By Ted Vickey
Research in the adoption of technology would suggest that you are probably reading this post on your smartphone (probably more than 50% of you are). What continues to amaze me as a technologist in the fitness industry is the sheer power of your smartphone. It is millions of times more powerful than the computer that NASA used to put a man on the moon in 1969. That NASA computer might not fit into your typical yoga studio, but our super powerful smartphones can fit into the pockets of our Lululemon pants.
That got me thinking – we carry a massive amount of computing technology with us 24/7/365, so why don’t we harness that technology to help run our personal training business and to help our clients live a more healthy lifestyle?
I’m going to share with you five pieces of technology available on your smartphone that can do just that – help you run and manage your fitness business. Give some a try and let me know how they work. I’ve tried them all and they get the Dr. Ted stamp of approval 🙂
Hover
Rebrandly
Loom
ScheduleOnce
Uberconference
Hover – www.hover.com
I own over a dozen website names and use them for different projects. The service I use to purchase these domains is called Hover. For some reason, when I see an email of any business, including a personal trainer as personaltrainerTed@gmail.com – I don’t take them seriously. The cost of a personalized website and email is a small expense. If you are serious about having a business, you need to be serious about your branding. One of my URL I use is www.tedv.link and I explain how I use it in my next tip. COST: Depends on what you purchase
Rebrandly – www.rebrandly.com
I am a big Twitter user (@tedvickey) and was using a generic link shortener to keep my tweets under 280 characters, until I found Rebrandly. Rebrandly is a link shortener that gives you the power to personalize any link you wish to share. Want to see my LinkedIn profile? You could use the LinkedIn page at www.linkedin.com/in/tedvickey or visit my Rebrandly link at www.tedv.link/in. Want to see my CNN story about President Trump and the workout I would give him? You could go to the CNN link at https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/30/politics/donald-trump-fitness-dover-sole/index.html or my Rebrandly link at https://tedv.link/trump. By using Rebrandly, I can enhance my professional image and keep track of the number of web visits. I use the free version and find it most adequate. COST: FREE with upgrades possible
Loom – www.loom.com
Loom is a new kind of work communication tool that helps you get your message across through instantly shareable video. Imagine from the comfort of your office that you send a quick video from your computer introducing a new exercise to your client. In additional to the live video and voice over, you can also show whatever is on your computer screen (like a fitness video) and send to your client using the personalize URL. Here is a sample below (using my Rebrandly link from above). The free version allows 100 recordings while the pro version give unlimited videos, professional editing and HD quality. If I really want to impress a client, I take the Loom URL and convert it to one of my Rebrandly links – www.tedv.link/CLIENTNAME. COST: Free with upgrades possible
ScheduleOnce – www.scheduleonce.com
I try to automate as much as I can with technology. Rather than going back and forth with a person trying to pick a time and date for a meeting or call, I use an online calendar called ScheduleOnce. I’ve used a number of online calendars and they all pretty much do the same thing – provide a website that syncs real time with your calendars and allows a person to online schedule. However, the reason I like ScheduleOnce is because rather than having someone pick just one time and date, I request they pick three options. I then can review their choices and pick the best time for me. Example – if I have a lunch meeting from 12:00-1:00, my calendar shows that I am booked at that time, but free at 1:00pm. I can’t be someplace else immediately at 1:00pm, so if someone picks another time that is more convenient for me, I pick that date and time. Don’t forget, I have my schedule at www.tedv.link/schedule COST: Monthly and annual plans with different features available
UberConference – www.uberconference.com
If you are like me, you probably only have one phone that you use for both personal and business calls. I like UberConference because I can give out my UberConference free phone number and have a client dial in for a meeting. It also allows for conference calls and the best feature is that it saves the audio recording of the call. So if you are on a call with your client and you explain a new exercise, you can send them the audio recording to remind them of how to do it (or do a Loom video). A person can join me by dialing the phone number or use my UberConference website where I can even screen share with them from my iPad or computer. Cost: FREE with upgrades possible
So there you go, five tech tools that I personally use to run my business more efficiently. They work for me, I hope they work for you. Tell us what you tried, which you liked and if you have any others that help you in your business.
Please check out Ted’s Bio here!! https://www.pointloma.edu/faculty-spotlights/ted-vickey-phdc