Starting a personal training business . . . got any name ideas?

[natedagg]

I like the name Iron Phoenix Strength & Conditioning. IPSC. Rolls off of the tongue.

Yes to mentioning faith when marketing to church people. Kudos if you can tie in some sort of "God will show you the light but you have to go there" type sales pitch. I am not religious.

Then you have 2 distinct groups of people. Since you are a newb with essentially nothing, market to both:

1. Fats or generally out of shape people. You get them in shape and help them with their pantry. Since nutrition is what 90% of weight loss, make them bring you the grocery receipt. Help with that and focus the routine on having them not quit, meaning, go easy on them. They will lose weight and get stronger and refer you their fat friends.

2. athletic People looking for targeted training. This is such a vast field that I can't really speak on. I love the prehab concept and muscular balance to prevent injury. But whatever, you are a newb so take what you can get.

I feel like group 1 is huge. I would market to both, in completely separate marketing campaigns, and see what happens. Btw, if you haven't tried Facebook marketing, it isn't complicated and has worked quite well for my side biz (not a service tho, so not apples to apples).

Don't forget to crush it for the holiday season:

"Thou Shalt not be Fat."
"Jesus wasn't obese. Be more like Jesus."
"The weather outside is frightful. So is your waistline."

 

[The Oi]

Ok I get what you mean now by independent contractor. So how does the relationship tend to work between gym owner and independent contractor trainer usually? I've never done it before.

Also, I don't really express my faith in a shove-it-down-your-throat way (not that you're saying that). It's really more about being such a positive influence in someone's life that they wonder what the source of that light is. I build rapport with that person, and I gently bring up God if I feel like it's the right time. It's not something I plan on advertising heavily unless I sense it will help me. For example, if I recruit at a church, that would be a good idea to mention that I'm a Christian trainer. I'd never bring up religion to a potential client or client if it would offset them, and, if it did, I'd drop it. I'm more about helping others through action than words, but I do use words when I sense the situation I sense that they're susceptible to it.

But again, I really want to work with athletes--mostly young men--who are still growing as individuals both physically and spiritually. It's not supposed to be the main topic of this thread, but I understand your point. I'm always careful to measure susceptibility. It's what I learned in my seminary education. I'd never let it get in the way of my job or even come close to jeopardizing it.

However, if I did end up opening up my own facility, I might consider being openly Christian-based. I could see people and parents dishing out money to send their kids to a strength and conditioning coach that knows his stuff and is a positive influence on their children's lives. Or I might just not necessarily advertise it, but I might instead just bring it up when the time is right, once again. But I digress. Back to the naming! lol

@Nicky described the contractor aspect of being a trainer well. You could likely contract with multiple gyms as their in-house trainer. This means you'd come and go as you please from an hourage standpoint. And from a tax standpoint, you'd do your own taxes and be responsible for finding your own healthcare etc.

If I was a gym owner and you were using Christian religious themes and recruiting people to the church, I wouldn't like it and I'd probably terminate the relationship if you fought me on it.

Not because I personally have a problem with it, but if I have Jewish or Muslim clientele, they're probably not going to like it. It also makes people uncomfortable to be sold to when they're a captive audience to you for the purposes of entertainment unrelated to what you're pushing. At least for me, that includes religion.

I'd strongly suggest holding back on the religion in a place of work unless and until you own your own gym. Remember, you're a representative of the gym you're contracting with and the chances are the gym owner's goal is to appeal to a broad audience. Not everyone is a Christian and there's a limited amount of people who want religion interwoven into their gym experience. I understand that you feel that you're able to recognize when people are going to be receptive to it, but gyms are filled with people who might be leaning in to get free tips from a good personal trainer and if they overhear religious or political conversation, all it takes is one complaint and an owner is pissed at you.

If you OWN the gym, it's a whole different situation. There really might be some market for it out there.

I don't have much contribution on names. I've heard so damn many of them over time. I've actually worked with a few different Phoenix's, but those were legal names.

 

[ajz20]

Just being honest but if I live in a hip liberal city like Seattle the last thing I want from my trainer is to spread their conservative Mike Huckabee 1955 religious views on me.

 

[Maximus]

Iron Phoenix Strength and Conditioning?

Potential hot client: So where did you get the name?
You: Made it up.
Client: What does Iron Phoenix mean?
You: Nothing...it just sounds sweet.
Client: Ohhh...
You: You don't think it's sounds sweet?
Client: All i can think of is IPeeSAC
You: Ohhh...
Client: How about Maximus Strength & Conditioning?
You: Hmmm...
Client: It actually has a meaning. Maximus means "Largest" or "Greatest"...and it sounds sweet. It actually makes me want to finger myself.

MAXIMUS STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

 

[The Oi]

Pussy fingering is a great forearm exercise too!!!

 

[Maximus]

Just being honest but if I live in a hip liberal city like Seattle the last thing I want from my trainer is to spread their conservative Mike Huckabee 1955 religious views on me.

Yeah, fuck pushing morality. Pre-marital sex, getting pregnant at 16, doing drugs and disrespecting people is where it's at!

It's really more about being such a positive influence in someone's life that they wonder what the source of that light is.

Check out Fit Me Up. http://www.fmufitness.com/about.html

Theo has built an awesome business over the last few years. He's made an incredible impact on a lot of kid's lives. He started out renting a room at a school and working with just kids. Now he has his own gym and works with everybody, with all types of classes. I've only met a few people in my life with a more positive attitude than Theo. He's just great to be around. My kids absolutely love him...everyone does. Christian or not, Theo and Amber are people you want working with your kids. He doesn't shove his religion down your throat, but it's a big part of his life and business if you do want to talk about it. He has saved troubled kids lives...probably adults too.

 

[ajz20]

Yeah, fuck pushing morality. Pre-marital sex, getting pregnant at 16, doing drugs and disrespecting people is where it's at!




Check out Fit Me Up. http://www.fmufitness.com/about.html

Theo has built an awesome business over the last few years. He's made an incredible impact on a lot of kid's lives. He started out renting a room at a school and working with just kids. Now he has his own gym and works with everybody, with all types of classes. I've only met a few people in my life with a more positive attitude than Theo. He's just great to be around. My kids absolutely love him...everyone does. Christian or not, Theo and Amber are people you want working with your kids. He doesn't shove his religion down your throat, but it's a big part of his life and business if you do want to talk about it. He has saved troubled kids lives...probably adults too.

Nothing wrong with having a set of morals, but not sure people at the gym in a young liberal city want a religious experience at the gym. maybe there is a market for religious gyms but I would think there are other places in the U.S. Where that would make more sense then Seattle. I would not want my trainer pushing any political view liberal or conservative on me personally. I am there to work out listen to music to pump me up and get healthy.

 

[Adam]

What does he do exactly? I've definitely been thinking about how I would use social media to build my business. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages; regular posting, those multiple videos in one instagram post of people working out and stuff.

And back to the topic at hand, the more I think about it, the more I want to end my company's name in "Strength and Conditioning."

I really like the name, Phoenix Strength and Conditioning because it's fucking sweet and also because I like the Christian theme behind the phoenix in that it is reborn (even though the phoenix itself isn't from Christianity), but it's already taken by some company in Ireland. It's fucking amazing how many fitness companies there are out there.

He charges £150 and wants you to send him photos the he sends you a questionaire then within 10 days sends a 15 week eating and exercise plan. This is in 3 sections each of which has a weigh in amd photos which the best are shared on instagram and twitter. He uses YouTube to host his recipes and hiit workouts. Nothing revolutionary but he's formed a cult of hype and people are promoting him. Now he subcontracts out to other trainers to deliver the plans and rakes in the cash.

Haven't used hin but have been impressed by his business plan

 

[Hurl Bruce]

2nd Amendment Strength & Conditioning...who wants some serious guns?

 

[The Oi]

Black Lives Matter S&C.

 

[Walter White]

Here are some ideas:

"#Get Swole"
"#Do U Even Lift, Bro?"
"#gymlife"
"#Spot Me"
"#jealous?"

Hashtag Don't Skip Leg Day

 

[The Process God]

Ok, so I think people are way overestimating the degree to which I actually talk about religion with clients. And I'm certainly no conservative. I don't believe in taxes. I don't believe in really anything other than minimal government that is run by either volunteers or is run by donations. I don't believe in the government regulating the economy at all. 100% free market capitalist. I don't believe the government should have any say of what a person can do so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of life, liberty, or property of another person. Simply put, I'm libertarian. I don't really ever talk about my political beliefs with anyone other than family.

And Iron Phoenix actually has meaning. To the secular crowd, I say that the phoenix is a sign of inner fire--a drive to be the best. I could use a slogan like "Ignite your inner fire." If I were deliberately running a Christian company, I could also add in that the phoenix represents being born again. And of course, Iron is a sign of strength, but it is also literally used in every weight room.

 

[The Process God]

Yeah, fuck pushing morality. Pre-marital sex, getting pregnant at 16, doing drugs and disrespecting people is where it's at!




Check out Fit Me Up. http://www.fmufitness.com/about.html

Theo has built an awesome business over the last few years. He's made an incredible impact on a lot of kid's lives. He started out renting a room at a school and working with just kids. Now he has his own gym and works with everybody, with all types of classes. I've only met a few people in my life with a more positive attitude than Theo. He's just great to be around. My kids absolutely love him...everyone does. Christian or not, Theo and Amber are people you want working with your kids. He doesn't shove his religion down your throat, but it's a big part of his life and business if you do want to talk about it. He has saved troubled kids lives...probably adults too.

I might actually contact him. That looks super interesting. If I ever got the funds, I'd like to do something like this, but I'd also like to train athletes too. Perhaps I could use a similar model of business to his that also allows for me to also work with actual athletes.

 

[The Process God]

What about:

Endgame Performance
Endgame Strength and Conditioning
Endgame Athletics
Endgame Performance Strength and Conditioning
Endgame Performance Athletics

Something like that? My slogan could be something like "How will you perform in the endgame?" "Perform your best in the endgame." "Have the best endgame performance." "Dominate with your endgame performance." Dominate with your performance in the endgame." "What's your endgame?"

 

[The Oi]

Endgame and what's your endgame are good.

Can't believe you're so religious. You're gonna ruin everything.