How To Sell Fitness Programmes Online: The Ultimate Guide

The development of the Internet has left many in the industry wondering how to sell fitness programmes online. 

As dozens of people now enjoy engaging in workouts without leaving their homes, many have capitalized on selling online fitness programmes to those hoping to improve their health.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• Why Should You Sell Fitness Programmes Online?
• 7 Steps For Selling Your Fitness Programmes Online
• How To Find Customers To Sell Online Fitness Programmes To
• How Much Money Can I Make Selling Fitness Programmes Online?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Before You Go

If you’re looking to appeal to a wider range of clients to sell your workout plans to, why not expand your expertise with our Level 5 Personal Trainer Courses?

From Lower Back Pain Management to Diabetes Management Courses, develop your knowledge in these areas to help sell your programmes to potential clients and separate you from the crowd!

Why Should You Sell Fitness Programmes Online?

As a fitness professional, it’s likely you want to help as many people as you can reach their goals and become healthier. 

However, there just aren’t enough hours in the day for you to spend in the gym, while also expanding your personal training business through effective marketing and providing quality service.

So, rather than jumping straight into ‘how to sell fitness programmes online’, we should begin with ‘why you should sell workout plans online’.

#1 - Wider Range of Clients

The internet has changed the behaviour of consumers in every industry, especially health and fitness. Most businesses have been forced to move with the times and put just as much time into their online presence as well as their physical presence.

No longer can you rely on simply expecting potential clients to turn up at your gym to train. If people can’t find you or your fitness plans online, you’re doing yourself a disservice by disregarding a whole group of people. 

You need to use every tool at your disposal to get personal training clients, and this should always involve some form of online marketing.

Many people are looking specifically for an online fitness coach, so it’s important to make yourself available and sell fitness programmes online. 

#2 - Expand Beyond Your Facility

It’s unrealistic to think you’ll receive a wide range of recurring clients that will train with you in the gym for multiple sessions a week. 

As it’s largely down to clients to decide how often to see a personal trainer, the number of people who keep coming back to train in your facility will be relatively small.

Clients also have other commitments outside of health and fitness, just as a personal trainer does, so they may not be able to free some time to venture out to the gym. 

This is where selling fitness programmes online is a great way to appeal to more clients, and to continue to expand your business.

Having online options gives your clients an element of control as they can experience your programmes but work them around their own schedules. 

This also allows you to include those who may really enjoy your online fitness programmes but simply live too far away from your facility.

Another thing is that, while time may not always be on your side, space certainly is! Being able to sell workout plans online means you aren’t limited in how many clients you can train.  

Compared to training clients in a facility where space may be tight, there isn’t really a limit on the number of people you can train.

#3 - Utilise Your Time Effectively

If you’re wondering how to sell fitness programmes online then you’re already looking for the best way to effectively use your time! 

While most personal trainers would like to spend all their time training clients in the gym, this isn’t always possible if you’re looking to improve your service. By offering your services online, you can still earn money while working on making your business as best as it can be.

It also means you can make money at any time such as while you're on holiday, training other clients, and even sleeping. This is an ideal way to continue earning some extra income even while you need to focus on something else.

Planning personal training sessions, creating successful workout programmes that appeal to clients, selling them online, and offering training from a distance, are all tasks that can take a lot of time.

However, they’re all necessary for creating a successful business in the long run. Dedicating time into creating an effective online presence allows you to put aside time to work on these aspects of the business. 

Selling workout plans online gives you the freedom to continue creating more while not missing out on income, as you don’t have to spend every waking hour training clients in the gym.

7 Steps For Selling Your Fitness Programmes Online

While it may seem like a lot of work at first to create a few workout videos and set them up to sell online, it will certainly be worth it in the long run! With our tips, we’ll help make this aspect of your business run as smoothly as possible.

#1 - Start To Find Your Audience

It’s important to find your audience and understand who you want to be creating content for. There’s no point developing an online following for experienced weightlifters only to then begin producing content about yoga for beginners.

You need to find the right audience if you want to have recurring clients to sell fitness programmes to online. As we’ll discuss in further detail later in this article, this is where social media can greatly benefit your business.

Using these platforms, you can locate particular groups or followers by searching for pages on Facebook or using hashtags on Instagram. 

This will help you target specific people, and allow the clientele you want to attract to find you easily and without too much effort.

As demonstrated below, if you have a Facebook page, you can also use Facebook analytics for free to determine what demographic your most active users are and see the topics they have in common.

This is why it’s vital to plan the content you want to create for your audience so you can target the right people who can then recommend your service to other like minded people.

#2 - Build Your Website

This tip is similar to the one above. Whether you use WordPress or another website (like SquareSpace or Wix) to sell your online fitness programmes from, you need it to look professional. 

A homepage essentially works as your online store front, and will be the first thing people see. The importance of your online presence shouldn’t be underestimated as this is where people will see your prices and decide whether your training style is right for them.

Your website branding is crucial in helping people choose a personal trainer. Your website should be visually appealing to potential clients, so you’ll want a colour theme and logo to make your homepage look sleek and professional. 

For example, take a look at our homepage here at OriGym:

See how the website follows the same theme and appears easy to navigate? A homepage essentially works as the online storefront of your business.

Picture it this way. Would you be willing to pay money to train in a gym that looked like this?

Probably not! So if your business page isn't up to a high standard, it's unlikely people will buy your online workout programmes.

Clients are often more willing to trust your service if it appears professional. If you can give them an idea of what you’ll be providing them with through your branding, people will be less reluctant to part with their money.

If you have a personal training blog like OriGym, you can do what we do and include your workout programmes on there to make it easier for visitors to download them straight off your platform.

You can have them included through out posts on relevant topics so users can easily locate them or find them without it them feeling like they're being bombarded with advertisements.

#3 - Creating Your Programme Packages

When selling online fitness programmes, there are two ways this can be done. This is where you need to decide how you want to sell your programmes and how much time you're looking to invest in them. This is where you can either offer support to your clients or leave them to complete the programme alone. 

Selling programmes without support is great for those who may be limited on time but are still looking to generate some income. You don't need to be a qualified personal trainer to do this and don't need to be investing time into clients who download your programmes.

If you sell your fitness programmes at €20 each, clients can simply download them and complete it themselves without your assistance. This means all you have to do is create the programme and your clinets do the rest!

Alternatively, you can offer support with your online fitness programmes which is essentially someone selling online personal training. You can offer customised plans and nutrition plans, as well check-ins through email and video calls.

However, to do this you must be qualified as a Level 4 Personal Trainer. You should also ensure you have enough time to support clients in the gym as well as those who download your programmes.

The last thing you want is to offer online support only to then realise you're too busy to help clients with complete your programmes. This is why it's important to decide what kind of programmes you want to create and how much involvement you want with clients.

If you'd prefer to invest more time with clients in the gym than online, having people pay to download programmes and complete them alone is probably best for you. 

#4 - Creating Extra Revenue Streams

Alongside selling your fitness programmes online, it's likely you'll also want to create some extra revenue streams to give clients more for their money when they look into your services. 

It's unlikely clients will pay to download just one fitness programme if they can get it for free somewhere else. This is why it's important to offer them access to multiple areas of your service so they feel they're getting value for money.

Depending on how you want your business to run, you can either use TVOD or SVOD to do this. These can be used to sell your 'add on' content, alongside fitness programmes.

Let’s break these down!

Transactional Video-On-Demand (TVOD)

With this model, users make a one-off payment which gives them permanent access to certain areas of your content. This is great if you want to sell a group of workout videos as a series such as similar training plans, personal trainer meal plans, or consecutive workouts.

This content can be sold as a package and once a client has purchased it, they can access it for a lifetime. This is a good idea if you’re just starting out or have a limited amount of content already produced as you can continue to add as and when you produce it.

If people pay for your content on a TVOD basis, they’ll get more of an understanding of what you produce.  

However, something to keep in mind is that you’ll have to find new customers each time you want someone to make a purchase.

Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD)

This model is where users have to pay a monthly or yearly fee to access to your content. Their access is limited because if they stop paying, they lose it.

This is a good way to create a steady flow of returning clients. The trainer can continually add more videos on a range of different exercises and tips to stay fit and healthy, thereby keeping clients engaged to ensure they continue to pay their subscription.

The SVOD model is ideal for trainers who are looking for a steady income from their online content rather than a one-off payment. 

For monthly subscriptions, you could charge as little as €10, so while it may take longer to make money, you don’t need to constantly be on the lookout for new clients to sell larger packages to.

Alternatively, for those who already have a WordPress site, you can sell online fitness programs using a WordPress Membership plugin. This allows you to restrict content to those who have paid for it.

Regarding WordPress, the best membership plugin to use is MemberPress. This allows you to control your content, restrict access, sell digital downloads, and accept payments securely. You will be able to charge users for access to your content and track membership subscriptions.

If you already have an audience, platforms such as Patreon and SubscribeStar may be an option too as you can lock content behind a paywall, giving only subscribers exclusive access to your work.

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#5 - Set Your Prices

Some trainers who choose to sell fitness programmes online find it difficult to determine what prices they should charge for their service. While they may know how much to charge in a gym, it can be difficult to determine online personal training clients.

This is something you’ll want to get right, as putting your prices too high may result in potential clients looking elsewhere for a similar service. Putting them too low could result in your online programs losing value, and you devaluing your own hard work.

Mad Muscles provides personalised fitness plans for people of all abilities. You can either choose a plan specifically tailored to your goals or use more general ones such as the ones below:

As you can see, their four week plan is priced at £19.99, or €23.86, which is a good place to start. This isn't bad for a month and gives clients the chance to progress onto longer programmes in the future and pay more.

Similarly, if you’re just starting out online and you only have a few clients to train per week, it’s best to set your online workout subscriptions at the lower end of the price spectrum. 

Take a look at the prices Boxx have for their at-home boxing workout subscriptions:

Although it may not look it, this is a smart way to set your prices. If we convert this, charging €9.99 a month is likely to work out more in the long run than a one-off payment of €49.99. 

More clients would be willing to pay €9.99 a month and continue their subscription rather than pay €49.99 in one go when they’re unsure what they’re getting themselves in for. 

For example, if three people subscribe for €9.99 a month and continue for two months, you’ll have made around €60. Having more clients continually paying less than having to look for new customers to make one-off payments is much better in the long run.

Once you receive positive customer feedback and begin gaining more online customers, you can start to increase your prices. You may even want to start by giving a free trial to customers, giving them the opportunity to try your services before committing to them properly.

For live content, you might want to increase or decrease prices compared with pre-recorded workout plans. This is because pre-recorded content takes longer to record and edit compared to live videos that don’t take as much time to prepare for.

#6 - Plan Your Content

Once you’ve decided on the best model for your business, you’ll want to ensure the content you create is engaging for potential clients. It’s important here to know what direction you want your business to head in and what will appeal most to customers.

It’s important here to plan your content and know exactly how to sell fitness programmes online. You’ll want to have a clear understanding of what you’re selling as clients will expect high-quality videos if they’re spending money to watch them.

When planning content, some questions to ask yourself are:

• What do I want to teach?
• How am I going to teach this?
• What vital information do clients need to know?
• What is expected of me?
• What will I need to know to effectively teach this session?

You’ll also want to decide on what types of fitness will be covered in your videos:

• Do these exercises work the same areas of the body?
• Are your fitness programmes of varying intensity?
• Do they follow the same theme?
• Will they all cover the same topics or focus on different areas of fitness?

A final thing to decide is how you want your online workout plans to be filmed:

• Will each video be added as a continuous series or standalone videos?
• Will they be filmed solo or with a group?
• Are they going to be updated as live videos or prerecorded?

These are all questions you need to ask yourself when planning content. If clients are paying for online fitness programmes, they expect a level of quality. You need to cover these areas and know exactly what it is you’re creating.

#7 - Connect To Your Audience

Aside from simply finding your audience, it’s crucial you find a way to connect with them too. This is something we’ll discuss later, but social media is an important part of this tip. 

You’ll want to connect with people who are looking to use your service and the best way to do this is by creating a sense of community. By connecting to your audience through social media, this makes it more personal for either those using your service or those hoping to.

Bringing people together through their shared fitness goals and preferred training styles is a great way to create a sense of belonging.

This support is all beneficial for you as a trainer because the more people engage with your online content, especially social media, the more your business and client base will grow.

Another way to do this is by providing a solution to a problem your audience may have experienced. 

For example, maybe some of your followers have discussed how they’d like to try yoga classes, but feel intimidated by the advanced or expert classes they’ve seen in other places online or in gyms.

You could then provide them with an introduction to yoga. This shows how you’ve taken notice of what they’re seeking, and tailored your content to meet their needs, as well as how much you understand what they’re looking for.

#8 - Market Your Business

Once you’re ready to sell your online fitness programmes after establishing your website, you’ll want to find ways to promote it. This is a crucial step regarding selling online fitness programmes as you need to let people know they exist.

You want your website to get rankings and generate traffic from people searching on search engines such as Google for what you're selling. When starting a fitness business, you'll also want to get it listed on Google My Business.

This is where local businesses show up on the map when a user is searching for a particular service in their area. For example, this is what it looks like if I type 'Personal Trainer Liverpool' into Google search:

These businesses show up above the organic results but under the paid advertisements at the top, making it a great way for users to find you easily rather than having to search through dozens of results.

When you set this up, you will be given a blank page that needs to be filled with the relevant information of your business. Here is our Google My Business page for OriGym's head office:

One of the most effective marketing strategies for personal trainers is social media. The most popular platforms are:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Youtube

Instagram is a great tool if you’re wondering how to sell fitness programmes online. As it’s based entirely on sharing pictures and videos, you can provide followers with images and video reels to give them a taste of what’s on offer without necessarily giving your content away for free. 

As Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms for people of all ages, this can be a good way to appeal to all kinds of potential customers. 

If you were to limit your online business to one platform, you run the risk of alienating people, especially ones who may not be as comfortable using social media. Facebook allows you to remain inclusive and use a range of text, pictures, and videos to appeal to users.

Although YouTube is primarily aimed at longer form content, it still has a place when marketing your business. By engaging with personal trainer video marketing, you can create trailers and snippets of longer videos clients pay for to let them get an idea of your brand. 

It’s also a great way for you to build a loyal audience who can take it further and pay for add-on content on platforms like Patreon.

Giving online users a glimpse into what service you’re offering them is crucial for gaining interest. You could offer discounts or free trials for potential customers and recurring ones, or “wall off” content using some of the options we discussed earlier in this article.

You can also have referral programmes so family and friends can refer people they know to use your fitness programmes. Those who do can then be rewarded, giving them an incentive to help you gain new clients.

How To Find Customers To Sell Online Fitness Programmes To

Although we’ve answered the question of ‘how to sell fitness programmes online’ above, actually finding clients to sell these programmes to is the most important thing. 

Your classes and workouts could be exceptional but if no one knows they exist, clients won’t be able to use them. This isn’t always the easiest thing to do, so marketing is important here for ensuring potential clients see your fitness programmes online. 

Some simple ways you can get your business out there are:

Instagram

As mentioned above, Instagram is one of the best social media tools for marketing your services online. With the explore feature and prevalence of hashtags, it’s never been easier for smaller content creators to market themselves to a much wider audience. 

You can use hashtags such as the ones below to tag your posts so they show up on people's feeds who follow those particular hashtags:

The explore page also helps users enable various categories like food and destinations, specifically targeting content users may be interested in. If someone interacts with fitness accounts and you’ve built a large following, your page could appear on their explore page.

Facebook

Groups on this platform are a great way to build your reputation as a knowledgeable member of the fitness community. There are both public and private groups on Facebook where you may need to be accepted by an administrator to join. 

As you can see from the example below, these groups often have thousands of members! This means there are plenty of people out there who may be willing to try out your online fitness programmes:

You can also self-promote in these groups and offer tips depending on what topic the group is aimed at. However, it’s best to only do this occasionally as some people simply join looking for tips or like minded people. Some group members may become irritated if you’re promoting your services too much.

With this, you should always check the rules of the group before deciding to promote your online fitness programmes.

Email Marketing

Setting up a newsletter as part of your website is a great way to attract those customers who’ve perhaps visited but not yet signed up. 

To increase engagement, you could attach exclusive discounts or free content for those who read the newsletters, or provide additional value (like recipes or workout suggestions) to entice readers to try your services.

Voucher Code Sites

Another way you can advertise your personal training business for free is through large voucher sites such as vouchercloud and Groupon. As people love a discount, these sites have millions of subscribers, including local clients for you.

To advertise discounts on Groupon, all you have to do is fill in a Groupon merchant form with your business details and wait for them to approve it.

Once approved, you can start uploading discounts which will get sent out to thousands of local Groupon subscribers.

Family & Friends

A great way to get started with a small following could be by mentioning a discount for family and friends. This could also be done by providing additional content to those you know personally, just as a way to build up a following. 

You can also encourage them to spread the word about your service on their own platforms, offering rewards for those who do this in the form of free sessions.

If your business is new and you’re looking to find clients, you may have to accept that you'll be providing some of your service for free. However, this should be done in a way that doesn’t devalue your services too much.

This could be something like a postural or biomechanical assessment. It should be something that doesn’t cost you anything but still adds value to your client, and ultimately provides them with a reason to use your paid services.

This means you can save content you’ve worked hard on for paying consumers while still rewarding others for helping spread the word about your business.

How Much Money Can I Make Selling Fitness Programmes Online?

There isn’t a definitive answer to how much you can make selling fitness programmes online. As it largely depends on how much of a following you have, it’s unlikely you’ll make a steady income solely from selling fitness programmes online. 

However, this isn’t to say you can’t make a decent amount. Even if you were to price your videos on a SVOD model at just €10 a month, and three or four people subscribed around the same time, that’s €40. 

If just the same four people continued their subscription for a year, that’s €480 alongside your regular in-person training.

While this may not seem a lot, keep in mind this is still at the lower end of the price range for when you’re starting out. If your popularity grows, you can increase your subscription prices.

This is why you need to be honest when it comes to pricing. If you’re just starting out and know a quick video didn’t take up too much of your time, price it for what it’s worth. 

Alternatively, if a video has taken a substantial amount of time to film and edit, reflect that in the pricing too! 

The trick is not to undersell or oversell your content. Be realistic in what you charge for your service, especially if you’re trying to build a following, or you’re aiming to consistently retain clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Sell Workout Plans Without Being Certified?

There are no law stopping anyone from selling fitness programmes online. However, if you have no credentials, people will be less likely to pay for your services. 

Qualifications give you credibility and this is what people want if they’re going to be handing their money over to you. 

If you're looking to sell online fitness programmes, the best thing you can do is get qualified. The first step is to complete a Level 3 Fitness Instructor Course. Once you've achieved this, you can advance onto a Level 4 Personal Trainer Course.

Gaining this qualification means you can then expand your knowledge by progressing onto more specialised Level 5 Personal Trainer Courses.

When deciding on a course, you should ensure your course is regulated by an Ofqual approved awarding body, such as Active IQ and Focus Awards. This regulation means the course has met industry standards as a 'Level 3' course.

You should also ensure your chosen course is accredited by CIMSPA, the UK's professional body for health and fitness. This stamp of approval means you are enrolling on a course that meets fitness industry standards.

For example, all of OriGym's personal trainer courses are recognised by CIMSPA and regulated by Ofqual. This means students can be assured they are receiving high-quality education that will be recognised when they search for a job.

The bottom line is, while anyone can create online fitness programmes, this doesn’t mean anyone should. The last thing you want is to be constantly corrected by followers if your technique is consistently wrong. 

The bottom line is you need to know what you’re talking about, and gaining effective training is the ideal way to do this.

What Equipment Will I Need To Sell Workout Plans Online?

When it comes to selling fitness programmes online, you don't need any exercise equipment to do this! You simply have to write the programme for your clients to follow. However, you will need PT software to create your programmes.

Software like Trainerize is great for creating your own programmes in a simple way. As shown below, you can choose the number of phases you'd like in your programme, as well as the duration for each phrase.

This allows you to periodize training by building stages that clients can gradually progress through as they build up to a healthier lifestyle.

However, if you want to deliver live high-quality workout then you need to invest in some appropriate equipment. If you're creating content that will be streamed live, the last thing you want is to appear unprofessional by using less than stellar equipment.

Some common gym equipment you may want to invest in are:

• Weights
• Kettlebells
• Resistance Bands
• Yoga Mats
• Resistance Bench

However, for more focused classes, you’ll need more specialised equipment. For example, if you’re running boxing classes, you’ll need some gloves and pads, as well as a skipping rope.

Something to keep in mind is that as users are at home, some may not be able to purchase the necessary gym equipment used in your videos. 

This is why you should offer some bodyweight alternatives they can use as substitutes, such as using laundry detergent as kettlebells or a backpack as a weighted vest.

As you're developing a business through your content, you may also want to create some of your own branded gear with your name or logo on. This is a way to remind people you take your business seriously and gives you a bit more credibility.

If you need help with fitness logo tools or coming up with a personal training business name, we can help you with that!

Another important thing to keep in mind is you’ll need a strong internet connection if you’re planning on live streaming workout videos. If your connection is weak, the signal will constantly drop or lag and this will become incredibly frustrating for people who are tuning in to watch you.

If it continues, users will be reluctant to continue with them if you become known as being unreliable. In turn, it’s highly unlikely they will then pay to access exclusive content as they won’t trust you to deliver the sessions effectively.

Before You Go

Now you know how to sell fitness programmes online, you can expand your influence both virtually and offline. By continuing to improve your business and focusing on creating more workout plans for potential clients, you’ll utilise your time more effectively.

When looking to gain new clients, it’s important to separate yourself from the crowd and our Level 5 Personal Trainer Courses are just the way to do that! 

While selling fitness programmes online is great, you may also want to look into courses such as Nutrition for Sport and Exercise or Obesity Control and Weight Management to give you an advantage over the competition.