My name is Kevin Harkin, I’m the owner of Synergy Personal Training in Derry, where we specialise in semi private personal training for females.

I wanted to talk today about just how valuable – or rather – invaluable, Martin’s work has been in assisting the growth of my business.

To date, I honestly couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve shot with Martin. It started off with a physique shoot of my own after a bodybuilding show almost three years ago. I was a personal trainer, struggling to keep my diary full. My social media content at that time ranged from amateur shots of myself prepping for the show, to training videos etc, all with the usual Instagram filters and validation seeking captions. Let’s say that my inbox wasn’t exactly saturated with leads. After the initial shoot, I noticed that as the quality of the photos I was using improved, the number of enquiries also made a marked increase.

My business and the purpose of my shoots with Martin have changed dramatically since then, but his work has never been more crucial for me. As a man, running a female specific training facility isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Stage photos or physique photos of myself aren’t at all relevant or useful anymore – so it’s essential that I use high quality images for my content that are relevant to my business, especially given my target audience.

Let me tell you how Martin’s work benefits me.

Every three to four months, I’ll have Martin come down and shoot a tonne of images in the gym of my members. Ladies who’ve completed a transformation, or general group training images. This does many things for me, to name a few

1. Gives my members something to push for with their training.

   

   It gives them a deadline to get excited for, and tends to lock people into more secure, long term memberships, as opposed to simply paying “month to month”. I offer a group photoshoot package which gives my members a great community feeling. They train together, keep eachother motivated, and each person wants the other to do their best. The social accountability that this gives the girls is fantastic, and honestly as a coach makes keeping the girls motivated a breeze.

2. The members have a great day.

   

   Just last week, Martin was in the gym shooting 12 girls. They all got their hair and make up done, they were both excited and nervous – but it was amazing to see them all still be so supportive of one another. Anyone who was a little more nervous was calmed down by their peers and fed an extra handful of haribo, then the surprise glass of Prosecco they got from the gym sorted any other nerves. They were delighted with themselves, and for each other. Their hard work was being rewarded and they were going to have something special to mark the occasion – the fitness model treatment with their shoot.

3. Here’s the big one as a coach or gym owner. Off the back of this shoot – the social proof on social media is astronomical.

   

   My page views on Instagram literally double the week after a group shoot with Martin, due to 12 people all posting their pictures and Instagram stories of the day. Sweets, prosecco, hair and makeup, and usually a night out after – rest assured anyone who’s not currently a member is asking themselves questions as to why they’re not. Without fail, I’m waking up the next day to more leads.

4. When I receive the finished photos from Martin and I can drip feed individual case studies of the ladies, again the social proof from this is enough to convince anyone who was on the fence about enquiring to jump at the chance to drop us a message or sign straight up.

If you’re wondering about the return of investment when it comes to having a shoot for members or in the gym, consider this. A shoot with Martin costs £250. Within 1 day of advertising my next Group Transformation off the back of the last shoot, I filled all 12 spaces within 24 hours. Honestly, I didn’t even have to advertise as most of the spaces came from referrals from the girls who had just completed the program.

I can give my members that special day to train for and enjoy, spend £250 on it and not have to worry about filling up spaces in my programs – or just take the usual before/after mugshot style photos against a wall in the gym, and spend weeks posting “Last few spaces, DM now!” Honestly, it’s a no brainer.

When Martin launched his social media accelerator package, I jumped straight on it.

As I mentioned, my own shoots with Martin have changed over the years from being physique based, to lifestyle shoots. Showing me as the person, the coach, not a “bodybuilder”. This keeps my content interesting and relevant, and means I can post pictures of myself without worrying about it conflicting with my gyms message.

I tend to do roughly three of these a year, alongside the group shoots I mentioned every 12-16 weeks, so on average 6-7 shoots per year.

Usually this would cost £1500-£1750 over a year. Now with Martin’s Social Media Accelerator package, I pay £100 per month and have a shoot every 12 weeks – for whatever I need. Transformations, lifestyle, you name it. Again, no brainer.

So guys, If you’re a coach or a gym owner, struggling with content, struggling with speaking to your target audience online – if you’re serious about taking your business to a new level of professionalism, I’d strongly suggest jumping at this opportunity. Again, to underline the return of investment on this – for £100 per month, I can fill spaces on a program worth £6,000 total without even trying. Not to mention having quality images to use all year round on my social media.