CRAFTING A CAREER IN FITNESS OFTEN REQUIRES CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN ORDER TO SCALE AND BE SUCCESSFUL. yours. When you are not training, you could be walking the floors, capturing images of the studio to produce for feeds. This provides an additional stream of revenue outside of direct training time and is a much-needed skill set for many gym owners who don’t have the time or resources for media production. Some gym owners don’t even realize this is an area you could help them in until you offer. 3. Fitness + Writing: There are many courses and opportunities to learn how to write for fitness publications, and make a living doing so. One way to start: guest blogging is a great way to break into industry writing and get your name out there. As you become more proficient and earn a name as a fitness writer, you can learn how to get paid for it. 4. Fitness + Corporate Wellness: Corporate wellness positions are increasing as insurance companies are seeing the value in prevention to lower health insurance premiums. Health coaching is an up-and-coming role that employers are seeking to help their employees
take active behavior change. Medical centers, public health programs and med spas are just a few places to browse for opportunities. Don’t see an opportunity? Create one. Offer lunch-and-learns to local places that need such programs but may not be offering them and seek to develop a relationship that may foster development of such a program that you could be heading. 5. Fitness + E-commerce: Do you want to get online to create revenue generation? In the modern internet area, making revenue on the internet is a worthwhile option available to all willing to put in the work. There are many ways to do this, but know that if you are training online (although it can be a good option) you are still trading dollars for hours (meaning if a client cancels, you are out of luck). Consider other alternatives to create income, whether it be program design that you sell, courses and e-books or CEC content you could create. Once you create a digital product to sell, it can continue to sell for you after the initial work is done. Placing your content on a marketplace or well-trafficked location
will get you more sales than your individual website alone. Get that content in as many places as you can, and let that passive income pay you long after the project is done. Crafting a career in fitness requires creativity and learning what you have that is unique to offer as a fitness professional. The best advice? Study those you want to emulate. See what they have done, and how they have done it. With some planning, thought and dedication to growth as a fitness professional, a career in fitness that is fulfilling and not overly taxing is achievable and worthwhile.
Stephanie Silber is the founder and CEO of FitSwop, the first digital marketplace for fitness and health professionals and their businesses to buy and sell fitness content, resources and programming to each other within their own designated storefronts. Stephanie is a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, and has a Master’s Degree from Miami University and Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Kentucky. You can find her at stephanie@fitswop.com.
SPRING 2020 | WWW.PERSONALFITNESSPROFESSIONAL.COM | 17