Do you love staying active and working out? You might be wondering whether there’s a way to transform your active lifestyle into a full career. Wouldn’t it be great if you could make money just by doing what you love? In this case, we’re talking about an active lifestyle that keeps you fit and healthy. Well, as it turns out, you can! There are multiple routes to take here and while you might think that they are all obtainable they’re actually not as difficult as they seem.
On this post, we’re going to provide strategies for each option and ways to bring this career idea to life. We’re also going to check out some pitfalls that you need to be aware of to ensure that this doesn’t become a low-income job. There’s no reason why a career like this can’t lead to riches and fortune if you take the right steps and follow a strategy.
The Pro Athlete
One option is to become a professional athlete. This is an attractive idea, particularly when you consider the average income of these individuals. You can make millions doing this, so how does it happen?
Well, it does depend a lot on age. While there are a few sports that are the exception to this rule, very few pros get started any older than 20. Ideally, you should have had this plan in place through at least your late teens and possibly before this. There are various youth groups, training options and points of entry at this level. Once you go beyond this, it becomes a lot harder to crack the industry.
In other cases and sports, like snowboarding, it’s about getting sponsored. This can be quite difficult because it tends to depend on your image and whether you’re marketable. To be successful in the sponsorship game you really need to work on your social profiles and make sure that you have a strong following online. We’re going to discuss this a little further down for another career idea.
So, do you have to give up on this dream if you’re past the typical age point? Well, maybe not because it does become a great deal rarer. Ultimately, you’ll have to hope you’re tracked by a talent scout which is of course, not unheard of, but a tad rare.
Many professional athletes have completed some form of educational training or even a personal trainer course. By taking the time to invest in a course it increases their skills, knowledge and even the variation of clientele’. Its also vital for insurance purpose’s
Seasonal Jobs And Fun
One could argue that all sports are essentially seasonal but some activities are certainly more so than others. These include:
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- Scuba diving
- Surfing
Now, if you love any of these sports or activities then you are probably keen to turn them into a professional job. Well, seasonal jobs could be the answer. Again, this could be great if you are still young and perhaps taking a gap year. But, you could also think about doing this as a full-time career.
The mistake people make here is thinking that they can work in this type of position all year round if they choose the right location. For instance, they always need divers in Hawaii right? Well, not quite because you have to think about the levels of demand. Demand blows up through the summer months and then trickles off at other points of the year. Now, if you work your fingers to the bone through summer and operate as an independent agent after building up a solid rep, you can earn enough to get you through the rest of the year.
But a better option would be to treat a seasonal job as exactly that – a seasonal job. You can then fill in the gaps in your employment or the low demand periods with another job that we’re going to talk about here.
Be aware that some seasonal jobs, depending on where they are and how strong they are in a certain region, will usually require some level of immigration. Unless you are born lucky enough to live in a tourist hotspot or a country with the right climate. To do this, you need to find a position and then move. You’ll find it a lot easier to gain immigration approval with this plan. You should also think about gaining as many qualifications as possible to ensure that you are considered an asset for point-based immigration systems.
A Point Of Inspiration
Are you all about the aesthetic that comes with staying fit and do you feel comfortable with the skin you’re in? If so, then you might want to consider becoming an Instagram fitness model. Here, you will essentially make money off being an inspiration for other people. From the outside in, it looks like people who succeed here simply make money by living their typical healthy life. This isn’t the case at all though and there’s a lot of work to put in underneath the surface.
First, you need to know how to gain a following. Unless you have a stroke of dumb luck, this is going to take quite a lot of work and effort. You’ll need to explore online marketing tactics to guarantee that people do find your profiles online. You will need to familiarize yourself with SEO and it might even be worth taking a marketing course. A lot of so-called ‘Instagram models’ do have content training or make enough to hire a marketing team.
You also need to find the right hook. There’s a lot of people clamoring for this source of income. The best have something unique about their profile. The classic is an epic weight loss story but even this is becoming too common. Instead, you should think about adding more value which brings us to the next possibility.
The Online Trainer
As you might be starting to see, the best way to earn a living from fitness is to not focus on one of these ideas but two or three. Online training can be paired with an online social media fitness model. To do this, you can create videos of your workout routine or even create blog posts. You should be aiming to provide a lot of useful information that the people who follow you can use. This could include anything from diet plans to the recommended exercises for losing particular types of weight or building particular types of muscle. Be aware that the key here is providing specific tips and solutions rather than the type of advice that can be found anywhere. If your audience sees you as an amateur, they won’t take you seriously and you will lose their interest.
You also need to make sure that you are getting the right setup and tech in place here. It’s crucial that you have the systems you need to provide, promote and publish the best high-quality content. Think about getting a great camera and video equipment while looking into some courses to teach you how to film and edit this type of content too.
The In-Person Trainer
Alternatively, you might want to consider becoming a trainer in person. You still need marketing for this but it’s a different type. Here, you need to explore the concept of local SEO. Local SEO is about attracting people to your business who are in your local area. They should be within easy traveling distance to you if you are planning on holding classes in person.
Qualifications are also important for this option too. You need to make sure that you’re seen as an expert and someone that people can trust. You can start by getting your PT certification. This will ensure that you are able to provide real evidence that you are well trained and that you can be trusted.
Of course, you also need to make sure that you have a solid reputation and you need to get this right from the beginning. If you fail to do this, then it’s hard to bounce back from the initial image created. This is simply about ensuring that you are delivering a quality solution that customers love. In other words, you shouldn’t shy away from going the extra mile for your clients.
The Awesome Teacher
Alternatively, you could consider operating in the teaching environment. You can think about becoming a physical education teacher or operating at the college level. You might even think about working for a professional sports organization or coaching a sports team. To do this, the qualifications will once again be crucial.
When you do apply for jobs like this, you want to make sure that you focus on your own individual athletic achievements, whatever these may be. A lot of candidates will forget this, but it’s worth focusing on because your employer may want to use this. If you were the captain of a particular football team or you won awards for your athletic performance, they can promote that. It is, in every sense of the word, a unique selling point and it should certainly be embraced.
Take this advice and you can use one of these options to make a career in fitness a reality for you.
