How To Start an Online Training Business, with Jonathan Goodman

There have been three major evolutions in fitness training: First, personal training in gyms was introduced. Next, trainers left the big-box gyms to open microgyms of their own. Now, the industry is shifting to online training.

Jonathan Goodman is the founder of the Personal Training Development Center, the largest community of fitness professionals in the world. He offers the first certification for online fitness trainers, and he's here to explain how online training can be just as personal, effective and profitable—if not more—than coaching in a brick-and-mortar gym.

Jonathan and Chris talk about how online training can help coaches make more money in less time, how to get your first clients, what to do if your client doesn't have access to traditional gym equipment and how to use technology to prioritize the personal interactions that really matter.

Links:

The Personal Trainer Development Center
Ignite the Fire

Contact:

Instagram: @theptdc

Timeline:

1:26 – Working too hard for too little money.

3:36 – Learning to be an “infopreneur.”

6:37 – The evolution of the fitness industry.

9:22 – How online training solves some of the problems of brick-and-mortar personal training.

11:11 – What online training looked like in 2013.

13:18 – Do the math—then use technology to scale your ability to have a personal touch.

15:25 – How to offer unlimited online support without being available 24/7.

18:56 – The myth of expertise and the reality of accountability. 

20:00 – When to automate and when to support clients in real time.

21:52 – Where to start? Get clients before you’re ready.

24:46 – Create a compelling offer. 

26:43 – Permission to embrace imperfection. 

29:26 – How do you train people without equipment?

33:28 – The best software for online personal training (the answer might surprise you).

37:25 – What happens after you get your first five clients: mentorship and certification.