ISSA Talk, Episode 2: Ultimate Toolkit for Virtual Training

Edited for clarity.

Erin Mahoney:

Welcome back to ISSA Talk, a webinar series designed to help you take your training into this virtual world. Whether you're already doing virtual training or you're new at it, or you have no idea because you're a brand-new personal trainer, we're here to help. And we've got some tools that we're going to cover today that are going to help you out, platforms that we'll address and the great thing about it is they're all free. So, let's get started!

I'm your host, Erin Mahoney, and what's most important as we're going through these uncharted territories is to remember you are not alone. The current climate is affecting trainers around the world, and ISSA is here to ensure you that fitness is not over. In fact, it's the beginning of a transformation that was heading our way no matter what, and now it's decided for us. It is time to take personal training virtual. We're going to stay ahead of the curve and make sure we're on top of giving our members and ISSA trainers what they need to transform with the rest of the world. 

What’s the Best Virtual Training Platform?

Today, we bring you what you need to get started. And again, after this you'll know what you can do today to start virtual training. People are talking about needing a "platform" to take their training virtual, and it's really leaving a lot of fitness professionals out there confused about what exactly goes into a platform. Is it an app to manage clients, scheduling them to take their money, or is it a software to host workouts? Really it can be anything, and that's kind of the problem. It's confusing because a lot of trainers who have never done virtual coaching or training before don't know what it means to have the right platform. But free is always a good thing, especially when there's some financial unknowns out there that we're all facing. Here's the thing; don't overthink it, use what you can and get good at it.

Free Platforms for Virtual Training

Now, let's chat about how you can use these free platforms like Google, Instagram, and YouTube to launch your virtual training. First, and I cannot understate the huge simplicity and function that Google serves, if you don't have a Google account or a Google Drive yet, get one today. Right now. Do it. If you use Gmail and you're wondering why I'm making such a big deal about it, then you need to learn all the different features it provides you, and we're going to talk about those today. Google has a ton of great stuff out there, and there should be nothing stopping you. If you have a Google account, you have most of what you need in order to start getting things done.

Start by thinking how your clients are going to benefit most from you. Is it a live training session? Or is it preplanned workouts that they can do at whatever time is best for them? Maybe they want recorded videos like the one we hosted last week. You can do all of this with Google for free, just make sure you know the ins and outs of Google and map out how you can use it. 

Client-Specific and Community Resources

Let's do one small example. You can make client-specific folders that only they can see. And in it, you would house things like their assessment results, progress tracking, meal planning, workout history, all of the information that's specific to them. It can also include specific workouts geared just to them. And maybe you're mapping out 30 days in advance of what they're going to be doing, so they know Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, what they're going to be working on. 

You can also create a community folder, and then you can host all of your specially designed workouts and meal solutions for all of your clients. This way, your service might be like a monthly fee where they can view your awesome content hub and pick and choose what's right for them. So, they can have it as personalized or as general as they want.

Then what you're going to do is, you're going to start thinking about how you're going to run your business, and if you don't know how you're going to run your business and therefore also don't know how to structure your files, that is okay. Make it up for now before you share it with anyone, you can ask friends or families to go through it and give you feedback on what was valuable and what they think they would use. Then all you do is you refine it, you deliver it, and you keep refining it.

What's really important for you is that you remember that online personal training or virtual personal training, whatever you want call it, the people that are doing this successfully, it didn't just happen overnight. It wasn't a toolkit that they bought or they found somewhere. It didn't happen like that for anyone. It evolves over time, it's an iteration, so don't think that you need to have it all figured out or perfected right now, the most important thing is to just get started. Today, after this video, create your account, set up some folders and get some content in there.

Live Interactions with Clients

All right, let's talk synchronous experiences. The G Drive features that we just talked about was asynchronous for the most part, it means that your clients are interacting with your content in a one-way fashion. They're going into it on their own, looking at it and using it. Now let's talk about the different features that are available to you, specifically Google Hangouts, that are synchronous experiences. Synchronous experiences are for when you want live interaction with your clients. Most obviously this is going to be for workouts, but you can also do other things like host live Q&A sessions with a designated topic like, "Join me Wednesday at 8:00 AM for my live Q&A on how to get more out of your daily caloric burn", then clients can just jump on in and ask questions. Of course, what you'll want to make sure that you do is have some topics already shoed up to address just in case they're not used to engaging in that virtual way. You want to be the one that is really prepared for them, for maybe that silence until they get more accustomed to it.

Google Hangouts is great for your one-to-one interactions and it's perfect for consultations, individual workouts, assessments and so on. Instagram Live on the other hand is going to be awesome for things like live Q&A as I just mentioned, but it's also going to help you expand your reach to prospects, because people don't have to be granted permission in order to access it necessarily. What you'll be able to do is tell your clients to have their friends follow you too and then you'll be able to watch her community grow. The more content that you put out there for free, the more you're going to have followers, which then turn into potential clients.

And then Facebook Live has the same benefits as Instagram Live, and what you're going to consider, is not doing just one or the other, because certain platforms will appeal to different types of users, some are more comfortable with one than the other. Last week after our previous webinar, one of the comments asked about how to gain more followers and the best answer out there is to start posting content right now, post how to do burpees 10 different ways, post workout of the day, whatever it could be, and then open it up so that more people can follow you. And remember, those people are key targets for future clients.

Is Google Right for You? 

At this point, are you wondering if Google is the right solution for you? I can't answer that. Maybe you already have certain email accounts set up elsewhere and it's going to be difficult for you to consolidate things. What I can say about Google is it is robust and it is free and it's also really easy to use. And that's important if you've been intimidated by different ways to get this whole thing going in the first place. If that's the case, then Google is definitely for you. Remember, you want to start making money now. You're looking to virtualize, so to speak, your business, now. What you don't want to do is let all the other platforms out there stall you into analysis paralysis. What's most important is that you get something going and you learn what you love about it and what your other needs are, because only then are you going to be in a good position to make a decision on a more customized platform.

Getting Interactive With Social Media

All right, we talked a little bit about social media just now when I chatted through Google, but let's start also thinking broadly and let's think about being more interactive and using social media to accomplish just that, interaction. For most who haven't used social media to engage clients it might be a little bit intimidating at first, and if this is the case, you just have to get comfortable with your Google features first. So remember for the most part, Google is going to be one way, unless you decide to start using the Google Hangouts feature. As soon as you start getting more and more comfortable creating content, then you can move on to the social media platforms to help your clients stay more connected, no matter where they are or where you are.

Maybe you already have some social media accounts, which that's great. And if you do, if they are the personal ones, what you want to start doing is creating new ones that are specific to your business, and then you just cross promote to ensure you can get the most engagement. Then you can start doing live workouts and invite clients to join for a fee, or share mini workouts just to get your following to grow a little bit more. All you need is a recording device like a phone, a computer camera, or a video camera. And if you don't have any editing knowledge for these, don't worry, most platforms have an easy-to-use manual that'll show you all the "how to’s", that way you don't have to outsource things. And most importantly, that way you don't have to get everything all done in one take.

And as far as editing goes, also don't worry about that because we'll be giving you tips like these in the future on ISSA Talks and Tools. This is more just to get you going today, right now. You start creating the content and then in the coming days, weeks, we're going to help you out, editing it to create really compelling content that really your clients can't turn down.

In case you haven't seen it before, these are the social platform templates, what it looks like when you pull it up and where you'd be posting your various forms of content. You might be asking if social media is right for you, and your mindset shouldn't be concerned about being a social media influencer. You can, but you want to make sure that you're using social media as a way to engage clients first of all, and you might be asking, "What does that even mean?" Well, it means getting people to interact with the content that you put out there, and the more you can get them to interact with it, whether that's liking something or commenting on something, then you're going to create more connections. And even from being a personal trainer in a physical space, we also know that the stronger your connection is with somebody, the more likely they're going to become your client and even stick with you.

Remember, engagement doesn't just have to be likes or comments, it can also be you posing out a question to them; what was the best thing about your workout today? What was your proudest moment in your food choices that you made today? You can get information back from your clients so that they're sharing backwards. It's great to have that two-way interaction.

Second, spreading positivity. Social media is a great place for that. We need some positive stuff out there. The world needs it. And you're just the one to do it. People have more time on their hands to do positive and healthy things with their lives. Number three, just get your name out there. Start doing things. Start making people talk about you. Become a conversation. Number four, social media is great for live workouts, we know that. Number five, tips on meal prep and nutrition, that's going to keep your clients thinking about their health all the time, which translates into the next one, is you're really aiming to stay present in client's lives all of the time.

Before kind of being forced into this virtual training age, a lot of times the conversation around being a personal trainer or a fitness coach was, "Great, my client's doing an awesome job in front of me, but what about the other 23 hours of the day? How do I hold them accountable? How do I make sure they're following their meal plan and doing the exercise recommendations?" If you hadn't been using social media or Google before when you were a personal trainer, are a personal trainer, now's the time to start it. We're actually extremely fortunate to have all these platforms available to us because it gives you the opportunity to be in front of them all the time. Healthy tip of the day. One positive way to make a healthy meal out of a comfort food. Whatever it is, positive, inspirational quotes. You just want to be in front of them and keep that positive light, keep that healthy focus on them.

We looked at YouTube, we looked at Instagram, we looked at Facebook, we looked at Google and you might be saying, "Oh, maybe all these platforms are right for me". Great, go above and beyond. Combine a social media with Google's online resources. You can direct your followers for just access to your Google drive or vice versa. It really works hand in hand. You grow your following to be able to market to them and the way you're marketing to them is by the content you're pushing out there. When they want that more specialized information, that's when they're going to start paying a subscription fee or a monthly fee, even a one-on-one fee to have access to more customized information for them.

Key Takeaways

All right, I said there were going to be takeaways today and it might seem simple. And if it does, that's great, because that's what we're trying to do. It's simple. It's free. You can do it right now. Here are your takeaways; number one, use what you already have, you probably have social media, you probably have Google. If you don't, get ready for it. And when we say use what you already have, you probably have workouts in your head already that you've designed many times for clients. Post them. You probably already have tips and tricks that you follow for meal planning. Post them.

Then as you continue along, you'll be able to start deciding what platforms are best for you. And you'll also, and this is going to be really important for you for the future, you're going to learn what you really love about Google and social media and what you don't love about it. And that's going to be helpful because when you start looking at more customized solutions for your virtual training career, you're going to be able to know how to pick and choose, whereas if you're new to it right now, you have no idea.

So, you got to get in there and play with it, work with it, which brings us to number three, which is just create that content and get out there. The last time we hosted a webinar, we were talking about doing it today, create a video today. Even if it goes nowhere, it doesn't matter. Get comfortable with it and start building up your library.

Stay engaged and in touch with your clients, number four, be in front of them all the time, all the time, as many ways as you possibly can. And as it leads into number five, hopefully you were being positive and creative, not hopefully, do it. Their health and fitness really is in their hands right now. They have the choice, they have more time on their hands, they're not spending their time in a commute anymore, they have the ability to get up mid day for launch and go for a walk when maybe they weren't able to do that before. So, keep them focused on all those really great elements. I mean, maybe it's the challenge of quarantine, maybe you have a quarantine challenge for weight loss or getting prepared to run a race or something like that. Use all of this to your advantage and keep your clients achieving their goals, because that's what you're there for.

All right, finally, thank you so much for joining us again, watching us. If you have any questions, please feel free to chat them in the comments section, or you can also reach out to us at issaonline.com, or by accessing our 1-800 number. Don't forget we have education support available at all times, 1-805-273-8303. 

Or, if you’re ready to start rocking, head the website to purchase your Online Coach Certification course today! Learn how to market your services, on-board new clients, and effectively manage & scale your new online training business.