Since YouTube launched in 2005, millions of videos have been uploaded, and countless celebrities and businesses have used the platform to achieve fame and notoriety.
Grow Your Fitness Brand with Trainerfu – Start Now!
Build your brand and attract more clients with marketing tools that work. Discover how Trainerfu can help you promote your business effortlessly.
Try it freeYouTube reached 2.5 billion active users in 2021, making it one of the most popular apps in the world, behind only Google and Facebook in total usage. However, unlike Instagram and Facebook, it’s much easier for creators to discover on YouTube.
Plus, video content is the perfect format for fitness businesses. Personal trainers can take advantage of the fact that plenty of people are searching for workout classes, exercise demos, healthy meal tutorials, and more.
Starting a fitness YouTube channel can help you grow an online following that will ultimately make you more sales. And more sales equals more money! In that way, a fitness YouTube channel can be really profitable.
Sounds great, right?
So how do you start? Don’t worry, we’re sharing 9 must-know tips for starting a fitness YouTube:
- Tip 1: Nail down your niche
- Tip 2: Find content ideas
- Tip 3: Get the right equipment
- Tip 4: How to record and edit
- Tip 5: Batch video creation
- Tip 6: Don’t expect results overnight
- Tip 7: Build your following
- Tip 8: Open an ongoing communication channel
- Tip 9: Get more clients with the right packages
Nail down your niche
It takes time and money to make content and market your business. Make sure those precious resources are put to good use by tailoring your content to the right people. If you haven’t already, get clear on your niche. Knowing this target audience will help you create a fitness YouTube channel that they want to subscribe to.
Here are some tips for finding your niche:
-
Think about who your happiest clients are. These are the people who understand the value of your service, have worked with you the longest, and are eager to share their positive experiences. Are they busy women looking to lose weight? Or are they seniors looking to gain more strength and mobility? Which client has brought you the best results?
-
Make sure your niche is the right size. Your segments come to mind when thinking about your happiest clients (and not-so-happy clients). The important next step is ensuring those segments are the right size. For example, targeting “people who want to get in shape” might be too broad, while targeting “people with rotator cuff injuries” might be too narrow.
You’ve got to find the sweet spot, where the market is large enough to meet your revenue goals, but not so big that you aren’t able to tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
- Pick a niche that matches your passion and your skills. Lastly, an essential part of niching down is ensuring you are qualified to work within your niche and enjoy doing so. This part is especially vital because it determines how you will excel in your business and build your reputation. The passion for what you do will come in handy when things get tough, and your expertise/experience in a certain area makes you more qualified than others to serve your particular niche.
Find content ideas
Now that you know who your content is for, it’s time to start generating content ideas targeted toward that segment. One big thing to think about is your ideal client’s problems. What are their biggest challenges when it comes to fitness? What kinds of things are they looking for online?
Educational content
We recommend developing 4-5 content pillars, the educational topics you will share online. Your content pillars should align with how you solve your clients’ problems and get them from point A to point B.
Here’s an example of four pillars you might see on a fitness channel:
- Workout
- Nutrition
- Mindset
- Habits
Once you have your pillars, you’ll break them down further to generate your content ideas. Here’s what one of the pillars from above might look like broken down:
Workout
- Stretching
- Foam rolling
- Warmup
- Exercises
- Form cues
Doing this for each pillar will give you 25-30 subtopics. That’s a lot of content! These educational topics can help you build your authority online so that followers see you as a go-to source for all things fitness, making them much more likely to work with you when they’re ready to hire a personal trainer.
Keyword research
YouTube is a search engine, and keyword research can help you show up in more of your ideal client’s searches with the right content.
You can use some online tools to see what real people are searching for. AnswerThePublic monitors autocomplete data from search engines like Google and will show you which useful phrases and questions people are asking about your keywords.
Tools like Keywords Everywhere and SEMrush will show you the search volume for certain key phrases and how much competition exists for them.
Get the right equipment
You don’t have to have a thousand-dollar video camera or dedicated studio space to make great YouTube videos. But there are some things you should do to make your videos look more professional.
Create a basic setup in your gym or home. All you need is decent lighting and a good background that’s free from distractions.
Most likely, the camera on your phone will work just fine for filming videos. Buy a tripod so that you can set your phone up and record on your own. If you do want to spend a little money on equipment, consider investing in a good mic.
How to record and edit
Here comes the most intimidating part for some personal trainers – recording and editing the videos!
There can be a bit of a learning curve in getting this right, and it can take some time to get over your nerves if you’re camera shy. But with a little practice and consistency, you will get more comfortable in front of the camera, and your finished product will look better and better.
Outlines vs. scripts
When it comes to recording great videos (and not having too many takes), being prepared is key. Depending on the type of video you are doing, you may choose to prepare with an outline or script.
An outline is a basic template for how your video will flow. You might organize the main parts of the video on paper and leave room for on-camera improvising. Outlines are fast to create and can make your videos feel more natural. However, since you’re not writing down everything you’re going to say beforehand, outlines leave more room for error.
Writing scripts is an excellent option if you need more structure for creating videos. Scripts take a little more time to prepare but can help you feel more comfortable in front of the camera. You can write a full script and then use a teleprompter app to record your video.
Over time, you may become more comfortable using outlines rather than scripts or stick with a combination of both. However you choose to record your video, editing tools can save you hours of starting over.
Use software like Veed to edit your videos. You can cut out any mistakes, add subtitles, remove background noise, add music and text to your video, and much more.
Batch video creation
Here’s a super important tip to save time and stress: Batch your video creation.
The best YouTubers don’t make videos one at a time; they make several at once.
Come up with your content ideas, write multiple scripts and outlines, and set aside enough time to record all your videos in one day—you might even choose to do it on the same day every month! This will give you a content bank and help you consistently produce your videos.
Don’t expect results overnight
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and no one has ever become YouTube famous overnight (although it may sometimes seem like it!).
Creating videos takes a lot of time, so it can be frustrating not to see results immediately. As with all marketing and content strategies, it’s important to be patient and consistent.
When you’re first starting out, YouTube doesn’t know who your audience is. It won’t be recommending your videos to anyone right away. But, if you create good content, it will soon find your ideal client, and your channel will grow. Even when it feels like you’re getting nowhere, stay with it!
Build your following
Creating unique and great content will go a long way toward building a strong following on YouTube. However, you can do a few other things to help speed up this process.
Build relationships with other YouTubers in a similar genre. You can do this before you even put out your first video. Once you’ve got some viewers, connect with them on other social channels as well and send followers from other platforms to YouTube. Show appreciation for your active viewers by responding to comments.
Taking some time to learn more about YouTube’s algorithm can give you an edge over the competition. Find out how YouTube works, which videos it promotes, and what you need to do to get YouTube to boost your videos. A boost from YouTube is a great way to get more eyes on your page fast!
Open an ongoing communication channel
YouTube is a great way to attract your ideal clients and build your fitness brand in 2025. In order to continue pushing those prospects further down your sales funnel, you’ve got to create an ongoing communication channel where you can communicate with your leads.
Ask viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel so that you can open a line of communication. Another great way to do this is via email. Consider offering your audience a freebie or lead magnet in exchange for their email addresses.
Read our blog to know more “Ultimate Guide to Fitness Email Marketing for Personal Trainers”
In your email and YouTube content, you can establish your expertise, dispel your ideal client’s doubts, highlight aspects of your personality, and present your offers directly. Your communication channels are vital for nurturing leads and making sales.
Get more clients with the right packages
Starting a fitness YouTube channel can help you get more visibility online. But to convert subscribers into paying customers, you have to offer the right online personal training packages.
Traditional personal training is minimal. Clients require a significant time commitment, and the cost can increase. For most people, it simply isn’t doable. This means that you may end up with many viewers on YouTube, but many of them won’t be able to buy from you because traditional personal training is just not the right fit for them.
However, online personal training is a more flexible and affordable option that can help you reach more clients. Consider the following online training packages to increase your conversion:
- Online group training - serve many clients at once and offer them group support remotely.
- 1-on-1 online personal training - a fully online option in which a client’s program is delivered remotely, including check-in calls, workout logs, habit coaching, nutrition support, and more.
- Template program - build a templated program that clients can buy and complete on their own time. This hands-off option can make you money for years to come.
- Hybrid training - offer in-person support less often and deliver the rest of the materials online. This option is great for clients who want flexibility and affordability but a little more hand-holding.
Our personal training app TrainerFu makes delivering all online training packages easy. The app can help you deliver workouts, monitor your clients’ progress, provide community support, build template programs, and more.
The right online packages can be the secret sauce for a YouTube channel that makes you money. Building your fitness channel will take time, but with patience, persistence, and a little strategy, you can take advantage of this great platform and have fun while doing it!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I identify the right niche for my fitness YouTube channel?
Consider your expertise, passions, and audience demand. Examples include weight loss, strength training, yoga, or home workouts. Research existing channels to find gaps you can fill.
2. How can I generate engaging content ideas for my channel?
Answer common fitness questions, share workout routines, offer quick tips, or create challenges. Engage with your audience through comments and polls to understand their needs.
3. What are effective strategies for recording and editing fitness videos?
Record in a well-lit, clutter-free space. Use beginner-friendly editing software, such as iMovie, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Final Cut Pro, to add transitions, text, and music. Keep videos concise and visually appealing.
4. What should I expect in terms of growth and audience engagement when starting out?
Growth may be slow initially. Focus on consistency, quality, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to improve discoverability. Engagement will increase as your content resonates with viewers.
5. What methods can I use to maintain ongoing communication with my subscribers?
Build an email list through lead magnets, such as free workout plans. Link your social media accounts to interact with followers on multiple platforms.