How to Get Your First 10 Personal Training Clients
By Sean McGarrity · 16 September 2026
Most PTs think they have a marketing problem. They don't. Here's where your first clients actually come from.
There are loads of personal trainers in Ireland who can't get clients. And almost none of them know the real reason why.
Most of them think it's a marketing problem. So they post more, film more Reels, launch another six week shred, and wonder why nobody's signing up.
It's not a marketing problem. They don't know how to get people results. And because of that, they don't know how to run a consultation that turns into a sale, or how to keep a client long enough to get referrals.
People Come for Results and Stay for Experience
That's the whole game in one sentence.
People come to you for results. They stay for the experience of working with you. And the ones who stay are the ones who bring their friends.
Most PTs who can't get clients have never been taught how to do either one.
Who Taught You Matters More Than You Think
Here's the uncomfortable bit.
If the person who taught you doesn't own a gym and train clients today, they've nothing to teach you about getting clients. I'm not talking about someone who owned a gym five or ten years ago.
If they're not in the market today, producing results today, and they can't show you a successful fitness business, then all they've got is PowerPoint slides of shyte that used to work ten years ago. And it's not enough.
It's why Darragh Butler came to us when he was already a qualified PT. He wanted to learn from people who'd actually built the thing he wanted to build. If you haven't picked a course yet, I've covered how to choose in How to Become a Personal Trainer in Ireland.
Start in Person, Even If You Dream of Online
The first thing you need to think about is whether you're going to be a one to one personal trainer or a group personal trainer. Either way, you start by training people in person.
I know plenty of you have a fantasy about becoming an online trainer. Grand. But you can't become an online trainer until you've actually learned how to get people results in real life, because otherwise you've nothing to put online.
You cannot skip that step. Here's why.
Find Your Niche the Only Way That Works
Most people don't know who they actually like working with. So you've got to go and train a few different types of people to figure out who your niche is.
After training those people for a few years, you'll begin to notice patterns. Those patterns can turn into a system that's predictable, repeatable and profitable.
Only then have you narrowed it down into a niche and a system good enough to put online. If you can get the people in your niche results more than half the time, then you might have something to take online in future.
Become Four Mile Famous
Now, back to getting clients in person. Here's the trick.
No one is going to travel to a gym for longer than about fifteen minutes. That puts every client you're ever going to work with within a four mile radius.
So burn this sentence into your brain: become four mile famous.
Why Instagram Is Wasting Your Time
This is why Instagram is the biggest waste of time for a PT training people in a bricks and mortar gym.
Every client you're ever going to get is probably already walking around that gym. But you're on Instagram trying to get famous, talking to the entire world, none of whom are ever going to come to your gym.
Meanwhile, no one's talking to the people in the gym.
The Three Cs: Conversations, Consults, Clients
At Elite we call it the three Cs. Conversations lead to consults, and consults lead to clients.
It starts with a conversation. You talk to the people who run about the gym, you build real relationships, and you get known. People begin to like you, and then they begin to trust you.
Those conversations turn into consults. Sometimes that happens in a single conversation (it happened to me that way), but usually it takes a few. Then you can say something like this:
"Hey, do you know what? We've talked a few times now. I think we should sit down and talk about this deeper. Now that I understand what you're really looking for and what's really holding you back, I'd love to show you how we could work together to get the results you really want."
That's where you book the consult.
The Consult Is Where Clients Are Made
In the consult, you go through it all in depth with the person. What they're really looking for, and what's really been holding them back.
Do that properly and they become a client. This is the part most courses never teach, and it's exactly what the GROW coaching model and motivational interviewing are for at Elite.
The Biggest Mistake New PTs Make
Trying to become internet famous. Or copying what other trainers are doing, thinking it's working.
They look at somebody else and go, oh, he's doing a six week shred, I'm going to do a six week shred. Then all of a sudden everybody's doing a bloody six week shred. And six week shreds have been going on for ten years.
So you sound like everyone else. And that's why everybody out there is competing on price.
Stand Out and Charge What You're Worth
Whereas if you figure out what people would actually pay you more for, you step out of that race altogether.
That comes from sitting down and having a deeper marketing conversation, like the ones I have with Elite students. Do that and you become a standout trainer who can charge exactly what you're worth.
If you want to see what a full book of clients is actually worth, I've broken it down in How Much Does a Personal Trainer Earn in Ireland.
The Ones Who Cracked It
Adam Malloy came through Elite at 21 while he was still studying at university. Working just 15 hours a week, he built his personal training business to €3,000 a month in recurring revenue.
Vicky Svejdar built a boot camp on the beach in Magheramore. Within a couple of months of figuring out the business model and structure she needed, she was making a couple of grand a month recurring.
When I checked in a couple of years later, she was absolutely full, had launched loads more sessions and was heading towards €5,000. That was seven years ago. I caught up with her this summer, and her business has grown so big she's building a gym at the back of her house.
We're Not Guessing
We've done this with people training one to one in person, and with group training. We've helped people build boot camps on beaches that turned into their own gym at the back of their house. I've helped people build online businesses from scratch that make half a million a year.
We've seen it all. And that's the cool thing about coming to us.
We're not telling you how we think it's done. We're telling you from actually having helped people do it, and having done it ourselves.
Your Next Step
Whether you're thinking about becoming a PT or you're already qualified and struggling for clients, let's have a chat. If Elite isn't the right fit for you, I'll tell you straight.
Sean "Trainer Maker" McGarrity