build and scale my business.
Adam Schaefer
That really resonates with me. Adam. I was the same. I was 18 year old kid when I became a trainer. Didn't have a certification. In fact, I got hired before I became certified with the promise of going through a certification and then getting certified. By the time I got certified, I believe it was three or four weeks later. I had already had a client base that was waiting to train with me. So in other words, they hired me. I'm not going to get certified till, you know, a month from now. And they waited. How did I do that? I was an evangelist for fitness. That's literally what it was. I was excited about fitness. I loved what it could do for people. Every time I'd learn something new, couldn't wait to share it. And so what I did is I just talked to a lot of people all the time. That's all I did. That's what I did more than anybody else. And this is something that trainers either a are scared of because they're afraid of rejection. Well, here's the deal. Look, what's an evangelist? An evangelist is somebody goes out and preaches something, but they do it in a way that is because they understand they're trying to help other people. So you look at a room full, you're in a gym. Okay, let's just paint the picture here. You're in a gym, there's 50 people working out in the gym. You know that what you understand about fitness could extend the lives of everybody in there and could improve the quality of life of everybody in there. And you genuinely care about the people in there because you like people. You're not going to talk to them. How dare you not share this message to these people. Now, if they reject you, that's okay, but if you don't Ever talk to them. They don't even have a chance to say no to you. So you want to be that evangelist in your gym, in your neighborhood, in your business complex, everywhere. This works everywhere, by the way. Not just in the gym. In the gym it's just the easiest because people are already in there to work out. But I've worked, I had a studio for much of my career. In a studio you don't get walk ins like in a gym. When I was first started, I was in a big box gym. People would walk in like crazy. When I had a studio, if I had a walk in that was like, oh my God, what is, what's happening here? Nobody ever walks into a studio. So I would walk around my complex, I'd walk around the neighborhood, I'd walk into businesses and I'd evangelize. I'd evangelize fitness, which always led to. Well, I'm also a trainer. The more people you talk to every single day, the more money you're going to make, the more lives you're going to change, the faster your business is going to grow. By the way, this is true for the real world, it's also true for the virtual world. One of the one, a second mistake that trainers make around this is as they build their business, they start to forget that they need to talk to people every day.
Unknown Trainer
Well, one thing too, I, you know, I'm picking up from that. It's like people buy into your passion and you know, that was something that I definitely had that right out of the gates and this was something I wanted to do. I love doing it myself. I know what an improvement it had made, you know, on myself and my clients that I had trained. And I just really poured myself into my clients and like really got enthused with them. And that actually built more opportunities for people to come by, talked with me, chat about what I was doing, my clients and you know, because I was probably a little more reserved in terms of being the evangelist and being the, the extrovert, you know, out there. And I know there's a lot of trainers that are pretty reserved with that and they're just trying to, you know, manage what they can in front of them. But really being open and, and allowing yourself to grow and develop into that person where it's like I can just talk and communicate with somebody, Build a little bit of rapport, build off that rapport one freaking day at a time, man. And it took me every single one of those days. I was improving on that skill particularly. And it can be Done. And this is a fear that you can work through.
Adam Schaefer
Yeah.
Justin Andrews
My favorite trainers to help were the trainers that absolutely wanted nothing to do with sales, that I would help with this process. And it's exactly what Justin said. What it would look like is, listen.
Unknown Trainer
I don't want you to go sell.
Justin Andrews
Anything or present anything.
Unknown Trainer
Just go meet people. Just go meet people and learn about them genuinely. Just. Just go be that person. Get up there, introduce who you are, find out who they are. And then I would actually tell them to come back and write it down. So listen, you go out there and you go meet a person on the floor. Then you come back and you have.
Justin Andrews
A little journal, and you write down.
Unknown Trainer
That you met Justin and he has two kids. Their names are Ethan and Everett. And then that's it. And then you just put that in your journal. And then the next time you see Justin walk in the gym, walk up, say hi to him again, ask him about his two kids, buy their names, watch how much it blows them away, and just keep doing that. I guarantee you won't have to sell anything. I guarantee if you make an effort to do that with all these members in here, eventually someone will ask you and then bring them to me and I'll close them.
Justin Andrews
I'll do it for you. That's literally how I would do it with my trainers.
Adam Schaefer
And what makes this, what makes you more effective at this, is if you go in with the intention of getting to know people and help people, not with the intention of to sell them something. Okay? Now what it leads to is the opportunity for you to talk about your services, the opportunity for you to potentially sell them training for them to hire you. But if you go in with the intention of just helping people, this is what I mean by an evangelist, is when I would walk around in the gym, I just wanted to help people. Hey, can I unrack that weight for you? Let me give you a spot. What are you working on today? Have you tried this exercise? Like, I learned something new. Let me talk about this. I would just talk to people about these things and evangelize and it would open up conversations that led to, what do you do? I'm a personal trainer. Hey, I'd love to take you through a free workout. It just opened up those opportunities. So one way you can put this into practice, if you want to be that $10,000 a month trainer, is to give yourself a goal every day of how many people you talk to. It's a such a simple thing. It's such a simple thing. Now the Question might be, well, how many people should I talk to every single day? The number can't be too big. Okay. And the number. So what do I pick then? Pick a number that makes you a little uncomfortable. Okay, so if you're a bit of an introvert, that might be three people a day or two people a day every day. I got to reach. I got to just go and talk to two people a day. If you're an extrovert, test yourself a little bit. I could talk to two people, no problem. Can I do 10? Make that a goal every single day and do it no matter what. Now, I think the goal should be different for online versus in person. I think reaching two people online is easy in comparison in person. But give yourself that goal. Hit that goal every single day, no matter what. This translates very directly into a more successful business. More opportunities, more potential clients, period. End of story. But this is one of the biggest things, people.
Unknown Trainer
It also translates, and you.
Justin Andrews
And you just mentioned it right now.
Unknown Trainer
Over into the digital world. I mean, these were principles that we.
Justin Andrews
Built our businesses on long before social media existed.
Unknown Trainer
And the only reason why I think this business was successful is, is because we took those same exact principles and we applied it in the virtual world.
Justin Andrews
I mean, I remember when the forum.
Unknown Trainer
Was this tiny group of 50 people. You should have seen how much all four of us talk to those 50 people every single. As if they were 50 people inside of our gym that haven't bought anything from us, but were in our tight little community. And that's what grew it to this big old thing. It's the same thing. And yet you have these, these now.
Justin Andrews
These trainers that are, that are growing.
Unknown Trainer
Up in this world where we have.
Justin Andrews
Digital media and you have these viral.
Unknown Trainer
Clips that go, you know, where people get a million people viewing them overnight and they sell all these things. And people think that the. The way to be successful online is.
Justin Andrews
To go viral and just get all this attention.
Unknown Trainer
It's like, no, that's not, that's not just because you saw somebody who got some success away. First of all, it's like the 1%. And secondly, that's not a sustainable business. You're far better off growing slow with a small community and servicing and helping those people and talking to all them. That's the formula, which is the same formula that it was for brick and mortar. So engaging in these conversations online, whether that be in DMS or in forums or in a Facebook community, doesn't matter.
Adam Schaefer
But even in the comment section, yes.
Unknown Trainer
Comment sections, whatever, creating relationships and Communicating and giving people value whenever you can, as much as you can, and that's what will build that community. And from there, as that community grows, then the business can, can, can build from there. But the same principles apply. It hasn't changed totally.
Adam Schaefer
Next is to. And now I'm going to put this in fitness terms because trainers understand fitness. If you want to get good at a squat or an overhead press or a bench press or a row, the way you get good at it is you practice it. You practice it all the time. Okay? As a trainer, you are not going to be good at presenting your services or selling your training packages or meeting people and getting that conversation from hey, how you doing? To you're going to show up at Wednesday at 4:00 to get a free session. You're not going to get good at any of that unless you practice it. Now, there's two ways to practice it, and they're both valuable. One is to talk to as many people as possible. We just covered that. Two is to practice it with a friend or a family member and pretend. And the more. This sounds silly, but the more you practice, the more effective you're going to be. Period. End of story. I would do this so often with my trainers that they could recite their presentations every other word. I would get them so good that I'd say, I want you to present to me and I want you to skip every other word. And then they would slow down and do it because they had it memorized. They had it memorized how they would present their packages, they had it memorized how they would book the appointment, how they would confirm it. That's how good you want to be. Because once you have, once you have this presentation, like it's subconscious. Now, by the way, this doesn't mean I'm going to have the same exact presentation to every single person I talk to, but I have a very solid scaffolding and I could veer off of it here and there, depending on who I'm talking to, but the order remains similar or the same. And I don't mess things up. Because here's what happens when you don't practice your presentations. You start tripping over your words or at best, you don't sound confident. And one thing will kill a sale faster than anything else, and that's a trainer or coach who doesn't sound confident in their own services. Remember the person sitting across from the desk from you or the person on the zoom call with you who's talking to you about potentially hiring you. What you're asking them to do is to give you money for a dream. I'm asking you to give me $1,000 to train with me for three days a week for this long in the pursuit of this potential 10 pounds of fat loss. This dream, this doesn't even exist yet, but I'm just selling you this dream. If I don't sound confident at all, if I sound a little bit like I don't know what I'm talking about or maybe or whatever, that person's not gonna want to give you that money. They're not gonna want to hire you. They will hire you based off your confidence more than they will based off your knowledge. By the way, knowledge contributes to confidence. So I'm not saying you don't want to know anything. It contributes to confidence. But practicing a presentation over and over again. So I would have my trainers practice with each other and I would tell.
Unknown Trainer
Them role play all the time.
Adam Schaefer
All the time. I would have them practice with their boyfriends and their girlfriends and with the front desk and with their friends. And then I would say, okay, tell your friend to be enthusiastic. Now tell your friend to pretend that they're not interested. Now tell your friend to be an easy person to sign up for an appointment. Now tell your friend to kind of give you a few objections and then practice and practice and practice. The more you role play, the more you practice this. If you do, if you do this all the time, you'll get better faster than if you don't do this at all. So practice your presentation.
Unknown Trainer
Yeah, you narrow it down a bit because there's a lot of unpredictable, unforeseen objections or there's just energy. You know, maybe you're not ready for somebody with really low energy and you have to kind of figure out how to adjust your presentation that way. But that was good about role playing. It's like, if we can at least present that. So I'm not, it's not going to trip me up where I'm going to be kind of froze. And, and I'm. That confidence level is going to go down because it's like I, I haven't seen this yet. And so to be able to role play, that really helped a lot.
This is where I do think that.
Justin Andrews
You know, these groups or mentorships or investing in somebody who's got, have a lot of experience and a lot of talent in this can be worthwhile.
Adam Schaefer
Right?
Justin Andrews
I know there's a lot of grifters online that do know sales trainings and, and stuff online. And so and it is hard sometimes to find like, you know, which ones are the good ones that are, that are presenting good information. But I mean I, I remember what, when we had Jasmine in there and like it totally resonated with me when she made that point about masterminds because I know I've said a lot of bad things about mastermind groups and she's like, you know, I'm the type of person, it doesn't matter, like I'll find a way to get something out of it. And so if you have that attitude when you go into these groups or you have opportunities to learn from these people that are better when we have these talks inside of our trainer, we have a private forum for all of our trainers that have gone through our course. One of the things I always encourage all of them in that community is you have all these trainers that are trying to get better at their sales presentation, trying to get better at their business. And instead of looking at each other like you're competitive, you're all fishing at the same little fishing hole. You need to learn to practice and role play with each other. I would love to see more, more of that because this is one of the best ways that you can sharpen your sword. And all sales is, is effective communication. The way you're going to get effective at, at communicating the knowledge and information that you're learning is by practicing it. I mean this is why too I was never afraid of saying things and fumbling word. I mean it's still this day, I'm that guy.
Unknown Trainer
But that's the only way I'm going.
Justin Andrews
To get good at it is not being afraid of the people that are going to point out laugh at me. Who cares like that's if that's not the person I'm worried about anyways. I'm, I'm worried about the person whose life I can impact and I can actually help through the information I'm trying to communicate.
Unknown Trainer
And the only way I'm going to.
Justin Andrews
Get good at that is if I continue to practice these things. And so if once you can get past that insecurity of what others are going to think about you, this is the best way to get good at presenting fitness is to purely just practice.
Adam Schaefer
What you know, a hundred percent next is. And this one, this one's really helpful for when, because inevitably what happens, especially as your career builds or just through different stages of how you feel like we all know sometimes you're more motivated and less motivated to work out or whatever. The same is true for learning. So One thing that I did that in my career that actually had a huge return on my business was I actually, in my schedule, set aside 30 minutes every single day for learning. And so what I used to do in my schedule and the back half of my career is what it looked like. So I used to train people. My first client typically would be 7am or 8am I trained till about noon. From noon until about 3, I'd have a gap. Then it would start again 3pm till about 7pm or 8pm and so what I would do is I'd work out at noon, which would take me to about 1:30 or 2. From 2 to 3, it's, it would say learning and so what? And no matter what, no matter what was going on, I saw that it was 2:00. Okay, I'm gonna learn something. Sometimes that was a YouTube video on something that was interesting. Other times I had some formal education or a book, but it was always something that was related to my field. So whether it be gut health or nutrition or exercise physiology or some new modality or a supplement, I would learn something every single day or learn about something every single day. And there's two reasons why this is super valuable now. The obvious is you just know more, right? You're just going to become more valuable to people because you know more. That's valuable. But there's also the following. You become more excited and motivated to talk about new things. So it keeps that spark alive within you. It also kind of keeps things fresh. And I this, if you, look, if you're a trainer now and you've been and you're somewhat experienced, you know what it feels like after you get a certification or you do a new course, you go back, you're excited to apply things. This keeps things new. So in your schedule, you should have 30 minutes every single day set aside for learning. And as long as it's related to your field or your clients, could even be business, something that's related to your field. This is a surefire way to make you grow as a person and as a business. But you got to schedule every single day, otherwise it goes ups and downs.
Justin Andrews
You know, listening to you talk about that and thinking back to my journey as a trainer, like, I don't think I ever formally blocked off my calendar to do something like that. But then I also think that I had this huge advantage in this situation because I was the dumbest trainer and I was the least experienced in sales. And so all of my peers, there was something to learn from them on the Fitness and trainer side, all the salespeople that worked there, there was something for me to learn in sales. And so every day I was always learning from one of them. And then I was turning around and applying whatever it was I learned. So that was what I love to do. I love to grab. The trainer had been there for five years already and had five national certs and just understood, you know, physiology, nutrition, mechanics, everything at a higher level than I did. And then picking their brain about something and then going back and learning that, referring it, and then sharing it with a client. And like, I instantly would always try and take something as soon as I learn it and go try to practice it or apply it immediately, then it becomes mine, right? Like, I didn't want to ever.
Unknown Trainer
I didn't ever want to just hear.
Justin Andrews
Something go, oh, that's really smart, or that makes sense. And then just like, oh, file it away. Like, I had to go put it into play. And this is at least how I learned. Like, I'm not somebody who can hear it one time and then it's forever mine. It's like, I have to hear it, I have to try and say it. I'll probably screw it up two or three times and then I got to go put it to practice with myself or somebody else, and then it finally becomes mine and then I can start to get better at presenting it. And so I just made that a habit every day. If I wasn't learning something on the fitness side, I was practicing a presentation on the sales side and then turning right around and then applying those skills. And then it was. It's just a matter of time of doing that before you really start to sharpen that sword.
Adam Schaefer
It also, this is also one more thing it made, it was, it was valuable is as a trainer. And this, this is not in one of the steps, but it is important. Your ability to have good conversation is actually very valuable as a personal trainer. You're going to be with these people for an hour at a time, usually week in and week out for months, years. If you do a great job and you don't want to be boring, you want to have good, you know, conversation. This is like a guaranteed way to always have something great to talk about. Like, if I learned something every single day or a little bit about something like this was. This would always be the topic of discussion with my client. Like, did you know what I learned about probiotics? And did you know the gut health can do this and that? And they found value in it. They found it interesting because I Found it interesting and it was fun. So that's just one more thing about it. But blocking that 30 minutes a day is good because what you look, this probably resonates with most trainers right now. What you probably go through are spurts of learning and spurts of not learning. So you probably have this like motivation, excitement. I go through, oh my God, I just read this incredible book. I was super into it. And then three, four months goes by and you don't really do much and it kind of falls off. And then if you follow, just like with fitness, if you follow your motivation, it's going to be ups and downs. But if you schedule it and make yourself learn something, it's going to be consistent.
Unknown Trainer
I swear I didn't have to look for it. It was always presented to me from clients. I was always looking at these opportunities where I was like, oh my God, I don't know, I got to go research that because it asked me a question or there was something I was troubleshooting and it led me towards like some kind of information or some kind of book I needed to read or somebody there that had that specialty that I could pick their brain. And it just really just have to stay ahead, keep thinking forward and keep thinking about what kind of value you can continuously bring your clients.
Justin Andrews
Well, that leads perfectly into the next point that Sal had, which is to use social media properly to support your clients. Right. And that is one of my favorite ways to teach trainers that are building an online president right now. And they go like, well, what should I post?
Unknown Trainer
I know what to do. It's like if you are training any.
Justin Andrews
Clients and you're actually training them and you see them, whether virtually or in person, every day is going to be an opportunity for a post.
Unknown Trainer
Meaning if you are working with them, you are probably addressing something mobility related.
Justin Andrews
An acre of pain they were telling.
Unknown Trainer
You about something that's related to their diet that they're having problems with.
Justin Andrews
A condition that you've never heard of.
Unknown Trainer
Before until you got that client.
Justin Andrews
I mean, every day there's something that.
Unknown Trainer
You are either communicating to that client or that you need to go back and learn about because you didn't know anything about it. That's a post that. And then what that does is that now serves as something to support that.
Justin Andrews
Client that has it.
Unknown Trainer
Like say for example, the first time you got a client that had gout.
Justin Andrews
You'Re like, what is that? I don't even know what it is.
Unknown Trainer
I don't know what their diet should look like.
Justin Andrews
I don't Know what's going on.
Unknown Trainer
Like, then you go find out all these things about. You're like, oh, wow, these are some foods that this person should stay away from.
Justin Andrews
I need to make sure I let my client know that they might not know that.
Unknown Trainer
Oh, wait, that's a post right there. You know, it's like that's how you come up with content and that's supporting the client. And then you're also now attracting somebody else out there on the Internet that may be going through the same exact thing. And you now can speak to it because you've learned about it.
Adam Schaefer
Totally. You know, just to back up for a second with the learning trainer webinar.com every other month we do a free webinar for trainers. So if you need, if you want a Resources for free learning, we do that every single month. Sorry. Every single other month where we get on there, we talk about a different topic. But with social media, you know, people, I think oftentimes look at social media and they say, this is how I'm going to build my business, not this is how I'm going to support my business. Now, you could try using social media to build your business and there's nothing wrong with that, but the odds of success with that are small and dismal. The odds that your social media will support your business and then you finding a way to support your business through social media and then the social media growing your business are much higher. What do I mean by that? If you're supporting your business through social media, it's already valuable. If I'm just trying to build a business out of social media, it's gonna take a while before it brings me any value at all. But what if I could use my social media in a way to support my current business? It's valuable. Day one. What does that mean? I'm more likely to stay consistent with it because it's already valuable. It's already gonna build my business right out the gates because it's supporting my current business. And then as it does a good job and it continues to grow through that, people will share it and it becomes a business in and of itself. So what does that look like? Well, can I create resources through social media that my current clients will find value in? Who am I talking to in my social media? My current clients? How am I using my social media as a way to add value to the people I'm already servicing? That's where you start because it's already valuable right out the gates. Otherwise, I'm starting from zero. Trying to build this brand new business through social media, which is fine again, but give yourself a few years to do that. Why don't you just use your social media in a way? In other words, I'm training all these clients. I'm gonna make a post, I'm gonna send that post to my clients. Why? Because this is what they need to hear. Or I just trained my client Susie. She has an issue with back pain. We looked at this and we did a couple exercises. We did some bird dogs, we did some pelvic tilts that really helped her. Let me do a post around that. Then I'll send it to Susie, then I'll send it to my other clients and then they're gonna find real value in it. If you use your social media personality properly to support your business, it will be valuable right out the gate. It's best way to do it.
Unknown Trainer
Yeah. And plus, and it's not annoying like because it, in order to keep those touch points happening with your clients, I, and this was an area I struggled with in terms of like texting them, like finding out how they're doing, like how's your diet going? Like la la la. Like just trying to maintain that open channel of dialogue to, to be able to have a post and then they know that it's on there. They can kind of in the comment section, we can talk. And this is something too that's like you're constantly adding value. Other people might just watch, you know, from afar how I'm talking to my clients. And it just, it just presents like a totally different area of opportunity where you can keep stoking that, that constant communication and rapport and it makes it easier for you to, to keep your clients engaged and, and keep them long term.
Listen, it's, it's how we built this business. One of the most common questions that I get asked or people are most surprised by is how do you guys come up with content every single day and all the time, don't you? And it's like because our, because our customers, because our people, our community are steering the ship.
Adam Schaefer
That's right.
Unknown Trainer
That's where that was the, that was the, the quas that we did way back when, when we first started doing this was we will allow our customers, our little network of people when we first started to steer the conversation, let them ask us what they want to hear about, what they learn about, and then we'll communicate that it's the same thing. So this thing got built off of servicing a small network of people when we first started. It's no different than if I had a tiny little client base and I'm trying to build an Instagram page. I would literally try and service my people and add value to them, let them steer the content that way. Like Sal said, right away the page becomes valuable because it's making my business that I already currently have a better business because I'm providing something that my clients want. And then guess what will organically happen. You'll attract another person just like that one client who's got that issue. It's like, that's how you build that social media page.
Adam Schaefer
Lastly, and this is just general best advice, I think for most trainers, one of the most common questions we get are, should I do this in person? Should I just do virtual? Which one should I choose now? Oftentimes other people will answer this and say, well, which one do you prefer? And here's the pros and cons of each and which one do you like more? And et cetera, et cetera. Honestly, Honestly, the best people I've talked because when I was training people back in the day, we didn't do virtual, so my experience was all in person. But since starting the podcast, we've worked and talked with a lot of trainers, a lot of coaches, and the ones that do the best do them both. A mix seems to be the best approach for most coaches and trainers. What does that look like? Well, it looks like in person clients and then using the virtual methods to support and add value to those in person clients. For most trainers, this is what this looks like. So you have your clients, they train with you, let's say once a month or once a week. And then I use virtual appointments to bolster that and service that. Or I have this many clients in person. But I also have a virtual business that I build. It's less expensive, but it acts as a potential feeder to my in person. But my point with this is just like with fitness, what's better for my back, a row or a pull down? Why don't you do them both? They both have value, they're both done together will build you a more complete business. If I were training people today, for sure, I would do both for sure. I would try and implement.
Unknown Trainer
Yeah, I think it's, I think it's.
Justin Andrews
Kind of a no brainer. I think this is something, this is actually a really cool thing about our industry that didn't really exist 20 years ago. Nobody was training anybody really online at all. And even when the first dot com bubble hit, it was like there were some People that attempted to do it and just kind of fell on its face. There is a huge demand and need for it now. I mean, there's a massive demand and.
Unknown Trainer
Need for it and it just opens up. I mean, before you had to build.
Justin Andrews
A business in your community, so you.
Unknown Trainer
Had to be really good.
Justin Andrews
You had to be one of the best trainers in your town. And you could only train those people in your town. Unless you were lucky and you were super well known. You might be able to fly into town and get paid. But you're talking about very few trainers ever reached that level to where people are flying them in to come train with the uber rich. Right. So it was very difficult to build your business. You were limited to the area that you lived in, where by opening up to the virtual world, you now don't limit yourself. And so the ability to have both of them, in my opinion, is kind of a no brainer if you're building your business today 100%.
Adam Schaefer
Doug, we have some questions, got some questions here.
Sal DeStefano
The first one is how much does the average trainer make?
Adam Schaefer
You know, when you look, when you go online, Google it. Look this up.
Unknown Trainer
Google what they say.
Justin Andrews
I want to hear what they, I.
Adam Schaefer
Want to say between 50 to 75 grand.
Unknown Trainer
Oh, did you look it up?
Adam Schaefer
Yeah.
Unknown Trainer
Is it really that much?
That's what this says in the United States. That's like nationwide.
Adam Schaefer
Yeah, nationwide. Between 50 to 75 a year.
Unknown Trainer
But that's actually better than what I thought.
Adam Schaefer
Well, it doesn't take into account the turnover. Well, yeah, so those are people who, trainers have been career trainers.
Unknown Trainer
Oh, so those are actually trainers that made it.
Adam Schaefer
Yeah, exactly.
Justin Andrews
Oh, okay.
Adam Schaefer
Yeah. So that's, that's why. So, so now can you, you know, this episode is about making $10,000 a month. Is that realistic? Yeah, all, all the good trainers that I knew were making six figures, the ones that had their stuff together that were really consistent, that had a base of clients that stuck with them because they did a great job, that were organized, that, you know, set time aside to talk to people, get leads that understood presentation and sales like they were making, you know, six figures a year. So it's totally possible. But if you, if you just stick around, on average, you're going to make pretty good money. It's a pretty good per hour job for, for most people.
Justin Andrews
Yeah, I think, I think it is.
Unknown Trainer
I do think though, there's advice that.
Justin Andrews
People obviously have heard us say many times about working at a big box gym first.
Unknown Trainer
And really what that is is because you have the support of a big.
Justin Andrews
Company that is, that is really managing.
Unknown Trainer
A bulk of the business and you have to.
Justin Andrews
Your part of the business is your service and helping people and what most trainers sign for and why there's a such a high turnover is there. There are a lot of trainers that.
Unknown Trainer
Think they're going to learn how to.
Justin Andrews
Build business in general and then also be a personal trainer at the same time.
Unknown Trainer
And that's really tough to do if.
Justin Andrews
You don't understand lots of juggle. Right?
Unknown Trainer
That's right. If you don't under. If you are, if you're not a.
Justin Andrews
Already a serial entrepreneur, understand really grass business SEO.
Unknown Trainer
You understand things like the how to.
Justin Andrews
Run a P and L. Like you don't know how to do that and you're also trying to become a trainer at the same time.
Unknown Trainer
The combination of two of those is.
Justin Andrews
Overwhelming and drowns most trainers.
Unknown Trainer
You're far better off learning about the business part while also having the support of a big box gym. And then if you decide to leap into business.
Adam Schaefer
That being said, there are big box type gyms that are more high end but they're still, you still get the big feel. You still get lots of people and they'll pay their trainers a decent amount. Like I knew a couple of trainers made six figures working in. Oh yeah, those types of gyms, they, they got their pay up because of certification courses. They were, they were established and they worked in these facilities that charged more. Right. And so even in a big box gym you can make six figures if you're one of the top trainers.
Sal DeStefano
What kinds of clients are the best ones to get?
Adam Schaefer
You know, when you first get started? Train everybody. Yeah, train everybody. Be as. Yeah, because you want to get a wide variety of people. You want to figure out what works best for you. I think the best clients to get are the ones you enjoy to train the most. I mean I don't know any, any better way to. Yeah, it's like the ones you really click with and enjoy training like towards. For me personally, that looked like you.
Unknown Trainer
Got to earn your preference.
Adam Schaefer
Totally.
Unknown Trainer
Yeah. Like to your earlier point, I mean that's, that's such a thing that's overlooked. I think though, like everybody's looking for a lot of these mastermind groups and these other opportunities to really like fine tune their niche before they even get started, which I think is a massive mistake, was you gotta be a good trainer to see all the variables and be able to be more predictive and prescriptive and then we can start talking about like, you know, where's your passion really? And where, what kind of client is coming to you continuously that really matters the most.
Justin Andrews
That's, that's a far better strategy. I mean, if you would have asked me when I first started training, I would, I thought I was going to be training pro athletes, you know.
Unknown Trainer
Yeah, I'm the furthest, I'm the furthest.
Justin Andrews
Thing from that guy.
Unknown Trainer
But that's what I thought I wanted.
Justin Andrews
And I thought that's what. And so I think it's a mistake to pigeonhole yourself into a type of client first.
Unknown Trainer
I think you should train everything because most all trainers that work for me ended up finding out later that their, their niche was different than what they thought it was. You know, they, they might have came in thinking they're going to be all athletes and they ended up with the.
Justin Andrews
Elderly, you know, or they ended up.
Unknown Trainer
Being all corrective like, and rehab people.
Justin Andrews
Like, you have no idea what you're going to be good at.
Unknown Trainer
You know, you have no idea what the type of client that's going to resonate the best with you. And so I think it's so important the beginning to take anything and everything.
Justin Andrews
And then you learn that and then.
Unknown Trainer
Then you have a better idea of like, oh, wow, I seem to really get through to this type of a.
Justin Andrews
Client and then maybe you build your niche.
Sal DeStefano
What hours do trainers work?
Justin Andrews
Usually all of them.
Adam Schaefer
Yeah, yeah. When you first get started, I, I mean I'll, I'll give you guys a.
Unknown Trainer
Great 24 hour fitness.
Adam Schaefer
I, I worked, I started in 2024 fitness and I took everything I could get my hands on. At one point, before I became a manager, I trained, I have 6am clients. I trained through, I'd have a break, I'd train through the evening. I'd go home at 9pm, came back, I had a 2am client, would go back home, go back to bed, come back. Oh yeah. Because I took everything, I took everything I possibly could because I was trying to learn, I was trying to grow my business. Later on it looked a little different, but I would say the bulk of clients are going to be mornings and evenings. Midday people typically are at work. And so typically it's like a, you're either early morning or you're after work or both, which is if you're building your career. Oh yeah, you take them all, man.
Justin Andrews
You live in the gym. I used to crack up when I get, I mean obviously a lot of what I did was hiring trainers. So they would, you know, and one of the things when they first come on board they tell you their availability or their schedule. And I used to, I saw, I.
Unknown Trainer
Could chuckle when I'd see a trainer be like, oh, I'd like to work from, you know, 9 to 3pm and it's just like, yeah, would me too.
Justin Andrews
I would love to do that. This, the schedule doesn't work that way as a, as a personal trainer.
Unknown Trainer
And in. If you limit yourself to hours, you limit yourself in the ability, how fast.
Justin Andrews
That you could scale and grow. I was 5am to 10pm is. I was basically open all day. I was willing to get.
Unknown Trainer
And I've taken things outside of that.
Justin Andrews
I've taken in the middle of the night clients before. I've taken 4:00am before. Yeah. But that was like my. What I was trying, I was.
Unknown Trainer
And I was trying to get them to as close together at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in the morning and.
Justin Andrews
Then have a break and then come.
Unknown Trainer
Back and do 4, 5, 6, 7 and like trying. But I would be open to take whenever because I just needed to build my book. I just need experience, remember? I mean, I love the saying of.
Justin Andrews
Your first three years, you're in the learning phase of your career. Not till the next three years that you get to the earn phase of your career.
Unknown Trainer
So while you're in that learn phase, I'm open to taking whatever. I'm not even at the phase of like, you know, trimming where my hours are and what type of client I want. No, I'll take anything, everything, whenever. And that is an advantage. If you're working at a big box.
Justin Andrews
Gym with other trainers that are limiting their hours and you're the guy, I.
Unknown Trainer
Used to love that guy or girl who worked for me who's like Adam, whatever, you tell me, you tell me. I'll take a client whenever they're willing to come in because I'm trying to build my business. And I loved having somebody who worked for me who was like that because I was like that. And that that trainer ends up getting fed and getting their book built the fastest because they're willing to do that. And then through time they build a reputation, they build the skills, they get.
Justin Andrews
Better and then you can start to carve out.
Unknown Trainer
And I've seen it all since. I've had so many work for me. I've seen actually some trainers build that ideal schedule. I had a, I had a top trainer one time that that's what he worked. He worked from like 7am and was done by 1 or 2 and he had found a way to the few people that were buying personal training at 11am and noon and one he got him, you know, and so and he built this great schedule for himself like that. And then I've had others that just work the night shifts. I've had it all. But it's really tough when you're building your business to limit yourself to a.
Justin Andrews
Block or say, I'm only going to work these days.
Adam Schaefer
That's right. And again, we do webinars every other month where we teach coaches and trainers how to build and we're successful, successful business. The topics change each time. It's@trainerwebinar.com Sign up for the next one. They're live, but you also get free replays. You can also find us on Instagram. Justin is at Mind Pump Justin, I'm at mind pump DiStefano and Adam's @ Mind Pump Out.
Sal DeStefano
Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body dramatically, improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB super bundle@mindpumpmedia.com the RGB Super Bundle includes maps, Anabolic maps, Performance and Maps Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos. The RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30 day money back guarantee and you can get it now. Plus other valuable free resources@mindpumpmedia.com if you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five star rating and review on itunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support and until until next time, this is Mind Pump.
Adam Schaefer
If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases and a touch of mom style humor.
Mandy or Melissa
Moms and Mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for.
Adam Schaefer
Hey guys, I'm Mandy.
Mandy or Melissa
And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for Moms and Mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well researched true crime stories. Each week we deep dive into a variety of mind boggling cases as we shed light on everything from heists to who done it. We're your go to podcast for Mysteries with a motherly touch. Subscribe now to Moms and Mysteries. Wherever you get your podcast.
Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth
Episode 2525: Five Steps to Build a $10,000/Month Fitness & Coaching Business in 2025
Release Date: February 3, 2025
In this episode of Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth, hosts Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews delve into the strategic five-step blueprint designed to help fitness coaches and personal trainers build a lucrative $10,000/month business by 2025. Drawing from their combined experience and expertise, the hosts provide actionable insights, practical tips, and motivational advice to empower listeners aiming to elevate their fitness careers.
Overview:
Building a successful fitness business begins with establishing a strong presence within your gym or community. By actively engaging with clients daily, trainers can cultivate relationships, foster trust, and become the go-to expert in their environment.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Overview:
Effective communication is paramount in converting potential clients into loyal customers. Trainers must refine their sales techniques and presentation abilities to confidently convey the value of their services.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Overview:
Continuous education is essential for staying ahead in the fitness industry. Allocating time each day to learn about the latest trends, research, and methodologies can enhance a trainer’s value proposition.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Overview:
Social media serves as a powerful tool to enhance client engagement and attract new customers. By sharing relevant and valuable content tailored to clients' needs, trainers can strengthen their online presence and support their business growth.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Overview:
Integrating both in-person and virtual training modalities allows trainers to maximize their reach and flexibility. This hybrid approach caters to diverse client preferences and expands potential revenue streams.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Client Selection and Work Hours:
Notable Quotes:
Final Thoughts: Success in the fitness and coaching industry requires a blend of consistent client engagement, refined sales skills, continuous learning, strategic use of social media, and adaptability through both in-person and virtual training. By systematically implementing these five steps, fitness professionals can significantly enhance their business operations, client satisfaction, and overall revenue.
Notable Quotes:
Connect with the Hosts:
Resources Mentioned:
This comprehensive guide encapsulates the essence of Episode 2525, providing fitness professionals with a clear roadmap to achieving substantial financial success while making a meaningful impact on their clients' lives. Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale your existing business, these five steps offer valuable strategies to elevate your fitness coaching career.