Ever since high-school kids found out they could go to school for exercising and lifting weights it was on. That’s an easy way to get a meathead to go to school (besides the booze, chicks, excess free time and other shenanigans that go along with college.)

According to ‘Colleges.niche.com’ there are currently 498 colleges with an exercise science or kinesiology department, that’s huge compared to what it was a few years ago.

In College, you’re supposed to follow the rules. Go to class, be a good student, listen to your professors, get out of school and job that you were told is safe and secure because that’s what grown-ups do.

Here are the most common career routes presented to college students:

The areas listed above are the most common. There are other options but after asking around, this is what the majority of professors were pushing their students to pursue. Sure a few areas may catch your eye, but is there anything else?

The options below are a little more entrepreneurial or controversial. In some people’s eyes, they don’t provide as much job security and reliability.

Unfortunately, job security isn’t the same as it used to be when our parents were young. It was common for people to stay with the same company for 20+ years, which is very rare these days. I would actually say that these ‘unconventional’ jobs provide more peace of mind because you don’t have to worry about the rug being pulled from under you whenever the company wants to downsize or new management comes in.

In school, the safe options were pretty limited, or at least, they are presented that way.

What jobs your professor forgot to mention

Online Coaching

Online coaching has become extremely popular the past few years for the simple fact that you can work with a coach on the other side of the world. I would never have thought that I would be living in New York City and online coaching clients in Australia, not in a million years, but that’s part of my life now. It’s great.

Here a few popular options in the world of online coaching:

Just like in-person training, there are some trainers that provide more value than others.

I know Instagram famous trainers who sell cookie-cutter programs to mass amounts of people for a quick buck. Only to never hear from these clients again and not provide any real value.

I also know coaches who have multiple six-figure online coaching businesses where they have such a great connection and reputation their clients send hand-written ‘thank you’ notes and gifts. Learn more about what makes these coaches so successful.

As much as online coaching has grown the past few years this is still a fairly new concept to grasp.

“Wait, I can work with a coach on the other side of the country? One who I really like and wanted to work with forever but haven’t been able to because I live so far away?”

Yes, yes you can. Learn more about my online coaching. 

Sales (Products, Supplements and Swag)

Despite what you may think, there are supplement companies who aren’t involved multilevel marketing schemes. Some genuinely want to help people.

These are the companies I recommend and I believe you should do the same if you are going to do it at all.

With a large following (social media or email), you can make a generous amount of money recommending products that may be beneficial to your audience. This is called affiliate marketing.

This doesn’t mean push anything and everything that comes your way. Your followers trust you so don’t be an asshole and screw them over or it will bite you in the ass. I have seen it happen to lots of people and you may never get that person to trust you again.

My general rule:

“If I use it, I like it, and I feel my audience would benefit from it I would recommend it. All other options are off the table.”

Having some swag for your fans to wear is a great way to have some fun with your brand.

Cool t-shirts, wristbands or water bottles that your followers and clients can wear and strut their sexiness in is always a plus. Typically this isn’t something to make a lot of money from but it is cool to see someone repping your brand that you’re working your ass off to build.

Workshops, Speaking and Courses

Put on your own or join a team that does this regularly. They can even be free events that will help drive traffic to other parts of your business or paid events, the choice is yours.

Here are few different options to think about:

As long as there are people willing to learn and get better you have the opportunity to help.

I recommend investing in yourself to become smarter, have new experiences, meet new people, and help in any way possible.

Blogging and Content Creation

Not too long ago if you were a blogger it used to mean broke, unemployed, loser. This may be the case for some, but others have made quite a name for themselves and live their perfect life which was built on blogging. Almost all of the badasses in ‘How to Crush It in the Fitness Industry’, blog. If you haven’t picked up your FREE copy yet, do it now.

If you want to work from home in your underwear, sitting next to a pool or traveling the world and snapping pics, this may a good fit for you. But you also better get really good at creating awesome content that your readers want to read.

Once you have some blogging and content finished, here are a few ways to monetize it:

One of the above, or all of the above. Poke around the internet and you will see many different ways people monetize their sites.

Choose your own hustle?

None of these have to be mutually exclusive, in fact, there should be some crossover if you want to build a successful fitness business and help more people. At the moment, most of my business are 1 on 1 in-person clients, but I also have online coaching clients, occasionally do seminars, contribute content to other sites, and am in the process of developing a product.

Fitness is a great career, I honestly couldn’t see myself doing anything else (unless there was some sort of cinnamon toast crunch eating challenge that magically got me jacked.) It’s an even better place when you know what your options are.

It’s the best place when you look at those options and decide what you want to do and go from there. Just because something isn’t common or ‘safe’ doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t go after it.

If you haven’t done so already pick up your FREE copy of ‘How to Crush It in the Fitness Industry’, you learn how to build a successful fitness business by doing what you love.

P.S. Comment below and let me know which route you would like me to dig some more actionable info for you.