How To Make Money Fitness Blogging

How do health blogs make money?

To be totally transparent, I have been blogging off and on for over five years. So I have a lot to share with you to answer the question of, "Can you make money with a fitness blog?"

But to scratch the surface, let me briefly list the primary ways to make money with a fitness blog:

Affiliate marketing
Ad revenue
Product sales (ebooks, courses, etc.)
Online personal training
Sponsored posts/brand partnerships

For more extensive info, check out how to make money online as a personal trainer or my in-depth post about how to make money blogging.

How do fitness websites make money?

I want to get more specific with my examples, so I have decided to include my latest income report in this post. So here's the breakdown:

Ad Revenue: $ 82.65 (I have Google Adsense on my blog, and I JUST installed it, so this number only reflects three weeks.)

ShareASale: $4.21… This is an affiliate network that houses/manages many different affiliate programs.

Restore The Core Sales: $9.99 – I created a monthlong ab workout program in digital form, and made one sale.

21 Day Postpartum Challenge Sales: $14.99 – I sold one digital copy of my postpartum workout + clean eating challenge.

Siteground Affiliate Sales: $100 – I helped two people start their own blogs using my recommended hosting service and received a commission.

Amazon Affiliate: $43.96 – I link to many Amazon products on my site and receive a commission.

Total: $255.80

So, can you make money with a fitness blog?The answer is yes, but it's a constant work in progress.

Update: Read my latest income report in which I made over $400!

Why isn't it more?

I can tell you EXACTLY why I am not already making the "big blogging bucks." If you're interested in becoming a successful fitness blogger, I would be paying attention.

While it took me some time to pinpoint reasons I'm not making more money, here are a few reasons that are certainly impacting my revenue:

Inconsistency. I blog when I want. I take weeks at a time off, don't have a set schedule, and don't *always* treat this like a biz.
Lack of product. I only have three products on my site. (Here's my store.) And I have only recently added those products.
Price point. None of my products cost more that $15 right now. That means that in order to make "big bucks," I'd have to sell hundreds of them per month.
Brand inconsistency. I get bored and I also like to test a lot of things. So my brand is changing a lot – which is bad from a marketing perspective.
Amateur SEO skills – I have a lot of traffic from Pinterest and a little from Google. More traffic would translate to more money!
Site age – my blog is less than three years old. Had I kept and been consistent with my first blog, it would surely have a bigger audience and more traffic.
I don't do Insta, YouTube, FB. As a personal choice for my mental health, I don't do FB at all. I do YouTube and Insta casually, but not seriously. This makes me ineligible for many brand sponsorships.

Is it worth it?

Well, let's break this down. It cost me less than $60 to start my blog with Siteground a few years ago. (Click for a blog startup tutorial.) Now, it costs me $15.95/year to keep my domain name (site name/URL).

Since I get decent traffic now, I spend a little more on my hosting package – I spent $119.64 for the year to be exact.

So if we break this down monthly, it costs me roughly $11.29/month to keep this site up and running. (And no, I don't have other expenses unless I opt for extras.)

So mathematically, I am still making a profit every month – easily! Yes, to me it's worth it!

Can you make money with a fitness blog?

Is this the only way to make money fitness blogging?

Of course not! You should keep in mind that I am doing things this way because I need the flexibility to do so. You may have noticed that I don't sell physical products, or that I don't sell personal training online.

If I did, I might have a larger income (or not)!

I choose to do it this way because I want my income to be as passive as possible.

I write an ebook once, and it can be sold over and over again without inventory costs, overhead, etc. It is so nice to wake up in the morning, check your email, and see a payment notification – everything is automated!

The same goes for ads – they are there. I don't do anything but send traffic to my site and make money. This too, is the beauty of affiliate links.

While I could stand to make more complicated and products, I choose not to because I don't feel like I can dedicate that extra time and energy to it right now.

How do I start a successful fitness blog?

I have MULTIPLE, extensive fitness blog tutorials and a bunch of articles about blogging in general. Here are a few to get you started:

How To Start A Fitness Blog | The Ultimate Guide
How I'm Using My Blog To Help Me Reach My Fitness Goals (& Make Money!)
Blog Startup Checklist (Things You Should Do After Purchasing Your Hosting Package)

So, I hope that helps you understand how health bloggers make money and helps you answer your initial question: Can you make money with a fitness blog?

Want to learn more about Ironwild Fitness and what I do? Check out the video below!