Embody|fitness - branding & website for a Personal Trainer
Introduction
When Emily came to me she had a fledgling, part-time, mom of two side hustle, running fitness boot camps for ladies a couple of times a week at a local school. The classes were beginning to gain popularity and the word was getting out.
She’d recently qualified as a level three Personal Trainer and was keen to make a career in a town she knew would have the demand. She wanted to offer more than boot camps and knew that to attract a new type of client, she would need a noteworthy brand and online presence.
We discussed how creating a professional brand and website would help her build the trust her ideal clients were looking for. She wanted a look and feel that would set her apart from her competition.
the brand
“without intimidation or judgment”
Understanding the business
The “Unique Selling Position” for embody|fitness was that clients could receive personal training, either alone or with a friend, at the gym in Emily’s home, which she had converted from the garage. In her town, personal training was typically conducted either in larger gyms or at the client's home. Since most clients do not have their own gym, this gave her an advantage over her competitors.
Most of her ideal clients were uncomfortable being trained in a common or open gym environment. Emily was able to offer them one-to-one training in a true one-to-one location.
In order to attract her ideal clients, the brand needed to convey trust. This can be achieved by giving a sense of professionalism and empathy for the client's needs and concerns. We discussed the pain points for her business:
Giving her clients sufficient information to feel informed about her offerings
Providing trust that she was capable of helping her clients to achieve their goals
Showing that she understood their particular needs and concerns, and could provide solutions
Prove that her business was both professional and legitimate
Now that I had a better understanding of the business, its values, and aspirations, we could create something that truly reflected these aspects.
The importance of a Brand voice
We discussed the importance of a consistent brand voice. This would be incorporated in her logo, the copy for her website, and through her social media. It is essential that these elements talk about the business and how it can consistently help potential clients, which will then breed familiarity.
If information is disjointed, or scatter-gunned, it can lead to confusion for the audience.
The Logo
The business logo was something Emily was particularly passionate about. She had already decided on the business name, so we talked about the look and feel she wanted to convey. A simple, word-only, contemporary logo was the brief. Something that would look modern and give an air of professionalism.
After we looked into a few options, Emily fell for one of the ideas I had presented to her and we began to dive deeper. I created some very quick mock-ups of the logo in differing scenarios - on a business card, on a mug, on a baseball cap, etc. This gave Emily a chance to see her logo in real-life situations and to see it as more than just lettering.
After a couple of rounds of revisions, the logo for embody|fitness was born. This would form the basis for all her branding as we move forward.
colors
Color selection is an extremely important factor when building your brand. Colors have meanings, and getting the right message to Emily’s clients was an essential part of building the trust required for them to make contact.
With a business that was trying to provide a safe environment for her clients to get out of their comfort zones, color selection was important. Very bright colors, such as bold reds and blues would send the wrong signals. Emily told me that she liked a particular muted coffee color, and this seemed appropriate for the nurturing nature of her business.
We then selected complimentary colors for her brand for use in different scenarios and locations. These would form part of the brand pack she could use for her marketing, be it physical or online.
the website
the idea
We all use Google to find the things we’re looking for. From a Kyak to a cake stand, a gardener to a golf club, the internet has become our go-to place to find the information we need. It’s quick and it’s easy, so why wouldn’t you?
Emily was fully aware that her business would need a website. She understood that it provided the opportunity to reach an audience of clients that were simply not available to her through word of mouth alone. She had an exciting idea for an equally exciting business and wanted to tell the world. Effectively shout it from the rooftops.
Let’s set aside the danger of standing on your roof. Also, the fact that shouting anything from up there is likely to get people heading in the opposite direction (and probably telling everyone they know - but not in a good way).
Websites are important for your business. They just are!
A website removes the physical danger and also reaches far further than even the loudest voice. Emily wanted to have a way to be able to tell her clients much more than what she does. The sign on the side of a van tells you the guy is a plumber, but it doesn’t tell you exactly what he does, how accommodating he is, what he can do that others can’t or anything about him as a person.
Because her clients were in a niche, she knew that gaining trust was foremost in getting that first contact. To do that she needed a way to give them as much reassurance as possible that she was exactly what they were looking for. She was the answer to their problem, so making contact with her was going to be a no-brainer!
The Struggle
Like a lot of small business owners, Emily’s biggest enemy was time. She had a family, she was starting a new business and the thought of also having to learn how to make an effective website was daunting.
We’ve all spent enough time on the Internet to be able to tell a good website from a terrible one. They have also been around long enough for us to know that just because it looks good at first glance, that doesn’t mean it will actually give us what we’re looking for.
Despite the number of companies out there showing sites that have been made in a couple of hours with minimum effort, or even built entirely by AI, Emily knows well that if something looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
The bottom line became two main considerations:
Can I build a website that will deliver all the criteria I need for my business, including search engine optimization and be on-brand
How long will it take to achieve all of the above with zero experience
The simple answer was that if the hours needed to really learn something new, to a depth that you can create exactly what you need, outweigh the number of hours to pay an expert, get an expert! Remember, you can be working on your own billable things while someone else builds the site.
The Solution
Emily came to me with a vision for her brand that we quickly turned into something real. She now had someone on hand to discuss her ideas with and help make a tangible plan. Someone who understood her struggles and how to get a solution.
By taking the time upfront to understand her business and her values, we came to a place where she was happy with the outline, and what was needed from there was the content. By getting to this point we could populate a website with the copy (words) and images that we were confident were on par with her brand.
The Process
For the website, the process is quite straightforward and consisted of:
An initial discovery call after Emily made contact
We agree on a start date for the build in the near future (we build in an agreed timescale for the wording and pictures to be curated)
A Contract was delivered and signed along with an invoice for the first portion of the fee
I sent out a welcome pack that includes lots of information about what is required from a client
The welcome pack includes content planners that guided Emily through the type of copy (wording) that she needed to provide for each page
A few days before the start date, she made sure all of the copy and pictures to be used were available in the shared Google Drive. That gave me a chance to have a good rummage through before the start date
We had a pre-start call to finalize details and clarify any questions from the client questionnaire
On the start date, the second part of the fee was paid and work began
Starting with the home page, the site was constructed in draft and issued for comment. The remaining pages followed in week one
In the second week, Emily’s comments were incorporated and all the background SEO work was done
At the end of week two we set up a call to teach Emily how to do basic maintenance on her fab new site
Final payment was made and the site was handed over to Emily and went live
Emily opened the vino!!!
The build process is designed to take two weeks. The time required to gather all the content, we agreed in advance (usually a few weeks).
The Aftermath
Since the site went live, Emily soon started to get a great deal of interest. She was getting a lot of hits from people who were hearing about her business, and looking for reassurance. Within a few weeks, she was getting direct inquiries through the website from internet searches alone - no word of mouth.
Emily is now doing fewer boot camps, is working with multiple one-to-one clients for personal training in her gym, and has increased her prices. She is selecting her clients as she is booked out almost completely.
Her kind words:
“From start to finish, Trev was professional, timely and incredibly creative. He listened attentively to my feedback and collaborated with me every step of the way, ensuring that the final result exceeded my expectations. Thanks to Trev’s expertise my PT business has seen a significant boost, with numerous new clients coming through the beautifully crafted website.”
Emily now has a brand and website that she is truly proud of. She’s excited to share her business with the world and hasn’t set foot on a single rooftop!!
