Bodybuilding has become a billion-dollar industry. New generations are more concerned about their physical health and appearance. After dedicating a considerable proportion of your life to this sport, you might be wondering how you can earn money as a bodybuilder. In this article, marketing strategies for gaining more clients as a bodybuilder are introduced and explained. Both professional bodybuilders and new bodybuilders who are just starting their careers can benefit from these strategies based on their potential. Even if you don’t have enough budget to open your own gym, bodybuilding has the potential of starting your business with no money.
Knowledge is Your Strength as a Bodybuilder
There was a time when people chose their trainers based on their physical looks. If you were bulked up with huge biceps, you could have attracted almost all the teenagers in the gym as your clients. New generations focus more on the health aspects of bodybuilding, and in order to prove to them that your workout system emphasizes physical health, you need the background knowledge to convince your current and possible clients. Usually, people would accept whatever they heard from their trainer. Still, with so much educational bodybuilding content available on YouTube, you need to convince your clients with reason and explanations based on scientific facts.
The value of your personal experience as a seasoned bodybuilder is unquestionable, but you need to develop and adopt an empiric method of bodybuilding. If your degree is related to bodybuilding, for example, physiology, athletic training, nutrition, or dietetics, you have solid proof for your claims. However, the speed of knowledge distribution has increased significantly over the last decades, so keep your mind open if you hear about new methods of training from trainees. Don’t unthinkingly reject new ideas because you are afraid that they might challenge your authority as a bodybuilding coach. Rejecting ideas can make you look like a biased trainer, and this may cost you a new client or current ones.
If you have been training for a couple of years and just started thinking about how to make money as a bodybuilder, don’t be discouraged. Having a degree has its advantages, but more is needed to be a hundred percent proof of knowledge. Make up for your lack of academic background by educating yourself. There are thousands and thousands of pieces of content that you can use to learn the fundamentals of bodybuilding. Don’t forget that you need to get a bodybuilding coach certification(CPT) before getting clients. Several organizations, such as ISSA and Nasm, hold CPT courses.
Create educational bodybuilding content
Don’t limit yourself to coaching in the gym when you can have online clients everywhere on the planet. Accepting online clients is beneficial as it reduces the energy you have to spend for each client. Although online clients may be easier to handle, managing methods of payment is challenging as some of your clients may live in developing countries and don’t have access to visa cards or other platforms. For some of the clients, you can accept payment in cryptocurrencies, but that is risky, as you may accidentally violate regulations regarding cryptocurrencies.
Another option is creating a complete fitness program with tutorials. There are major YouTube channels and fitness apps that have fitness programs, but you can still earn money as a bodybuilder by creating your own. For example, Khabib Nurrmagedov, former UFC lightweight champion, made a fitness program for an app. You might think that he has a huge fan base, so it is easy for him to sell his programs, but it still proves that you can make money by designing fitness programs. The extent to which you will be able to sell your program is different from a former world champion, but it’s a head start that can boost your career as a bodybuilder. Sell your program to websites like Sellfy and DPD. If you find it hard or even impossible to sell your content as a program, share it on social media platforms.
Body Building Content on Social Media
For social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, you can divide your content topics into two general categories: educational content and trend-related content. As a bodybuilder, you must create educational content to establish yourself as a reliable coach and attract more clients. Attracting more customers can help you make money. Educational content should be mixed with entertainment to attract more followers to your social media account. For the entertainment part, analyze trends on the social media platform that you are working on. The trend might be a voice-over, music, or even a movie. Choose features of the trend you think can be related to bodybuilding and adopt them into your educational content.
Create a Reaction video to other bodybuilding videos
One way to attract loads of attention is by identifying other bodybuilders who put educational bodybuilding content on Instagram and react to it. Now, three different types of reaction videos are possible. One is that you analyze the content of the videos in terms of their educational value, accuracy, and practicality. Then, write the analysis like a review post and share it on Instagram or any other platforms that you are active on. You can ask others if they are ok with you commenting on their content, but most people, especially bodybuilding influencers, don’t have a problem with reactions because it helps them get more views. The second scenario is that you can explain what other bodybuilders are doing on their videos and offer an alternative. For example, someone is introducing bicep curls as an exercise that increases bicep size. In your reaction video, you can suggest an alternative exercise that is more efficient for muscle growth. Instead of a bicep dumbbell curl, you can tell your audience to try reverse-grip pull-up. Remember that you must have logical reasons based on knowledge. Explain your reasons for the alternative exercise in detail, and use technical vocabulary to explain the factors that enhance muscle growth.
In the third scenario, you do not just criticize the educational content of other bodybuilders, but you label their videos and education as false. In the bodybuilding business, there is too much false information, and some are to the extent of myths. Finding false information is not time-consuming at all; if you scroll down on Instagram, you will find at least ten posts and reels with false, outdated bodybuilding information. The language you use when you want to say that someone is spreading false information is very crucial because your choice of words and tone could create animosity and hatred. Instead, by using scientific language and a friendly tone, you can avoid conflicts or even an online feud with another bodybuilder. However, sometimes people don’t care about your tone and language; they only focus on the false information part, which makes them either liars or uneducated. You may get no reaction from some people, but most people will respond, and they intend to hurt your image because you took the first shot by accusing them of spreading false information. Regardless of the backfires you might get from creating reaction videos, these videos are a great way to attract a new audience.
Collaborate with Other Bodybuilders
A good report with another influencer opens the door to many possibilities. Partnering is one advantage of collaborating with another bodybuilder to make more money. You can partner up with another bodybuilder to start your own brand of sports clothing. Depending on your financial situation, it’s even possible to invest together with your partner in supplements such as protein powders or even sports drinks. Before starting a partnership with another bodybuilder, you should consider a couple of factors, like the similarities or differences between long-term goals. Your ultimate goal might be different from that of your business partner, but you may have some objectives that are the same. After starting a partnership, consider applying for a business grant.
It is possible to limit the extent to which you want to collaborate with other bodybuilders. If you are not ready to start a business, you can restrict your partnership only to social media content. The first stage is initiation. The initiation can happen by only commenting something like we should hit the gym together, bro! This way, others will be aware that something is happening between two bodybuilding influencers. Then you can share a picture of yourself with other influencers and write will post the video of our workouts later. Posting a video of your workouts with other influencers has great potential for attracting new followers on YouTube and Instagram. In the video, you can discuss the details of each exercise with your partner and have discussions about the number of sets and reps. Later, if you get positive feedback from your videos, you can plan to start a bodybuilding podcast to make money as a bodybuilder.
Design Fitness Programs for Athletes
Your primary focus should be designing plans for people who want to change the physical shape of their bodies, but by designing exercises for athletes in different fields, you can increase the number of your clients. Combat sports are trending nowadays; with the increasing popularity of organizations like UFC, many people, even celebrities, are more eager to try combat sports. You don’t even need to be a professional athlete yourself, but you can design routines for people who want to start boxing, kickboxing, etc.
