Questions

I'm asking on behalf of a relative who mentioned she wants to start her own weight loss consulting business. She has strong credentials but wants to start without using social media. I told her that I'm guessing networking is more difficult when you have a topic that is sensitive and she agreed. She has tried to connect with others such as personal trainers but they seem to offer their own consulting services for weight loss as well. Do you have any suggestions I could pass along for her?

For your friend to be successful as a weight loss consultant I would suggest she needs three things:

1. Her own unique weight loss system that she can sell as a monthly service (recurring revenue). It should go beyond the obvious such as diet and exercise or at least provide a new angle on incorporating them. Her system needs to add enough value that people will continue to pay for it.

2. A case study of someone (could be your friend herself) that has lost a lot of weight in a relatively short amount of time using her system. This case study will form an important part of her marketing efforts.

3. As the weight loss market is so competitive, she needs a niche. For example, a weight loss system for stay at home mums. That way she avoids competing with personal trainers who probably don’t have much access to niche markets such as stay at home mums.

Having her own system gives customers a reason to use her as a consultant, having an impressive case study provides credibility to her system and having a niche gives her a specific audience to market to.

There are three markets people make a lot of money in (health, wealth and relationships). The good news is that her business is in one of these markets. The bad news is that these markets are saturated and incredibly competitive online so I would suggest she avoids online marketing activities, for now, such as SEO, PPC, etc. Social media might work for her if she has a unique system and can prove results.

First, she needs proof of concept and to see if people will pay for her consulting. I would recommend she incorporates my three suggestions above and markets offline to friends or find a niche group of people and speak to them at networking events.

For a limited time I’m offering free advice for 20mins.
VIP link: https://clarity.fm/robstephens/scale323

Rob Stephens
robstephens.com


Answered 7 years ago

Unlock Startups Unlimited

Access 20,000+ Startup Experts, 650+ masterclass videos, 1,000+ in-depth guides, and all the software tools you need to launch and grow quickly.

Already a member? Sign in

Copyright © 2024 Startups.com LLC. All rights reserved.