5 Ways to Grow Your Personal Fitness Brand
To pretty much NO surprise, the health and wellness industry has shown some kick ass resilience and dedication to their communities during this unprecedented time. Workouts adapted overnight. Communities followed their favorite instructors from the bike, heavy bag, bench, etc - to their iPhone screens. I can't scroll my feed without being hit with an ab circuit. Not complaining.
That said, it struck me to see how even MORE tied to Instagram the fitness industry became. With that said, wanted to take a break from my 3rd IG live workout today (how much is too much?) to share some helpful resources amidst the madness that is COVID-19 - from building your brand, to staying informed, to getting paid ASAP.
1. Talent Hack
Talent Hack is a great resource for fitness professionals to build their fit-resume, source new opportunities, or just connect with others in the health and wellness industry. Joining their Slack Channel is a great way to network with other fitpros and gain access to resources and hot conversations happening in the industry. The platform extends itself beyond instructors/trainers, with opportunities for marketers, creatives, managers, photographers, and more. As a brand that's laser focused on the fitness industry, it's also a great platform to source talent.
2. Fitworthy
Fitworthy is an awesome new platform connecting top wellness brands with fitness studios & events for product sampling & partnerships. Just this week, they rolled out a new capability for group fitness instructors & studios that are hosting live workouts to create a profile and open their IG/Zoom workouts up for brand sponsorship opportunities. Instructors & studios can also be hired to lead IG takeover workouts for brands or receive product in exchange for brand promotion. They’re waiving all platform fees right now so that 100% of sponsorship revenue goes back to the fitness community.
3. The Fitt Insider Newsletter
Fitt Insider might as well be the New York Times of the health and wellness industry. This is a great read to subscribe to to stay updated on industry trends, and studio and brand news. They also have a great podcast!
4. Patreon
This platform has a ton of potential for adoption by fitness professionals. Patreon allows you to not only host live workouts, but build a compete online destination for your personal brand, with opportunity to be paid for your online/live classes right within the platform. You can even offer your community benefits like exclusive content, or insight into your own fitness and nutrition, in exchange for a monthly subscription.
5. Anchor
Lots of time sitting in our apartments, probably coupled with a lot of thoughts. Why not start your own podcast? Anchor is a completely self-serve platform that makes it super easy. As someone who left her full time job to start her own company while being an group fitness instructor on the side, I can say first hand that your clients and community would love to hear more about your journey, your career change, how you've built your own brand, etc. Already have a podcast? Podcorn is great resource to bring you brand sponsors looking to align with content like yours!
Lastly, to all you class-goers out there. With all the excitement around workouts being free, it can be easy to forget that many instructors are not getting paid to share their craft. Donate, support, and do what you can.
-KW
