Income Streams to Scale Your Fitness Business

Could Covid Be the Shift You Needed to Build a Better Fitness Business?

July 14, 2020

July 14, 2020

Like many other businesses, clients became a little more sparse for me by the end of March this year. Many people who had reached out, suddenly lost the income they made through fitness studios and gyms and decided they couldn’t invest. That is, until a month into quarantine when they realized that investing in a brand and website could be exactly what they needed to make money independently from their studio employer.

Although the unfortunate situation of Covid and quarantine pushed them to this, I think it presented a great opportunity for yoga teachers and group fitness instructors to shift and take complete control of their own income. They’ve been able to use their skillset to run their own business. How exciting is that?!

The great thing about this is that these income streams can extend far beyond quarantine. That’s why today I’m sharing 3 ways my clients are doing this. 

 

On-Demand Video Membership

Subscription-based businesses are becoming an incredibly popular business model in every industry, which is why I love seeing fitness professionals jumping in on this as well. The great thing about this option is that it doesn’t require a huge change from your previous routine of regularly planning new classes for a group. For this you’ll simply record those videos and upload them to your membership site. 

You’re able to create income based on retention of current members rather than constantly having to find new ones. This model also allows you to scale infinitely, as compared to a small group class or 1:1’s that limit your income to the number of hours you have in a day. 

Recent client, Maggie Umberger, utilized her existing community to build a workout video membership like this. She is an awesome example of starting with what you’ve got. During the shutdown, there wasn’t much opportunity to film videos with a professional, but what mattered more to her members was the quality of the actual content and she delivered with a full library of workouts that she adds to often. 

 

Online Courses/Training

I love this offer as a higher ticket option for your business. Beyond a single workout, online courses or trainings are a chance for you to provide your clients with the knowledge you have to share. It can be the information you’d teach while working with clients 1:1, but has the potential to scale to more people than you could take on for privates. 

A course is a great way to hone in on your niche and expertise. What is the main piece of knowledge people come to you for, whether it’s for 1:1 training or simply a common topic of questions you get on instagram. Packaging up your expertise provides even more value to potential clients since they can’t find someone with your special set of skills just anywhere. And that higher value can be reflected in the price, meaning more scalable income for you. 

A branding and web design client of mine, Milly Grey Movement, recently launched a 6-week training that is an amazing example of this. She is uniquely and highly qualified in pre/post-natal movement and has a full roster of private clients in this specialty. When she didn’t have time to take on anymore, her income was limited to the number of hours in a day. However, she packaged all this knowledge into a 6-week course with weekly group calls and was able to help more women at once. 

 

Live Streaming Classes

This is a great option if you love that live connection with your students, but feel limited by smaller class sizes and location. With live stream classes, like those through Zoom, you’re able to still see your community working out together and correct form, with up to 100 clients in multiple locations. 

Through quarantine many people have probably discovered the appeal of at-home workouts, whether they’re too busy to travel to a gym or they simply prefer the comfort of their own home. This is a great chance to appeal to this new interest. 

Current client, Kate DeGennaro, has built up an amazing online community called Band Together. Band Together is a membership that combines on-demand workouts with weekly live classes. She’s seen such an awesome level of connection in her community with these live workouts that there’s also interest in hanging out in ways beyond the workout. 

 

 

Although we’ve all felt the negative effects of Covid in many ways, I think it has also opened our eyes to so many available opportunities that we miss when we’re not forced to change. There is so much potential for fitness professionals to build a thriving career and scale their income. These are just 3 ways.

If you’re interested in scaling your income through services like this, but don’t know where to start, shoot me an email. I can help you build an online platform to be the hub for any of these business ideas and more.

FILED IN:

SHARE ON: