In this episode, Dan explores how successful fitness professionals are building multiple income streams. He covers real-world examples, lessons from failed ideas, and a repeatable framework to help you test your own.

Dan is joined by Bodie Webster from Intent Strength and Fitness, Jake Morgan from Habitual Strength and Conditioning, Aidan Dawson from CrossFit Access, Lucia Tennant from Formotion Physio, Scott Hook from Vasse Strength and Conditioning, John Quinn - an online course creator, Jade Webb from Sixty7Six Strength and Conditioning, Rob Dicey from the Chasing Better Group and Ben Luckens from Life’s Peachy Fit.

9 things you’ll learn in this episode:

1. Why building extra income streams early in your career is crucial for long-term success.
2. How to test ideas quickly using a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach without risking time or capital.
3. A simple way to rank ideas based on effort vs. return using a 2x2 matrix.
4. The most common mistake fitness professionals make when adding a new revenue stream.
5. How to avoid cannibalising your core business when launching something new.
6. Real examples of income streams fitness professionals are using, like retreats, apparel, online coaching, retail, and courses.
7. The benefits of 'psychic income' and why non-financial returns also matter.
8. Why personal connections often outperform paid ads when growing a new venture.
9. How to use Google’s '20% time' concept to build new streams without hurting your main business.

Your action steps:

• Start a list of all the income stream ideas you’ve had and add to it every week.
• Choose one idea that excites you and solves a real problem your clients have.
• Build an MVP in under six hours - no polish, just enough to test if it works.
• Allocate a weekly time block to your MVP project and protect it from distractions.
• Use early feedback to double down on what works, or cross it off and move on.

Today we’re talking about how to create better videos for your fitness business.

In the first half of the episode, you’ll hear Dan talking to professional videographer, Bruce Garrod from Gingerbeard Media. This was part of a webinar he ran for the business owners he mentors.

Bruce teaches us how to create better video content with our phones. He covers the fundamentals of filming, lighting, audio, framing, composition, camera techniques, editing tips and the tech needed to get the most out of your phone.

Then, in the second half of this episode, Bruce analyses your Instagram feed, as well as those of other fitness business owners and shares his advice for how to improve them.

Here's something very different from my usual stuff.

Here’s something I wrote for myself to help me ‘work out life’.

It helped me.

Maybe it can help you too.

I cover:

• The role of pain and suffering in life. How do I remove them? Should I remove them?
• How can I balance ambition with contentment? Striving with settling? Journey and destination?
• How can I balance work, productivity, time and money, to give me a ‘good life’.
• When I strip back the work I do, who am I?
• Do I use busyness and work as a distraction from the question of what I actually want to do with my life?
• What are the elements of a ‘good life’, and how do I get more of them?

In this episode, I explore how Jesse from Bloom Allied Health consistently converts short-term trial clients into loyal, long-term customers, sharing her proven strategies to double client conversion rates.

5 things you’ll learn in this episode:
- How Jesse consistently converts 30–50% of trial sessions into long-term paying clients—double the industry average.
- Three practical strategies to effectively turn short-term or trial clients into committed, long-term customers.
- Why shifting your client’s motivation from external referrals to internal goals dramatically boosts retention.
- The importance of offering flexible, affordable entry points to build client commitment without compromising premium services.
- How Jesse built an award-nominated business while balancing motherhood, lecturing, and research commitments.

Your action steps:
- Set clear expectations from day one that short-term sessions are just the beginning of a long-term journey.
- Ask deeper questions to uncover your client's real, personal motivations for engaging with your service.
- Provide financially accessible options that allow clients to remain involved beyond their initial sessions.
- Use future-focused language consistently to shift your client’s perspective toward ongoing commitment.
- Automate and systemise key business processes now to create freedom and flexibility in your future.

Listen now on The Business of Fitness Podcast: podfollow.com/the-business-of-fitness-podcast

In this episode, I explore how Grant Hancock built a thriving fitness business with a 167-person waiting list by uniquely positioning his services, overcoming burnout, and balancing growth with life priorities.

5 things you’ll learn:
- How Grant created overwhelming demand in a regional location with minimal competition.
- The hidden downsides of rapid business growth—and how to handle them.
- Practical strategies to use scarcity ethically in your business to boost demand.
- How Grant transitioned from burnout to a balanced business model that supports his lifestyle.
- The power of defining a niche to become a market leader, even in competitive industries.

Your action steps:
- Clearly define your ideal client and position your services uniquely to meet their needs.
- Regularly assess your pricing and adjust based on market demand rather than guilt or undervaluing your services.
- Implement a waiting list management system that regularly engages your audience through valuable content.
- Focus on building your business to fit your ideal lifestyle rather than letting growth control your personal time.
- Prioritise your wellbeing by creating non-negotiable boundaries around work hours and personal activities.

Listen now on The Business of Fitness Podcast: podfollow.com/the-business-of-fitness-podcast

Exercise Professionals shouldn't sell 'exercise' or even 'results'. To create positive, long term change, they need to deliver an EXPERIENCE. In this episode, Dan explains why the best business strategy is to be DIFFERENT, not better.

5 things you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why trying to be better isn't enough—and how being different creates your own category.
• How to write a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that actually makes you stand out.
• Why common claims like “personalised care” are no longer differentiators, but expectations.
• How to prove your USP with 20 repeatable actions that back up your claims.
• How to create micro and macro client journeys that make even mundane moments memorable.

• 63: 10 ways to ensure your side hustle idea will make $50k.
• 53: The four Es. A framework to build fitness businesses
• 48: 9 Ways To Pivot Your Fitness Business To Earn More

Stories are the most powerful marketing tool we have for sharing ideas and experiences. In this episode, Dan shares the content from a presentation he's giving at the Exercise and Sports Science Australia National Conference in Hobart. He'll teach you how to craft and share stories to benefit your business, your career and the impact you have on the world.

5 things you’ll learn:

• Why stories outperform facts in driving behaviour change and building trust with potential clients.
• The evolutionary reason storytelling is hardwired into human communication—and why it still works.
• A five-act storytelling formula used by top-grossing films and how it applies to fitness business marketing.
• Why your clients should be the heroes of your content, not you or your business.
• Practical ways to tell stories across social media, Google reviews, video, memes, and more.

If you enjoyed this, you’ll also enjoy the following, they’re some of my most popular articles and podcasts on topics similar to this one:

• 45: A gym advertising guide for every budget
• 44: How to get more clients using marketing psychology

In this episode Dan unpacks the six-step system he uses (and recommend to fitness business owners) for launching a successful fitness side hustle – from identifying real problems to testing and scaling the idea. This is based on the process we follow in the Fitness Side Hustle Project.

5 things you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why starting with a problem, rather than an idea, is the key to building a viable fitness side hustle.
• How to generate and filter multiple business ideas using your avatar’s real pain points.
• The frameworks I use to evaluate and prioritise ideas with low risk and high reward.
• What a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) actually looks like in the fitness industry – and why you should never build before testing.
• How to assess whether your side hustle is scalable, sustainable, and worth growing.

Resources mentioned:

• The four Es. A framework to build fitness businesses.
  Read the article | Listen to the podcast
• 9 ways to pivot your fitness business to earn more.
  Read the article | Listen to the podcast
• 10 ways to ensure your side hustle idea will make $50k.
  Read the article | Listen to the podcast
• A strategy guide to generating multiple income streams for Fitness Professionals.
  Read the article