The Leads That Pay Workbook

Step 1 of 6 · Learn it

Work out your break-even price per lead

If you don't know what a lead is worth to you, any price looks fine until the money is gone. This one number tells you when to say yes, when to say no, and when to stop.

How to do it

1. Write your monthly price and how many months a client usually stays. Multiply them. That's one client's worth.
2. Look at your last 10 to 20 leads (forms, calls, DMs asking about training). Count how many became paying clients.
3. Divide your leads by your clients. That's how many leads it takes to sign one.
4. Divide one client's worth by leads per client. That's your break-even per lead.
5. Set your real max well under break-even, about half, because your time costs money too.

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Step 2 of 6 · Learn it

Line up your free leads first

I watched a trainer, older than me and making about $15 an hour, leave with his wife to train clients from a gym he built in his backyard. Months later he asked me, "Can I get my old job back?" because "I don't know how to get leads." Ads only make a working system bigger, so prove yours on free leads before you pay for any.

How to do it

1. Write down people in your warm network and text each one that you have spots open.
2. Ask every happy client for one name. Give them a free session for each one who signs.
3. Fill out your Google Business Profile with photos, hours and reviews.
4. Pick one free offer, like a 7-day plan or a first session, on a page that collects a name and phone number.
5. Match it to how you work: in a gym, talk to members on the floor and ask to email the member list. Online, post videos that each solve one client problem.

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Step 3 of 6 · Learn it

Write your same-day reply and follow-ups

Every dollar you spend on a lead is wasted if you reply tomorrow. They may have filled in two other forms, and the first trainer who gives a clear next step usually gets the call.

How to do it

1. Pick two set times each day to check every form, call and DM. Reply the same day, every time.
2. Send the first message and ask what made them reach out.
3. When they answer, say who you help and offer a 20-minute call with two time choices.
4. If they go quiet, follow up three times: next morning, two days later, a week later. Each one gives one tip for the problem they told you about.
5. On the call, ask where it hurts and where they want to be after 12 weeks. Protect your price by adding value, not cutting it.

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Step 4 of 6 · Learn it

Check any lead seller before you pay

When one person gets four calls in an hour, the fastest or cheapest trainer tends to win, and you end up in a price war you never picked. A lead sold to five trainers is not worth what an exclusive lead is worth.

How to do it

1. Ask every vendor how many trainers get each lead, and whether they credit fake numbers or leads outside your area.
2. Ask how consent was collected. Reply only to people who asked to be contacted. Never text or auto-dial a bought list without consent, and check the rules where you live.
3. Price shared leads lower, then compare to your max per lead from page 1. Over it, skip it.
4. If you hire an agency, set an end date and ask why they made every choice, so you can run it yourself later.
5. Try a vendor that passes for one month, then judge it by cost per client.

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Step 5 of 6 · Learn it

Plan your local Google Ads campaign

Your own Search campaign means every lead is yours alone, shown only to people typing what you sell. Set it up loose and you pay for job seekers, people in other towns, and clicks you can't track. Add it once free leads are closing. If you coach online, skip this page and boost videos that already work.

How to do it

1. Use expert mode, not a Smart campaign. Pick Leads as the goal and Search as the type.
2. Target your town or a radius people would really drive. Set location to people in or regularly in that area. Check if Local Services Ads cover trainers near you.
3. Choose a few phrase and exact match buyer keywords, and add negatives like jobs, salary, certification, course, and online (unless you sell online coaching).
4. Write one ad about where they hurt and where they'll land. Send clicks to one page with a three-field form, your phone number, your face, and a real client win. Never your homepage.
5. Set up tracking for form submits and calls first. Pick a daily budget you could lose for 30 days without panic. Start on Maximize Clicks with a bid cap, then switch to Maximize Conversions once real conversions come in.

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Step 6 of 6 · Learn it

Set up your lead scoreboard

A vendor's lead count tells you nothing about money in your pocket. Without your own numbers you'll keep paying for channels that never sign anyone.

How to do it

1. Log every lead the day it comes in: name, date, where from, whether you replied the same day, and the next step.
2. At the end of each month, add up spend, leads, booked calls and clients for each channel.
3. Work out cost per lead, cost per booked call and cost per client, and write what those clients paid you.
4. Grade each channel against your own average and your max per lead, not what another trainer says they pay.
5. Keep spending where cost per client stays well under one client's worth. Cut or fix the rest.

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The plan

Your next 7 days

One small action a day, starting with the one that saves the most money.

Your answers, in one place

One small job a day