How to sell fitness programs online in 2023 (With examples, videos and tips)

If you’re a fitness expert or a yoga veteran, creating and selling fitness programs online can be a great way to earn extra money and reach a wider audience.

Starting a fitness website can be a great idea. Many people who love exercise have spent the past couple of years working out at home so why not capitalize on the opportunity to learn the tactics from a professional coach online?

If nothing else, the pandemic has taught us there is more than one way to do something. Even something initially thought of to be in-person only such as exercise.

If you’re a gym instructor, personal trainer or have experience with exercise, why not feed into that desire with your own fitness website? Why not sell fitness programs online and make a little money from your passion?

First, we’ll discuss the motivations for creating a fitness website. After that, we’ll show you the way to create a fitness website where you can sell fitness programs and make money.

Finally, we’ll discuss a few tips for promoting your website and answer some frequently asked questions.

By the end of the tutorial, you’ll be able to sell your premium fitness content via a website like this:

Why sell workout programs online?

Here’re a few reasons why you might like to invest your time and effort in a fitness website:

• Flexibility: A fitness website brings the flexibility to serve customers 24/7 throughout the year. Students can set their learning schedule at their convenience.
• Easily compare offerings: It allows visitors to compare different offerings and easily find what works best for them.
• Automate course scheduling and invoicing: An online platform allows you to make use of automation tools that can handle tasks like scheduling or invoicing.
• Global reach: Selling workout programs online gives you the potential to reach customers across the world.
• Cost savings: You don’t have to spend on office or gym space, buy equipment or hire staff.
• Provides mobility to customers: Customers can access your program anytime, anywhere, with an internet connection.
• Personalization: You can arrange one-to-one live sessions or tailor-make workouts specifically for each customer’s needs and goals.
• Feedback and support: You can receive feedback from customers using live chat, email, or course review features.
• Scalability: As demand grows, you can use different extensions to add more advanced features like gamification, certifications, badges, and express checkout to your website.
• Marketing opportunities: You have more control over your brand image while selling online compared to traditional venues such as gyms or fitness studios.

These are just some of the reasons why we recommend creating and selling fitness programs online.

We’re sure you can think of many more!

Choose the content type and monetization strategy

Here are a few content types that you can create as a fitness instructor:

• Basic warmups.
• Complete workout programs.
• Tailored plans for specific purposes (couch to 5k for example).
• Diet plans.
• Technique training.
• eBooks or PDF on workout techniques.
• Recovery tips.

You would typically use four types of monetization strategies for a fitness program website:

• One-time deal: Collect payments in a single transaction.
• Subscriptions: Take payments on a monthly or yearly basis.
• Installments: Take a set amount of money in a series of payments.
• Allow the customers to pay what they want: Pay any amount they want.

The current global trend is to adopt a subscription or membership based monetization strategy.

So, we’ll be focusing on that strategy for this tutorial.

Subscriptions provide predictable income over time while making the cost more manageable for customers. It works for everyone which is why it’s so popular.

How to sell workout plans online with WordPress

WordPress is the perfect platform for anyone who wants to create a workout plan to sell.

You will need to create your own workout plans and supporting material but we will help with everything else!

Step 1: Get a domain and SSL certificate, choose a hosting platform and install WordPress

Getting a domain name: First, you need to buy a domain name that is meaningful, short and easily memorable for your online fitness business.

A domain name is a unique address visitors will type in their browser to visit your website. An example of a domain name would be “suremembers.com”.

A domain name may also use different extensions like.org,.gov,.io or.net.

Get an extension that you prefer or blend in with the type of your business.

You can get your desired domain name using a reputed domain registrar like NameSilo, NameCheap or GoDaddy.

You’ll need an SSL certificate to protect your users with encryption. Luckily most web hosts provide this certificate for free.

Choosing a hosting provider:

Once you have your domain name in place, you need to choose a reliable hosting provider.

A web host will store your website on the web and make it accessible to the general public.

We recommend hosting from a popular provider like SiteGround, Cloudways, BlueHost or GreenGeeks.

Installing WordPress: Once you have set up your domain name and hosting service, it’s time to install WordPress.

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. It helps you design and manage your website easily. It’s also free.

Luckily, you don’t have to manually install WordPress on your hosting platform as most providers do it for you.

If you would prefer to do it yourself, read this guide to installing WordPress.

Step 2: Choose a WordPress theme

Now you have WordPress installed and a basic website up and running, it’s time to install a customizable theme.

A theme will change the overall look and feel of the website and give it that professional look that gives potential students confidence.

We recommend Astra as it’s lightweight, fast and highly customizable. It’s also compatible with leading drag and drop page builders so it’s accessible to anyone whether you know how websites work or not.

To install Astra on your website, log into the WordPress admin dashboard, then head to Appearance > Themes.

Click Add New.

Search for the keyword “astra”.

Hit the Install button.

Select the Activate button.

That’s it! You’re done with installing the Astra theme!

Now, you can see how your website looks using the Visit site link.

Here’s how your new website’s landing page will look from the front end.

As the site does not have any content, it looks a little dull. Let’s add an amazing fitness template (images, texts, buttons and videos) to make it more attractive.

Step 3: Install a Starter Template

To add readymade templates, install the Starter Templates plugin. It has a huge library of both free and premium templates you can use for your site.

For this tutorial, we’ll use a premium fitness template to help you sell fitness programs online.

Once you purchase the plugin, you’ll get a license key and a ZIP file.

To install the Starter Templates, navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and head to Plugins > Add New.

Select the Choose file option to upload the ZIP file.

Select the astro-pro-sites.zip file and hit the Install Now button.

Now, select the Activate Plugin button.

Click on the Activate link.

Next, insert the license key and hit the Activate License button.

You’ll see the following success message.

Next, select the See Library option.

After that, hit the Build Your Website Now button.

Select the page builder you feel comfortable with. For the purpose of this tutorial, we’re selecting the WordPress block editor.

On the next page, you’ll see a wide range of templates you can use to create any website. For this tutorial, we’ll select a fitness template.

So, search with the keyword, “Fitness”. You’ll be able to see both free and premium templates.

Let’s select this premium one (Fitness Trainer).

Now, you can upload your logo and play around with its width. For now, let’s skip it by hitting the Skip & Continue button.

You’ll be taken to the first customization page where you can change the color and typography of your website.

For now, let’s skip it by selecting the Continue button.

If you select a premium template, you will need to enter your Astra license key again to proceed.

After that, select the Submit & Build My Website button to start importing necessary plugins, pages and other assets.

Finally, select the View Your Website button to see how your newly built website looks and feels.

Here’s the front end view of your website.

Step 4: Create workout content to sell

Now, let’s create a fitness program to sell on your website.

First, let’s create two categories.

Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and then select Posts > Categories.

Insert a category name and description, then hit the Add New Category button.

Here we have created a new category named “Beginner Course”.

Now, you’ll be able to see a new category has been added successfully.

You can also create another category, like “Advanced Course” following the same method.

You can create as many categories as you need. Just make sure they are logical and make sense to the user.

Now, let’s add some workout related content.

To add new content, select Posts > Add New option from the left menu.

Now, you’ll get the WordPress block editor where you can insert text, videos, images and select a category.

We won’t go into details here as this is where you’ll create your own workout plan to sell. Everyone will approach this differently, but the process around it is largely the same.

Once you are done adding your course content, hit the Publish button.

Use the View Post button to see how your lesson looks from the front end.

You can create unlimited lessons this way using the Add New Post button.

Step 5: Install SureMembers (Creating membership levels and access rules)

Now, we need to install a membership plugin to sell fitness programs online.

For this tutorial, we’ll use SureMembers, a state of the art tool to monetize website content.

You can also use this plugin to monetize your courses, create different types of membership levels, set access rules and drip feed content.

Visit the website and purchase the plugin. Once you buy it, you’ll get a link to the zip files in an email.

Download the ZIP file to your device as we’ll need to upload it to WordPress.

Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard, then Plugins > Add New.

Select the Upload Plugin button.

Click Choose File.

Select the SureMembers .zip file from your local storage and hit the Install Now button.

Select Activate Plugin to finalize the installation.

Now, you can use the license key you received with your email to access the premium features.

Select the SureMembers option from the menu bar.

Select the Unlicensed option from the top right corner of the page.

Then, copy the license key from your email and paste it into the box Hit the Activate License button.

You should see the following success message.

Finally, exit the popup by clicking on the X icon.

Step 6: Create membership levels (access groups) and access rules

Membership levels are different types of access groups who can access premium content according to their level rules.

You’ll need these if you plan to offer different membership tiers.

For example, you can create a basic membership level with access to basic content and an advanced level with access to all content.

We use access rules to control what level can access what content.

To create a membership level, select the Add New button by Access Groups.

Name your access group something meaningful.

You can protect any type of content of your membership with access rules.

For example, you can protect the entire website, part of a page, site menu items, pages, posts, templates and taxonomies.

For this tutorial, we’ll select Specific Pages / Posts / Taxonomies, etc. from the dropdown.

Next, you will see another dropdown where you can select which posts you want to protect.

Just type in the first few characters to see the posts and select them to lock.

You can also exclude some posts from protection so visitors can see some content for free.

Let’s exclude the default post of a WordPress website, “Hello world”.

SureMembers can also drip feed content to premium members.

Drip feeding is useful if you want to increase user engagement by preventing them from binge-reading or binge-watching your premium content.

If you want to drip feed your content, select the Add Drip Content button.

With SureMembers, you can schedule content at any time you wish.

Let’s select a piece of content to drip feed. Here, we have created two blog posts so that we can drip feed them on a weekly basis:

• Fitness Class – Week 1
• Fitness Class – Week 2

Search for the first few characters of the content you want to drip feed. Select Fitness Class – Week 1 from the drop down menu.

Specify the date and time you want to make it live.

Select the Add Drip Content button to add as much content as you want.

That’s all there is to drip feeding content with SureMembers!

It’s incredibly simple considering how powerful it can be for maintaining subscriptions.

SureMembers can also secure premium downloadable content.

For example, you create a PDF workout guide for paid members or specific member groups and you don’t want it accessible by non-members.

If you want to secure your premium downloadable content, hit the Add Downloads button.

Use the Upload Media button to add a downloadable file.

Select the file. (Here, we have uploaded a PDF book on fitness and health.)

Click on the Choose button to finalize the upload.

Now, you’ll be able to see the protected downloadable file. You can add unlimited uploads using this method.

Next, let’s set an access rule for unauthorized users if they try accessing protected content.

SureMembers allows you to insert a page URL so that you can redirect unauthorized users to a specific page. It also has another option to show a message for unauthorized users.

For example, if a visitor lands on a page they don’t have access to, you can redirect them to a signup page or a ‘benefits of membership’ type page.

To configure the settings for unauthorized users, scroll to the top of the page. Select the Redirect or the Message option from the drop down.

For this tutorial, we’re selecting the Message option.

Select from the three toggle buttons:

• In Content: The unauthorized message will be shown instead of the restricted content in blog posts.
• Enable Excerpt: Create a teaser of premium content so you can encourage visitors to buy your course.
• Enable Login Button: This login button will be shown beside the unauthorized message so that users can easily log in to the website.

Insert the message you want to show for unauthorized users.

You can show something like “Buy a Premium Membership Plan to view this premium content!” or other message that suits your needs.

Insert button text that creates a sense of urgency in the mind of unauthorized users. Try using text like “Buy Premium Membership Now!” or something similar.

Now, you need to insert the URL on the checkout page. Since we have not monetized our membership plan, we don’t have any links

So, let’s put the website home page URL for now.

Hit the Save Access Group button to save changes.

Now, you will see that the status of the access group is active. You can use the toggle button to turn on the access group any time you want.

While this process includes quite a few steps, they are relatively simple.

Step 7: Monetize your membership plans

As you want to sell fitness programs online and not give them away, next we need to take care of payment.

The monetization process includes creating products, setting up pricing plans, and configuring gateways to collect payments.

For this tutorial, we’ll use a free eCommerce platform called SureCart. It handles all the aspects from products to collecting payments.

To install SureCart, navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and then get to Plugins > Add New.

Search for the keyword “surecart”.

Click the Install Now button.

Now, hit the Activate button.

Next, select the Get Started button.

Now, you need to set up your store on the SureCart platform.

To do so, hit the Set up My Store button.

Now, insert your details and click on the Sign Up button.

Now, you’ll be able to see the pricing plans of SureCart. We’re going to use the free version by clicking on the Select Plan button.

Insert your store name and proceed toward the next step using the Next Step button.

Connect the payment gateways for your store. We’re selecting Stripe using the Connect button for this demo.

Now, use the Connect button to connect your store.

Your Stripe account should now be enabled.

Select the Next Step button.

You should see a token that you’ll need to connect your website with the platform. Copy the token.

Next, select the Back to WordPress button so that you can copy the token to your website.

Finally, paste the API token to complete the installation process.

This token verifies the connection between SureCart servers and your website to keep them secure. It’s a vital step in getting everything to work.

Turn on the Test Mode so we can test the payment processor.

Remember to switch it back to live mode once the test is complete.

Now, select the Products option from the left menu.

Hit the Add New button to create a new product.

Name the product so it makes sense for members. Try something like “Beginner Membership Plan”.

Now, click on the Add a Price button.

Select a payment type from the dropdown.

You’ll see four payment types:

• One Time.
• Installment.
• Subscription.
• Allow customers to pay what they want.

If you only sell a downloadable course, then the One Time payment type can be a good option.

Let’s select the Subscription option as it makes more sense as we’re creating a subscription based membership website to sell fitness programs.

Now, set a price for the membership plan.

Set a recurring subscription rule outlining how much you charge over what period.

Insert a greater pre-sale price to provoke the customers with a sense of exclusivity.

You can also set a free trial period if you want.

We won’t use a free trial here so, hit the Create Price button.

Select the Copy Links button to get the buy link of the product.

Copy the Buy Link and paste it on the product page. You can also use the Buy Button Shortcode so that you can use it anywhere on your website.

Exit the popup using the X.

You can also add an image using the Add Image button.

Now, let’s integrate SureMembers with SureCart to bring everything together.

Select the dropdown menu.

Select SureMembers from the list.

Select Beginner Members (access group) from the other dropdown list.

Hit the Add Integration button to finalize integration with SureMembers.

Finally, save the product.

That’s the basics of your website and course setup done. Repeat this process for as many membership levels and products you have.

Step 8: Customize the checkout form

A successful checkout form is the one that’s as short and as simple as possible. The less friction there is between a user and a subscription, the higher the chance of conversion.

You can customize the checkout form from the Forms option located at the left menu items under SureCart.

You will see a default checkout form. You can also create new forms if you want.

For now, we will customize the checkout form to add the tax and VAT field and make its status ‘Test Mode’.

To do so, select Edit.

By default, you’ll see ‘Live’ mode.

For now, select ‘Test’ mode from the dropdown. Use the Live mode later when you’re sure Test mode is working properly.

You can also upload a store logo using the Add Image button if you want.

Click anywhere on the form and hit the Plus icon to take a new block.

Search for the keyword ‘Tax’ or ‘VAT’. Now, select the “VAT or Tax” ID.

You can select which region you want to collect tax and VAT from.

SureCart will automatically calculate and collect live tax rates using a third party platform called TaxJar.

For now, we’re selecting the EU VAT option.

Update the form to save changes.

You can create any type of checkout you like. Just remember, simpler is best.

Step 9: Add a signup and login form

To add a signup and login form, navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and then go to the Plugins > Add New section.

Search for the keyword “login logout”.

You’ll be able to see a bunch of login logout plugins. You can install any of them.

For this tutorial, we’re selecting Login Logout Menu, developed by WPBrigade as indicated below.

Click on the Install Now button.

Hit the Activate button.

Customize it as you like using whatever plugin you choose.

Step 10: Edit the pricing plan section

Let’s edit the pricing plan page by adding a buy now button and customizing content.

Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard, then go to Pages > All Pages.

Select the Edit option.

You can edit text by clicking on it.

We recommend adding a Buy Now button.

To add a button, select the black box to add a block and search for Price List from the side menu. Spectra has a price list block you can add and customize to suit your needs.

You can change the button text and add the “Buy Now” URL.

Edit the other pricing plans and hit the Update button.

Your pricing plan may not look like this, but as long as it outlines what’s included and a button or link to sign up, it should be fine.

Step 11: Add necessary menu items

In this section, we’re going to add the blog page, login and logout page to the navigation bar.

Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and then select Appearance > Menu.

Now let’s create a new menu with the create a new menu option.

Give the menu a name.

Check the two boxes:

• Automatically add new top-level pages to this menu.
• Primary Menu.

Hit the Create Menu button.

Select the View All option to see all the available pages.

Check the pages you want to show. We’ve selected the Home page and the Blog page.

Add the login logout menu and register menu items by clicking the following dropdown.

Check the following options:

• Log in | Log out
• Register

Now, hit the Add to Menu button.

Save the changes with the Save Menu button.

Now all you need to do is select to use that menu on your site.

Select the Manage Locations tab at the top, select the location you want to add your new menu to, add the menu and select Save Changes.

That’s it!

Bonus tips

Selling courses through LMS (Learning Management Systems): If you want to sell workout plans online via LMS plugins like TutorLMS, LifterLMS and LearnDash, you can add it as an integration.

Here’s an example screenshot that portrays how SureMembers deals with it:

You can also use the user sync option in SureMembers to enroll members automatically from other platforms.

For example, if someone registers via BuddyBoss, you can also give them access to the membership access role.

You can also allow a member to interact and message other users giving access to a private forum or group.

Here we have created a private group using BuddyBoss.

Sell fitness programs online FAQs

We hope we have answered the majority of questions you may have about selling fitness programs through your own website. In case we haven’t:

Are you ready to sell your fitness programs online?

Now, you know how to do it yourself. But we have come up with a checklist for you, so you don’t get lost along the way:

• Buy a domain name
• Get an SSL certificate
• Select a hosting platform
• Install WordPress
• Install a great theme (Astra)
• Build your website in a few minutes using demo data with Starter Templates
• Install SureMembers
• Create access groups and access rules with SureMembers
• Install SureCart and connecting payment gateways to it
• Create products with SureCart, get a link to buy them, and use them on your website.
• Customize checkout forms in SureCart.
• Add login, logout and register option on your website using a plugin.
• Customize the navigation bar.

There you have it! If you get stuck with any step mentioned above, leave a comment below.

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