How to become an online personal trainer

Becoming an online personal trainer is thrilling—you have control over your schedule, the format of your sessions, and the number of clients you take on. However, making a full-time income from online fitness coaching can be difficult without the right guidance.

Here’s our full guide to becoming an online personal trainer, covering everything from getting qualified to growing your personal brand.

How to become an online personal trainer (step-by-step)

1. Get qualified as a PT

If you’re not already working in the fitness sector, the first step to becoming an online personal trainer is to ensure you have the core qualifications needed, which are:

Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing
Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training

Achieving a Level 2 qualification enables you to work as an instructor in a gym or sports centre. But if you want to offer personalised one-on-one coaching to clients, you’ll need a Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training.

You’ll also need to develop a range of hard and soft skills to feel confident working as an online personal trainer. You can read more about these in our guide to the 12 roles and responsibilities of a personal trainer.

2. Define your unique selling point

You may think targeting everyone interested in improving their fitness will help you succeed in becoming an online personal trainer.

However, it’s much easier to identify a smaller area of the market, as you’ll have a greater chance of standing out against the crowd and gaining a following of like-minded clients who are seeking expert advice rather than a general approach to their fitness.

For example, @rebeccalouisefitness on TikTok (with over 500k followers) creates content geared towards pregnant women. This is evident in her bio as soon as you land on her profile, which reads ‘Your Pregnant Workout & Mindset Bestie’.

She uses her account to promote her training programme, the Burn Method, which is aimed at the same target audience.

It’s a good idea to:

identify a niche area of the market you’re genuinely passionate about
perform in-depth competitor research to see what’s already out there
build your knowledge and expertise in this area through further training and research
grow your personal brand in this area by creating content catered towards your target audience, and developing a training programme that suits their fitness goals

Keep reading for more detailed advice on these steps.

3. Create a business plan

The journey to becoming an online fitness coach becomes much clearer once you’ve chosen a niche to target. You can begin outlining your goals, services, pricing structure, and marketing strategies based on what you discover in your initial research.

Thoroughly researching the market, both within and outside of your niche, will give you ideas and help you visualise the business you want to create.

A quick Google or social media search of different terms, such as ‘online personal trainer for runners’ or ‘online personal trainer for women over 50’ will give you examples of existing businesses and their format, pricing structures, and so on.

It can also help you decide on your main income streams, such as:

one-on-one coaching
group training sessions
a subscription service
pre-recorded online programmes
e-books on fitness or nutrition
affiliate marketing
sponsorships and brand partnerships

If you already have an online following or strong social media marketing skills, you may prefer generating income through brand partnerships instead of traditional one-to-one personal training sessions.

Once you’ve done your research and had an initial brainstorm, read our guide on what to include in your personal trainer business plan to flesh this out.

4. Choose the right platform for your business

When learning how to become an online fitness coach, choosing the platform that best suits your business needs is an important step.

The options available to you are:

social media—a personal brand-building approach through sharing workout tips, challenges, and nutrition advice via TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube
a personal trainer website—best for promoting one-on-one coaching or pre-recorded programmes and attracting clients through fitness articles, videos, and other resources
a third-party coaching platform—such as My PTHub or Trainerize. Though less customisable, these can be more affordable and user-friendly than developing your own website
a combination—you can use social media to promote one-to-one coaching and training programmes if you’re a keen content creator, or encourage website users to connect with you on social platforms

5. Automate your business through software

The software you’ll need depends heavily on the format of your online fitness coaching business. It differs on a case-by-case basis, but generally:

General software needs

website builder—Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress are good options for creating a professional personal trainer website
payment processing—PayPal or Stripe are designed for handling transactions (though this is often included in CMS tools, if you’re using this as your platform)
email marketing—tools like Mailchimp or Active Campaign are useful if you want to send newsletters to your clients

One-on-one coaching and group classes

video conferencing—Zoom or YouTube Live can be used for running online sessions if you don’t have an all-in-one software such as Trainerize
CMS (client management software)—tools like Trainerize or TrueCoach are designed for tracking client progress and communications, and improving client retention through their connectivity and ease of use
scheduling software—Calendly or Acuity Scheduling may be useful for managing your appointments if this isn’t part of your CMS
community platforms—Facebook Groups or Discord can be used to foster a sense of community among clients

Pre-recorded programmes

live streaming software—Zoom or YouTube Live can be used for streaming to multiple clients
CMS (client management software)—tools like Trainerize or TrueCoach are designed for tracking client progress and communications, and improving client retention through their connectivity and ease of use
LMS (learning management software)—Thinkific or Teachable are specially designed for hosting online courses
scheduling software—Calendly or Acuity Scheduling may be useful for managing your appointments if this isn’t part of your CMS

All online fitness coaching formats

fitness tracking apps—integration with apps like MyFitnessPal or Garmin may be useful for tracking client progress
content creation tools—tools like Canva can be invaluable for designing marketing materials or social media posts

6. Develop your training programme

Once you’ve scoped out a strategy for your business, you can develop a training programme aimed specifically at your target audience.

It should be customised based on your clients’ goals, fitness level, health status, and age, amongst other factors.

To offer a more tailored approach, you may decide to create varied programmes for different clients based on their answers to a questionnaire or during a PT consultation.

If you’re delivering this through pre-recorded sessions, LMS software such as Thinkific or Teachable can host your programme and provide a seamless learning experience for your clients.

Or, yYou may decide to solely run live one-to-one or group sessions—if so, you’ll find platforms streaming platforms such as Zoom are best for this client experience.

7. Build your online presence

Developing your online marketing skills and using them to build a strong digital presence is essential for you to become an online personal trainer.

Not only does it help you showcase your expertise in your chosen niche and attract potential clients, but it fosters a sense of community and trust, encouraging engagement and retention from existing clients.

It’s important to:

create a professional website—building a quality PT website is crucial when becoming an online personal trainer (unless you’re building a business solely on social media)
leverage social media—targeting platforms that resonate with your target audience, such as Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, is a must
learn other forms of online marketing—learning basic skills in SEO, email marketing, or even paid advertising can help you scale your business once its established

Robust Running and the Burn Method are two good examples of online fitness coaching websites with a clear target audience in mind.

The first example is aimed at runners wanting to build their strength, and the latter is aimed primarily at women looking to improve their fitness and nutrition.

You can read our full guide on using TikTok as a personal trainer and this guide to Instagram marketing for fitness professionals for actionable advice on building your following on these platforms.

8. Growing your client base

There’s a lot you can do either to convert potential clients into paying customers or keep those already subscribed to your services on board.

surveys—gathering insights from both existing and potential clients can help you determine their needs and preferences and further tailor your services towards them
reviews and testimonials—offering existing clients an incentive, such as a voucher for a partnered fitness brand, in exchange for leaving you a review or testimonial can help you build social proof and attract new clients
networking—by participating in forums, groups, or social media discussions to connect with others in the fitness industry, you can build your online presence further and establish yourself as an expert in your area

Online fitness coaching FAQs

Do I need a qualification to be an online personal trainer?

Holding a personal training qualification in the UK is not legally required, as the title ‘personal trainer’ is not a protected term. However, a Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training is a pre-requisite for most fitness jobs and personal trainer insurance policies.

Without this qualification, operating as an online personal trainer could jeopardise your business and client safety.

Are online personal trainers in demand?

Yes—there’s been a huge shift towards virtual fitness solutions in recent years, especially since people are becoming more pressed for time and require flexible fitness solutions that fit their schedules.

Can you make money as an online personal trainer?

Becoming an online personal trainer versus working in a health and fitness setting can be incredibly lucrative, as your earning potential is uncapped. You can easily sell pre-recorded or group fitness sessions and, therefore, take on more clients. Through Insure4Sport, you can provide personal training sessions for up to 10 online clients at once and accommodate up to 30 participants based on the type of fitness class. For further details, refer to the Insurance Scope document.

How much do online personal trainers make?

There’s technically no limit to how much you can earn as an online personal trainer, especially if you’re skilled at leveraging your website traffic or social media following.

However, it can certainly take some time to build your online client base, so you may want to gradually transition into taking your business online rather than relying on it as your sole source of income straight away.

Specialist personal trainer insurance through Insure4Sport

Before you’re caught up in the excitement of becoming an online personal trainer, you may want to consider specialist insurance.

Through Insure4Sport, you’ll be covered to teach up to 10 online clients in group PT sessions and up to 30, depending on the type of fitness class. Pre-recorded sessions are also covered for onboarded clients.

Learn more about how we can help here, or click the button below to get an instant online quote.

Insure4Sport
29th October 2024
Business Advice