Online personal training is packed with potential. Not only does it give you access to a greater pool of potential clients, but it allows you to take on more work without crowding your schedule or maxing out on in-person sessions—a win-win for any personal trainer. However, in such a new and saturated space, it can feel like a real challenge to sell online personal training. Not only is it still a relatively unfamiliar concept to clients, but taking your training business online almost means you’re competing in an even bigger arena.

That doesn’t mean it’s not possible. It just means you need to get creative with your selling techniques. Use these ideas to spice up the way you sell online personal training and tweak them as you learn what works and what you have time for.

1. Create an On-Demand Workout Library

Instead of (or in addition to) selling online training sessions and programs, sell access to a library of on-demand workouts for anyone looking to train, whenever or wherever they want. This gives you an easy stream of income once the planning and filming have been done. With the videos online, all you have to do is market them.

The key here is to make sure you collect your client’s email during the purchasing process (which is easy with Trainterize) and turn them into a subscriber on a mailing list to whom you can market your online programs. In this way, your on-demand workout library is a soft sell; an easier ask, and the first step toward getting a new personal training client, which is the harder sell.

2. Get Your Foot in the Door

Many clients experience sticker shock when they see the cost of a personal training package; even the people who are most excited take a big gulp when they see the numbers. To mitigate the effects of this, start by scheduling them for their first session—before showing them the cost. “Having clients commit to training times and dates makes it harder for them to balk at the sale,” says Jonathan Goodman, creator of the PTDC.

Goodman explains, “In The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar, she calls this the foot in the door technique. Getting somebody to commit to you on a smaller decision increases the chances they will commit to whatever you propose next.” Use this technique to get buy-in and increase the chances they’ll sign up for online training without feeling like you need to discount your services or soften the pricing.

3. Go the Hybrid Way

Online personal training can be a confusing concept for those less tech-savvy or new to their fitness journey—and may also make people feel like they’re not getting the full experience. For clients who seem to struggle with an online-only approach, go the hybrid method. Use a mix of online and in-person training to ease their concerns and strengthen the workouts they do alone.

As an added bonus, you can charge less for the online portion of the program since you don’t need to meet in person, which may allow you to reduce the price and attract more potential clients. Not to mention, in-person sessions allow clients to build self-efficacy while giving you a chance to motivate them during the workout together and give them goals for their workouts at home.

This blended approach can strengthen your bond as trainer and client while making online training more approachable and successful.

4. Turn Clients into Ambassadors

If you’re struggling to get sign-ups for online training, find someone who’s willing to do it for free or for a steep discount and make them your “ambassador” for that program. This means all of your marketing materials will revolve around this person, including photos, testimonials, videos, progress notes, etc. For example, you may have the program listed on your site with a link below that says, “See Amy’s Results!”  that would take the potential client to a separate landing page where all of the ambassador information can be found.

This idea allows you to use social proof to your benefit. People want to know that others like them have done it, like it, and would recommend it; when you weave these details into a story, the persuasive effect is even stronger:

“User social proof is particularly effective when it involves storytelling. We tend to imagine ourselves in other people’s shoes when we read or hear a story. This is why stories are so persuasive and often more trustworthy than statistics or general trends. Individual examples stick with us because we can relate to them,” says Alfred Lua, Buffer Blog contributor.

5. Leverage Apps and Digital Tools

In many cases, people who seek online training need guidance, and the thought of going at it alone can be scary. That’s where digital tools and apps like Trainerize come into play. Not only can you brand a tool like Trainerize with your own logo and style—which makes you look more professional—but the features of the app itself can be a selling point for your online training.

Take Trainerize’s progress tracking, check-in, and workout log features. People love tracking their progress! Using a digital tool to facilitate your online training allows for this and a wide range of other benefits, and as such, can be used as a powerful tool for marketing.

Curious how to position Trainerize as a selling point for clients training with you? Try creating a 3-minute walk-through video of the platform, showing potential clients how they could use it and how it can make their life easier and their training more effective. Better yet, track your own progress with Trainerize so you can share Instagram stories, Facebook posts and more—walk the walk, talk the talk, and people may feel more comfortable going into online personal training with you.

Start Selling Online Training

Use these ideas to make your marketing more effective and attract more online personal training clients in 2018. When you use social proof, digital tools, and a blended approach, you show potential clients that you’re ready and able to help them find fitness success—and in the end, that’s all any personal training client wants.