Jonathan Goodman – Online Trainer Academy

This module is the foundation of the lessons that will follow. Jon GoodmanCourse creator and presenter, Michael, talks about using the textbook and digital.

Jonathan Goodman – Online Trainer Academy

It’s taken me 1286 hrs to write this Online Trainer Academy review (you’ll see why later). Industry thought leaders and trainers have compared it to college and university courses.

That’s quite a claim so to write the best possible review, Jon Goodman The course books and a flask were sent all the way to Thailand. Here’s how it went.
What is the Online Trainer Academy?

The Online Trainer Academy is the world’s first and only online personal training course and certification created specifically to teach personal trainers how to take their fitness business online.

The course is taught via text book delivered to your door and an online portal which you’ll get access to straight away.
The Online Trainer Academy course is made up of 5 modules, each of which dives into a specific topic you’ll be expected to learn and pass a test on to become a Certified Online Trainer. Here’s a quick breakdown of the modules:

Module 1: Getting Started

This is the first module. It lays the groundwork for all the subsequent lessons. Jon GoodmanThe course creator and presenter, Jeremy, discusses how to combine the digital portal and the textbook to maximize your learning experience.

Straight away, Jon addresses some fundamental business principles you’ll need to create not only a profitable online business but an offline business that makes money too.

In module 1 you’ll address some of the most common questions personal trainers have when starting out, inducing how to define a niche, choosing a business name, creating a USP and how to get a couple of clients straight away so that you can hit the ground running.
Module 2: Structure Your Business

The purpose of module 2 is to get your business running like a well oiled machine (Jon’s words, not mine). You’ll learn fitness business basics, including:

How to package, price and develop your programs.
A hybrid model can offer many benefits and it can be very beneficial for you.
Software, productivity and other business systems are all available.
How to get clients and renew business.
Here are some things you should know about legalities and how to find a lawyer.

In short, by the end of module 2 you’ll have your packages, prices and a business model set up, a good idea for what software to use, a better understanding of business legalities and a few strategies for gaining referrals and ensuring renewals.
Module 3: Client Care

It was both a surprise and a delight to find a module dedicated to client care. It’s not something most business owner talk about and it’s certainly not something you see being taught everyday.

Ex-personal trainer, now website designer for personal trainers, I understand the importance of taking care clients. It is something that I emphasize as well as teach my clients.

In the chapters of this module, Jon talks about whether you can actually assess clients online and the validity of those assessments, celebrating little wins with your clients and using the tools available to you to make sure you acknowledge your clients’ hard work.

You will also find information about whether templates can be used, when they can be used and what considerations you should make when creating customized training programs for your clients.
Module 4: How do you get clients

How to get clients is usually where most PT’s would like to jump in. In good business fashion however, the module on getting clients is the last one to be learned. Presumably because there’s no point having a ton of clients if you don’t have the systems in place to serve those clients to your best ability.

In module 4 you’ll learn how to use your existing network to get more leads, how to build out your list of contacts and how to attract potential list of clients that aren’t just made up of your friends and family members.

You’ll also cover important marketing topics like Facebook Groups, email marketing and Facebook ads. It might sound complex but don’t worry, each marketing strategy comes with its own how to guide and scripts you can copy and paste.
Module 999: Skills

This module adds skills to complement the previous modules. IN it you’ll learn about sales, sales copywriting, getting testimonials and becoming an expert.

You’ll also get answers to common questions like the difference between posting on Facebook Pages and posting on Facebook Groups, how to hire a virtual assistant and what to do if your gym doesn’t approve of your online training.

Module 999 consists of the skills that are less important but still allow you to scale.
Bonus Mini Courses

The latest version Online Trainer Academy This bundle includes 4 Bonus Mini Courses that will help you learn how to create an online personal trainer business.
​Mini Course 1: Finish what you started

This course is for personal trainers who procrastinate, have no idea how to make them happen, or are simply incapable of completing their tasks.

Online trainers will be more productive, efficient and productive if they are able to organize their thoughts and complete all tasks.
Mini Course 2 – Fitness Instagram Mastery

Instagram is one of many online platforms that you can use to build a targeted audience who are interested in the services you offer and the niches you specialize in.

​Instagram is becoming more important as online marketing shifts towards visual content, particularly videos and stories.

You can learn how to master Instagram marketing and make out the most of your online training business’ profile.
Mini Course 3: Make your First Website or Improve Your Website

This is our area of expertise and we created this course to help trainers who don’t understand how fitness websites work understand the most important elements of creating a successful online personal training web presence.

Learn how to keep your website attractive, purpose-built, and with your ideal customers in mind. Feel free to contact us to learn more.
Mini Course 4: Facebook Ads for Online Trainers

Download immediately Jonathan Goodman – Online Trainer Academy

Outbound marketing is a great way to generate more leads for your online gym. Knowing the ins and outs of how to create a winning Facebook Ad is essential if that’s your chosen platform to promote your services.

This course will show you how to create ads that target your market to maximize ROI and get new clients.
Unprecedented support

Another feature that The has added to its offering is The Academy 2.0 refers to how far the support system has evolved since the last launch.

They haven’t only increased the level of support at the Online Trainer AcademyNot only is it possible, but there are many other channels. Jump Start calls can be requested. You have the option to chat live with your coaches or access support via email. No matter where you live, you can find help immediately. It is amazing!!
Jump Start Calls

As soon as students get their materials they’re prompted to book a jump start call with a coach to jump-start their journey, ensure they’re set up properly and feel good about their road ahead.
Accountability calls

After you have started your calls, Accountability calls can be booked whenever you need them during the course. These are designed for students to talk through barriers they’re finding as they work through the course and chat with someone who’s been there to help keep the momentum moving. Students who are most successful use this feature often, some even every week.
Guaranteed Support and Support for Life

Jon made a commitment to offer a 10-year guarantee for all OTA students in April 2019. All OTA students have access to their coaches even after they’ve completed the course. If you are an OTA member, you will get all future updates for free and will have access to the material and the coaches as long as they’re in business is their promise.
The Test

To become Certified, you must pass the certification test Online Trainer This test consists 60 questions. To graduate, you need to score 75% or more.

You can take the test once, and it is completely free. However, if you fail to pass the first time, additional tests will cost $50. This is to make sure people don’t take the same test multiple times to pass without studying the course material. This is a good idea.

Unfortunately for me, I was unable to test the test format. I clicked the button and it ran in the background.

I got one question correct in 1286 hrs 54 mins 17 secs. This is not my proudest moment.

Online Trainer Academy Strengths

Learn Format

One of the greatest features of the Online Trainer Academy The multiple learning formats are called course. My Personal is the best. Trainer Website Academy is awesome but there’s no video. Some people learn best with video.

The Online Trainer Academy It’s both video and text in the form a digital portal. The textbook is delivered directly to your home. It’s ideal for many learning types and designed in such a way that you must show proof in the form of an exam that you understand a module before you move on to the next.

Download Haled immediately Jonathan Goodman – Online Trainer Academy

The Textbook

Jon was kind enough and sent the course materials all of the way from Canada, to my Thai house. It was well worth the effort. It arrived at my door as an Online Trainer Academy Text Book, Course Book and an accompanying text book to help you make important business decisions. There was also a bonus water bottle for free that was of surprisingly high quality.

It is super easy to read the textbook on the go, even without an internet connection. The accompanying course book also has sections for pricing, packaging and lists ideas.

Jon sent me this.

Resources

Most courses will provide the minimum amount of information you need to complete the course, but not all. Online Trainer Academy This site provides you with everything you need to make a move.

It is essential to take action at each step.

These resources include scripts, examples, Excel spreadsheets and worksheets, as well as software recommendations. And it’s all laid out module by module to save confusion.
Online Trainer Academy Weaknesses

Overwhelming

While Jon has taken great care to make the course as methodical as possible, including withholding access to some of the digital portal until your text book arrives, there’s still a sense of “holy crap I have a lot of work to do” When you start your first project.

Unfortunately, that’s just going to be true for any course of this magnitute. Personal trainers who are interested in this course would need to do a lot more work to be proficient in basic business principles. Something you don’t learn on your PT course.

The Certification

Upon completion, Online Trainer Academy certification, you get a “Certified Online Trainer” You can add this badge to your website and marketing materials. While you could argue that this badge could give you an edge over a competing trainer who doesn’t have an OTA qualification, potential clients have no idea what a Certified Online Trainer is.

It would be great to see Certified. Online Trainer Badge link to help potential clients see what they’re getting into. What is a Certified Trainer? Why should they choose a certified coach over a non-certified one?

It might link to a page that provides an overview of the code of conduct and other information you might expect from Certified. Online Trainer.

No Deadlines

One of the many pros of the Online Trainer Academy The best thing about the course is that it can be learned at your own pace. That’s a good thing for a lot of people but because the course is laid in such a way that you have to go through the basics to get to the meat (how to get clients) I imagine a lot of trainers procrastinate and don’t get around to learning the course material and taking the test.

While I’ve seen loads of people complete the course (you can get updates in the Online Trainers Unite Facebook Group) Some of them were almost half a years later. Perhaps there could be a course format similar to a virtual one where participants log in at specific times.

While typing this, I realized that this would be a large logistical operation. With busy schedules and time zones, it can be a logistic nightmare. This could also increase the cost.
Verdict

My experience is that online training can be a powerful tool to help clients. They’re not trying to be “location independent” Or “financially free”. However, this can sometimes happen.

They understand that online training is an entirely different service to face-to-face training when it comes to training.

While you can mix the two and create hybrid services for your clients, the service delivery you offer online is quite different to face-to face training. Online Training Academy This is not the right choice for everyone.

With all that said, I believe the Online Trainer Academy Personal trainers who want to:

At least one year experience in exercise programming with faces-To-Face clients. This is essential. If you can’t train people when they’re right in front of you, you don’t have enough experience to train people online. You don’t need a qualification to learn how to train online.
Have a niche. This is talked about in Module 2 but if you only train generic clients with no specific goal in mind, what’s stopping them from going on bodybuilding.com and downloading one of their hundreds of workouts for free? Expertise is more valuable when you have a niche.
Do you have marketing experience? The ability to communicate effectively with customers is essential. Online Trainer Academy Although marketing lessons are straightforward, it is worth having some experience. This is more to manage your expectations and prevent the less tech savvy PT’s from suffering with overwhelm.
You can create content. It doesn’t matter what type of content it is; blogs, emails, Facebook posts, tweets, video or podcast. A way to offer value is essential.
Optional: A marketing budget. Facebook ads is one of the most important marketing modules in the course. The fastest way to attract new clients is to be able to spend $5 per month ($150).

Of course, there’ll be exceptions to the recommendations above and the decision is ultimately up to you. Even if you don’t fit any of the criteria above, the business lessons alone would be well worth the investment.

If you’ve been thinking about purchasing the OTA course, I hope this Online Trainer Academy Review has been helpful. Click this link to find out more about the course and sign-up options.
Online Trainer Academy There are many options

Note: I was asked to write the website design section of the blog after the initial draft. Online Trainer Academy. I’m now a contributor and will in fact get paid for my work should you choose to use one of the links in the review.