15 Ways I’ve Made Money In The Fitness Industry (+ You Can Too)

Wondering how to make money in the health and fitness industry? I’ve tried lots of creative ways to generate an income (along with the standard ones). Here’s what’s worked for me and could work for you too…

In this article, I outline 15+ ways I’ve made money in the fitness industry (plus there’s a guide to 50 proven ideas in case you want more inspiration).

Whether you’re a fitness professional, gym owner, online creator, or just looking for ideas, you’ll find something to suit you here.

How to Make Money in the Health & Fitness Industry

If you’re passionate about health and fitness, then you might be wondering how to monetize your interest. What are the best ways to earn an income while doing something you love?

Or maybe you’re entrepreneurial and want to tap into the business potential of the fitness sector. It’s growing at over 7% per year, with segments like online training and workout apps exploding even faster. So, what are the options?

Well, here are 15 health and fitness income streams that have worked for me over the last 20 years…

I’ve been a sports instructor, personal trainer, nutritionist, and spent 10 years marketing B2B gym equipment across Europe and Asia (SO much fun!). I’ve sold workout programs, fitness printables, ebooks, courses, and templates online. I’ve earned money as a freelance fitness writer, Pilates social media manager, yoga retreat website designer, consultant, product affiliate, and created sales pages for supplement companies.

Not bad for someone whose sports science degree was supposedly useless 😉 Let’s look at some of my favs and how much you could realistically earn from them…

Sports Instructor

My first role in the fitness industry was coaching multi-activity classes to kids. I worked in after-school clubs, community centers, and summer camps where we’d do sports drills and games with the children.

This role was a great entry-level option and fit around my college and uni studies. It was all about teaching skills, encouraging participation, and fostering a love for movement. I got to develop my coaching skills and confidence while doing something fun.

How much can you earn? Community sports coaches often earn $20–$40 per hour; private coaching can pay $50–$100 per session.

Personal Trainer

Next I became a certified personal trainer and worked in a gym. My job was to guide clients toward their goals, create tailored programs, and coach them one-to-one.

I loved the fitness and coaching side of this job, but the fixed hours and 6am starts weren’t much fun (especially in the freezing British winter). I earned minimum wage at the gym but got paid more for private personal training sessions.

How much can you earn? Many personal trainers charge $40–$100 per hour, while niche coaches can earn $150+ per session.

Sell Online Workout Programs

While I worked at the gym, I started selling workout programs on eBay. I never thought it’d work but people loved them! It wasn’t automated or passive – I tailored every single one to each client’s needs. But it was my first taste of earning money from health and fitness online.

Since this first experiment, I’ve upped my game and sold workout programs via my own websites. The tech side is now much easier with platforms like Podia and Kit taking care of payments and automatic delivery. Learn more about creating online fitness courses or workout programs.

How much can you earn? Fitness pros can charge anywhere from $49 to $499 per program, with recurring launches generating six figures.

B2B Fitness Marketing

Behind the scenes of fitness is a huge business-to-business (B2B) market. Gyms and studios constantly need equipment, software, lockers, supplements, and more. Selling into this market can be incredibly lucrative – just one commercial treadmill can cost $10,000, and a full club fit-out is worth six figures.

I spent 10 years working for a commercial gym equipment company and absolutely loved it. I worked my way up from marketing assistant to head of Asia Pacific marketing, with lots of interesting projects and fun travel along the way. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys fitness.

How much can you earn? Successful B2B marketers and sales reps often make $60k–$120k per year, with top performers exceeding that through bonuses and commissions.

Freelance Health & Fitness Writer

If you know fitness and can write clearly, businesses will pay for your words. Opportunities range from blog posts to ebooks, sales copy, and even ghostwriting books.

I started doing this on the side of my full-time job. I wanted to test the water and see if it’d be possible to work for myself eventually. Spoiler alert: it totally is and now I run my own agency 🙂

How much can you earn? Good fitness writers can earn $300–$2,000 per article. Ghostwriting full-length books pays anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000. All you need is a laptop and Wi-Fi.

Social Media Manager

Every fitness brand needs a strong online presence, but not all have the time or expertise to manage their social media. That’s where you come in. By offering content creation, account management, and growth strategies, you can help gyms, trainers, or wellness companies attract new clients and build their brand online.

I started managing social media for fitness brands by finding freelance gigs on Upwork. Eventually, I built my own website offering social media services directly (Upwork takes around 15% commission).

How much can you earn? Social media managers typically charge $500 to $2,000 per month per client, depending on the workload. With just a handful of clients, this can quickly turn into a full-time business, and the work can be done from anywhere.

Create Fitness Printables

Fitness templates, like food diaries, workout calendars, and journals, sell well as quick digital downloads. They’re easy to make in Canva and can generate passive income on autopilot.

How much can you earn? On Etsy, simple wellness trackers sell 50–200 copies per month, often priced between $10 and $50 each. That’s $500–$5,000 monthly for work you only do once (or have already done for a client and just need to upload online).

Write Health & Fitness Ebooks

Digital ebooks are simple to create and act as entry-level products. You can either self-publish on Amazon or sell them directly through your website. I’ve made money doing both and really enjoy writing them, so it remains one of my fav income streams.

How much can you earn? Many coaches and trainers make $500–$3,000/month with a single $15–$30 ebook. Others bundle ebooks with higher-ticket products to upsell clients.

Create Online Courses

Courses are one of the most profitable digital products since they command higher price points. If you can solve a problem or teach a skill, you can build a course around it. I’ve made money with courses on personal training, fitness marketing, and gym sales, but you can monetize whatever expertise you have.

How much can you earn? Trainers charge anywhere from $99 to $999 per course. Some fitness entrepreneurs have scaled this into seven-figure businesses (e.g. ACE, Precision Nutrition).

Earn Affiliate Commission

Recommend products you use and earn commission when your followers buy through your link. The more traffic or audience you have, the more passive income you can generate.

I’m not the best at this, but I’d say it’s earned me $1000-$2000 over the years. What I love is that it’s completely passive once the links are set up. So it can be a pretty good return on your time (but not a full-time money-maker in my case).

How much can you earn? One fitness blogger earned $100,000 in a single year promoting protein powders and workout gear. Even smaller sites can easily make $200–$2,000 per month just from Amazon commissions. Check out this list of health and fitness affiliate options for inspiration.

Ad Income from My Blog

If you start a fitness blog, then you can monetize it with ads once it has decent traffic. It’s hands-off passive income once set up – I get a nice monthly income from the Mediavine ads on my blog.

Certain types of health and fitness websites earn more money than others from ads. If your topic is related to expensive products (like fitness trackers or supplements), then you’ll earn the most money. The opposite is also true – topics like ‘home workouts without equipment’ won’t earn as much from ads because it’s hard to sell products off this.

How much can you earn? Small sites might make $100–$500/month through Google AdSense, while established blogs using Mediavine or AdThrive can earn $5,000–$20,000/month in ad revenue.

The Most Profitable Way To Make Money In Fitness

As you can see, there are lots of creative ways to make money in the fitness industry beyond just personal training or starting a gym.

Organising fitness holidays or retreats, franchising your existing club or class concept, becoming a fitness influencer, or getting paid to speak at fitness expos are just a few.

Selling products to fitness businesses (like equipment, lockers, and software for health clubs) is one of the most profitable avenues. With a business-to-business (B2B) model you don’t need as many customers because the deals are worth a lot more money.

To make $5000 with coaching or gym memberships, you’d need 100 customers at $50 each. But with B2B, one customer alone can be worth $5000.

Here are some examples of business-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B fitness brands so you can see how they differ…

• B2C – this is where you sell your offering to the individual people who will be using your wares e.g. Peloton, GymShark, Runkeeper.
• B2B – is where you sell to other businesses operating in the fitness industry e.g. Precor, Matrix, MindBody.

Whatever your experience and fitness interests, there are ways that you can monetize them. And if you’re ready to take the next step, then we have resources that can help…

• How to start your own gym or yoga studio
• Steps to starting an online fitness business
• Create a profitable fitness blog or online workout programs
• Business plan guides for gyms, yoga studios, and personal trainers
• Ways to make extra money as a health coach

Ways To Increase Fitness Revenue

If you’re looking for ways to make MORE money in the fitness industry rather than new revenue streams, then we’ve also got you covered. There are essentially two options…

1. Increase the volume of sales – by attracting new customers, selling more products to existing customers, or getting them to buy more frequently.
2. Increase the value of sales – by raising your prices, upselling extras, or increasing the average purchase amount using bundles.

Focusing on these two areas is crucial for any business to succeed. There are also practical steps you can take that’ll gradually increase your income over time. These include…

• Improving your sales skills
• Asking for a pay rise
• Optimising your sales funnel
• Increasing prices
• Trying out new marketing ideas

We’re planning to create a new article that focuses solely on this topic soon so join our email newsletter to get notified when it launches.

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