You can profit from this trend today.
Happy Sunday Gym World.
My daughter is two weeks old today, and I’ve already got 2-kid life under control.
Here’s my secret:
Like a fine car, I’ve taught my body to shut off during idle periods.
Enough Dad tips. Let’s talk about the business of fitness.
Short-form vertical videos are OP
YouTuber Mr. Beast built a $1.5B empire from his videos. He recently said something interesting on the Lex Friedman podcast:
This is the first time in the history of social media where one form of content can go super-viral on every single platform.
Sub 1-minute vertical content can go viral on TikTok, Youtube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter.
We spend more time using social media when we’re watching vertical video.
This format makes it easy to consume a lot of content in a short period of time, which floods our brains with dopamine.
It’s no surprise that we spend more time on the video-native platforms.
Other platforms understand this and now push vertical video more than other types of content.
Let’s see how some of the most successful people in fitness are using vertical videos to make millions.
The bodybuilder making $750k+/mo with vertical videos
“Daddy” Noel Deyzel has a following of 10M across TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram. His content ranges from recipes to bodybuilding advice to “things I wish my Dad taught me.”
He frequently uses the same music, sounds, camera angle, and script.
He discovered what the algorithm likes and feeds it that type of content over & over & over.
This was a common theme when I was doing my research. Papa Swolio amassed a 3M person following posting the same video every day.
Short-form videos may make it harder for creators to form a deep relationship with their viewers, but it doesn’t impede their ability to build massive businesses.
Daddy Noel co-owns a supplement company called Ryse, and while Ryse’s revenue numbers aren’t public, we can make an educated guess.
Last week, we broke down Powerlifter Megsquats’ $350k/mo business. We learned her supplement company does $150k/mo with a few employees and 4,400 monthly website visitors.
Compare that to Ryse, which gets around 170k monthly visitors and has 22 employees on LinkedIn. My WAG is that Ryse is 5-10x the size of Buff Chicks, which means they’re doing around $750k – $1.5M a mo.
Not bad considering that Daddy Noel also makes money from his workout app, influencer deals, and ads.
How I got 15k views in 15 days with no audience and no experience
You might be asking yourself:
“I am not built like a gorilla and I don’t sell supplements. Why is this relevant to me?”
Platforms want more vertical video content,and you can get a lot of views without being that good.
My brand new Youtube channel Gym World puts out super-niche fitness business content.
Despite having no video experience, we got 12k views in our first few weeks, with 90+% of them coming from shorts.
Last week I repurposed the same content on Instagram and Facebook and got another 3k views.
That is a lot of organic traffic for someone with a tiny audience. It took my mentor 4 years of posting content daily to get that kind of exposure.
The gym making $200k/mo from vertical video
My friends Dan Trink and Kyle Fields are actively creating and repurposing video content on their gym’s Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok, as well as their personal accounts.
This is no small operation. They’re spending
- 20 hours a week making content
- $1.5k/wk on videographers and editors
- $2k/wk promoting their content
That sounds absurd until you learn that vertical video is responsible for $200k/mo of their gym’s revenue.
Not too shabby.
So, what makes this strategy so effective? Put yourself in the shoes of a prospect.
You’re looking for a new gym. There are a few options nearby, so you:
- Check out their websites
- Read reviews
- Look at social media
During your search, you find these two gyms:
Ask yourself:
- Which one would you rather train at?
- Which one do you think has better coaching?
- Which will get you better results?
- Which would you pay more to go to?
While this level of output and quality is extreme, most gym owners can transform their business in 12 months with less effort and expense.
How to start with vertical video
Step 1: Film ten 30s to 1m videos
Don’t worry about making them good.
Start by answering the 10 most common questions you get from prospects. Each question gets its own video.
Don’t worry about having a pro film set-up either. All you need is good audio which can be accomplished with a $25 lav mic.
Step 2: Hire an editor on Fiverr
Find one that specializes in talking head videos. Use the words “action captions” or “Hormozi-style” in your search.
Almost every guru uses this format because it works:
A decent editor will run you $10-15 a video.
Step 3: Post & review
Post the videos to the platform of your choice.
Then review your analytics, determine what performed well, and do more of that.
Remember, you don’t need to make the best coaching videos in the world to dominate your local market.
Good luck,
JiB
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