5 Tips For Running Your Group Fitness Business in the Coronapocolypse

Now that the dust has begun to settle, it’s become clear that we are going to be in this situation of running group fitness businesses online for the forseeable future.

When we are allowed to exercise face-to-face again, it will likely only be for a short while before things are once more restricted.

So, if you’ve been feeling resistant to changing, please note that this is the new normal.

If you’ve already made changes, great job, you’re doing amazing. Keep it up. I know this is a scary and uncertain time.

Either way, I hope this article helps set you on a good trajectory over the next few months.

Tip #1: Do What Works For You

While many trainers are switching over to running their sessions via Zoom, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to.

Talk to your clients and find out what will work for them. Many trainers are also having success with:

• Running Live videos using Facebook or YouTube
• Setting up private communities online using Facebook Groups
• Simply sending out written workouts via email or posted to a Facebook group
• Pre-recording workouts and sharing those via any of the channels above

But ultimately, pick the thing that you’re going to be able to be consistent with. If you’ve now got 3 kids at home and you can only work after 8pm each night, choose a solution that is going to work with those constraints.

Tip #2: It Doesn’t Have To Be A Workout

What is just as important as workouts to clients right now, and what will likely keep them signed up over the next few months, is community.

Start planning some non-workout virtual meet ups for your clients. Some trainers have had success with Happy Hour or ‘Wine Time’ where everyone brings a drink to a video call and debriefs on the week.

You could also arrange a voice-only ‘Walk and Talk’ call where everyone grabs their phone and headphones and chats while they go for a walk at the same time.

Train mostly parents? Start swapping ideas of things you are doing with the kids for homeschooling or just keeping them entertained.

Get creative. What are you needing/missing right now? It’s probably the same for your clients.

Tip #3: Location No Longer Matters

One thing most trainers are telling me is that they’re not getting any new clients at the moment.

My advice here is to remember that clients no longer need to live nearby to participate in your classes. This means that your cousin who lives in a different state can come do your workouts and be apart of your community.

Reach out to your personal network of friends, family and old collegues to let them know you’re now offering workouts remotely. Ask your clients if they will share what you’re doing too.

Tip #4: Fully Pivot Your Business To Online

Now you’re running classes online (or at the least sending out workouts online) you need to make sure you’ve updated your business systems and marketing so that new people finding you know that you’re still running classes.

Here’s a checklist of things to update:

• Call insurer to see if you’re covered to give training online
• Update your client welcome experience to explain how a new client can access classes and community
• Change bio’s on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) to say you’re still active
• Edit website homepage to let everyone know you’re still operating and how they can sign up
• Update PAQ and upload to a site that let’s people sign documents digitally
• Kick your email newsletter back into gear – communication is key to keeping clients
• Post to all social media platforms how new clients can join

These are all things that can easily be undone later, but by committing to going online fully instead of sitting on the fence, it will make life much more certain for you in the meantime and that will free up much needed brain power.

Tips #5: Take Time To Unplug and Disconnect

6 years ago (nearly to the day) I stopped running my bootcamp and took Bootcamp Ideas on full time. Running your business online has a lot of perks.

You don’t have to drive anywhere. You can work in your pyjamas all day (tip: just put a different shirt on for video calls). In just a few steps you can access all of the deliciousness the fridge holds.

But, as I’ve learned the hard way (sometimes multiple times) there is also some downsides that can be crippling to your health if you aren’t intentional about them.

The biggest thing is that it can become really easy to be plugged in and working on your business 24/7. Before, you could get a break from the phone messages, emails and social media when you were training clients. But now you’re training clients online that’s just more screen time in your day.

We’re human beings. Evolved to climb, leap, dance and be in the sun. You must make intentional time where you’re away from your business.

Here are some tips for unplugging:

• Make intential time to socialise with friends. Call them using a handsfree headset so you don’t have to carry around your phone.
• Go for a walk without your phone.
• Set a time each night where you stop working and stop answering messages on your phone.
• Take at least Saturday or Sunday completely off work (no messages, no emails, no social media, nothing) if not both days.
• Set aside time for just you and your partner to reconnect and catch up.

By putting some good boundaries in place you’ll feel better and be able to do better work.

Events like this bring out the best or the worst in people. When in doubt, ask yourself:

‘Am I making this decision out of love or fear?’

Embrace the change, do what is going to work for you, look after your clients beyond just workouts and put aside time to look after yourself too. Personally, I’ve been finding walks without my phone a great way to just let everything digest.

Now over to you…

Which of the tips above do you need to get done? Share with us in the comments below.

Kyle Wood

Kyle Wood created Bootcamp Ideas in 2010 when he was hunting around on the internet for workout ideas. He ran a successful bootcamp in Victoria, Australia and spends his spare time managing this site, adventuring (or lazying) with his wife and find new ways to make bootcamps even better.