WEEK 1 - Launching an online fitness service off the back of COVID-19
Hey! First time I've posted on here but I thought it may be a good idea to keep me accountable for this new project.
5 days ago I was looking for a free live streamed fitness class to do after now being in lock down in the UK for 3 weeks. There are loads out there but no great resource collating them all together with fitness type, time, links etc.
I had the bright idea to go ahead and build it myself (I'm a Ruby developer) because I suffer from the terrible disease of "shiny object syndrome" and HAD to do it.
I spent the first couple days head down building all the basics to the web app and had a very basic working version on day 2. The first version of Get Fit Live was born.
On the third day I set up all the social media accounts and threw together a logo and theme to go with it. I cleaned up the app and finished off the last of the features I had in mind. As it stands, the app does this:
- Lists upcoming fitness classes on the homepage with a countdown timer for those in the next hour.
- Homepage restricted to show next 5 classes with an option to add your email (create an account) to view them all.
- Ability to register as a host and add your own classes
- Categories for sorting classes e.g. Yoga, HIIT, Dance etc.. and the ability to filter on the home page.
Yesterday I went all out on contacting personal trainers and gyms online to see if they could send me their schedules so I could add the classes initially. After positive feedback from all of them that replied, I uploaded classes and also sent the trainer's a unique link so they could add their own directly. None have... Yet!
Today was much the same combined with a bit more social media work and bug fixes.
I have so many ideas for this including:
- Add a simple booking system so small-time trainers can use it to take bookings for private classes
- Add a 'remind me' button on each class to notify users via SMS of class schedules
- Automate social media post generation with screenshot API's so I can keep my content consistent
- Allow hosts to 'feature' their classes via a payment
First though my focus is exposure. Once so start getting some more traction I'll shift to feature building again.
Have you got any good ideas on how to get the word out quickly? Anything you think I'm missing?
I went to the gym for three years, and I loved it, but after the quarantine was introduced, everything changed. Many cities have closed gyms, and in my city, too. I'm used to practicing sport and I can't stop. So, I decided to do sport at home. Fortunately, my friend advised me https://thefitnesstribe.com, where I have all the necessary information about sport. I like that I can easily find all the information I need, such as nutrition, training, and sports equipment. The main thing is that I can train at home and not contact with other people. If you are thinking about training at home, be sure this is definitely a good idea.
This information is so important, thank you so much!
I think this is a good idea, Mike. To quickly get the idea out there consider using
Reddit - R/fitness and other fitness related subs are a good starting point. However, reddit is usually not so friendly when it comes to advertising so make sure your post there isn't just about advertising the service. If you do it well, you can get more than 100 prelaunch subscribers in a matter of days
Facebook Groups- Just like reddit, go on Facebook and join fitness related groups. Read the rules of the groups and mainly join the one's that allows you post links. Once you do that, put out your idea in front of them and gauge the response.
You should also consider Hacker News.
Also FACEBOOK ads could be of help.
Just ensure you have a prelaunch page where you can collect emails of leads if you haven't launched yet.