Memberships are a fantastic way to create monthly recurring revenue and build a loyal community, but they’re not the best fit for everyone. While the idea of consistent income might sound appealing, launching a membership requires careful consideration to make sure you’re ready to meet the demands of your audience—and that it’s the right move for your business.
So, how do you know if launching a membership is the right next step for you? Here are three key questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge.
1. What is an ongoing want or need that your audience has?
Memberships thrive when they provide consistent value to their members. This means your audience needs to have an ongoing want or need that your membership will fulfill month after month.
Let’s say you are a crochet expert. You can teach people how to crochet.You can either do that with a one-time solution such as an online course, “Crochet 101.”
Or, you can identify a need or desire that is ongoing such as new project ideas, or coaching for crocheters who want to sell their handmade products at markets.
The key here is ongoing—think about something your audience will continue to need, rather than a one-time solution.
For example:
- Are they constantly looking for fresh content, like new craft projects, meal plans, or fitness challenges?
- Do they need regular support or guidance, such as mindset coaching, accountability check-ins, or business strategy sessions?
- Are they part of an industry or hobby that evolves frequently, requiring up-to-date information or new techniques?
If your audience has an ongoing need, a membership can be the perfect way to provide them with regular solutions.
But if the problem you’re solving is a one-time fix, a membership might not be the best model.
More to think about:
- Dive deep into your audience’s desires. What do they repeatedly ask you for?
- Is there a problem they struggle with over time, or a result they want to keep achieving?
If you’re unsure about what your audience’s ongoing needs are, consider sending out surveys, conducting polls, or engaging with them directly on social media to learn more about their biggest challenges.
And by the way, the ongoing value you offer in your membership doesn’t have to be content-heavy. You do NOT have to add dozens of new assets every week or show up on video every week. Sometimes members simply want to be part of a community of like-minded people where they can learn from each other.
This brings us to the next question…
2. Do you have the audience size to support a membership?
Before launching a membership, it’s important to consider if you have a large enough audience to sustain it. Memberships are built on the foundation of recurring payments, which means you need to bring in enough members to make the effort worthwhile.
Here’s the thing: memberships are a numbers game. They are generally low ticket offers, so if you want to make a significant amount of monthly income, you will need to have enough people in your audience to convert into the membership.
Not everyone in your audience will join your membership, and it’s normal to only convert a small percentage.
You need to be realistic about how many people you’ll need to sign up in order to meet your revenue goals.
For example, if your membership costs $30 a month and you want to make $3,000 a month, you’ll need at least 100 members. If only 2-5% of your audience converts to paid members, do you have the reach to get there?
More to think about:
- Audience size doesn’t just mean social media followers—it’s also about your email list, any existing clients, and other communities you’re part of.
- Do you have enough people in your network to make a membership sustainable?
- Start by setting realistic expectations and running the numbers. How many members do you need to reach your income goals? Does your current audience size support that?
If you’re not sure if you have enough people in your audience, you might consider building your list or launching smaller offers first to gauge interest before committing to a membership model.
3. Does your idea need community support?
Some memberships thrive because of the community aspect.
Some offers do not require community, and your audience doesn’t desire it. People love to be part of something bigger than themselves, and a membership is often the perfect way to create a sense of belonging, accountability, and connection.
Ask yourself: Does your membership idea need a community to make it successful?
For example, if you’re offering something like:
- A mastermind or coaching program where members benefit from sharing ideas and learning from one another’s experiences
- A fitness or wellness membership where members support each other in reaching goals
- A hobbyist community, like quilting or crafting, where members share projects, tips, and encouragement
In these cases, the community aspect is a major selling point and makes the membership more valuable. People aren’t just paying for the content—they’re paying to be part of a group where they feel seen, heard, and supported.
On the other hand, not every offer should have or needs to have community components.
For example, if you’re offering something like:
- Text-access to you as a doctor or CPA, your clients probably don’t want to talk to strangers about their medical or financial problems (and it’s probably not a good idea for you anyway for liability reasons)
- Daily self–led or self-paced content in the health, wellness, or spiritual niche.
- If you’re offering daily meditation audios, journaling prompts, or micro-classes, people may just want to consume your content on their own rather than talk about it in a group.
More to think about:
- Think about what your ideal member needs. Are they looking for personal connection, accountability, or collaboration? If so, fostering a community will add value beyond the content you provide.
Managing a community requires time and effort, so make sure you’re prepared to nurture it. Engaged communities often need regular check-ins, prompts, and moderation to keep the energy up and members active.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you actually want to create ongoing membership content?
Running a membership typically requires a steady flow of fresh material to keep your members engaged and finding value in what you offer. Whether it’s new resources, tutorials, live sessions, or even just prompts to spark discussion, the expectation in most memberships is that members will continue to receive value month after month.
This means you’ll need to:
- Regularly produce new content that aligns with your members’ needs and keeps them engaged.
- Stay on top of trends or updates in your industry to provide timely and relevant material.
- Create a content calendar that ensures you’re consistently delivering, so your members feel like they’re getting their money’s worth
- (possibly) Showing up to live calls with your members at least 1x/month. If that sounds like a lot, it is.
Ongoing content creation can be a grind. If the thought of continually creating new material sounds exhausting or stressful, it’s worth reconsidering whether a membership is the right model for you.
More to think about:
- Do you have the time, energy, and creative bandwidth to produce regular content? Do you have the ability to stick to a consistent schedule for your members, every single month? If not, you might feel burned out quickly, which will affect both you and your members’ experience.
- Batch content creation. If ongoing content creation feels overwhelming, consider batching your content in advance. This way, you can produce several pieces at once and schedule them over time, reducing the pressure of constantly creating on the fly.
- Outsource content creation or admin support. A VA or coach in your niche can help you with creating new content for your membership and responding to people inside your community.
- Focus on community. If you don’t want the pressure of constantly creating new material, you can still run a membership that’s more community-driven, relying on member interaction instead of new content delivered every month.
Community-based Memberships thrive on discussion, peer feedback, or resources that don’t need constant updating. If you enjoy creating and engaging with your audience regularly, a membership can be a fulfilling way to serve them. But if content creation feels like a burden, it might be worth exploring other models that don’t require the same level of ongoing effort.
Conclusion
Launching a membership can be a powerful way to create recurring revenue and build a dedicated audience, but it’s not something to dive into without careful consideration. By asking yourself these key questions—whether your audience has an ongoing need, if your audience size is sufficient to support a membership, and if community is an essential component—you’ll have a clearer understanding of whether or not a membership model is the right fit for your business.
If the answers to these questions align with your business goals, then it might be time to take the plunge and start building your membership. But if not, don’t worry—there are plenty of other ways to serve your audience that might be a better fit for where you are right now.
Ready to get started? Make sure your membership idea is strong, your audience is eager, and you’re set up for long-term success!
