Before you hire an agency

What a fitness marketing agency costs, and what to check first.

By Jason Odell, founder of RiseForIt

Fitness marketing agencies usually charge $1,000 to $10,000 a month; short-form content agencies deliver about 20 to 40 videos a month at that price, and premium retainers go past $15,000. Most don't write the scripts and almost none close the sales, so compare what's done for you, not the price alone.

What you're usually paying for

• Ads management: they run your ads; you still need content and someone to sell.
• Editing only: you film and script; they cut. The hard part stays with you.
• Done-for-you content: scripts, editing and posting. Rare, and the most useful.
• Lead follow-up and sales: almost nobody includes it, and it's where clients are won or lost.

What trainers say about agencies

Trainers who've hired agencies call them hit or miss. The common complaints: lead-gen that brings 'tire kickers', generic agencies that pass the work to a middle man and add a margin, and coaches who sell their ideology without saying what they actually do.

So hire for the one thing you need, check who does the work, and ask to see what happens after a lead comes in.

Five questions to ask any agency

• Who writes the scripts, and do they know training?
• What happens when someone comments or messages? Who answers, and how fast?
• Who takes the sales call?
• What's the end date? An agency should teach you the why, not keep you forever.
• What's the guarantee, and can they check it? A vague 'satisfaction guaranteed' means nothing.

How we price it

The 90-Day Build is $5,000 once for 90 days: scripts, editing, Shorts, thumbnails, posting, every lead answered, sales calls closed by Jason, and a weekly call. Then Pro at $297 a month. If you post 90% of the videos and haven't signed a new paying online client by day 90, we keep working free until you do.

Common questions