One out of three Americans has some sort of side hustle, while another 24% of the population plans to start one by this year. One of the best industries you can enter is Health & Fitness. In this age of side hustle, you can make cold, hard cash with your fiery passion for physical wellbeing.
Personal trainers already know all the hustle and bustle of having a clock-full fitness class, mentorships, and nutritional advice. They are sweeping up the gym, jumping from one client to another for 10 hours a day just to take home just a few bucks.
However, thanks to the internet and various online social networks, the revenue opportunity for a fitness trainer has now grown wider. These hardworking coaches can now earn six-figure salaries in the comfort of their own desks.
Fitness coaches nowadays can work at their own pace at whatever location they want without having a boss to breathe on their neck. They are called online fitness coaches.
Online fitness coaching is beneficial on both sides, with trainers reducing their working time and clients having more freedom to advance according to their own timetable. Both aren’t confined anymore in the sweaty-smelling gym as the whole world becomes their fitness playground.
There are 15 simple steps to becoming a sought-after online fitness coach. In just six months, you can have a career turnaround if you follow these steps:
1. Learn and prove your capability
In this highly competitive world, we have right now, those who have high-quality knowledge and skills to turn them into actions are kings, while those who only have basic knowledge are no less than poppers. If you want to stand out, equip yourself with the knowledge that will qualify you as a fitness coach. Learn and improve your capabilities.
A lot of online courses are available on the internet. Some are for free and are paid but at a highly affordable price. These courses will load up your mind with all the necessary information you need to succeed.
The National of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise offers short online courses that can be completed in just 30 days. They offer enough credentials to take your career to a new level.
2. Nail your niche
After earning the needed qualifications, find the area you want to focus on— find your niche. Ask yourself whether you want to focus on helping people who have problems with their weight, assist athletes in growing in their competitive sports, or help people in bodybuilding. Whatever it is that you want to be the foundation of your career, give it all you’ve got.
3. Get creative
After loading up all the information in your mind, the next thing you need to do is to paint it into the blank canvas. Get creative and make progressive routines and training plans for your future clients.
As an online coach, you don’t need to monitor your client’s actions. All you need to do is tailor a schedule for them and sit back.
4. Grab human guinea pigs onboard
Since you have gained knowledge and have created a tailor-made schedule, you now need someone to see if the routine you have created is effective. Reach out to your family, friends, relatives, or even willing influencers where you can try out everything you learn.
By having someone as your guinea pig, you will be able to experiment and refine your training style. Use this step to observe which areas people could fail or succeed in and understand the areas they are having difficulties. After the monitoring session, try different techniques to work on aspects they struggle with.
5. Be your brand
To stick out among the huge crowd, you need to brand yourself as the top dog in the industry. Begin by coming up with a name that separates you from the rest. Ensure that it is interesting, exciting, and unique. Play the words that come to mind, turning the mundane into a more engaging one.
Aside from the name, you also need to come up with a catchy logo. A logo is the foundation of your brand identity, so make sure to create something that brings a strong first impression. It doesn’t need to be grand. You can keep it simple. Take the logo of Nike, Adidas, and Apple, for example.
If you have no idea how to create one, you can count on free logo generators on the internet. If nothing passes your taste, then you can go look for someone who can do it for you. Hire a professional freelance graphic designer.
6. Create your portal
Get yourself a website, a landing page at the very least, for people to learn about you. A simple website costs so little to nothing these days, and with the drag-and-drop style of website builders, it couldn’t be easier.
A website greatly helps in building brand awareness as it showcases the brand to prospective customers. It supports the establishment of brand image by allowing the audience to know who you are and the kind of business you are offering. Moreover, it helps you look more credible and professional.
7. Money talks
What comes next is the amount you need to charge to your clients. For starters, research how much your competition charges and how they operate in this field of business. If you think you can offer something that your competitors cannot be confident enough to charge higher than them even though you are just starting in your venture.
Charge your sessions weekly, monthly, or even for a full-time base training package.
8. First paying client
Perhaps, this is probably the most exciting part! Now, after all the trials and errors with your guinea pigs, it’s time to put your work into practice. Give your everything to make it work for your first client by delivering the best value you can provide.
A customer’s review is way better than thousands of expensively paid advertisements. Turn them into walking and talking definitions of your work. The value of your service will gravitate people towards you.
9. Get them talking
Don’t be too embarrassed to ask your client to share your work. It could be either through recommendations or just a simple review on your website or social page.
To encourage them to recommend you, giving a small token might help a bit. For instance, for every referral they bring to you, they will receive a free week of training and whatever incentive that comes to your mind.
10. Scale
Once you’ve reached ten clients, it isn’t too wrong to ask yourself how you can take your career to the next level. Look into other options you have to expand. If you think that you can’t receive any clients anymore because your schedule is fully packed, maybe it’s time to hire other coaches to work under you.
Learn how to scale your clients effectively, and in return, you will be able to scale your cash flow.
11. Practice what you preach
You will only be an effective fitness coach if you will practice what you preach. Your actions will play a huge part in your success. Since you are teaching fitness, you need to live a healthy lifestyle that others would want to reach and replicate.
Keep in mind that you must stay in good shape as a health and fitness coach. There’s no other way around it. Craft yourself as a product of your own work.
