What would you look for in an online fitness/nutrition coach?

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My coach has a rule that he’ll always repost videos that we tag him in, but won’t post what we WhatsApp/text him or what he films in sessions. I’ve got a bad habit of hurting my back or being scared to hurt my back when my deadlifting so he does film them a lot so that I can see what I’m doing wrong but he doesn’t show them to anyone. He also doesn’t stand there filming he out the phone on the shelf/floor and actually concentrates on us rather than the film



I am indeed! Central belt resident 🙋‍♀️
Yes I 100% agree with filming for form purposes and it's something I will be making all of my clients do but at least communicating with them that it's just shared between us and if I want to put it online I will most definitely be getting their permission!

Aberdeen girl here! (not currently living there, just my roots :D)

The only coach I really enjoyed and happy to name is Marguerita. I dropped so much weight, I felt amazing, I was never hungry. The workouts where on point and her responses were great. She ended up putting her prices up, I couldn’t go any higher and every other pic was an ad. For her clothing range, her boyfriends, skinny something. Everyone could pay £30 for a hoodie and I couldn’t. I’ve always been so tempted to go back to her and pay the price she’s now asking. The other coach was a male. I only enquired with him, ended up on WhatsApp and then handed over £100 that day for him to tell me he couldn’t do my plan for another week or so. Then proceeded to give me really high carbs and it was making me swell and feel poorly, I complained so he wiped them out completely but upped my fibre to a point of where I slept alone! The belly pain and noises were out of this world. He was the one who copied and pasted my plan. A few IG stalls of his clients and I found the girl who had my exact meal plan. Another coach again male, just disregarded my whole being. My illnesses can leave me in so much pain but it wasn’t recognised. My meals where stripped back and it was unpleasant.

Is it mad I’m now on IG on the hunt for a coach again? I’m in a new job and work 13 hour days. I eat every thing I can. Had a donut this morning. I keep trying calorie counting, but like last night I had food cooked for me and found out after I ate it, it had oil/fat. High cals. The whole meal I guesstimated to be around 900/1000cals. On top of what I took to work. I keep getting bigger and bigger. I love it when someone tells me what to do, when to eat, what to eat. Just how i function well I suppose. Im given a plan, I pay for the plan and I follow the plan.
So did she not even keep you on the price she started you on when the prices increased? Coaches these days I tell you... I think I'm doing the industry a favour by coming back in!

If you want, pop me a message and we can have a little chat - this feels weird and I hope it doesn't breach some sort of rule but honestly I want to make up for the piss poor services you've experienced and at least have a chat! You sound like my ideal client I won't lie haha!

I wouldn’t want someone who is full of fitness jargon or constantly being fake upbeat because it would put me off and I would get rid of you 😂
Fake positivity literally grinds my gears. I have been fortunate enough to grow my social media following (excluding my coaching) based on being real, authentic & vulnerable (cringe) so my people at least know all they get from me is tough love :LOL:

I'm a coach and I think it's really important to stay in my own lane: I cross-refer to physios, sports massage therapists, other trainers etc, and am totally happy to accept my own limitations. I've been in the business for around 10 years, and I'm not interested in selling any merch or supplementary crap. I think that definitely adds to your credibility as a coach. I don't run any instagram or facebook pages, don't post any of my clients on social media, and write individual programmes for everyone. I don't even post my fitness stuff on the internet anymore, but instead rely on word of mouth and recommendations to gain business. Perhaps it's not the most modern or efficient way of conducting an online fitness business (especially given the last year where I had to teach all my big classes online!) but it's worked for me and I think has given me a better reputation in the area.
YES YES YES! I am huge on cross-referring. For instance I don't usually work with clients that have big weight loss goals (30lbs+ to lose) as it isn't my area of expertise, so I am more than happy to refer on. Again, it's having that client first focus!
I really appreciate your input and it's good to know that there are others out there doing it, and doing it WELL without the need for social media. Big respect for that.

A major, major thank you to everyone that has generated discussion & added their input to this thread. Yesterday I went live with my coaching business!
I have taken on board all of the advice and insights you've offered & can happily say that it sounds like I'll be doing considerably better than many coaches out there.
SO much love to you all, I'm so glad I reached out and sought advice on here ❤
 
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I don’t know how to message?

I have to share this. Can you invest £37.50 a week? Then the bottom option ‘No money is tight and my goals aren’t that important right now’ … Um. £150 a month for a calorie goal and a ‘personalised workout plan’ To someone like me who is alone, working full time, with 2 children. Who has to pay every bill there is and debt from previous relationship, money is a priority and it’s not about goals … it’s really annoyed me 😂 and she messaged me asking if I have goals she can help with.
 

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I don’t know how to message?

I have to share this. Can you invest £37.50 a week? Then the bottom option ‘No money is tight and my goals aren’t that important right now’ … Um. £150 a month for a calorie goal and a ‘personalised workout plan’ To someone like me who is alone, working full time, with 2 children. Who has to pay every bill there is and debt from previous relationship, money is a priority and it’s not about goals … it’s really annoyed me 😂 and she messaged me asking if I have goals she can help with.
Firstly that's quite expensive! Secondly, what a stupid way of working things I must say 😂

I don’t know how to message?

I have to share this. Can you invest £37.50 a week? Then the bottom option ‘No money is tight and my goals aren’t that important right now’ … Um. £150 a month for a calorie goal and a ‘personalised workout plan’ To someone like me who is alone, working full time, with 2 children. Who has to pay every bill there is and debt from previous relationship, money is a priority and it’s not about goals … it’s really annoyed me 😂 and she messaged me asking if I have goals she can help with.
Also am I allowed to share my personal IG on here? If so I can just post up my IG handle and we can talk on there x
 
Also am I allowed to share my personal IG on here? If so I can just post up my IG handle and we can talk on there x
sorry I’ve just seen this! Tattle hasn’t been given me notifications again 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s so damn hard isn’t it cause I don’t want to out you? And myself 😂 um. Maybe change or make up a IG handle quick, post it quick and I’ll keep an eye on thread then do an edit delete? Make sense ? Lol
 
You know what, to use a very cheesy and outdated phrase, #yolo 😂
@aimeelouisefit come and find me xx
 
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Wow I can't believe it's already been about 3 months since I posted this!

Since posting I did launch my coaching business and honestly it was the best decision I've ever made. I have about 10 clients that have become literally like children to me haha and are making some pretty amazing physical and mental progress.

All of your feedback was absolutely invaluable and I am so, so grateful. I wanted to make this as professional, progress-driven and all-encompassing as I could and I think I've managed to do just that.

However, I have noticed that in the past few weeks, I seem to have plateaued when it comes to enquiries, and while the 10 clients I have are solid and really engaged, ideally I want to be more towards that 15-20 range by the end of the year.

I have been brainstorming ways of generating more interest but I am so conscious of becoming a sell out and 'just another online coach'. My main point of reach are Instagram, I did look into making a website but it was going to cost me $2,000 (!!!!!) and may actually not be all that beneficial.

Right now I pretty much only offer 1-1 weekly coaching unless someone specifies they just want nutrition or just training, as I didn't want a whole host of options like 4 week meal plan, 8 weeks of training etc etc but maybe that's where Im missing out? I toyed with even writing up a recipe e-book as a side thing but I just don't have the capabilities to cook, eat and photograph every recipe atm.

So I have taken to my smart friends at Tattle yet again. If you read this far, thank you. I have been *this* close to pay thousands for some sort of business mentor but honestly that thought gives me the ick.

Any and all suggestions would be highly appreciated, I love you all.
 
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Wow I can't believe it's already been about 3 months since I posted this!

Since posting I did launch my coaching business and honestly it was the best decision I've ever made. I have about 10 clients that have become literally like children to me haha and are making some pretty amazing physical and mental progress.

All of your feedback was absolutely invaluable and I am so, so grateful. I wanted to make this as professional, progress-driven and all-encompassing as I could and I think I've managed to do just that.

However, I have noticed that in the past few weeks, I seem to have plateaued when it comes to enquiries, and while the 10 clients I have are solid and really engaged, ideally I want to be more towards that 15-20 range by the end of the year.

I have been brainstorming ways of generating more interest but I am so conscious of becoming a sell out and 'just another online coach'. My main point of reach are Instagram, I did look into making a website but it was going to cost me $2,000 (!!!!!) and may actually not be all that beneficial.

Right now I pretty much only offer 1-1 weekly coaching unless someone specifies they just want nutrition or just training, as I didn't want a whole host of options like 4 week meal plan, 8 weeks of training etc etc but maybe that's where Im missing out? I toyed with even writing up a recipe e-book as a side thing but I just don't have the capabilities to cook, eat and photograph every recipe atm.

So I have taken to my smart friends at Tattle yet again. If you read this far, thank you. I have been *this* close to pay thousands for some sort of business mentor but honestly that thought gives me the ick.

Any and all suggestions would be highly appreciated, I love you all.
This is so great, well done! I'm so happy to hear you're doing well. In terms of growth, do you teach any form of group exercise? I get a lot of my clients through that route: I teach Pilates, yoga, aerobics, all that stuff, and it does funnel a lot of clients my way. Sometimes I find just getting your face out there like that helps more than websites. This helps both online and in person - so in the studio as well as on Zoom. I also work with a physio, osteo and sports therapist and we cross-refer a lot. That helps too, and there's relatively low on expenses for me.

In terms of a website, £2k sounds like a lot. You could probably do it yourself for a lot less using one of those website builders. Again, I made a contact through teaching classes with a website designer, and we offered each other mates' rates. Online marketing is great, but sometimes you do need that face to face touch to really drive it up a bit more. Good luck. Really happy though to hear how well you're doing!
 
This is so great, well done! I'm so happy to hear you're doing well. In terms of growth, do you teach any form of group exercise? I get a lot of my clients through that route: I teach Pilates, yoga, aerobics, all that stuff, and it does funnel a lot of clients my way. Sometimes I find just getting your face out there like that helps more than websites. This helps both online and in person - so in the studio as well as on Zoom. I also work with a physio, osteo and sports therapist and we cross-refer a lot. That helps too, and there's relatively low on expenses for me.

In terms of a website, £2k sounds like a lot. You could probably do it yourself for a lot less using one of those website builders. Again, I made a contact through teaching classes with a website designer, and we offered each other mates' rates. Online marketing is great, but sometimes you do need that face to face touch to really drive it up a bit more. Good luck. Really happy though to hear how well you're doing!
Thank you! 🥺
And this is actually great feedback! At the moment I still live in a small town (moving back to the UK early next year!) where there isn't much ability to teach group classes or even PT (without paying huge upfront costs and with me moving soon it would just be a poor move IMO). But you're right, connection and networking (ew I sound like a pyramid scheme haha!) is actually such an important aspect.

I think I need to go back to the drawing block. Ideally I'd like more UK clients as it'll sync well for when I move, and in general coaching is more of a 'thing' there now, but while Im in Aus it's just a tricky one.