Whether you’re a gym owner looking to build your membership (and income) from beyond your walls, or you’re a fitness coach looking to promote your personal brand, developing a plan to grow your online/remote programming business is within easy reach. You just need to follow a few necessary steps.
Just because Starbucks exists doesn’t mean people have stopped opening coffee shops. Don’t be intimidated by the other online fitness programmers out there. Instead, start by focusing on what you’re good at, what inspired you to get into business in the first place, and be the best at that.
Are you great at programming for stay-at-home moms? Busy professionals with no time? Athletes with zero equipment? Are you extraordinary at keeping your members engaged and accountable? Target those who will appreciate and be inspired by your strengths, before trying to accommodate everyone’s needs.
If you haven’t already, get VERY familiar with the channels you need to spread the word about your brand: social media, emails and newsletters, blogs, family & friends, or even former members of your gym. There are plenty of ways to get your name out there, so use your time and your budget accordingly. There are also lead-generation and automated scheduling tools within Wodify Core to help build your membership without you needing to be glued to your phone. You’ll save tons of time by planning ahead.
It’s not enough to post a daily workout and hope for the best. Your members are paying for a unique service they feel only you can provide. With no physical coach in their face urging them to keep making progress, they’re looking to you for guidance. Whether you sound like a drill instructor, a therapist, or just the friend who tells it like it is, you need to be the daily voice that keeps them motivated and accountable.
And as you scale up, don’t forget to keep that close-knit feeling that makes everyone feel like they’re a part of something special. Social media is great for promotion, but it’s also great for building a community. Encourage your virtual subscribers to ‘like’ and comment on others’ results. You’ll increase retention for your program without taking up any time.
Many online programmers are so focused on what they’re good at (workouts and coaching), they lose sight of the business side of things. There are plenty of specialized 3rd party software tools to help, but there are also all-in-one platforms like Wodify that perform all those time- and headache-saving functions seamlessly. Wodify keeps membership and financial reporting organized (we even have a Quickbooks Online integration) and you can use the Online Sales Portal to sign up new members directly from your own website.
With workout tracking software like Wodify Perform, and the accompanying free Wodify Athlete app, your subscribers can check-in, view workouts, and log their daily results. They can also monitor the Whiteboard and comment on others’ performance. It’s an effortless way to find out who’s completing the workouts and who’s not, while simultaneously building a stronger community.
If you’re finding that some customers are commitment-phobic, you can easily run a shorter-term fitness challenge with Wodify Rise challenge software. Best of all, you can get started for free, and the sky’s the limit to what you can create! Fitness, weight-loss, lifestyle, and nutrition challenges can all be designed as one-offs or supplements to your daily programming.
As fitness trends continue to change, now is a perfect time to expand or launch your own online fitness programming business. Just remember to start with what you’re great at, and promote yourself any way you can! Stay in contact to keep your subscribers motivated and involved, and let Wodify’s automated features and reporting tools do some of the heavy lifting while you concentrate on growing your brand.
