What a Personal Trainer at My Gym Taught Me About Getting Clients

Hey fellow designer,

If you know me, you know the gym plays a big part in my life.

I’ve been going consistently now for the past 8 years or so.

And last month at my current gym a new personal trainer joined.

And when I saw him there recently I noticed something….

Over the 4 weeks since he started, I’d never seen him with a client.

He spends most of his time walking around the gym floor with his arms crossed, watching people from a distance.

He looks serious and to some maybe even intimidating.

This makes him look unapproachable.

It’s like he’s waiting for clients to come to him.

Meanwhile the other trainers are doing something very different.

They’re in the thick of it.

Training people, chatting with members, correcting someone’s form.

You can literally see them helping people.

And it made me think:

If I were looking for a personal trainer… who would I choose?

The answer is obvious. Not the guy standing in the corner, but the one actually helping people.

This is exactly why some designers don’t have clients

A lot of freelance designers are doing the exact same thing as that PT.

They’re standing on the sidelines, waiting.

Waiting for enquiries.

Waiting to be noticed.

Waiting for someone to “see their talent.”

Waiting for the perfect client to land in their inbox.

But from the client’s perspective… there’s very little evidence.

They can’t see how you think, how you solve problems, or how you actually help businesses grow.

All they see is a portfolio and a contact page.

And that’s often not enough to build enough trust to make someone enquire.

Generic Designers wait to be chosen

Generic Designers:

• wait for leads to appear

• post finished work with no explanation

• assume a portfolio alone should convert

• want paid projects before proving value

• stay invisible unless someone directly asks for help

They’re the equivalent of that trainer standing in the corner of the gym.

Technically available, but not giving anyone a reason to approach.

Strategic Brand Designers make their thinking visible

Strategic Brand Designers understand something important:

People trust what they can see in action.

So instead of waiting, they create visible proof.

They:

• explain their design decisions

• break down branding problems for business via audits.

• share strategic insights publicly

• critique weak branding

• show how strategy improves outcomes

They don’t just show the final piece of work, they show how they think and how they got there.

The Visibility → Trust Loop

When designers struggle to get clients, this loop usually hasn’t started yet.

Here’s how it works.

1. Go where the right people already are

Instead of shouting into the void online, put yourself in environments where potential

clients already exist.

That might be:

• Local business communities.

• Founder groups.

• Industry spaces. (Reddit is a good option for this)

• Social platforms where your niche spends time.

If we go back to the PT example, where do they spend their time? The gym.

And in the gym are gym members, meaning they don’t need to convince them to care about fitness.

This is a simple way of going to where the right people are. PTs wouldn’t go to a grocery store and try to find clients there.

This is why I teach brand designers in my cohort to target direct-to-consumer brands when looking to get clients.

Because D2C brands tend to already know the value of branding as they rely on it to increase the perceived value of their product. So it’s one less thing you have to convince them of.

2. Lower the friction

Don’t start by asking for a huge commitment, instead make the first interaction easy.

That might look like:

• a quick brand audit

• pointing out one improvement opportunity

• sharing a useful insight

• a small starter project

The goal here isn’t immediate revenue, it’s about demonstrating your value.

3. Show your thinking publicly

Now this is where trust really builds.

You need to let people see how you approach problems. And the reason I say problems and not brand design is because people don’t buy services, they buy a solution to a problem they have.

For example:

• explaining why a brand identity works (or doesn’t)

• breaking down strategic decisions

• showing before-and-after improvements

• analysing branding in your niche

These examples make you’re not just showing your design work, but rather showing how you think.

4. Turn proof into momentum

Once someone benefits from your help:

• ask for a testimonial

• document the result

• turn it into a case study

• share the story

That proof then makes the next opportunity easier.

And the next, and the next.

Visibility → trust → opportunity → proof → more visibility.

Once this loop starts, getting clients becomes dramatically easier.

Back to the personal trainer

If I were that PT at my gym, here’s exactly what I’d do.

I’d start helping the people already there.

I’d do this by:

• Offering a free taster session.

• Giving someone a few useful tips.

• Helping them improve their form.

Anything to get them a small win.

Then I’d ask for a review.

Suddenly people in the gym would start noticing.

“Who’s that trainer helping everyone?”

Then momentum starts to build.

Designers can do the same thing

If you’re struggling to get clients, you don’t necessarily need improve your design skills or grow your portfolio.

Instead you might just need visible proof.

That might look like:

• offering a free mini brand audit to a local business

• redesigning one small brand touchpoint and explaining why

• analysing weak branding in your niche

• helping someone improve a small part of their brand strategy

This doesn’t undervalue yourself, it shows what you can do.

Because once someone experiences that value, trust increases quickly.

And trust is what creates work.

A quick note on “don’t work for free”

You’ll hear this advice a lot online: “Never work for free.”

But that advice misses an important detail.

Context matters.

If you’re working for free with no strategy, then yes, it’s a bad idea.

But if you’re working for free strategically to create proof, experience, testimonials, or referrals then that can be incredibly valuable when you’re moving from invisible to trusted.

The bottom line

If you don’t have clients, it’s not always because you’re not good enough.

Sometimes it’s because you’re too invisible.

Standing on the sidelines, waiting to be picked (like the shy girl at a school dance in the teen movies)

But clients rarely pick the person they can’t see.

They pick the one already in the game.

So if you’re waiting… Stop.

Start showing, share your thinking, help people publicly and demonstrate your value.

Because once people can see how you think, trust starts to build.

And trust is what turns designers into in-demand designers.

Chat soon,

Abi 😊