The holiday season is near, which means lots of family meetings, going out, and, of course, eating delicious food for most of your clients.

Only, there’s a small problem:

You’ve seen protein powders, bars, shakes and even protein-enhanced chips, crackers, and cookies in abundance on grocery store shelves. Clearly, the demand is there. But with so many myths and misconceptions surrounding the macronutrient, it's often hard to know whether buying any of the enhanced products is truly necessary in order to add even more protein to your diet.

We all know losing weight can be a struggle, but if just one of these types of foods is being consumed on a regular basis, it can impede your weight loss progress.

1. Added Sugar

2. Gluten

3. Alcohol

It’s more critical than ever to have an online presence – a brand -- that validates you and your services.  But branding is about more than having a color-coordinated website and posting a sign in the gym. Sure, you have to do those things, but they are not enough today.

Here’s a key distinction: Presenting your brand isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process through which you, as a fitness professional, continually demonstrate the unique value you deliver to your prospects and clients.

Over the past 18 months, my team and I have generated thousands of leads for hundreds of fitness studios and independent gyms around the world. In doing so, we’ve spent a ton of time and money testing and figuring out exactly what does and doesn’t work when it comes to lead generation for fitness business. And that’s exactly what I share with you here today.

But before we dive in, let’s define exactly what we consider a lead. This is someone  who gives you their first name, last name, email, and phone number in exchange for an offer at your studio or gym.

Names are important, whether your business, website, brand….heck, even our pet names are important. A name can be the first thing entrepreneurs think of when they have their first vision of what they want to build or create. Because, when it comes down to it, it’s all about identity. I’m not a glorified business strategist or advisor, I can only speak to my personal experience from starting Evolution Nutrition, but it’s a path I feel can provide some insight to businesses that are just starting out or really haven’t landed on a true brand name or identity yet.

How do we not only gain new online training clients, but also keep them as paying clients long-term?

It is very common in this industry that someone might purchase one or two months of training, then not get the results they hoped for, or just lose motivation and fall off the bandwagon. It’s much like the idea of people buying a bunch of fitness equipment for their home gym with every intention of using it, and then within weeks the equipment makes for coat racks.

You're skeptical about this new "online personal training" idea. Well, we're here to tell you that the benefits of an online personal trainer vastly outweigh the disadvantages. With upsides like the cost-effectiveness and real, trackable results, there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a shot! Here are a few more advantages, listed in detail, on why all those busy people who say they don't have time to go to the gym, should stop complaining and get themselves matched up with an online personal trainer.

The business of personal training can be an exciting path to walk down, but like any other business, proper planning is a must to make it a success. For a client base to trust you it is important that you come across as professional as possible, and that you have done your due diligence on the basics of starting and running a business.

Here are 4 key steps to starting your personal training business:

Building a business as a fitness professional is about more than just a client session and customized meal plan here and there. It’s about creating a clear brand for your business that will draw clients in to ask about and schedule that session or sign on for that customized meal plan. And that’s not just a cool logo.