Kirstyn Brown
In today’s saturated market of fitness coaching, if there’s one thing that often separates successful brands from the rest of the pack, it’s relatability. Cultivating a personal connection with your audience doesn’t just build loyalty and trust, but it can make all the difference when it comes to converting casual followers into paying clients.
It’s a concept with which Sara Frenza is very familiar. After the mom of two went through her own 55-lb weight loss and transformation journey, she started a side hustle as a fitness coach in 2021 to help other women achieve similar goals. Sharing her personal story on social media, along with nutrition and training tips, she garnered a small-but-loyal base of followers that snowballed into a roster of 20 clients.
In May 2022, when she stepped away from her marketing career to pursue her coaching business full time, she had little idea how to be an entrepreneur—but she had relatability in spades.
“When people reach out to me, I hear the same thing every time: ‘You went through it, you know how I feel.’ They connect to my story and I think that’s why I was really successful in launching my business,” she says. “They see me, they look at my ‘before’ photo, and they immediately relate to me.”
“[Clients] connect to my story and I think that’s why I was really successful in launching my business.”
Of course, relatability isn’t the only ingredient in the secret sauce to her multi-six-figure success. Early on, Sara hired a business coach to help her navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship and hone her copywriting skills.
“Learning copywriting that’s appealing to the type of client I want to work with is extremely important,” she says. “The messaging really needs to be honed. When you’re writing copy, you have to ask yourself the question, ‘What problem am I solving for this person? What’s in it for them?”
While the initial expense to hire her coach was nerve wracking, the investment quickly paid off. Just a year and a half after leaving her 9-5, Sara’s coaching business has grown to 80 clients, most of which stick around for an average of eight months.
But while building a client base is one thing, maintaining it is entirely another. While she devotes at least two days a week to fulfilling the needs of her current clients, 70 percent of her time is spent fostering relationships with potential new ones. “You have to constantly be filling the bucket with leads.”
For Sara, that means writing regular weekly emails, developing free downloadable resources, posting in her Facebook community, and conducting one-on-one calls with leads. As a rule of thumb, Sara says it takes 10-15 touch points (or three to four months) with a potential client before they convert.
“What I’ve realized is, you have to give your audience value. You can’t just go straight for the sale,” says Sara, who believes this is an area where a lot of coaches may falter. “People go for the sale too quickly, but you have to hone your message, educate, provide value, and nurture them… then when they come to you, they’re just ready to work with you.”
“People go for the sale too quickly, but you have to hone your message, educate, provide value, and nurture them… then when they come to you, they’re just ready to work with you.”
But like any success, Sara’s hasn’t come without challenges. At one point, she was juggling 60 clients on her own, on top of raising two daughters and keeping up with her own health and fitness schedule. Eventually, at the advice of her business coach, she brought on an assistant coach and two virtual assistants to help carry the load—a decision she wishes she made much sooner.
“You can’t do it all by yourself, otherwise you’ll burn out and won’t be able to grow the business,” she says. “If your goal is to grow the business, then you have to hire help.”
With team members in place to help meet the needs of her community, Sara has more time to invest in brand awareness and filling the funnel with more leads. But whether she’s planning VIP experiences for her top-tier clients, appearing on podcasts, hosting webinars, or perfecting her copywriting, she never loses sight of her initial mission: to help other women achieve their health and fitness goals.
“After my whole experience and what I’ve gone through, I feel like, wow! I feel so good, I feel super strong, and I just want to help other women feel the exact same way.”
Sara’s Top Ten
Want the inside scoop on Sara’s success? Here are her top ten non-negotiables for getting to the top.
Find a way to be relatable. Use your personal story or experience to humanize your brand.
Invest in your business and hire a business coach. “I would never be where I am today if I’d done it alone. The reason I’ve been able to grow my business to this extent is because of the coaching I’ve received…You’ve got to learn from people who have been successful.”
Copywriting is king. Learn how to do it effectively in order to attract the audience you want (and not just random followers who aren’t ready to invest in your brand). “I don’t have a huge following on Instagram but I still was able to build a multi-six-figure business based on a low amount of followers by really working on my copy to attract the ideal client that I want to work with. So the people coming into my community; they are the type of people who want to work with me.”
Identify the problem and tell them how you’re going to solve it. Always. Even if you’re writing or posting about yourself, find a way to bring it back to the problem and the solution. “When you’re writing copy, you have to ask yourself the question, ‘What problem am I solving for this person? What’s in it for them?’”
Don’t just go for the sale. Nurture your leads by offering value. This could be free downloadable resources (like recipes and workouts), access to the FB community, offering live workouts and webinars, etc. ““Times have changed. There’s a lot of fitness coaching out there to choose from, and people need a lot of nurturing. I send out emails 3-4 times a week, I post within the community, I offer 11 free resources as part of my Hourglass Body Blueprint Program. It’s all about nurturing your leads at the end of the day.”
Hire help. And do it as soon as you need it — don’t wait until you’re drowning. “If your goal is to grow the business, then you have to hire help.”
Invest most of your time in attracting and nurturing leads. “You have to constantly be filling the bucket with leads because if you don’t, you’re not going to have anybody to convert.”
Don’t rely on social media alone. That means doing podcast appearances, TV spots, Facebook Lives, etc. “You can’t solely rely on Instagram and Facebook. You have to look at other avenues to get leads.”
Invest in professional photos. If you can, book a photographer to shoot a day of content. Then you’ll have professional photos and videos for your marketing materials, downloads, and social media all ready to go.
Collaborate rather than being competitive. Sara invites other coaches into her community by doing Lives with them, and in turn, goes into their communities to do the same thing.