Build your fitness business online

If you're watching this course, you're probably a fitness professional looking to power your business online.

Maybe that means you own a brick and mortar gym and want local clients to be able to book sessions on your website.

Or maybe you have a yoga studio and you want to reach clients worldwide.

Or maybe you're brand new to the fitness industry and just starting to build your business.

Welcome.

Regardless, you probably want to know all of the ins and outs of setting up and running a successful fitness site.

Throughout this course, I'll help you decide what to offer your clients brand yourself in a way that's true to your core values, and nail down the finer details of bookings and payments.

Ready? Let's go.

Even if you've never heard the term hybrid fitness, you could probably guess what it means because it's exactly what it sounds like.

Hybrid fitness refers to businesses that offer services both in person and online.

Hybrid fitness has been around for a while, but COVID-19 pushed it to the forefront of the industry, with many people working out at home.

Your clients may want the community associated with in-person classes and the convenience of sweating it out in their living rooms.

At least I know I do.

If the idea of hybrid fitness seems a bit daunting, here are a few ideas to get you started.

If you own a physical gym or studio, host seminars and workshops online, bringing in special guests from around the world.

That's the beauty of digital.

If you're primarily teaching online, hold in-person events, like retreats, weekly meetups, things like that.

And finally, take advantage of your clients' new, work-from-home schedules.

The afternoon was once a lull for gym owners and trainers, but many people are now exercising at home in between calls and meetings throughout the day.

Keep this in mind when creating your schedule.

Doing a deliberate competitor analysis can show what else is being offered in the industry, and how you can take those ideas a step further to stay competitive or give yourself an edge over the competition.

Take a minute and think it through.

Who are your top digital competitors?

What do they do well, and what are they still missing?

Check out comments on Instagram and YouTube to see what's resonating with people around the world or what they're still asking for.

Who are your top brick and mortar competitors?

What do they do well, and what are they missing?

This is a great jumping-off point as you establish what you're up against and what you want to bring to the industry.

In establishing your online presence, it's important to find your core values and identity as a fitness professional.

Whether you're new to the game, or a seasoned pro, consider a few branding questions as you fine tune your messaging.

How do you want your customers to perceive your business online?

How do you want them to feel when they visit your site?

What are three words that describe your business?

Next, create profiles for three ideal clients.

Write down how often they train, how hard they push, the kind of encouragement they respond to things like that.

Write down their ages, professions, even give them fake names.

Think about their hypothetical fitness goals and challenges.

What are their schedules like?

Is this a busy mom training for her first race or a yogi looking to improve his cardio?

Then think about budget.

Does this client have disposable income?

Is this boutique-level spending?

Or are they looking for affordable fitness?

And finally, how will you reach each client, which social media platforms do they use the most?

Throughout this course, I'm going to create a website for a hypothetical gym, ONIT, that will deliver both in-person and virtual workout options.

It will be a strength focus gym that targets runners, cross-training for those looking to move farther and faster.

Now, notice that I established a very specific niche - cross-training for runners.

It's not a strength training gym and it's not a running group.

It's a strength training business for runners.

I found a specific corner of the market that likely isn't very crowded, and I ran with it.

But don't worry, it's okay if your agenda is more broad, but you should still have a very clear idea of who your audience is, so that you can tailor your content to that demographic.

So for ONIT, I'm going to imagine those three ideal customers.

I'm going to call them Sophia, AJ and Rachel.

Sophia is a 45-year-old lawyer living in Dallas, training to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

AJ is a 25-year-old graphic designer in Philadelphia, and he regularly runs half marathons, but struggles with injuries.

And Rachel is a 32-year-old new mom trying to ease back into running and integrate it into her hectic schedule.

All three will need strength training in order to accomplish their goals, but they'll have different needs and struggles along their fitness journey.

Last thing - you'll need to come up with a name for your business, if you don't already have one.

If you need help, check out Wix's Business Name Generator, which asks a few questions about your brand, then provides a ton of potential options.

Just type in a few keywords about your niche...

and click Generate Name.

Grab three or four options you like and run them by friends, family, potential customers, anyone you think may provide valuable insight before locking one in.

This will provide a foundation for everything that's about to come next as you get your hybrid fitness business up and running.

That's all for this lesson, but join me next time as I establish the voice and focus of my site.

This is going to be fun. I hope to see you there.