Épisodes

  • 87: How to plan a marketing photoshoot for your gym

    87: How to plan a marketing photoshoot for your gym
    Dec 2 2025
    Summary: In this episode I explore how a professional photoshoot can transform your fitness business marketing, with practical steps to plan, capture, and use high-quality photos that attract the right clients. 5 things you'll learn: Why professional photos are one of the most effective marketing tools for fitness businesses.How to choose photo subjects that reflect your target clients and build connection.The types of scenes and interactions that create powerful, versatile images.Why staged photos deliver better marketing results than spontaneous action shots.How to plan and run a photoshoot that maximises time, efficiency, and usable photos. Done well, a photoshoot can be one of the most powerful marketing tools for your gym. The right type of photos can give potential clients a glimpse into your business, and can transform both your website and your social media presence. Great photos are an important part of all the websites I build for fitness businesses. This guide will cover some of the considerations for a photoshoot, including examples of the sort of photos you're looking to acquire from a photo shoot I ran for my business (you can find these at the bottom of the page). Firstly - it's highly recommended that you use the services of a professional photographer with professional equipment. The difference in quality is noticeable, and brings a new layer of professionalism to your business. If you're using a professional photographer, this guide might help to give them some direction on what you're looking for. Photo Subjects: The subjects of your photos should match the types of people you're looking to attract to your business. We're not looking for perfect, airbrushed models here - we want real people. We want your target customers to look at the photos and think 'those people look like me'. Well in advance of the photoshoot, you want to contact some of your current clients to ask them to appear in the shoot. We're looking for at least 12 people. Make sure you've got a broad representation across different ages, nationalities, skin colours, shapes, sizes, genders, sexualities etc. You want to get any staff you have to be available for the shoot. If the shoot is for a website, it's also important to get photos of the people who you'll be featuring in testimonials and client feature stories. Photo Subject Matter: As mentioned, the photos themselves should be of people who match your avatar (target customer). They should be working with your staff (ideally in a one-on-one capacity, like hands on technique corrections etc). They should be smiling, laughing and having a good time - while still working hard. The more interaction the better (between staff and client, and between client and client (if you have multiple clients in each photo). Fist bumps, high fives etc are great. We want photos of all the services you provide. If you offer one-on-one coaching, get photos of that. If you offer small group training, include multiple people in you photos, but there should be one person who is featured in the image - the others are just there for context. If you offer any sit-down consults, make sure you get photos of them. Photo Composition: As tempting as it it to have a photographer roam around during a class, or following a PT around during their session, these 'action shots' never come out as well as staged photos. With this in mind, the best approach is to stage the photos, and take multiple shots of each 'scene' - each being slightly different. This will give plenty of options to choose the best shot. We want these photos to have as many uses as possible. To help with this, the subjects shouldn't be shot from too close. We don't want them filling the frame. This will allow use to 'cut in' the photo to get both portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) images - based on what we need to use them for. Lighting is really important - we want the photos to be light and bright, with natural lighting being ideal. Be aware of what else is in the scene. We don't want busy, untidy backgrounds. Keep things clean, simple, minimalist. Planning the shoot: To ensure as many uses as possible, plan to have around 12 subjects, with three to four scenes each. For example, one scene might be pushing a prowler, one might be doing a deadlift, one might be doing a dip. Getting 10-20 photos of each scene should result in a choice of 2-3 good shots to choose one great shot from. You'll end up with 36-48 great photos from your entire shoot. Here are some examples of potential scenes that a strength and conditioning facility might use: Air squatDeadlift set-upDeadlift lock out.Barbell front rack position.Bottom of a front squat.Air bike.Rower.Bottom of overhead squat.Ring rowRussian KB swingProwler push.A group of 3 people people training together.Dumbbell bench press.Coach and client fist bumping.A bunch of your members chatting and talking (maybe while sitting around / mobilising etc). Where possible, costume ...
    Voir plus Voir moins
    13 min
  • 86: Solving Exercise Physiology's Identity Crisis

    86: Solving Exercise Physiology's Identity Crisis
    Nov 18 2025

    In this episode Dan Williams explores how goal dilution contributes to the identity crisis in Exercise Physiology and shares how defining what EPs don't do can help the profession stand out.

    5 things you'll learn in this episode:

    • Why Exercise Physiologists struggle with public recognition and a clear professional identity.
    • How goal dilution weakens the perception of Exercise Physiology for clients, referrers, and allied health partners.
    • Why defining what you don't do creates stronger positioning and clearer boundaries in a crowded industry.
    • How choosing a niche and sticking to it leads to greater credibility, referrals, and brand differentiation.
    • How EPs can shift from the red ocean of competition to the blue ocean of being in a category of one.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    11 min
  • 85: Building a Career as an Exercise Physiologist - lessons from 20 years as an EP.

    85: Building a Career as an Exercise Physiologist - lessons from 20 years as an EP.
    Nov 4 2025

    Today we bring you an episode of the Kinetic Careers podcast with Jeremiah PEIFFER.

    Dan Williams was lucky enough to be invited by Jeremiah for the very first episode of his podcast, which helps sport and exercise science students and graduates to develop their career.

    Jeremiah and Dan had a wide ranging conversation where they covered:

    • Dan's pathway through exercise and sports science
    • How the EP profession and ESSA have evolved
    • The way Dan has designed his businesses around being a present dad and building a lifestyle not just an income
    • The role of failure, networking and lifelong learning in career growth
    • Practical advice for students and new grads on positioning themselves, building business acumen and creating remarkable client experiences in an AI-shaped future.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    33 min
  • 84: The AI takeover. Why coaches can no longer compete (and what to do about it)

    84: The AI takeover. Why coaches can no longer compete (and what to do about it)
    Oct 21 2025

    If you are an online coach, or you program for your clients, this is for you.

    In this episode, Dan Williams talks about the very real threat that AI is bringing to people who provide programs for their clients.

    Dan explores how AI is transforming exercise programming, why online coaches face potentially career ending risks, and how fitness professionals can pivot to protect their careers in the AI-driven future.

    5 things you'll learn in this episode:

    • Why AI-powered exercise programming is advancing faster than most fitness professionals realise.
    • How real-time data from wearables, sleep, mood, and recovery can reshape training sessions instantly.
    • The limitations of empathy and human connection as a defence against automation.
    • Why online programming is becoming a commodity and what that means for pricing.
    • How to pivot your business towards unscalable, in-person experiences that AI cannot replicate.

    If you are in the business of exercise programming, everything is about to change. You may think that empathy and human connection is going to save you, but in this episode Dan shares a story that shows how difficult it will be to compete with AI.

    Your action steps:

    • Reassess whether online programming is your long-term career plan, given AI's rapid advances.
    • Explore ways to integrate AI tools into your business as a facilitator, not a competitor.
    • Build in-person, non-scalable experiences that prioritise connection and value beyond what AI can deliver.
    • Educate clients on the unique benefits of human-led training and the experiential side of fitness.
    • Begin shifting your offers towards services that are harder to commoditise, such as bespoke coaching or community-driven experiences.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    21 min
  • 83: How my business earns me 23 hours a week

    83: How my business earns me 23 hours a week
    Sep 28 2025
    Summary: In this episode Dan explores why business owners should stop measuring success only by money and start valuing time as their true currency, helping you design a more profitable and balanced business life. 4 things you'll learn in this episode: Why revenue and profit can be misleading measures of business successHow tracking hours worked reveals your true hourly rate and workloadWhat it means to switch from 'dollars as currency' to 'minutes as currency'Practical ways to redesign your business to earn time, not just money Need a website? I can help. Transcription: I think just about every single one of us is measuring the wrong thing in business. I'd like to share something I'm struggling with a bit at the moment. My very first business was selling shells I'd picked up off the beach. My business premises was the top bunk of my bed. My customers were Mum and Dad. I was six. From this moment, the measure of success of my little business was how much money it earned. And from that moment forward, every business I had was measured by the same metric. Money. And it makes sense. We live in a capitalist world. And I'm fine with that. I believe that people should get paid for solving other people's problems. But living in that world makes it really hard to gauge the success of your business by anything other than the size of your bank account. That mindset has been drilled into us since before we could walk. Money is our measure of business success, and for some of us, it's also a measure of life success. Society tells us that dollars are the currency that matter – they're the scoreboard that tells us if we're winning the game. And we know it shouldn't be like this, but it is. So back to the thing I'm struggling with. I'm struggling to break way from a lifetime of 'money as the measure of success'. Within the last couple of years, I've made some major structural changes to the businesses I run. Let me take you back to what business looked like before these changes. I was working around 45 hours a week on multiple businesses, I had a team of 12 staff, brick and mortar premises, and my wife and I owned a home and three investment properties. Revenue was high – I was earning more than I ever thought I would. But the nature of running businesses in that way meant expenditure was high too – but not so high that there wasn't a very tidy profit margin. And it's that profit that was my scoreboard. If I profited more in February than I did in January, I was becoming more successful. Sure, it was pretty stressful, and I was always worrying about something, but that's just a cost of doing business right? But then, I made some very deliberate and intentional changes to how I worked. Fast forward to today. Zero staff, no premises, no investment properties, lower revenue. By most traditional measures, you'd say I'm now less successful than I was. However, expenditures dropped by about 75% and profit (which is the only financial metric that only really matters to me) dropped by only about 10%. And importantly, most importantly by far is something the accountant can't see. I'm achieving this off the back of an average of 22 hours per week of work – that's all types of work – billable work, admin, business development… everything. You'll remember I was working 45 hours a week. And it's now about 22. That means I'm doing HALF the amount of work I was. 50% of the work for 90% of the profit. That's a massive increase in profit per hours worked, and probably a 90% drop in stress too. But you know what, there's a tiny little niggling part of my brain that's still telling me I'm less successful than I used to be. Because of that small drop in profit. Part of me is still a slave to the notion that dollars are the true and only measure of success. I'm working really hard on this, and I think I'm slowly winning. I'm slowly honestly believing that the currency that measures the success of my business is not money, but time. Time is the currency. Time is the resource I'm earning. I'm flipping my thinking. I no longer engineer my work to optimise for financial earnings, but to optimise for temporal earnings – earnings of time. I base business decisions on the time they'll earn me, not the money. The changes I've made are paying me 23 hours a week. That is the value of the business I've built. That's the salary my business pays me. Not money, but time. A traditional approach would see people put that 23 hours back into their business. For my highest financial value tasks, I charge my consulting out at a rate of $300 an hour. That's just under an extra $7000 a week if I was to trade my free time in for money. But you know what, I'd rather have the extra 1,380 minutes per week than the extra $6,900. Bear in mind that I started my business 19 years ago – and I'm not denying the need for hard work and long hours. But I am denying that that mindset needs to continue just out of habit. Just look at the number of ...
    Voir plus Voir moins
    11 min
  • 82: How to turn your website into a lead generating machine

    82: How to turn your website into a lead generating machine
    Sep 16 2025

    In this episode Dan Williams explores the six essential sections every fitness business website needs and the psychological strategies you should include to convert more leads into paying clients.

    Check out the demo websites Dan has built to accompany this episode.

    Let Dan help you build a beautiful, one-page website that generates leads for your business: Learn more.

    6 things you'll learn in this episode

    • Why your website should be the centre of your fitness business marketing

    • The six must-have sections that guide visitors towards taking action

    • How to write customer-focused website copy that speaks directly to your audience

    • Psychological principles like scarcity and loss aversion that boost conversions

    • Practical examples of how to apply these strategies to your own fitness website

    Your action steps:

    1. Redesign your website around the six core sections to guide visitors from interest to action.

    2. Use customer-centric language that speaks directly to your target audience's pain points and goals.

    3. Add short, clear testimonials and client stories to build trust and social proof.

    4. Apply psychological principles like scarcity, loss aversion, and the endowment effect in your calls to action.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    27 min
  • Quick thought: Is your work becoming your identity?

    Quick thought: Is your work becoming your identity?
    Sep 12 2025

    In this 'quick thought' Dan asks us to rethink identity, not as what we do for money, but as how we actually live and spend our time.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    7 min
  • 81: Listener Question: Help! How can I stop new leads ghosting me!?

    81: Listener Question: Help! How can I stop new leads ghosting me!?
    Sep 8 2025

    Like a lot of poeple, Ben Luckens from Life's Peachy FIT has a great conversion rate when his leads come in for a trial.

    But the issue is actually getting them in the door.

    In this episode, Ben asks Dan about his strategies for less ghosting and more conversions.

    You'll learn:

    • Why adding friction can actually improve lead quality and boost show-up rates.

    • The surprising response time that multiplies your conversions by nearly four times.

    • How to deliver remarkable client experiences before someone even sets foot in your gym.

    • Five psychological triggers that ethically nudge leads from enquiry to committed member.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    29 min