The book Purple Cow by Seth Godin is based around a simple idea.
Imagine you're driving by a field of cows. Hundreds of cows. All black and white. You're not going to be interested. In fact, you may not even notice them. But if one of those cows was purple, you'd stop. You'd fumble for your phone. You'd share photos on social media. You'd tell all your friends. A purple cow is not boring.
Your new Personal Training brand, or any branding for that matter, should be a purple cow. If you take one thing from this guide - Don't Be Boring.
Branding is colour, fonts, images and messaging. It’s personality, It's consistent and recognisable. How you present your business to the outside world is branding.
But creating it doesn't need to be hard. And it will be a lot easier now that you've narrowed down your target market. By knowing the type of client you want to attract, you can build your brand around them.
Don't overthink the name of your business. Your business is going to be known for what it does and how it does it, more than its name. Personal Training should be "personal", so use your name if you're a solo trainer. Build your brand around yourself and your niche.
Important Point. If you’re building a bigger business, with many trainers, then naming it after yourself is not a good idea. At some point, you'll experience "Key Person Risk". Your business may struggle when you ( the "key person") are out of action or if you ever want to sell.
But for most PT's who want their own gig and the ability to move their brand around the world - "key person risk" isn't a concern.
Ok moving on...
Your tagline is more important than your name. A clear tag-line will separate you from the rest of the market. Your name can’t do that. At least not until people know who you are. Use your tagline to present the core of your business. What you do. Who you do it for. How you do it. What is your unique selling point (USP), in as few words as possible.
Let's use an example from our How To Build A Niche article.
Let’s assume we’re a PT and a Father, living in Dubai, with extensive Kettlebell Qualifications. Being a Dad helps us relate to other Dad's, we have something in common. Add that to our love (and expertise) for kettlebells and we’ve got a niche we can dominate. We can help Dad's in Dubai get fit using Kettlebells. Our tag line could be "Repairing Dubai's Dad Bods". We could even give ourselves the title of "Chief Dad Bod Mechanic" for some extra sauce.
There's an important part of our USP missing though - the kettlebell. The tag line "Repairing Dubai's Dad Bods using mainly Kettlebells" is a mouthful. It takes the shine away. But adding a graphic solves this problem.
When it comes to branding - less is more. Don't use 10 words when 4 and a simple graphic will do.
We've got a name, tag line and icon idea. Our message is clear to our target audience.
Now we need to make it pop. Remember the Golden Rule? Don't Be Boring. The colours and fonts you choose are your main ingredients.
Start with one colour. Keep it simple. If your target market is based around your own interests, use a colour that speaks to you. If you like yellow, find the shade of yellow the least boring to you. Chances are, it will resonate with your audience.
If that doesn't work - read a bit about colour psychology. This is how many of the biggest companies in the world build branding. Here are a few ideas:
Our VIVO Fitness branding was deliberate. We chose a deep red for strength - because the gym equipment and flooring we sell is hard wearing and designed for strength training.
Have you got a primary colour in mind? Great - but we need a bit more.
In the world of brand creation, using "Red" isn't enough - you need a shade. But do not fear, some free tools are here! Use a site like HTML Colour Codes to find your shade and its HEX code .
HEX is the universal language of colour across software and the internet. From Google Docs to Website Builders. Use your chosen HEX colour everywhere for perfect brand consistency. This RED is the same shade as our logo. Cool huh!
Lastly - if you just want a place to go for inspiration, with loads of colour ideas- try Flat UI Colours or Coolors.
But for our imaginary "Dad Bod" repair business - we like Blue. We think it will resonate with other middle-age Dads.
HTML Colour Codes has loads of blues. Our favourite shade is Dodger Blue. It's not as soft as the lighter blues, but not as “in your face” as the bright ones. The HEX code (the one with the #) for Dodger Blue is #1e90ff
Some brands get away with one primary colour - like Nike, BMW and HP, but a second colour can work better. Go with your gut on this. There are many brands built around 2 colours, like Lego, Fedex and Shell. Our advice is never more than 2. Less is more.
To find a secondary colour, go over the Coolors and select "Colour Picker'' from the menu. Enter the HEX code for your first colour and scroll down to Colour Harmonies. You'll see loads of options for a 2nd colour to compliment your first.
For our Dad Bod brand - we like this orange. HEX #FF8F1F.
And that's our colours sorted. Blue #1E90FF, Orange #FF8F1F and we'll use Pure White #FFFFFF to break it all up a bit (you’ll see how shortly)
Enter Canva. Canva is web based design software that makes it easy to choose fonts based around themes, like sports or nature. The free version of Canva is usually more than enough for most people to get great results. If you haven't got a free account, sign up here then come back.
In Canva - create a new design, but instead of a blank design choose "logo". You'll now see a blank square (your design), with loads of templates down the left side. You can use these templates for ideas. Font ideas, but also layout ideas.
You can search for themes related to your niche. For our Dad Bods brand - we searched "sport" to find a sporty font. Because dads bloody love sport.
Canva does all the heavy lifting here - filtering down their huge database of fonts and templates. A short scroll and we found a font we liked on a template we liked.
Modifying a CANVA template is really easy. Sizing, alignment, changing colours, adding graphics etc. It just works.
Watch how we turn this template into our very own logo in under 4 minutes.
And there we have it. A "not boring" branding design - with a tagline and colour palette ready for the world. Built in record time. Ready to be splashed on your business cards, proposals and merch.
As a solo PT - don't overthink your branding. Ultimately, the success of your business will come down to what you do and how you do it. But following a “Don’t Be Boring” approach will help your brand stand out from the crowd. This will bring you more clients and a better chance of building a successful business.
Any questions? Ask us here and we’ll help you out. We've been doing this stuff for almost a decade.
We've been supplying Gym Equipment and Flooring Solutions to Fitness Facilities in the UAE and Middle East for over a decade.
From small home gyms and garage conversions, to some of the best fitness facilities in the region - Like Studio Repulik, Embody Fitness and NAS Sports Complex.
If you need an Equipment or Flooring solution for your gym space, we've got you covered.
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