Marketing for
personal trainers.

A personal trainer's market is small and local. Clients want sessions near home or work, at 6am or 6pm, two or three times a week. So the first marketing decision isn't Instagram or Google. It's where you train, because each option comes with its own audience and its own costs.

Training clients in a park is a business using public land, and councils treat it that way. The rules differ a lot, even between neighbouring NSW councils.

On the Central Coast, personal trainers and outdoor fitness groups need consent from Council, through a temporary licence of 6 or 12 months. Annual licences run from 1 July to 30 June, there's an application fee and a licence fee per location, and you'll need your qualifications, a risk management plan and public liability cover. Expressions of interest for 2026-27 closed on 10 May 2026, so check when the next round opens before you plan a bootcamp at Terrigal.

The City of Sydney takes a different approach. It says it doesn't charge fees to trainers who run fitness or wellness classes in its parks and reserves, and encourages trainers to sign up to its voluntary outdoor fitness code. Commercial trainers register in person with current public liability and professional indemnity certificates, and get a trainer ID card. Some areas are managed by other bodies with their own permits.

Councils in other states run their own permit systems too. Whatever the council, put 'Council licensed' or 'Council registered' on your profile once you are. It's a trust signal, and it tells clients the session won't be moved on halfway through.

Compare the three setups with your own costs. The calculator shows what each costs per session and how many sessions a week you need before you earn anything. The starting numbers are made up.

Clients are told what to look for. The Better Health Channel says registered trainers have a Certificate IV in Fitness, a Diploma of Fitness or a degree in exercise science or human movement, and tells people to check registration with an industry association, ask for proof of professional liability insurance and certifications including first aid. AUSactive's own registration requirements for personal trainers list a Certificate IV or Diploma in Fitness, or an exercise science or human movement degree.

So say it plainly, in the same words, everywhere a client looks: your website, Google profile, Instagram bio and the first message you send. 'Cert IV in Fitness, AUSactive registered, insured, first aid current' is one line. It answers the question most people don't ask out loud.

In WA, trainers and instructors are bound by the state fitness code, not just gym owners, so its rules on fees and sales apply to you directly. In NSW there's no mandatory code, but the gym advertising rules page covers the Australian Consumer Law points every trainer should know.

If you train clients at their homes, workplaces or in parks, you're what Google calls a service-area business. Google's guidelines tell service-area businesses to hide the business address from customers, and to keep the service area within roughly a 2-hour drive of their base. For a trainer, a much smaller area is more honest: the suburbs you'll actually drive to at 6am.

Fill in the rest properly: the right category, services such as 'personal training', 'small group training' or 'pre-natal training' if you're qualified for it, real photos of sessions (with permission), and hours that match when you take clients. Then ask every client for a review.

For a personal trainer, social media is mostly a shop window for people who've heard your name. Someone's friend says 'try Jess', they look you up, and your last nine posts decide whether they message. Post what a session with you is actually like: how you coach a squat, what a first session involves, a client's milestone shared with their permission.

If you pay to promote posts, Meta's ad rules apply. Before-and-after weight loss shots and zoomed-in body images are listed as non-compliant, and ads marketing weight loss services must target people 18 or older. The Facebook and Instagram ads page covers the rest.

Most trainers' best clients come from other clients, a partner, a workmate, a friend from the school gate. Make it easy: a referral card or code clients can pass on, a free session for both when a friend signs up, and a thank-you either way.

Keep reviews separate. Google's rules ban rewarding people with discounts or free sessions for reviews, so a free session can reward a referral, never a five-star rating.