Selling workout plans in-person can work initially. But after some time, the limitations can become obvious. For instance, you’re restricted to working with clients in your area who can match your availability.
It makes sense that you might start wondering how to sell workout plans online. Well, with the right tools, the process isn’t as technical as it seems. Then, you’re free to sell programs to a global audience and monetize your online content to boost profits.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of digital training. Then, we’ll show you how to sell workout plans online. Let’s get started!
The Benefits of Selling Workout Plans Online
Selling workout plans in-person is a viable income source. However, you’re extremely limited by various factors.
For starters, you can only serve clients in your area. More specifically, those who match your availability. This makes it difficult to attract clients who might live far away or have busy schedules.
When you take your plans online, you get access to a global audience, which allows you to quickly scale up your client base. Additionally, customers don’t need to be free at specific times to meet you at the local gym.
Instead, they can engage with your plans when it’s convenient for them to do so. This removes another barrier associated with in-person training, making it easier to convince people to signup for your plans.
Digital fitness is also more affordable. In-person training requires a dedicated slice of your time, and you need a physical venue, which can make rates too expensive. But with online plans, you could afford to lower your fees.
Meanwhile, you’ll gain the ability to monetize online content in various ways to increase your profit margins. This might involve setting up passive income streams which allow you to earn revenue with very little time and effort.
Finally, you can meet the growing demand for digital fitness. The market is currently projected to reach roughly $59 billion this year. Plus, the average revenue per user is expected to hit $50.76.
How to Sell Workout Plans Online (In 5 Steps)
Now that you know why it’s a good idea to take your training into the digital space, here’s how to sell workout plans online.
1. Set Up Your WordPress Website
The best way to sell any sort of content online is to set up your own website.
This enables you to retain complete ownership and control of your content. Plus, you can customize the platform to suit your exact needs.
We’d recommend using WordPress since it’s free and open-source. You can also utilize WordPress themes to define the right look for your site. Meanwhile, plugins let you add all the functionality you require.
If you lack technical skills, the easiest way to install the software is to choose a quality web hosting provider who will set up your site for you:
A web host stores all your key website files. But managed hosting services are great because they often come with additional features.
For example, some hosting providers offer free domain registration and free SSL certificates. Plus, most routine maintenance tasks (like updates, backups, etc) will be handled for you.
At this point, you’ll need to select a WordPress theme to give your site a distinct look and feel. Naturally, you can customize the design to reflect your preferred colors, fonts, images, and logo.
2. Install and Activate Paid Member Subscriptions
While themes allow you to change the look of your website, WordPress plugins let you add extra functionality.
If you’re wondering how to sell workout plans online, you’ll need a membership plugin like Paid Member Subscriptions:
Paid Member Subscriptions Pro
Accept (recurring) payments, create subscription plans and restrict content on your website. Easily setup a WordPress membership site using Paid Member Subscriptions.
This way, you can set up a fitness membership site where you can charge one-time payments for your fitness guides. But you can also enable subscription payments to stabilize your income.
Once you set up your memberships, you can utilize content protection rules. This means that only those with a valid membership will get access to your resources.
Better yet, with Paid Member Subscriptions, you can restrict access to WordPress pages, blog posts, video courses, and WooCommerce products. If you’re using the free version, you can install it directly in the WordPress dashboard by going to Plugins → Add New.
But if you upgrade to the premium version, you’ll get access to a range of add-ons. This makes it possible to offer group memberships and integrate your website with popular forum plugins. The latter is ideal if you want to set up a fitness coaching business.
3. Configure Multiple Membership Tiers
Once you’ve installed Paid Member Subscriptions, you’re ready to set up your membership plans. The best membership coaching websites offer multiple tiers, so you can cater to a wider range of needs and budgets.
Note that you’ll also need to enable a payment method first (which you can do by going to Paid Member Subscriptions → Settings → Payments):
With that taken care of, you can set up your membership levels. This is what you’ll use to restrict access to your workout plans. So navigate to Paid Member Subscriptions → Subscription Plans → Add New:
Here, enter all the information about your first membership tier. You’ll need to provide a descriptive name and in the Description box, you can list the benefits/reasons to sign up:
Next, set the subscription duration and price. If you want to offer a free membership tier, simply enter “0” in the box. You can also configure automatic renewals or enable a free trial to demonstrate the value of your memberships.
When you’re done, click on Save Subscription and configure additional levels in the same way. If your plans relate directly to one another, you could even use the upgrade and downgrade buttons.
4. Create Your Online Workout Plans
With your memberships set up correctly, it’s time to actually create the content for your online workout plans.
There are a few ways to do this. For example, you could install other plugins like Easy Digital Downloads to offer your plans as handy digital files. But the simplest solution is to add your content directly to WordPress pages.
So head to Pages → Add New Page and enter a page title at the top. Then, click on the + icon in the editor to build your page using blocks.
Let’s say your first membership tier consists of ten fitness guides. In this case, static content blocks like bulleted lists, paragraph text, and images might suffice:
However, you may also like to include dynamic content like videos if you want to explain the moves or introduce the program. In this instance, you could embed a video from YouTube, Vimeo, or TikTok.
To do this, you’d select the Video block and then click on the Insert from URL option:
Remember to save the page when you’re done.
Note that you can also utilize other content types. We already mentioned that you can sell digital files using additional plugins. Alternatively, you might want to provide certified programs or offer nutritional advice.
5. Restrict Access to Your Resources
If you’re wondering how to sell workout plans online, we’re getting to the crucial point.
You’ll make money from your fitness programs by restricting access to them. This means people need to register for one of your memberships to view the content.
The good news is that you can do this directly within the Block editor where you build/edit your page. If you scroll to the bottom, you should see a dedicated Content Restriction section:
Here, you can determine which members can view your page.
You might have resources that are available to all logged-in users or all subscription plans. But you can also use the checkboxes to make your fitness guide accessible to users with specific memberships.
Plus, you can control what happens when unauthorized users visit the page. For instance, you could write a custom message or redirect them to a different URL like your registration page.
Conclusion
Selling fitness programs in-person drastically limits your pool of customers to those who live nearby. But it isn’t always convenient or affordable for people either. Luckily, you can remove these barriers by setting up digital training for your clients.
To recap, here’s how to sell workout plans online:
- Set up a WordPress website.
- Install and activate Paid Member Subscriptions.
- Configure multiple membership tiers.
- Create your online workout plans.
- Restrict access to your resources.
Do you have any questions about how to sell workout plans online? Let us know in the comments below!
