The fitness industry continues growing every day, as more people become aware of the importance of health, fitness and wellness. Consequently, the demand for personal trainers, fitness coaches and other fitness professionals is also growing. It takes 5 minutes of browsing around on YouTube or Instagram to see it.
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fitness industry will experience job growth of approximately 39%, between 2020 and 2030. And this translates to more earning opportunities for fitness professionals.
But, you can grow your fitness business even further, reach a wider audience and increase your earnings by starting an online fitness business. So, how do you start a successful online fitness business? This guide has the answers.
In this article, we will walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to start an online fitness business. Whether you are a personal trainer, a fitness center owner, a gym owner, a yoga guru, or any other fitness professional, here are the steps to follow when starting an online fitness business.
1. Define Your Niche
There are several niches within the fitness industry. And each niche has its own submarket. Therefore, before anything else, you will first need to define clearly the niche you intend to target.
Trying to market to every fitness enthusiast out there will not work. For example, if you are a personal trainer who specializes in muscle-building workouts, you should start an online personal training business that focuses on that niche.
On the other hand, if you are a yoga guru, then your online fitness business should target yoga enthusiasts. By defining your niche, it will be easier to attract the right client and get value for your money from your marketing campaigns.
2. Define Your Ideal Client
After choosing your niche, you will then need to go a step further and define your ideal client. For instance, if you are a yoga instructor, you can decide to focus on a sub-group such as yoga for pregnant women, instead of targeting every yoga enthusiast.
At the same time, if you are a personal trainer who specializes in muscle-building workouts, you can decide to focus on athletes such as professional football players. Once you identify your ideal client, you can, then do more research to determine their challenges, dreams, fears, and hopes.
The more information you will know about your ideal client, the easier it will be for you to come up with an almost irresistible offer. And when you have an irresistible offer, you are on the right path to establishing a successful online fitness business.
3. Choose Your Pricing and Packages
By now, you already have a niche that you intend to focus on and you’ve already settled on your ideal client. It’s now time to come up with a pricing strategy for your online fitness business. For the pricing, you have two models to choose from. These are the pay-as-you-go pricing model and the monthly, quarterly or annual memberships.
3.1 Pay-as-you-go Pricing Model
In this fitness pricing model, your clients will be paying per every online fitness class. This method is ideal for fitness those who simply want to check out and compare different options on the market. Such clients may decide to pay for a single class or go ahead and pay for several of your classes if they are impressed.
Besides offering single classes, you can also offer bundles or packages for a fixed charge. For instance, you can offer 20 classes for $200 or five classes for $100, where purchasing more classes comes with a discount.
The pay-as-you-go pricing model will appeal to fitness enthusiasts who don’t want any commitment. It may help you to acquire customers, especially when your online fitness business is new. And if your fitness classes prove to be outstanding, some of these clients may sign up for long-term memberships.
3.2 Membership Pricing Model
With the membership pricing model, your clients will pay a flat fee for accessing your online fitness classes for a number of months. For instance, you can offer a three-month membership, six-month membership or yearly membership.
Again, you can offer discounts for clients who decide to go for a longer membership. For instance, you can set up online fitness classes going for $40 per month. For a three-month membership, this will be $120, $240 for six months and $480 for 12 months. Instead, you can charge $200 for a six-month membership or $400 for a 12-month membership.
Such discounts will incentivize your target client to sign up for longer memberships, which means more money for your online fitness business.
4. Choose a Delivery Method
For the delivery method, you have numerous options to consider. First, you can offer live one-on-one personal training sessions, where you guide your personal training client as they work out. Second, you can conduct a group fitness live streaming session, where you will have several participants following at the same time.
Third, you can create workout routines or guides, packaged as e-books. Your clients will then download these guides after purchasing. Fourth, you can sell pre-recorded workouts in the form of videos, which fitness clients can access after paying a certain membership fee.
There are no fixed rules when it comes to the delivery method. You can decide to choose one method or you can experiment with different methods. And with time, you will see what method works best for your audience and your business model.
5. Gather Your Equipment
You will need certain equipment when starting an online fitness business. This equipment will include things like a camera, lights, sound and editing software. For camera lights and sound, you should start small. Simply put, go for what you can afford at the moment. After all, you are starting out.
And as your online fitness business grows, you can then invest in better equipment, to better serve your audience. As for editing software, there are plenty of free tools out there. Begin with those and then sign up for premium software when your online fitness business gains a firm footing.
6. Set Up Your Tech Infrastructure
Before launching your online fitness business, you need to ensure you have all the tools in place, to ensure your business will run smoothly. Some of the tools that you will need to run your online fitness business include a class booking system and a payment processing system. You will also need a streaming platform if you will be offering live streaming sessions.
If you decide to be selling fitness e-books or pre-recorded workout videos, then you may not need the above tools. Instead, you can host these resources on third-party platforms such as Amazon for e-books or video-on-demand platforms for pre-recorded workout videos. Such platforms will then take of everything else and get a cut from the sales.
7. Launch and Market Your Online Fitness Business
Whether you decide to run group fitness live-streaming sessions or you opt to sell e-books and pre-recorded workout videos, you will need to market your online fitness business.
If you fail to put the word out, no one will ever know about your online fitness business, regardless of how great your products or services are. Fortunately, you have plenty of channels and strategies that you can use to market your business and reach your target audience.
First, you should invest in content marketing. Every day, people are searching online for exercise instructions, workout tips, diet plans or almost everything related to health and fitness, thus the importance of content marketing.
If you already have a fitness website or blog, you should have a robust content marketing strategy in place. So, whenever someone searches for fitness content, your e-books, videos, or live streams will be among the results that appear on the first page of search engines. And this will increase your chances of landing a client.
Second, you should establish a strong social media presence for your online fitness business. Having a strong social media presence will not only help you to connect with your target client but you will also have a platform for distributing your content. Some of the social media platforms that you can use include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Third, set up an email list. An email list will be an essential part of marketing your online fitness business. You can either build your email list by simply asking people to sign up on your fitness website or re-directing them from your social media pages.
Also, don’t forget word-of-mouth marketing. In fact, it’s one of the most effective methods of marketing a business. According to a Nielsen survey, 92% of consumers around the globe say they trust recommendations from family and friends, as opposed to other marketing methods. So, let everyone within your social circle know you have set up an online fitness business. They will recommend your products or services to others within their social circles, thus increasing the chance of making a sale.
8. Wrapping It Up
Starting an online fitness business presents a great opportunity of scaling up your fitness business and make more money. However, don’t expect overnight success. It may take you months or years before you turn a profit with your online fitness business. But with patience, working smart and perseverance, you will eventually get there.