The digital fitness industry continues to boom, and with rapidly developing digital tools to make professional-looking products with ease, there's never been a better time to share your expertise and help people achieve their goals online—transforming your knowledge into revenue.
This guide will provide you with the knowledge and steps to plan, create, sell, and market your digital fitness programs, allowing you to build a successful online business and empower others on their fitness journeys.
What is a digital product?
A digital product is any product that can be delivered electronically. In the online fitness world, this could be a downloadable PDF workout plan, a library of instructional videos, or access to an exclusive online fitness community.
The beauty of digital products is their scalability: you create them once and sell them repeatedly, maximizing your reach and income without geographical limitations.
Can I make money selling fitness programs online?
The short answer is yes! The online fitness market is vast and caters to diverse needs. Whether you specialize in high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yoga, bodyweight exercises, or a specific fitness niche, there's an audience waiting for your guidance.
The key lies in offering a digital product, program or plan that delivers unique value and targeted results for an audience you have built and who are happy to pay for your expertise to help them move toward their goals.
For many fitness creators, this revenue becomes a side stream on top of their in-person coaching or training — and after the initial setup is done, it requires relatively little effort to continue to sell digital fitness programs online.
Audience research conducted by Vice Media Group showed that 91% of Gen Z wish to invest time and effort into their fitness post-pandemic — driven by a desire to improve both their mental and physical health.
Checkout Page customer Jack Downer (@streetpanna) is a 2 x Superball World Panna Champion and has an Instagram audience of 994K. He drives his audience to his website, where he has created video courses that he sells using a single product checkout page:
Like so many successful influencers, Jack uses a blend of Instagram, YouTube, and a dedicated website to cultivate a following — injecting plenty of personality and niche skills shared!
What is the right fitness program for me to sell online?
There are an array of formats that you can use to share your fitness expertise online, ranging from PDF planners and eBooks to video-based courses and exclusive membership and subscription options.
There are various factors to consider in terms of you and your goals, and what your potential customers are going to be interested in.
Consider these factors when choosing what format and content you wish to offer:
🤔 Your expertise: What are you most passionate and qualified to teach?
🤔 Your time: What level of effort are you wanting to put into this project? For some, a single product works well for passive income, and for others, weekly or monthly content delivery wins them a loyal audience.
🤔 Market demand: Research online trends and identify fitness goals people are actively seeking.
🤔 Program uniqueness: What sets your program apart from existing options? Does it cater to a specific fitness level or equipment availability or address a particular health concern?
In terms of your product and its uniqueness, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you will want to identify what it is you offer that’s special and make sure you find access to the people who will be able to benefit.
For example, many young and older people are being diagnosed with ADHD — particularly post-pandemic — and exercise is shown to be one of the most effective tools for them in managing that. This represents the perfect example of a niche market that will be growing.
Some other examples of digital fitness program niches include:
- Beginner bodyweight workouts
- Pre- and postnatal fitness exercises
- Yoga for stress management
- Meal planning for muscle gain
- Fitness programs for seniors
Whatever it is you want to offer, see what else is out there and make it a product that competes in quality and has a spark of your own originality and personality.
How do I sell fitness programs & workouts online?
Selling online requires a strategic approach. As well as the key factors we’ve talked about above in terms of identifying your audience, your niche, and the product that is right for you, there are other factors to consider around the sales process.
Key routes forward when deciding on how you’ll monetize your offering are
✅ Transactional sales: Sell digital downloads like PDFs or ebooks for a one-time fee.
✅ Subscription-based: Will you offer recurring access to exclusive content like video courses or workout routines for a monthly or annual fee?
✅ Combine both models: Provide a variety of products and cater to different customer preferences.
✅ Create high-quality content: Develop well-structured, easy-to-follow workout plans online with clear instructions, modifications, and video demonstrations if possible.
✅ Choose a delivery platform: Select a platform that allows you to securely sell your program, manage customer access, and, ideally, integrate with payment gateways. We’ll go into more detail below.
✅ Develop a sales funnel: Craft compelling sales pages that showcase your program's benefits and target audience and include testimonials if available. Offer free trials, lead magnets, or introductory videos to entice potential customers.
✅ Secure payment processing: Integrate a secure payment gateway like Stripe to enable seamless transactions on your platform.
By carefully considering these elements — from product type to sales strategy — you can establish a streamlined selling system that enables you to reach your target audience with unique products to help them on their fitness path!
How do I build my audience to sell fitness programs online?
To truly thrive in this digital fitness product space, building a dedicated audience who trusts your guidance and values your content is crucial.
Cultivating a loyal following ready to invest in your digital fitness plans and products and embark on a fitness journey with you takes time and effort, but the rewards are significant.
Daniel Strauss (@Raspberry_ape) is another Checkout Page customer who uses his pro Jiu Jitsu knowledge to cultivate a following using social media, a podcast a YouTube channel and a dedicated website:
Here are some strategies to attract potential clients:
♟️Content marketing: Share valuable fitness tips, exercise routines, and healthy living advice on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube TikTok, or a dedicated blog.
♟️ Email marketing: Build an email list by offering free resources and take care of your leads by offering them valuable content ahead of promoting your paid fitness plans or other offerings.
♟️ Paid advertising: Consider targeted social media ads or influencer marketing campaigns to reach a wider audience.
♟️ Build a strong personal brand: Focus on consistently sharing valuable and authentic content that showcases your expertise and unique perspective. Engage with your audience, network with peers in your industry, and deliver quality work to establish credibility and visibility in your chosen niche.
♟️ Collaborations: Partner with fitness influencers, bloggers, or complementary businesses to cross-promote each other's offerings and reach new audiences.
♟️ Showcase results: Share client testimonials, before-and-after pictures, and demonstrations of your products' effectiveness.
♟️ Utilize social media features: Leverage Instagram Stories, Highlights, YouTube end screens, and TikTok's unique format to engage your audience and drive traffic to your platform or checkout page.
Remember, building trust and establishing yourself as a reliable source of knowledge does take dedication — but with the right approach, you'll attract a loyal audience ready to embark on their fitness journey alongside you and, ultimately, turn your passion for fitness into a thriving online business.
How do I create digital fitness plans to sell online?
Whatever you feel drawn to create, there are some things to bear in mind when planning and creating your product. The time you have to put in and the skills you have at your disposal are going to be factors.
The good news is there are so many creative tools that are simple and intuitive to use without a huge learning curve — so it’s never been more accessible to create professional-looking digital exercise plans and fitness products for your audience.
Tools of the trade:
- 🔧 Design software: Tools such as Canva or Visme can help you to create visually appealing planners, ebooks, and social media graphics, often with helpful templates to get you up and running!
- 🔧 Video editing software: Tools like Fimora or iMovie allow you to create engaging video tutorials and courses
- 🔧 Podcast recording and editing platforms: Audacity or Adobe Audition are great options for recording and editing podcast episodes.
- 🔧 AI tools: Tools such as ChatGPT can help you structure and design your written content
When it comes to effort, a single PDF fitness program is going to take a lot less time and resources than a full video series course or membership that requires continual engagement.
For those with less time who may be put off by the effort of ongoing content, it is possible to manage your time effectively to create batches of content in a short sprint of time which you then have at your disposal to release to your audience over time — so perhaps a few days of upfront effort could work for you if you then get to relax!
Where to sell digital fitness programs and workouts online
The answer to this question will be heavily influenced by where it is that you already have contact with your audience — making social media a very popular place from which to direct customers to your digital workout plans and courses, but there are other ways too.
The most popular places that fitness influencers and creators sell digital workout plans online include:
- Social media platforms: Make the most of your following on platforms like Instagram or YouTube, directing followers to where they can purchase your products.
- Single product checkout pages: Checkout pages can be launched from an array of places such as websites, newsletters, blogs, social media accounts, and more
- Personal websites: Selling directly through your own website grants you complete control over your product and brand.
- Online marketplaces: Platforms like Gumroad or Etsy can facilitate the sales process, though they often come with high fees.
- Fitness-specific platforms: Another option is to use industry-specific platforms that cater directly to fitness audiences, such as Trainerize or TrueCoach, for product sales and delivery.
- Newsletters & Blogs: Follow up the content you provide via these mediums with opportunities to purchase your expertise in the form of eBooks, courses, planners, and more!
- Blended approach: Now more than ever, fitness influencers utilize a number of these options at once, selling from their social media accounts as well as from newsletters and websites — casting a wide net makes a lot of sense and is often very easy to do if selling from a single product checkout page.
For many people looking to sell workout plans online, the idea of building a website feels like a bigger effort than they might want to make at the start of their journey, or at all, and so we’ve written this guide on How to sell digital products without a website
Overall, when deciding where to sell your digital fitness products, consider factors like platform fees, features offered, ease of use, and how much flexibility you have to create your brand and communicate with your audience.
How to sell a fitness program online with Checkout Page
At Checkout Page, we’ve made things super simple for you so that you can sell your digital fitness products and exercise plans online from pretty much anywhere you plan to interact with your audience.
Single product checkout pages can be launched from QR codes on posters, shared as hosted page links from websites, social media bios, blogs and online community forums, or embedded on web pages with a few clicks.
Let’s see Checkout Page in action by looking at a step-by-step on how to sell a digital workout plan on Checkout Page:
Step 1. Start by creating your page, where you can title your product and select from a number of pricing options such as Subscription, One-time, payment plan and ‘Pay what you want’.
Step 2. Select the page type that suits you, either a hosted standalone page or a page you can embed into your website
Step 3. Add an introduction to your product to display on your Checkout Page
Step 4. Add your main product image
Step 5. Add the digital product files that your customers will be downloading from you on purchase
Step 6: Checkout Page offers you a number of ways to design and customize your page’s colors, elements, and CSS
Step 7: There are many ‘After payment’ options for customizing the important post purchase experience, such as ‘One click upsell’ options to promote other products.
Step 8. Checkout Page shows you your handy work in a preview pane as you go
Step 9: When you are ready to go, you can share the link to your Checkout Page, as well as create QR codes and Embed code.
And with that, you are all ready to go! — a perfectly formed product page ready to promote to and share with your audience wherever you connect with them.
Conclusion
In summary, the digital fitness industry offers incredible opportunities for the professional and the passionate to share expertise and help others achieve fitness goals online while generating revenue for themselves.
Deciding what’s right for you in terms of a format and a unique angle is the first step of the journey, and building an audience through content marketing and collaborations is vital. There is an incredible array of tools that you can use to create striking content and products that can be sold through various platforms like social media and personal websites.
Checkout Page provides a simple way to sell digital fitness products effectively, facilitating creators to establish successful online businesses while maintaining full control of their audience relationships.
For more ideas on fitness plans and products that people like you are creating and selling successfully, read our article Digital Product Ideas for Fitness Creators
If you’d like to learn more about starting your digital product journey, why not read How to Sell Digital Products with Stripe and Checkout Page
Thank you for coming on this journey with us — and we hope to be able to support you as you grow your digital fitness empire!
