Best Fitness Business Owner Forums

Networking through the Internet has opened a whole new world for those in the fitness industry – from gym operators to personal instructors. It enables you to reach out to potential clients and effectively address your target audience. However, there aren’t many social networking sites for gym owners, connecting one fitness business owner to another. People looking to maintain their physique can easily reach out to their peers through social communities, but what about those looking for peer support in building their fitness brand image?

You may be wondering why you should communicate with your fellow gym operators. After all, they are competing against your business, right? Not always. Being a part of a social community for gym owners can help you discover new and improved ways to promote your brand, run your business, or widen your reach. For instance, forums for gym owners give you access to useful information about how to market a new product or service. Let’s take a look at some of the best fitness business owner forums you should consider visiting:

IDEA Health & Fitness Association

Ideafit.com allows you to connect with over 275,000 professionals in the fitness industry. By creating an account on this website, you gain access to useful resources and information that could benefit your business such as insurance products and online education. The “FitFeed” feature gives you an update on the trending headlines involving the health and fitness industry.

Through “Answers”, you can ask or answer questions related to running a fitness business. Get information about useful statistics, marketing ideas, fitness specialist certifications, and more. Some aspiring gym owners and personal trainers even reach out through this section to get opinions about critical business decisions.

Build your personal training client base through its’ “FitnessConnects,” which connects more than 16 million consumers to more than 250,000 fitness professionals though one of the industry’s largest databases.

LinkedIn 

By joining LinkedIn, you can become part of groups created for members of the fitness industry. Popular fitness groups on this website include the  International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA),  Club Industry, Fitness and Health Professionals, and more. Through these groups, you can share your expertise and knowledge about running a gym. You can even get useful tips to help you market your brand or improve client loyalty.

Bodybuilding

Although Bodybuilding.com is not solely for gym operators, you can still reach out to a long list of fellow fitness professionals. Set up an account on the website and you can connect with other gym owners as well as fitness enthusiasts through the “Forum” section. There are discussions dedicated to personal trainers, where you can share information about useful technology, personal fitness specialist certifications, and public speaking.

The website also introduces you to the latest in fitness equipment and technology. You get to learn about new products that you can implement at your gym for an improved client work-out experience.

Fitness Center Owner

This website gives valuable resources for existing gym owners as well as those who are interested in starting a gym. You get information such as:

• Checklists for starting a fitness center
• Simple business plans
• Membership agreements
• Purchase commercial fitness equipment at wholesale prices

There are registration and monthly membership fees at FitnessCenterOwner.com, but the website provides thorough and in-depth information that other websites might not provide. The discussion forum helps you connect and share business tips with thousands of fellow fitness professionals. From this section, you can learn about fitness product wholesalers, property rental prices, comparisons between various furnishings for fitness centers, and more.

Fit-Pro

Fit-Pro’s website has been overhauled since this blog first went public in 2013.  It is now zeros in on magazine-length informative content, videos, and webinars providing a combination of both continuing professional training and business insight. For a single subscription, you access comprehensive webinars with high-level training such as this three-hour video on resistance training for older adults. Article categories include certification & education, career development and special populations among a dozen more. Although everyone loves 15-minute YouTube training videos now, true professionals understand the need for comprehensive learning to keep their clients safe and serve their fitness community at the highest level.

Gym Insight 

At Gym Insight, our gym management software provides a clear, easily-accessed, and transparent picture into your company’s financials. Our gym software is built in-house, by fitness club owners. There are no cumbersome third-party plug-ins or complicated protocols, and it’s available for a single, low monthly subscription price — no hidden fees, no links to your payment processor. Call us today for a free demonstration on how we can lower your software management costs and free up more of your capital!

Over to you…

• What are some other fitness business and professional networking websites?
• What is your favorite?

This blog first published Oct. 21, 2013 and has been updated Jan. 18, 2021