Once you’ve created a website for your personal training services, it will become the cornerstone of your online presence. Indispensable for hosting information for your clients, a place to post blog content and refer people to video or written material or even for selling your personal training services.
Your personal training website can become such a crucial part of your fitness business that our clients often take things a step further with a membership site. A purpose-built fitness membership website model that strengthens their influence and authority in the industry and encourages user engagement in a closed community. It can also be a way to monetise content in a way that isn’t possible from a regular website or social media.
In this guide, we’ll teach you how to put together a membership website for your fitness business.
What Is A Fitness Membership Site?
A membership website is designed around a specific format which allows you to put exclusive content behind a “log-in gate” which is accessed with a password. You may be making educational videos, online personal training services, downloadable products like eBooks or exercise guides, or have other digital products you’ve created.
On a fitness membership site, this content is only available for paying members of your personal training service, like a VIP lounge. Once the core content of your membership features are live, you can also create a service tier that purely offers membership access, if that's something you'd like to pursue.
On a fitness membership site, this content is only available for paying members of your personal training service, like a VIP lounge. Once the core content of your membership features are live, you can also create a service tier that purely offers membership access, if that's something you'd like to pursue.
Benefits Of Running A Fitness Membership Site?
People pay money to be part of your fitness community. If you’re an online coach or trainer, this is a format which your business is already based on. Putting your content behind a membership wall offers a way that you can give paying members additional perks, early-bird access, and even more high-value content.
Having a membership site for your fitness content can help you reach new audiences and build your list of personal training clients. It’s attractive to belong to an exclusive club, and people want that sense of getting something that no-one else has access to. When you’re ready to push for clients, having a fitness membership site is something that very few personal trainers are doing, and it can help you to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
The fact that people are willing to pay to access your membership content is one of the most effective ways to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. When people see that others respect your expertise, they automatically trust your guidance more.
Having a membership site for your fitness content can help you reach new audiences and build your list of personal training clients. It’s attractive to belong to an exclusive club, and people want that sense of getting something that no-one else has access to. When you’re ready to push for clients, having a fitness membership site is something that very few personal trainers are doing, and it can help you to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
The fact that people are willing to pay to access your membership content is one of the most effective ways to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. When people see that others respect your expertise, they automatically trust your guidance more.
How To Build A Successful Membership Site
The first consideration is to choose the sort of membership model that would best suit your clients’ needs. You’ll likely be designing checklists, recording training videos and creating content around lifestyle and habit change. There are a few different types of membership sites, but before you start building it, ask yourself three key questions:
You might choose to drip-feed membership content, meaning that the content gets released systematically over a given time period, perhaps daily, weekly or monthly. This can work well if your content needs to be absorbed slowly and you like your clients to stick to a dedicated schedule. This type of membership model helps retain clients because drop fed campaigns keep people engaged and excited about your personal training services.
Alternatively, a model which releases all content at once is better for people that appreciate the flexibility and prefer to work through personal training materials at their own pace. If everything is made available to people as soon as they sign up to your membership site, people can dip into any topics which feel relevant to them at the time. That's the set-up we use with the Institute of Personal Trainers Course Roadmap and Resource Library.
- What type of content am I offering my clients?
- How do I want this content to be delivered?
- What kind of access do I want to give members?
You might choose to drip-feed membership content, meaning that the content gets released systematically over a given time period, perhaps daily, weekly or monthly. This can work well if your content needs to be absorbed slowly and you like your clients to stick to a dedicated schedule. This type of membership model helps retain clients because drop fed campaigns keep people engaged and excited about your personal training services.
Alternatively, a model which releases all content at once is better for people that appreciate the flexibility and prefer to work through personal training materials at their own pace. If everything is made available to people as soon as they sign up to your membership site, people can dip into any topics which feel relevant to them at the time. That's the set-up we use with the Institute of Personal Trainers Course Roadmap and Resource Library.
There is much less of a hands-on approach for you as the personal trainer since you don’t have to think about scheduling the release of content so if you train a wide range of people, all at different levels of experience and with different needs, this could be a good option.
In a fixed-term membership, people pay for a membership to your site for a given time period that they agree with you (30, 60 or 90 days are popular). This gives a focus to their goal and means that with goals such as weight loss, there’s a built-in element of urgency and that can give results.
In a fixed-term membership, people pay for a membership to your site for a given time period that they agree with you (30, 60 or 90 days are popular). This gives a focus to their goal and means that with goals such as weight loss, there’s a built-in element of urgency and that can give results.
Pick A Hosting Platform
There are a few options when it comes to hosting your membership area. Which one you choose may depend on convenience, delivery method and also cost. So let's look at a few options.
If you already have a personal trainer website, you might be able to add a membership area easily using the website builder’s feature. Some DIY website design platforms will have membership features available, most times for an added fee via a 3rd party app or by using a plugin. If you use a website designer, you can always ask them what it would take to set-up a membership area.
If you don’t yet have a website, this could be a good reason to start. But if you don't feel like creating a standard website but you'd like to set-up a members only area, you have options too.
The best way to go about finding the one that's right for you is checking recent comparison articles from reliable sources on the topic, like the list HubSpot collated for the 13 best membership website builders and platforms in 2020. Capterra is also a great place to look for software reviews and comparison charts.
If you already have a personal trainer website, you might be able to add a membership area easily using the website builder’s feature. Some DIY website design platforms will have membership features available, most times for an added fee via a 3rd party app or by using a plugin. If you use a website designer, you can always ask them what it would take to set-up a membership area.
If you don’t yet have a website, this could be a good reason to start. But if you don't feel like creating a standard website but you'd like to set-up a members only area, you have options too.
The best way to go about finding the one that's right for you is checking recent comparison articles from reliable sources on the topic, like the list HubSpot collated for the 13 best membership website builders and platforms in 2020. Capterra is also a great place to look for software reviews and comparison charts.
Prepare Content And Decide On Registration Method
When you’re using a membership model, the quality of your content needs to be fantastic. You may want to work with a graphic designer or even a videographer to create these assets for your membership site.
If you’ve chosen to drip feed the content to your clients, you’ll need to plan out a content distribution schedule and generate some excitement by marketing these topics. It can be helpful to use software to automate the delivery of these topics - which ones will be specific to the platform you’ve built your website on.
Before launching your site, decide how you want your clients to sign up to use the site and make sure you test the method thoroughly so that it’s as seamless as possible. Perhaps you’d invite them to sign up through email? Perhaps they can access via an online application form? Perhaps you’ll work with a copywriter to create a high converting landing page dedicated to membership signup?
If you’ve chosen to drip feed the content to your clients, you’ll need to plan out a content distribution schedule and generate some excitement by marketing these topics. It can be helpful to use software to automate the delivery of these topics - which ones will be specific to the platform you’ve built your website on.
Before launching your site, decide how you want your clients to sign up to use the site and make sure you test the method thoroughly so that it’s as seamless as possible. Perhaps you’d invite them to sign up through email? Perhaps they can access via an online application form? Perhaps you’ll work with a copywriter to create a high converting landing page dedicated to membership signup?
Marketing and Promotion
Once you have some parts of your content made, you can start putting some energy into your marketing and promoting your membership site. The primary focus is to improve the number of signups and increase revenue, but even people that aren’t ready to buy yet will be more aware of your brand and the services you provide. Talking about it on social media, giving people limited-time free trials, and using shout outs from affiliates or existing clients will generate some excitement.
Deliver an Incredible Experience
Interact with members regularly. Your membership site will be the flagship of your personal training service, so putting time and effort into making it truly remarkable will generate word of mouth referrals.
Celebrate your community so that people stay for longer. Virtually, this could extend to a dedicated Facebook group, or scheduled zoom meetings. You can dedicate a dashboard style page to include all the important info your members will ever need provides a great first impression after they sign-up. Like one of our Managed Website clients, Lewis Roberts did it for his Armoury Coaching Studio athletes.
Celebrate your community so that people stay for longer. Virtually, this could extend to a dedicated Facebook group, or scheduled zoom meetings. You can dedicate a dashboard style page to include all the important info your members will ever need provides a great first impression after they sign-up. Like one of our Managed Website clients, Lewis Roberts did it for his Armoury Coaching Studio athletes.
In real life, this could include monthly meetups or meals out together once a quarter. You decide what will bring this community together.
Client experience is everything with this model, so making sure their sign up is easy, they understand how to operate the software easily, and that they feel heard when they have feedback to give you (which you could collect regularly via a survey).
Your clients are always your best advertising so taking the time to create genuinely useful content, over-deliver and thank them for being part of your community.
Client experience is everything with this model, so making sure their sign up is easy, they understand how to operate the software easily, and that they feel heard when they have feedback to give you (which you could collect regularly via a survey).
Your clients are always your best advertising so taking the time to create genuinely useful content, over-deliver and thank them for being part of your community.
Conclusion
Membership sites are an incredible business asset. They take work and effort to set up, but they are a part of your personal training business that you can build and continue to grow. A well-established membership site is one of the closest options in the fitness industry to passive income, but it takes work to get to that point.
