When I was a personal trainer, I had an NFL client list most trainers dream of.   

I wasn’t training Drew Brees or LaDanian Tomlinson on a regular basis (although I did work with both of them when my boss Todd Durkin was away). I had a steady list of solid NFL players like Donnie Edwards, Quinton Jammer and Luis Castillo who all played for the San Diego Chargers.  

I even have two pretty large articles in the San Diego Union Tribune to prove it.   
 

When I moved to New Jersey people kept asking me why I did NOT continue to train Pro Athletes  

I purposely stopped training pro athletes for a very specific reason.   

I wanted to build a great business and I wanted to make a difference at the same time. 

Training Pro Athletes only does one thing, feed your ego. 

I definitely had a cool experience working with these NFL guys. They would get me tickets to the games and invite me to the players only tailgates. It was definitely an experience. 

The reality was they didn’t need me. They also had a very limited window in which they could even train with me. In this case, they did not pay any more money than other clients. 

Seeking out pro athletes to train was not a good business decision. 

 So, I went the other way. 

I trained middle school kids and started the foundation of what is now a pretty big business on that market. 

These kids definitely needed me. 

They needed the life skills as much as the actual training.  

They needed a positive role model to reinforce or in sometimes replace their parents. 

They also were always available. They were willing to train in groups and there was never a hesitation to pay from the parents. They saw the difference I was making. 

I got a ton of personal satisfaction from working with these kids. 

No, it did not challenge my knowledge of Undulating Periodization. Sometimes playing dodgeball with 6th graders wasn’t very glorious. But I was making lots of money and an even bigger impact.   

The whole point here is you need to pick a target market for your business. 

You have to make sure that market will support your business goals.  

If you want to build a great business and have a passion for training kids that are 23 years old that want to get in killer shape, then you may find yourself starting to starve. 

If you only pick working with seniors because they have lots of money but hate every minute of it, that won’t fair well either. 

You need to find the target market that you get you excited but also has the potential to help you meet your financial goals. 

For me when I started it was middle school athletes. 

Now, as my business has evolved, it’s men and women ages 40-60.  

Both serve myself and my team on a personal satisfaction level and support the Vision for GFP. 

Be sure when you are picking your target market that you consider both of these things.

I’m about 7 hours from unpacking this lesson on target markets in much more detail in the 6 Week New Client Surge program. 

If your one of those people that sign up for things last minute, reply here and I will try squeeze you in. 

Vince