My goal is to command the highest rate of any personal trainer in NYC ($300 + per session). Should I enlist a PR firm/agency?

You will always be your best PR agency. Because if you can't sell yourself, then no one will be able to sell / market you.

In my experience, when I start something with money as the focus I fail. However when I work to create something amazing for others, I win and win big.

My advice is to focus on creating value (amazing value) and then the money, exclusivity and $300 /hourly rate will flow to you.

Imagine for a moment a PR firm getting you XYZ celebrity / billionaire client. If you can't deliver on creating value for that client you will never retain them as a customer.

Use price as a strategy to position you (the brand) and then never stop creating more and more value for others.

I hope this helps.

If you plan on charging boutique rates, then your brand name / domain name MUST say you're worth it. People should be half convinced even before they click to view your site.

In terms of name branding, you can do better than any of those competing sites you mentioned. A good name will bring you additional business and pay for itself over time.

I can help you identify the right property and obtain it. Honestly, it doesn't need to cost you a fortune either. Last month I sold TheGym.net for the price of 3 1/3 of your sessions. If you had purchased that domain, I'm sure it would have brought you many more sessions than that. Just an example.

Just a thought - but perhaps instead of having a goal of being the highest paid trainer in NYC consider creating a business model to become the most sought after trainer in the country.

If you attain that goal, I'm pretty confident you can charge whatever you want.

To do so you'll need to have a deep understanding of your market. And you'll need to create an irresistible offer.

A good PR firm can help get your offer / USP / message out to the market. But until you have those things in place - until you have a business model - in my opinion you are putting the proverbial cart before the horse.

[Of course, you may already have those things in place (your question and the context you provided are absent those pieces)]

1. Create a stellar website, much like your competitors have
2. Set up photo shoot (branding and imagery) are extremely important.
3. Identify SEO and SEM strategy
4. Develop relevant content for online marketing
5. Touch base with me

I would suggest you take one of your competitors and do a gap analysis between what they offer and what you offer in terms of Value, not necessarily price. What can you offer they don't or how can you do it better? Are facilities a factor in the client perception of quality and value? Do you have the network of satisfied clients to mine new clients?

A good PR firm will go down this path and charge you a lot of money in the process, so why not try to do it yourself first.

This is a hard task because you must be honest in your appraisal of yourself, your services and current client base but it can have a great payoff.

Thanks,
Ron

I'm actually one of the most expensive trainers in Toronto, and here's how I did it:

1. I wrote 5 books.
2. I promoted the heck out of those books, from Amazon, to book signings in stores, etc.
3. I was able to get my own radio show. To this day, radio shows have way more clout than podcasts. People know that anyone can start a podcast, but it's the perception that only a special person can be a radio show host.
4. Be able to communicate complex concepts very clearly.
5. Point out common mistakes in your competitors, without calling them out by name.
6. Do public speaking
7. Create an email list.
8. I appeared on TV multiple times (and it's not as hard to get on there as you think).
9. I appeared in local newspapers a number of times (also not as hard as you think).
10. I got the mayor to endorse my books.
11. I made sure everyone knew about the above.

Oh, and on the technical side of things: I took a ton of courses, and spent tens of thousands of dollars studying about exercise, nutrition, hormones, neurology, etc. The centerpiece of good marketing is a good product.

Look at it this way: if you have space for only 10 clients, 2-3 times per week, but there are 50 people who want to work with you, you can raise your rate so that only the top 10 are able to work with you. That's what it really boils down to - creating demand.

And the way you create demand is by first being good at your craft, second, making sure that everyone knows how good you are, and third, creating the "aura" of a celebrity.