If you’re a fitness instructor who works out of a fitness studio – you know that these statements are true:
- You have to divide your day amongst many clients, which isn’t always possible.
- You have a studio to maintain, which can be difficult between fitness sessions.
- You don’t have too much flexibility in your schedule.
We’re here to tell you this doesn’t have to be the case. How? Well, you may not be able to change the way in-person fitness sessions work. But you can invest in an online fitness platform. This will allow you to train people online via virtual fitness classes. You get your flexible schedule. Your clients get to work out from the comfort of their homes. Everybody wins.
Online fitness training platforms are also designed to help you train more people in one day. Let’s face it – there are only 24 hours in a day – and half of those go toward your sleep, personal life, and commuting to the studio. With online fitness training, you can save time and make more of a profit each day.
But the best thing about online gym membership software is that it helps you make money in more than one way. That’s right – you can have multiple revenue streams with online fitness streaming platforms. In this blog, we’ll share the top ten ways to start making money using some of the best online platforms for fitness classes.
Ready to dive in?
10 Ways to Start Making Money Using an Online Fitness Platform
1. Get that online fitness studio up and running
The first element you need to look at is an online fitness studio. Generally, some of the best online fitness platforms offer this as their primary product. With an online fitness studio, you can do a few things that will form the foundation of your online fitness business:
- Create a fitness video library for clients.
- Host live fitness classes. (We’ll talk about this in more detail later)
- Provide educational information via blog posts and emails.
- Offer exclusive content.
- Get your clients signed up as members.
In addition, online fitness platforms help you create an environment that is truly engaging amongst your clients – even if they’re talking to each other virtually. Memberships also mean you can rely on recurring revenue, all managed by your online fitness video platform.
The bottom line: Online fitness studios help you build a community while giving you more time to train more students for less time and energy.
2. Live stream individual and group fitness classes
We mentioned that your online fitness studio will allow you to live stream classes. This is a good way of creating two revenue streams;
- For the consumer who wants to pay per fitness class.
- For the consumer who wants to access live classes every week via a monthly membership.
There are also some other variations you can offer in the livestreaming category:
- Offer fitness sessions for individuals as well as groups.
- Offer varied fitness class types; aerobics, Pilates, yoga, strength training, cardio, spinning, etc.
These classes can all be hosted on your online fitness video platform. Some premium online gym membership software also has Zoom integration in it. This is splendid because it allows you to use Zoom’s features directly within your online fitness platform. More importantly, it means that each and every live stream will be stable, engaging, and reliable.
The bottom line: As you can see, live streaming alone can offer many revenue streams, create varied fitness services for you to sell, and help you become attractive to a broader audience.
3. Sell fitness merchandise
Another simple but fun and exciting way to make money with a platform for online fitness classes is by selling merchandise. That’s right – with some of the best online fitness platforms out there, you can sell digital and, sometimes, physical merchandise.
This is taking online fitness training to the next level because it allows you to manage all your stock from the same online fitness platform that manages your clients, revenue, and content. You can track your stock and shipments from within the platform, too. This level of consolidation is really what you want.
Merchandise is often underrated, but it’s a great revenue stream because it allows people to make quick, once-off purchases without much fuss or overthinking.
The bottom line: Gone are the days of needing to have multiple software tabs open simultaneously to manage your business. Today, you can do it all from one tab – again, saving you time, energy, and money!
4. Get your own fitness app
Apps have really grown in popularity, and since the recent COVID-19 pandemic, people have become accustomed to using them on a daily basis.
If you look at the number of health and fitness app users in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022, you’ll notice the sudden spike in 2020 (due to the pandemic and lockdowns). But you’ll also see that in 2022, the number has stayed quite stable, and the usage of fitness apps grew from 84 million in 2021 to 86.3 million users in 2022. This shows us that fitness apps are here to stay and that you should offer one to your clients.
Source: Statista
So, launching a fitness app is a good idea; the demand is high, the cost is low, and apps will help you stand out from the crowd. Apps can help reach other audiences who prefer to engage online via their smartphones. Moreso, people are already engaging in yoga and aerobics apps – why not try to lure them to premium fitness sessions with you?
The bottom line: To gain competitive advantage, stay relevant, and appeal to a larger audience – get a fitness app.
5. Create downloadable wellness programs
When consumers think about fitness, they think of it in terms of wellness instead of being a standalone element. This is because the world has become much more wellness-focused – where diet, nutrition, and overall health are more important than just attempting to lose weight or build muscle.
McKinsey shared a report showing the market from a consumer’s perspective. As you can see, wellness has transitioned drastically over the years:
Source: McKinsey
This evolution of fitness poses an opportunity for instructors – you can start offering wellness programs online. These courses can include everything from nutritional plans to core daily stretches and yoga poses. But the beauty of wellness programs is that you can also include fitness sessions (live or on-demand) within the program. This way, clients get to have an all-rounded wellness experience with you – as opposed to attending a single class each week.
The bottom line: Wellness programs can help build solid client relationships and help your clients achieve their overall wellness goals – thereby providing them with an improved quality of life.
6. Offer online personal training
Another way in which fitness platforms online help you make money is by offering personal training sessions online. If you have the time to schedule these types of sessions in your diary – we’d say it’s definitely worth it.
Personal training speaks to so many people because it’s a completely tailored experience. It’s a great way to make money because it’s generally more highly-priced than group fitness sessions. You can also build close-knit relationships with clients this way – because it’s just you and them in any given session.
You can offer clients custom meal plans, and help them with customized stretches, workout plans, and more. These personalized workout solutions will be attractive to prospective clients and can help them build confidence in themselves over time.
Virtual personal training sessions also help you carefully monitor your client’s progress. With an online fitness platform, you can track progress and add notes for each session. This way, you can refresh your mind on the customer’s advancement at any time. These can also become great case studies in the future.
The bottom line: Personal training helps build close relationships and allows you to spend undisturbed time with clients who desire it most.
7. Host online webinars about fitness
Now we’re getting into the realm of business ownership. As an online fitness business owner, you should be proud to talk about your experience, fitness solutions, products, and more with potential clients. The easiest way to do this is by hosting a live webinar.
Most people host webinars so that they can:
- Meet potential clients.
- Get an understanding of what people are expecting from a fitness instructor.
- Share knowledge with fellow instructors.
- Use one hour to get to know multiple people.
- Become a thought leader in the fitness industry.
- Make additional revenue.
Webinars are another revenue stream because you can charge people to register for the event. This is a quick way to make some money, learn from others, and get your brand out there. Webinars can also gather attendees’ email addresses, and if people opt in, you can connect with them via email marketing.
The bottom line: Webinars are just another way of allowing people to engage with you, understand how you work and how you can help them from the comfort of their home.
8. Host fitness workouts in collaboration with other trainers
Now that we have reviewed how valuable webinars can be let’s take that to the next level. With an online fitness platform, you can host fitness workouts in collaboration with fellow trainers.
These “collabs” allow you to introduce new fitness professionals to your sessions – yet another thing to get clients excited about. With these instructors, you can also host live Q&A sessions on your online fitness video platform. These sessions are valuable because it allows clients to ask for advice and opinions regarding health and wellness.
These fitness workout sessions, in collaboration with other instructors, can be charged at a premium price for two reasons;
- They don’t happen often.
- Clients gain access to more than one fitness professional for that class.
Just another way to make more money while teaching fitness online! Many instructors theme each of these collaborative sessions. Some may be related to transformational fitness, while others will be more about nutrition. This is an excellent way of keeping clients coming back for more over the course of a few months.
The bottom line: Collabs entice people and get them excited about how you and other fitness professionals can train together and help them be more successful in achieving their fitness goals.
9. Create and sell online fitness packages
In the first point on this list, we talked about hosting an online fitness video library for clients. These videos can also become a part of various fitness packages hosted on your online gym membership software.
Online fitness packages are really valuable because they let your clients make a once-off purchase for something they can access at any time from anywhere. These packages can be sold with your downloadable wellness guides for a more wholesome experience. Do you see how everything starts to merge and contribute to your goal of making consistent revenue?
These are the types of products you want on your virtual shelf, along with live fitness sessions and merchandise. They are the bread and butter of any online wellness business and help you bulk out your offering with no fuss and very little maintenance.
The bottom line: Fitness packages help you create a once-off product that clients can purchase with minimal effort.
10. Seek out brand sponsorships
Our last point brings us to something a bit larger than the rest of these profit-making strategies, but it is worth the effort.
Brand sponsorships.
But what does this really mean?
When you have a large online following (predominantly on social media), fitness brands may reach out to you because they want to attempt to reach your audience. Your audience is exactly who they’re looking for.
You can take this opportunity up by promoting their fitness products on your digital channels to your audience. These products include fitness equipment, merchandise, nutrition, and more.
You will probably also receive gifts, gift cards, products, and more from these fitness brands. These products and gifts can be used in social media giveaways, generating brand awareness for the sponsor and engagement for your channels.
The bottom line: Sponsorships are an excellent way of keeping that conversation going with clients and creating hype on your channels.
Launch Your Business with a Robust Online Fitness Platform Today
Going into fitness studios doesn’t have to be the default anymore. Transitioning your fitness business to an online fitness studio is the way to go. There are so many ways of making money online – you get to do it wherever you’re most comfortable, whenever you want.
If you want to really elevate your business and set it up for success the right way – you need to invest in a robust online fitness platform. We’ve worked with so many fitness instructors to know that online classes never disappoint.
Intrigued? Read our blog post for more information on how to sell online fitness workouts using five applied tips. Alternatively, speak to one of our experts at Mastera to better understand how our online fitness platform can help you get your online business running in minutes. We’ll be happy to show you what we have to offer. Simply schedule a demo with us whenever you’re ready.
Co-Founder, Gleantap & Mastera