4 Mistakes Fitness Influencers Make With Their Business
By Tyler Olson, CPA, Owner, Tyler James Advisory
The fitness influencer market has grown on Instagram to unimaginable levels. It seems like every day there is a new influencer blowing up on the platform offering online training, supplements, and clothes. While it may seem like they are all super successful and living a life of celebrity status, this is not always the case. Income and lifestyle can vary drastically between influencers, and it isn't always apparent who's crushing the game and whose just along for the ride. Followers, likes, and butt pictures are just the beginning of a successful influencer. Tyler James Advisory has been working with influencers for years now, sometimes taking client's business from thousands of followers to a near million followers. Below are four of the biggest mistakes that we have seen in our experience that fitness influencers make when trying to grow their business.
1) Over-profiting
This may seem like a great thing. You are making more money from fitness influencing than your peers in the same category as you. While this may sound great, if you are over-profiting from your Instagram, you are likely overselling. This means you are posting swipe-ups on supplements and clothes multiple times a day, and it seems like every post is to sell something to your followers. This can make you a ton of money, but it will halt your follower growth. People don't want to keep following someone who is just trying to sell them stuff 24/7.
Selling is a massive part of making it as a full-time fitness influencer. Although, when sales are the only thing you do, it will hurt your business and growth long-term. Finding a balance between free information, such as workouts, nutrition, and lifestyle, and selling is key to continued growth and profitability as an influencer. This is one of the biggest mistakes we see today. It is settling for short-term profits over long-term growth model.
2) Under-profiting
Similar to over-profiting, under profiting can lead to its fair share of problems. Generally, if an influencer is under-profiting, they are not able to dedicate their full-time to the business, and therefore, continue to under profit. Under profiting comes from not knowing what your market is, not knowing how to sell the right amount, or not having the time to capitalize on your growing Gram.
Under-profiting can lead to a bad cycle where you are never able (or never perceived able) to make sufficient funds to fully dive-in. This is generally just a mindset that can be solved if you are aware of it. We have clients that have full-time college educations or jobs that can efficiently profit off their influencer business as well. Solving under-profiting can be simple if you are aware of the problem. Taking a sales class to get better at selling, finding new revenue streams that compliment your offering, consulting with a business adviser in the industry, or increasing the amount of time you dedicate to the platform. Now is the perfect time to start profiting as a fitness influencer, why are you holding yourself back?
3) Building the Wrong Audience
Building the wrong audience can be one of the hardest things to reverse when it has already happened. Therefore, this can be the BIGGEST mistake an influence in the fitness industry can make. While it doesn't happen overnight like some other mistakes, correcting this also can take years. This can happen to both girls and guys, but it is more common in girls from what we have seen. Generally, this occurs when fitness girls post many revealing body pictures without insightful information that attract significant guy followers. While they may be getting insane likes and followers, they will struggle to profit from this audience.
In general, guys aren't going to buy the yoga pants that you are trying to sell, or the hair, skin, and nail supplements. They are following you because you're a pretty girl who shows them what they want to see. Do not get caught up in the rapid growth and likes here. Profiting off this audience is extremely difficult, and transitioning to a more female fitness market is even harder. It can be done, though, over time. To fix this, we recommend posting more informative content to empower your women audience and start to grow that. If you have a business profile or use a different Instagram tracking app, you will be able to see the shift in male to female followers over time. If you are consistent, you will be ready to start profiting off your business and have a strategic and growing income.
4) "Influencing"
Finally, the last mistake we see in fitness influencers business is influencing. This may seem evident that fitness influencers influence, but that is not what we mean here. When we say influencing, we are talking about influencers posting with brands, supplements, etc. trying to get their followers to take action. Once an influencer hits a certain following count and engagement, brands of all kinds will notice them and want them to promote their stuff. They will send influencers gobs of free clothing, beauty products, or supplements. A veteran influencer appreciates these but doesn't post very many of them. Why? Posting every brand that sends you stuff makes you lose your credibility with your following.
Promoting every yoga pant line in the business doesn't make followers want to buy them from you. They don't see you as a credible source that is passionate about a brand. Committing to a few select brands that align with you and your audience is where the money is made. Influencers can build a loyal and trusting audience by promoting a single clothing, supplement, or other brand. This audience will buy more from the brands the influencer trusts and continually posts with. This leads to significantly more sales and profits for the influencer, while simultaneously building a loyal and trusting following. This is crucial for continued success in the industry.
Conclusion
The fitness influencer market is competitive, complex, and sometimes painful. Hopefully, these mistakes discussed above allow you to look at your business and make some tweaks to ensure you are getting the most out of it. This doesn't mean just profits. It means a loyal and dedicated following as well.