Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009 - (Page 23)

Building a Proﬁtable Business Once you have established some consistent referral sources and clearly identiﬁed your niche in the public’s eye, begin centering your business on this client population. You want to let people know how you are diﬀerent in order to attract the clients dealing with injury because insurance oﬀers limited visits or does not cover rehab at all. Proper positioning will place you ﬁrst in line for these referrals. As your reputation and expertise grows, you will be able to command higher training fees and begin hiring other trainers to work under you as well. The most important thing to remember is not crossing the boundary between trainer and medical professional. Never attempt to diagnose and treat medical problems but instead assist the referring partners in completing the recovery process. Maintaining this positive working relationship will keep you in business for many years to come. Brian Schiﬀ, PT, CSCS (www.brianschiﬀ.com) is a licensed physical therapist, respected author and ﬁtness professional. He became a Certiﬁed Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) in 1998. In 2000, he opened his own personal training and sport speciﬁc conditioning facility, Fitness Edge, in Dublin, Ohio. Brian has presented at several professional conferences and seminars on injury prevention and sport-speciﬁc training. ● injuries in your area. The following action steps will help trainers just starting out maximize their opportunity in the market: ¸Develop an advisory board with a physician/chiropractor, physical therapist and massage therapist as members. ¸Study current research and relevant literature on common conditions you work with. ¸Spend a few hours per week shadowing a doctor or therapist to build knowledge and cultivate reciprocal referral relationships. ¸Send out letters to key physicians in the area promoting your ﬁtness programs with a sample report you will send them upon evaluating their clients. ¸ Place ﬂyers and brochures at local medical oﬃces. ¸Document case studies of successful outcomes to position yourself as the “go-to” expert in your ¸Volunteer to speak in the community, and write relevant articles to post on your website or blog. ¸Acquire additional certiﬁcations speciﬁc to your population base. geographic area. Looking ahead, trainers interested in this market can easily grow and sustain a solid income by capitalizing on limited insurance reimbursement. Athletes and baby boomers alike today are in need of more specialized training to return to activity or simply maintain an active lifestyle free from JAN-FEB2009 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM 23 http://www.brianschiff.com http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009

Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009 Contents Letter from the Editor, Writers Ready to Rock the Podium What It Takes to Change Fitness Marketing Makeover Be Better Top Club Building a Base of Special Populations The Balancing Act Take Action! Nutrition Solutions Datebook Journey to Success New on the Market The Four P's Exercising Your Influence No More Pain in the Back!

Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009

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