If you are a newbie to fitness or a pro vet of years working in the fitness industry chances are you’ve noticed it has drastically changed. Before the pandemic there was a shift for boutique type gyms and I found myself teaching and taking classes at almost a dozen different gyms. Post pandemic and many people have stuck with the added options of online classes, coaches, trainers, apps, and gyms, and all the many options we now have. This can be tough for someone trying to earn a living. But some of these changes make it easier if you know what to do.
I have spent my whole life in the athlete and fitness industry. I’ve taught, trained, coached, and mentored for almost 25 years and all of my adult life. I’ve seen it change many many times, but never like this. My options used to be teach in person and maybe add some income selling merch, but I thought of selling my own stuff as selling out. What I have learned is that anytime you can add an income stream, it is often, not always, but often wise to do so no matter what your goals are.
If I had it to start and do again I would absolutely start with a bigger online presence that was not even an option when I first started. Branding and earning online has literally never been easier. Free organic advertising is now available and it does NOT take a lot of followers or require a lot of tech savviness. When you teach and coach your influence is naturally large by nature, but you need a strategy to know how to connect and keep the income flow positive in your business. I would also be sure to add leveraged income to assure I get paid if I take a vacation or need time off. I did not have that available to me except when on staff as an added manager and it was still not enough.
Here are some helpful tools to add that I believe are absolutely vital to add, build, and most importantly sustain a successful fitness business.
Options- give yourself and your clients tons of training options, add ons, and be sure to charge for entire package or per month and NOT per session. Trust me! I learned that one the hard way.
Train in person AND online. If you are training at all, I would be sure to at least keep your foot in the door with both. You just never know when a gym will shut down or all of them again, so it is wise to keep both even if very minimally.
Teach groups and classes whenever possible since you can typically earn more than training one hour for one person.
Add affiliate income. I know many coaches who share clothes, but unless you are sharing them also online with extremely large audiences and you commission is high I would maybe avoid them. I would opt instead for consumables such as health supplements that you are already using and sharing and that clients will need to return and need every month. You can only have so many pants and only focus on so many businesses.
Digital products. This one has become my favorite, because we do these any way and they have the most earning potential for leverage to make money while you literally sleep or go on vacation.
Finally, I do NOT suggest adding all of these at once, but I do see sooo many coaches say I’m too busy or I will build my page up and then add income. Newsflash, there will never be the perfect time and many of us have had to start many social media pages over for whatever reason because we don’t own them. So keep track because that is absolutely important! If you do not have new leads or potential clients you are talking to daily then you need this. If you do not have a waiting list of people waiting to work with you then you need this. If you need help with any of these this is now my jam and I freakin love it. We all love helping people get healthier, but now I’ve added helping the helpers so we can have more impact and make more of a difference. I would be happy to schedule a consult and go through your biz and look at options to help you earn more without adding more to your plate. If this interests you at all then lets chat. Click here!
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