From Zero to $10K/Month
as an Online Fitness Coach

Speak to your old self

Your past pain points, problems, frustrations, the things you used to believe about fitness, what you struggled with, how much weight you had to lose, why you got into fitness, what you struggled with confidence-wise. You are emotionally connected to your own story — so your audience will be too.

Brian's own example: he openly shares his 2012 drug addiction story. "Hard drugs for 6 months straight, every day for 72 hours, then sleep 24, then do it again." Even non-addicts relate to the adversity. That story brought in his first clients because they saw he was a real person, not just "this fit dude."

Your avatar chooses you

As you share your story, a certain demographic starts showing up. Pay attention. You might think you want to work with men for fat loss, but your DMs are flooded with women. If you've been an in-person trainer, look at your past roster — and specifically your best clients (showed up, committed, all-in). Target those people.

Make the formal commitment + customer research

L3 might not come until month 3, 4, or 5. Start with "I help men and women burn body fat and gain lean muscle." Watch who shows up. If lawyers fill your DMs → target lawyers. Nurses → nurses. Moms → moms. Once you commit: do customer research. What do moms over 35 struggle with? Goals? Common fears? Frustrations? Aspirations? Motivating factors? Beliefs? Following this process before deciding allows you to actually choose the right person — most people pick day-one then realize they were speaking to the wrong audience.

Profile photo — 2 options

Option 1: Clear photo of you smiling. Especially powerful if you work with women — makes you super approachable. Plus, when you send a DM, that little smiling photo pops up.

Option 2: You looking your very best — gym photo, selfie, anywhere you show off your physique. Works if you have the body your avatar wants.

Hack: Go to remove.bg, upload your photo, remove the background. Then upload to Instagram stories, pick a color, add the photo, save, use as profile photo. Makes you stand out.

Optimized username

Put first + last name, then niche keywords. Instagram is a search engine. When someone searches "fat loss coach for men", you want your name to pop up. Brian's is "Brian Ron Mark, business coach for online trainers" — if someone's looking for a business coach for online trainers, he's in the conversation.

"I Help" optimized bio

The first line in your bio. Formula: "I help [avatar] get [result] without [something they don't want to sacrifice]" OR "I help [avatar] get [result] with [tangible benefit]".

Examples: "I help busy moms lose 10 lbs or more without giving up their favorite foods." Or: "I help busy moms lose 10 lbs or more with only 3 workouts a week."

A keyword to DM you

Some people are too lazy to fill an application — they just want to shoot you a message. Pick a keyword your avatar wants: fat loss, booty, six-pack. Brian's is "DM me 10K for more info" — because online trainers want to get to $10K/month. 3–5 extra leads per week with zero effort.

The application link

Your bio link should be a Typeform application with 7 questions. The only link in your bio. No Linktree, no Solo, no other bull. Anything else decreases conversions.

3 pinned posts

Pin 1: Best client transformation. If you don't have clients, post YOUR transformation — before/after from when you started to now.

Pin 2: You and your story — what you're about, your mission, why you became a coach.

Pin 3: An offer you currently have. Detailed description of your training/nutrition/accountability service. Save the price for the sales call.

Get verified

$14.99/month. That little blue check makes the difference between credible and not. There are scammers everywhere — when a DM comes from a verified account vs not, Brian pays attention vs doesn't. Your prospects do the same.

Training — sold in 4-week blocks

Let them know every 4 weeks you'll update their workout program. Builds the renewal conversation naturally.

Nutrition — weekly meal plans or macro updates

Start everyone on meal plans — most people don't have the intelligence to do macros on their own (if they did, they wouldn't need a coach). Then slowly teach macros throughout the program. Update weekly based on what their body needs.

Accountability — 3 forms

Daily messaging on Trainerize to check they're doing workouts.
Weekly check-ins via Google Form they must reply to.
Community — Facebook group OR Trainerize's in-app community. So when clients sign up they meet other clients and interact with each other.

Proof content (TRUST)

You need to demonstrate the expertise you claim. The internet is full of fake experts. Two ways to get proof when starting:

1. Run a free 14-day challenge — collect leads + testimonials.
2. Document your own story — you didn't come out of the womb lifting dumbbells. Grab a photo of you starting + you now. Post once a week.

For in-person clients: ask for testimonials. Position it right — not "can I post naked selfies of you?" but "Hey Nick, your story is extremely inspiring. There are a lot of men out there who could use it to start their own transformation. Would you mind if I shared your story to inspire more men?" They say yes.

Value content (LIKE)

Speak to your niche. Give specific solutions to narrowly defined problems. NOT "how to lose 20 lbs in 16 weeks" (too broad). Instead: "Stop thinking coffee counts as breakfast — steal my low-carb protein pancake recipe." Then give the recipe.

Brian's definition of value: "It's not valuable unless somebody could get results without hiring me."

Think of it as giving keys to a castle with 1,000 doors. You give one key. They open it. "Oh shit — but there are 999 other doors." Next post = another key. Over time they realize your free content gets them results → they wonder how good your paid program is.

Connection content (KNOW)

This is what separates you from every other online coach. Every coach posts "5 mistakes in your build" or "steal my arm workout." Cool, you're jacked. But everyone's doing that.

What separates you: your story. Where you came from, what your wife is like, your kids, your family, what inspired you, your mentors, what you're learning right now. Give people an insight into your life.

Brian's example: openly talking about his drug addiction at 21. People see he wasn't always successful — he had to make hard decisions. That inspires people to dig deeper into their own goals.

Your DMs (existing inbound)

Don't go hunting before checking who's already there. Brian's rule: if somebody DMs about your coaching offer, respond same day, book the call within 24 hours. Longer than that, temperature dies.

Story poll responders

Put up polls. Anyone who votes is showing intent — they engaged when they could have scrolled. Thank them for engaging.

Instagram & Facebook commenters

Genuine comments = effort. Reach out and thank them.

Instagram & Facebook likes (90% of leads)

Most people just scroll, like, move on. That doesn't mean we can't build relationship. Send a thanks-for-engaging message + offer help.

New followers + story viewers

Thank them. Bonus 6th: Your existing friends & followers list. Just reconnect — "Hey, just wanted to connect again, how are you?" Some have fitness problems and trust you because of existing relationship.

Rapport (first 60 sec)

"What's going on, Nick? How you doing, brother? Good. Yeah, I'm doing good as well, my man. I'm just getting to work on some client programs. Cool. You mind if we jump in?"

The Preframe (next 30 sec — CRITICAL)

Sets the container. If you skip this they view you as a friend, not a coach. People don't buy from friends.

They say yes → you're the coach, they're the client, AND you've signaled there's a pitch coming.

Pain points — 3 layers deep

"What would you say is the biggest struggle in your fitness journey right now?" → "Lose 20 lbs."
"How long have you been struggling to lose that weight?" → "3 years."
"Out of curiosity, what made this like a right-now thing for you to reach out and ask for help?"

Don't rush. Use expansive questions: "What do you mean by that? Can you elaborate?" Get to the root — not "want to lose 20 lbs" but "looked at myself in the mirror, hated the reflection, realized I was letting my kids down." Take notes — you'll use these when you pitch.

Why now? Why me?

"Nick, I gotta ask — what makes this a right-now thing? You could start in a year, two years, but you showed up with me today. What makes this a right-now thing?" Creates internal urgency.

"And Nick, there are a lot of people you could reach out to for help. What made you decide to get on this call with me today?" They sell themselves on you.

Vision

People struggle here — they've been overweight their whole life. So get them visualizing:

"Let's do this for a second. Nick, close your eyes. I want you to imagine we're 6 months in the future. You look at yourself in the mirror. You're literally in the best shape of your life. You lost 20 lbs. You can see your abs. You can see some veins. You look and feel your very best. Tell me how that makes you feel. And what areas of your life would benefit if you were in the best shape of your life? How would your relationships improve? What about your social life? What about your confidence?"

The Gap (widen it)

"Now that I know exactly what you want — lose 20 lbs, see your six-pack, be in the best shape ever — why do you feel like you haven't been able to achieve these goals on your own?"

Then devil's advocate: "Just for a second, let's pretend you do absolutely nothing on this call. You decide: I'm sticking to my stuff. I don't want to change anything. Let's say you stay the same for the next 6, 12 months, and maybe you actually gain another 10-20 lbs. How would that make you feel?"

"So right now, on a scale of 1-10, how important is it for you to make a change right now so you actually lose the weight?"

The fitness assessment (treat yourself like a doctor)

Biggest mistake: giving advice throughout the call. Don't. Collect data through the call. Then:

"Do you mind if I coach you for a minute, Nick? Based on everything you've told me so far, you're eating out at McDonald's 3 times a week, going to the gym twice a week, doing 2 hours of cardio a day. Bro, no wonder you're not losing weight. You're putting your body in constant stress. You're not giving it the nutrients it needs. Then you're overtraining by doing 2 hours of cardio. Plus you're not doing enough resistance training. You're all over the place, Nick. So first things first: stop the McDonald's. Second: cut back the cardio. Third: I'll increase your calorie intake. Is everything I'm saying making sense?"

Then commitment test: "So Nick, scale of 1-10, where are you sitting?" If anything less than 10, objection is coming.

Pitch + Yes Ladder

"At the beginning I let you know whether I could help you out. The good news is you're definitely the type of person I could help. Would you mind if I told you a little about my coaching program?"

Walk through Training, Nutrition, Accountability — after each, ask "Does that make sense?" Stack yeses. That's the Yes Ladder.

Get them to sell it back to you

"Nick, out of training, nutrition, accountability — what part of the program stood out the most for you?" → "Nutrition plan." → "Why do you feel like the nutrition plan would benefit you the most?" They list reasons. They're now selling themselves.

Drop the price

"Okay, next. So the only thing we haven't covered is the timeline and the investment. I do a 12-week transformation program. If you hired an in-person trainer for 12 weeks, it would cost about $3,000 and you wouldn't get a nutrition plan. My training, nutrition, and accountability program comes with guaranteed results, and for 12 weeks, it's only $999. How does that sound?"

Onboarding — get them into "green light" right away

Most clients drop because they never even start. On the sales call: "Nick, now that you've paid, I'm going to send you the welcome questionnaire. Get it back to me within 24 hours. Then it'll take me about 7 days to design your program. In the meantime, I'll send you a get-started guide — Tupperware containers, food scale, any units of measurement you need."

Get-Started Guide contents: how much water based on body weight, food scale recommendation, cooking utensils, Tupperware, measuring cups, big water bottle, anything essential. Give them homework while you're building their plan.

When plan is done: 15-min 1:1 onboarding call. Walk through the meal plan, training plan, Trainerize dashboard, MyFitnessPal dashboard, in-app messaging. Set expectations: "I send check-in every Thursday. You reply by Friday noon. Anything later is a late check-in — which we don't do."

Also plant the renewal seed: "You're on the 12-week program. Most of my best clients stick with me for a year. So at the 8-week mark we'll talk about next steps — since we'll have lost the 20 lbs, you'll probably want to gain lean muscle. Sound good?"

Personalize the client experience

Templates are okay — but every workout program needs to be tailored to that specific client's needs. Every check-in form ask: "Is there any program adjustment we need to make? Anything I can do better as your coach?"

Brian's personal example: every morning he set aside 15-20 min, went through Trainerize, saw who hit workouts (congratulated them), who missed (messaged them on Trainerize, then text same day if no reply). "They might be your 15th client, but they only have one coach. The relationship needs to be special."

Effective communication cadence (set on Day 1)

"Any question you ever ask me over Trainerize will be answered within 24 hours Monday-Friday. Saturday/Sunday I take off — I have a life too. Weekly check-ins I send you, you reply. And the Facebook community — if you ever want collective insights or just motivation, post in the community and support other members."

Set the contract upfront. Both sides know what's expected.

Create a community of raving fans

99% of coaches get this wrong. They don't think community is important. Here's why it is: there will be times when your client feels too ashamed to check in with you — they skipped workouts, ate badly, fell off. If you're the only lifeline, they ghost.

But with a Facebook community popping with wins, support, and transformations — even when they don't want to talk to you, they log into the community, see amazing stuff, get inspired, and come back.

Onboarding extension: "What I'm going to get you to do on this call is join the Facebook group. Request to join. Cool — now that you're in, once we're done, make a post with a photo of yourself, introduce yourself, share your goals and why you're excited."

Set it as part of communication cadence — they support others, others support them.

Know when to go for the renewal

Most coaches wait till the end of the program. Wrong time — the client has already decided. Instead: 4 weeks before expiry, set up a call. Talk through:

• Previous struggles before they started
• Progress made since
• Future goals (widen the gap)

Then pitch the renewal:

Repeat successful actions

Once you've followed the system and signed your first clients, keep doing what's working. The reason Brian goes to the gym 5×/week is he likes being juicy. The reason he eats healthy is he likes feeling good. Identify the needle movers — content, lead gen, sales calls, delivery — and do them every single day.

The boring work produces the breakthroughs.

Skill development

The difference between $2K/month and $100K/month is skill level — content, sales, delivery.

How to advance any skill:

• Practice through repetition — more reps = better
• 1% better every day — every recording, try to be slightly better than last time
• Find people you're inspired by — what elements can you adopt?
• Self-assess each video 1-10 — "If I could do this again, what would I do differently?"
• Role-play sales calls with other community members — practice the wife objection, money objection, time objection — when money's NOT on the line
• Get client feedback on delivery — every client that leaves: "Anything I could have done differently to serve you better?"

Pick your platform and double down

FB, IG, TikTok. Brian's opinion: TikTok is for visibility, not money. FB or IG is where money happens. Out of those, one will be your banger — the one signing most clients.

Optimize all your content for that platform. What's going viral on Instagram? What's the audience responding to? Make more of that. Then repurpose the same content to Facebook and TikTok for 3× exposure. But you're optimizing for the platform that signs.

Track your numbers (the 9 KPIs)

Know these like the back of your hand. Otherwise you'll make emotional decisions on overgeneralizations.

Example: You get 3 nos in a row, think your sales skills suck. But your last 10 calls? You closed 7. You're overdue a yes. Data-driven decisions scale to $50K, $100K/month.

Hire a mentor

The reason Brian's at the top of the industry: he invests in mentors. Every great man has a great mentor. He's worked with dozens — each taught him 1-3 lessons that compounded.

"Every time I invest in a mentor, I say to myself: I'm not going to waste this money. I'll get my money's worth. I'll show up to coaching calls. I'll implement what they say. I'll follow the blueprint. I'll be one of the best students in the program."

Transformative content — once a week

Your audience can see themselves in your transformation. Brian's example: "7 years ago drug addiction → now business owner." Before/after for skincare, fitness, business, mindset. Any sort of "I started here → became this." Demonstrates expertise.

Relatable stories (connection)

Outside of business — your dog, your walk, your spouse, your kids, being a Canucks fan, being vegan, funny content. Something they can grip onto.

Value-packed reels

Step-by-step-by-step where the audience could watch, take action, get results. Unless content is that good, they won't save, share, follow. Most "value content" isn't actually good — that's why it doesn't go viral.

Mindset content — once a week

Only once. You're not a mindset coach. Too many fitness coaches think a value post is "here's how to be happier" — that's not value. But once a week, share a mindset principle you use, with your own story.

Turn how-to into don't-do

Most posts: "3 tips to lose weight." Boring. Capture attention with a negative hook.

Instead: "3 biggest mistakes you're making that are causing you NOT to burn body fat."
Instead: "Stop eating this cheeseburger if you want to burn body fat."
Instead: "The worst mistake you can make in your squats that's going to ruin your back and not grow your glutes is this..."

Insert humor after the hook

Ease the negative. "Throw the cheeseburgers — and make sure you save this, I'm going to teach you exactly what to eat." Or: "...don't worry girl, let me put you on some game."

Step-by-step actionable value

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Simple, easy to follow, easy to understand.

Always a CTA

"Save this video and follow for more. Leave a comment if this was valuable. Share with a friend who needs this."

Search niche keyword on Instagram

"Men's fitness coach" → Reels tab → find one with 1M+ views. Example Brian shows: @TiboInShape.

Plug into Viralfinder.com

Free account → User Search → paste the username. It analyzes the account and surfaces top-performing content. Scroll through.

If first search isn't deep enough, search a different keyword

Brian's live demo: searched "men's fat loss tips" → found Coach Eugene Teo's Diet Coke video with 20M views. Plugged him into Viralfinder.

Take the idea to DeepSeek/ChatGPT — DON'T plagiarize

Brian's prompt (chicken breast / Diet Coke example):

This produced: "One can of Diet Coke has 60mg phosphoric acid → can cause heart disease. 100g chicken breast has 200mg phosphoric acid. So 3 cans = same phosphoric acid as one chicken breast. If you eat 300g chicken/day, that's 9 cans of Coke worth. By that logic, eating chicken breast would mean heart disease, kidney failure, digestive issues. Throw the bullshit advice out the window."

Start with a negative hook

First 3 seconds. Grab attention with something drastic, negative, controversial. "Diet Coke has phosphoric acid which can cause heart disease." Tell them what NOT to do, not what to do.

Add humor (personality)

If you're a boring motherucker just saying "three tips for fat loss", no one pays attention. Channel your inner entertainer. Brian's client Anthony Animob grew from 1,500 to 180,000 followers by playing up his character. You may not want to go to that extreme, but find ways to insert personality.

Change scene every 1.5-3 seconds

Jump cut. Slow zoom. Add a prop. Change location. People have goldfish attention spans. Static = boring = leave.

Deliver value in step-by-step format

If audience can't follow the content and know what to do, they won't follow you and won't hire you.

End with a CTA

"Save this. Follow for more. Comment if this was valuable. Share with a friend." You never know which video goes viral — every one needs a CTA.

100 dirty reps

First goal: 100 videos out — unpolished, unprofessional. Just get the message out. Kill the perfectionist mindset.

Speak to ONE person

As soon as the camera comes on, we imagine the whole world watching. Reality: your video plays for each person individually. Picture one person on the other side — your best friend, your mother, your brother. Talk to them.

Walk like a baby

You weren't good at walking when you started. Same with content. Consistency → Quality → Volume. First post 100 times regardless of quality. Then focus on getting good. Then increase volume.

Move your body when you talk

Hand gestures. Walking while talking. Change camera angles. Static = no energy. Movement = engagement.

Emphasize

Don't talk like a robot. Imagine you're in an animated conversation with a best friend, telling them something they need to hear because it will change their life. That's the energy.

Repost from Instagram

Go to a viral post → copy link → open Repost → allow paste → tap repost (you're NOT actually reposting publicly — this just downloads the video to your phone).

Video-to-Text

Add the video → press start → it transcribes every word.

ChatGPT prompt

If it's still too close: "I want you to completely rewrite this, and I want it to have more humor and jokes." Add: "More sauce. More cheeky. More direct." Now you have a viral script in your voice.

Title + pin a comment with the title

People randomly clicking on your live need to immediately read what it's about.

30-60 sec fluff intro + name-callouts

"What's going on guys? Waiting for a few to tune in. Hope everyone's having a great day. Today we're going to talk about [3 fat-loss secrets]. If you're new, I'm Brian Mark, business coach for online trainers."

As people join: "What's going on Nick, hope you're having a great day. What's going on user_33456, love the username. Welcome Sarah."

Hook → Story → Step-by-step Value → CTA

Take ONE of your existing Instagram posts. Expand on it. After the hook, tell a personal story (about you or a client). Then deliver step-by-step value. End with a CTA.

Use notes — but don't read word-for-word. Let yourself tangent. Imperfect = real = trust.

Decide to be an online coach

Change bio. Change profile pic. Post a few pieces of content.

Initial traction from existing network

Friends, family, co-workers, past clients say nice things or buy.

Lead pool dries up

Network exhausted. Crickets.

Self-doubt + comparison

Wonder if this is for you. Compare yourself to coaches with less followers but more revenue. See others' transformations and think "Am I ever going to do that?"

Look for shortcuts

"What's the fastest way to generate leads?" "What's the easiest way to hit $10K?" Spend all your time and energy researching shortcuts. Stop posting. Stop DMing.

Content (20 min/day)

Minimum 20 minutes. Even with a 9-to-5, you can find 20 minutes. One post up per day, every day, 7 days a week, for 365 days.

Lead generation (20 min/day)

Most coaches wait for inbound. Wrong. The smart ones send DMs every day to followers, content engagers, story viewers. Your "inbound traffic" is now being eaten up by smarter coaches doing outreach.

Deliver value to current clients (20 min/day)

Answer questions. Support them. Make sure they have what they need so they don't drop after month one.