There are 2 inconvenient truths about working with in-person fitness clients:
- You’re always working on and around other people’s free time.
- There aren’t enough hours in the day to work with everyone.
This means…
No matter how much you want to grow your business or connect with new clients, you’re always going to be limited by the clock on the wall.
If you’re reading this article between sessions or on a rare night off, you know exactly what I mean. You want to keep helping your clients but free up more time (and money) for you!
Well, it is possible to create that balance.
In this article, we’ll go over the top 11 ways to make money with online fitness that’ll be worth your time and energy.
How to Make Money in Health & Fitness in 2024
Here are 11 proven strategies for 2024 to transform your passion into profit. Dive in to find the perfect fit for your fitness business model and maximize your earnings:
- Start an online fitness studio
- Launch your own fitness app
- Live stream your fitness Classes
- Sell digital products
- Sell favorite fitness products via affiliate marketing
- Sell your own branded fitness products
- Find brand sponsorships
- Generate advertising revenue
- Offer online coaching, consultation, and personal training
- Speak about fitness
- Host an online fitness workshop
1. Start an Online Fitness Studio
Online fitness studios are the best way for you to earn more money as a trainer.
It’s basically an online video “hub” where you can provide:
- Follow-along training plans.
- Specialized courses.
- Nutritional advice.
And because this is all online, you can increase the number of people you coach and decrease the number of hours you spend on the gym floor.
Better still, you can…
- workout from wherever you want
- set your own prices
- earn a monthly recurring income
- work with an unlimited number of clients (across the world)
…without ever needing to be there at the point of sale.
Take Lottie Murphy, for example. She launched her own branded online fitness studio, to better monetize her following and make her pilates practice more accessible to her audience.
For one monthly or yearly subscription, you get unlimited access to:
- All past and future workout videos.
- Workout programs like challenges and series.
- An exclusive community.
- Her livestream classes.
- Her fitness apps (more on that later!).
Since launching her online fitness studio, Lottie is able to make a reliable living from her content, grow her tight-knight community, and take control of her business and income.
Why?
Because an online fitness studio has allowed her to:
- Reach an infinite number of people.
- Grow her audience without increasing her workload.
- Create a premium offering for her most committed clients.
Better still…
She took control over her business and income by launching her online fitness studio with Uscreen, where she has all of the tools, marketing integrations, and monetization options she needed.
Lottie Murphy also removed herself from the unreliable and ever-changing YouTube monetization scheme. Now, she can own her audience, set the price she feels is right, and keep all the money!
And, the gains are easy to see. In fact:
Our data shows that trainers who’ve launched their online fitness studios with Uscreen earn an average of $7,503 per month!
Just as Lottie Murphy harnessed the power of the digital realm to elevate her fitness offerings, Studio Bloom is another great success story, illuminating the path for niche-focused online fitness ventures.
Diving into the realm of pre-and post-natal fitness, Studio Bloom has crafted a specialized online fitness membership that caters exclusively to the needs of modern mothers. Their journey to success is not just about the numbers, though impressive — with over $1M in annual revenue and a dedicated community of more than 4500 paying members — it’s a testament to the transformative power of connecting with a specific audience through tailored online content and support.
Brooke Cates, founder of Studio Bloom, leveraged the unique advantages of online platforms to transcend traditional fitness boundaries. By offering accessible, engaging workouts and fostering a vibrant community through an array of branded apps, membership site, and community, they’ve made fitness an integral, seamless part of their members’ daily lives.
This strategic embrace of technology has not only expanded their reach globally but has also solidified their position as a trusted authority in the health & wellness space.
So, if you have a following on YouTube or Instagram, you’ll be well-positioned to launch your own successful online fitness studio. You can also take a look at our checklist to see if you are ready for Uscreen.
Or, if you want to get straight into learning more about monetizing fitness studios, you can check out our guide on how to sell fitness programs online.
How To Sell Fitness Programs
Online – The Ultimate Guide
Speaking of branded apps, let’s see talk about how launching an online fitness app can help you generate more income in the fitness industry…
2. Launch a Fitness App
Fitness apps allow you to create an online fitness studio on steroids.
Based on our research, we’ve found that your potential online clients want videos they can access through apps on their smartphones, tablets, and TVs, because it allows them to workout whenever and wherever they want! Whether your clients are at home, in the local gym, or some distant hotel, they can fit a workout in and pick up where they left off.
Business-wise, these apps can help you scale your business further and offer more value to your clients. There has been a massive uptake in app-based video services over the last few years.
In fact, since the pandemic, industry research shows that:
- 25% of Americans say they’re never going back to the gym.
- 42% of Americans now prefer working out in their own home.
For now, we’re in the sweet spot of launching apps, because the demand is high, cost to launch is relatively low, and apps are still considered to be a competitive advantage.
We’re calling this period the digital gold rush. So, if you want to get involved, now is the time to do so before fitness apps become a prerequisite to stay in the business.
You can learn more about how fitness apps can help you make money in the fitness industry by reading our guide on how to launch your own fitness app.
Looking to talk to someone about launching your apps? Schedule a call with our creator advocate team to get a preview of your fitness apps and talk launch plans!
Build, launch and manage your membership, all in one place.
3. Live Stream Fitness Classes
Once you’ve established your online fitness studio and launched a fitness app, you’re in great shape to stream some live fitness classes.
This is a great way to connect with your audience in real-time and improve the value of your online fitness studio.
To start, simply decide what kind of fitness class you want to stream.
We’ve seen successful online fitness businesses built around lots of different types of training, including:
- Cardio.
- Aerobics.
- Barre.
- HIIT.
- Pilates.
- Strength training.
Next, decide when you’re going to run the classes. Pick a time that’s suitable for most of your subscribers to attend.
For example if your members are mostly working adults, you can set your stream to start before or after working hours.
That way, you’re making it easier for them to fit the livestream into their daily routine.
You can also poll your followers on social media to get direct insight on who would be interested to join the stream and when it would best work for them!
Here are 3 tips to maximize the number of people:
- Be clear about the what, when, and how: make sure all of the information is correct so that people can turn up on time with the right equipment.
- Create a virtual countdown: you can enable pre-registration on Uscreen, displaying a countdown to your live stream.
- Build anticipation with sneak peeks, and trailers: create short snippets or behind-the-scenes clips to post on social media, send your email subscribers, or even message your WhatsApp Group.
It might take a little experimentation in the beginning, but soon you’ll be able to create a regular schedule, just like you would at the fitness studio or gym.
Going back to our Lottie Murphy example, they stream live classes every week, and followers can check out the monthly schedule:
With Uscreen, you can monetize your livestreams however you like.
You could either charge a one-off fee for each class or create a membership where subscribers pay a recurring fee for access to all past and future livestreams.
You could charge a one-off fee for each class, create a membership where subscribers pay a recurring fee for access to all past and future livestreams, or do both!
At Lottie Murphy, members have access to her live streams and non-members can buy access to live class on a pay as you go basis.If you’re looking to start monetizing your livestreams, you can check out our guide below to see exactly how you can do that:
If you’re looking to start monetizing your livestreams, you can check out our guide below to see exactly how you can do that:
How To Create and Launch a Live Streaming Website
4. Sell Downloadable Workout Plans
Do you have a tried-and-tested workout routine that delivers results?
Then you can package it and sell it to people from your online or physical audience who want a training plan, but not a personal trainer.
All you have to do is turn your progressive plan into a PDF that people can download and print off or read on their smartphones.
This type of digital product is excellent for self-motivated people who want to workout alone but still want the guidance and input of a fitness trainer.
These products are:
- Simple to make.
- East to sell (either as part of a subscription fitness platform or on a one-off basis)
- Require limited time investment.
In addition to workout plans, you could also offer nutrition and meal plans as part of your holistic fitness program.
Whatever downloadable plan you produce, you’ll need solid written content, high-quality images, and a stunning cover.
5. Sell Your Favorite Fitness Products
A simple (but effective) way to energize your income is to become an affiliate.
Affiliates are people who market a product they use and receive a commission for every sale made through their referral.
Think about all of the products that you and your clients use every day to support your training:
- Supplements.
- Resistance bands.
- Mats.
- Exercises balls.
- Training aids.
- Portable equipment (like TRX).
- Fitness trackers and watches.
Brands with items similar to these will offer their own affiliate programs to fitness trainers like you. You just need to do a little research to find them!
There are 2 ways to do this.Firstly, you can go to Google and use this search string to find if the company offers its own standalone affiliate program:
Firstly, you can go to Google and use this search to find if the company offers its own standalone affiliate program:
[product and/or brand name] + affiliate program
Just swap out the first portion for the brand or product you’re looking for, like this:
MyProtein + affiliate program
This will bring up any related web pages, such as this one I found for MyProtein:
When you find an affiliate program, just follow the sign-up options on their website.
If the products you like do not have an affiliate program, you can use this second method to earn a little commission for recommending them anyway.
Head to Amazon Associates and create an account. Once set up, you’ll see a “Site Strip” bar at the top of the page:
Find the product from Amazon’s product catalog and then select the “Text” option.
This will give you a pop-up box with an affiliate link:
You can now share that link with anyone and earn a commission if they buy from it.
The only caveat to this is that you must tell people it’s an affiliate link and that you’ll earn a commission if they buy, especially if you’re adding these to social media or blog posts.
You can learn more about affiliate marketing in this guide from Neil Patel or Amazon’s official affiliate website.
6. Sell Your Own Branded Fitness Products
Ready to step things up?
We’ve already touched on selling your favorite fitness products as an affiliate marketer. But you can move to the next level and sell your own branded fitness products. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Equipment: like mats, resistance bands, foam rollers, etc.
- Accessories: like water bottles, sports bags, towels, etc.
- Clothing: like shirts, shorts, socks, etc.
You’ll need to find a trustworthy, high-quality home fitness equipment supplier who can sell you those products for a reasonable price.
In some cases, you’ll be able to arrange drop-shipping!
For example, THEWKOUT has a library of 4000+ online fitness workouts, which you can access on various membership plans:
But they also sell products from their online store, like these self-branded Equalizer Bars:
Another example is Sona Fitness, which sell a range of branded apparel from their online store:
Here’s one more…
Bulldog Online – a yoga for fitness video membership platform – generates most of its income from its membership platform and apps. But they also sell merch, including tanks, t-shirts, and sweatshirts, to their viewers.
They can even link their online store to their video content directly by creating a shoppable video:
Selling your own branded fitness products may require some hard work initially. But once you’ve set up your supply chain, you can start earning some serious money.
7. Find Brand Sponsorships
If you have a large and engaged following, there are fitness brands out there that want to reach your audience. Brands know that if you promote their products to your audience, they will get more sales.
In fact, 60% of advertisers believe that in-stream advertisements – like sponsorships – are the most practical way to promote their products.
And that means these brands are willing to throw money, gifts, and perks at you to make sure you place their products in front of your audience.
Gymshark and Women’s Best are a couple of brands that use ambassadors or influencers to promote their products.For example, French twins Clara & Laurie promote Gymshark products on Instagram:
You’ll also need to make it clear if your content is part of a paid brand partnership using their label:
And here’s Georgie Clarke, a brand ambassador for Women’s Best:
You can also find brand sponsorships for your live stream fitness classes.
Sponsors will pay you to create your live stream content in exchange for a “shout-out” during your stream.
For example, you’d have a segment in your live stream where you:
- Mention the sponsorship.
- Introduce their product.
- Share a short personal testimonial.
Let’s look at another way to make money…
8. Generate Advertising Revenue
Generating advertising revenue is an excellent way to earn passive income from your video content.
Ad revenue is when you make money from ads placed before, during, or after your videos.
I’m sure you’ve come across these ads when watching videos on YouTube.
While you can earn additional income from ad revenue, it can also be unreliable because:
- You’ll have content restrictions because it needs to be advertiser-friendly.
- Your videos can get demonetized randomly even if they meet all the guidelines.
- Your ad revenue can be negatively affected by external events. (E.g. despite watch time on YouTube increasing during the pandemic, YouTubers saw a decline in ad revenue).
But, if you combine ad revenue with some of the monetization strategies above, you can earn extra money off existing and new fitness content.
Take Sarah Beth Yoga, for example.
She launched her YouTube channel back in 2010 and steadily grew a loyal following thanks to her approachable take on yoga.
Even though she earned some ad money on YouTube, her income would fluctuate and her earnings didn’t reflect the time and effort she invested in making the videos.
That’s why she decided to launch her own membership platform:
In doing so, Sarah Beth increased her revenue by 10x!
You can check out her full interview below, where she tells you more about her journey with launching a profitable online fitness studio.
If you’re interested in following Sarah Beth’s footsteps and launching your own online fitness studio, check out our guide below:
How to Launch Your Online Fitness Business in 6 Easy Steps
9. Offer Personal Training/ Coaching/ Consultations
If you’ve got the time and have offered personal training, coaching, or one-on-one consultations to your client base in real life, then you can take those individual fitness services online, too!
This is a great way to make more money and expand your reach all while offering a personalized service.
Sometimes, fitness enthusiasts want more than your online group classes. They want a fitness expert to explain things in more detail and correct their form. Whatever the case, these people want your undivided attention.
So, you could offer a range of customized options, like:
- Individual training plans for different levels of fitness.
- Custom meal plans.
- Individual live training sessions.
Best of all, you can charge a premium price for your one-on-one appointments because they’re catered to each client!
10. Speak about Fitness
If you’re already streaming live video, you’ll be used to speaking to a camera and engaging in live chat!
Speaking at online events is another way of making money, plus it helps to promote your business.
For example, United Airlines has some upcoming online seminars where NYRR fitness coaches will share tips and tactics for running in and recovering from the NYC Half Marathon:
You can also set up your own virtual fitness event and offer a range of ticket prices like:
- 1-day pass to all live presentations.
- 1-day pass + lifetime access to recordings.
- 1-day pass + lifetime access + swag bag.
So, you could create a program for [insert target audience of this virtual event] where you’ll gather different fitness professionals to speak about their specialty.
11. Host an Online Workshop
Workshops offer you a tremendous in-person way to push through your income barriers.
You can:
- Connect with potential clients.
- Help a large number of people.
- Share knowledge with other trainers.
All while earning extra cash on the side. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right?
Workshops (also called Seminars, Power Talks, or Mastermind Classes) work by taking a specific part of fitness and breaking it down to people in an easy to understand and applicable way, such as:
- Nutrition: you could run an “Eat for Fat Loss” workshop every week.
- Training: you could run a “Strength Training for Amateur Athletes” once a month.
- Problems: you could run a “How To Train in a Hotel Room” course.
The key is to keep this targeted, focused, and in-depth about one specific topic.
You make money by charging a one-off purchase or a recurring fee if people need to attend more than one workshop.
For example, Tony Horton from Power Nation Fitness runs regular Mastermind Video Chats with special guests:
These can be purchased for $40 each or included in your recurring membership:
If you want to learn more about running online workshops, check out this Beginner’s Guide to Running Amazing Online Workshops.
Frequently Asked Questions about Making Money in Fitness
The most effective ways to make money in the fitness industry online include starting an online fitness studio, launching a fitness app, livestreaming fitness classes, selling downloadable workout plans, and engaging in affiliate marketing for fitness products. Each method offers unique opportunities to expand your reach and increase your income while providing valuable services to your clients.
Achieving an annual income of $100,000 as a personal trainer is feasible, especially when you leverage the power of an online fitness membership. By launching your own online fitness studio, you tap into a scalable revenue model. Our data indicates that trainers who’ve launched their online fitness studios with Uscreen earn an average of $7,503 per month. This translates to approximately $90,036 annually, purely from online memberships alone. With additional income streams such as personalized online coaching, affiliate marketing, and selling digital products, reaching or even surpassing the $100,000 mark becomes a tangible goal. The key is to consistently provide value through high-quality content, engage with your community, and effectively market your online services to grow your subscriber base.
Launching a fitness app can significantly benefit your fitness business by providing a convenient platform for your clients to access your workouts anytime, anywhere. It can help you scale your business further, offer more value to your clients, and tap into the growing demand for app-based fitness solutions. Fitness apps also offer a competitive edge in today’s digital landscape.
Absolutely, you can make money with a fitness app. Fitness apps offer a scalable way to reach and serve more clients than traditional in-person sessions allow. By providing subscription-based access to workout programs, livestreaming classes, community, and personalized training plans, you can generate a steady stream of income. Additionally, offering in-app purchases and premium content can further increase your earnings.
Wrapping It Up…
There are 11 great ways to help you push through your income barriers and achieve higher earning levels. They are:
- Start an online fitness studio
Connect with people online and earn an average of $7,500 per month.
- Launch a fitness app
Become a trailblazing fitness trainer who connects with clients wherever they are.
- Live stream fitness classes
Bring your high-energy workouts to a live audience.
- Create digital fitness products
Turn your tried-and-tested fitness program into a downloadable PDF.
- Become an affiliate
Promote your favorite fitness products for a commission, with the brand themselves or via Amazon.
- Sell your own branded fitness products
From floor mats to kettlebells and resistance bands, there are loads of fitness products you could sell.
- Find brand sponsorships
Link up with fitness-related brands that want to get in front of your audience.
- Generate advertising revenue
Keep your passive income ticking over.
- Offer personal coaching/ training/ consultations
Charge premium prices for your time and expertise.
- Speak about fitness
Take to the virtual stage to talk about your passion.
- Host an online workshop
Educate people in-depth on a subject that will help them.
Build, launch and manage your membership, all in one place.
