Are you wondering whether launching a membership is the way to go for your business? If you have stacks of content to share with your audience then a membership model may work well for you.

We recently worked with a client who had been considering a membership for over a year. She continued to talk herself in and out of launching it because although she had loads of content she wanted to share, she didn’t know where to start (…and she is also the first to admit she is rather technically challenged!)

This client had a highly engaged audience of over 12k on social media. Her followers love the content she shares and regularly tell her so. In her heart she knew that she could help lots more people through a private community where she could invest more time and provide even more valuable content.

When she approached us she had no email list but was keen to get her membership off the ground as soon as possible.

We started to promote a live Masterclass that she was going to deliver a couple of weeks later, and by doing so started growing her email list. She launched her membership live on the Masterclass and we emailed the details out to her list.

Do you know how many members signed up that first weekend? 45! I was delighted for her, and even more so now as in only a few months – she has over 150 members!!

If you have a brilliant idea for a membership but are worried about launching it, I want to share the steps you need to take for a successful launch:

1. Start a Waiting List ASAP

As soon as you decide you are going to start your membership site, don’t waste another second! Create a simple landing page letting people know that something exciting is coming soon. Collect their email addresses so that you can start to warm up your audience with teasers of what is to come.

Having this list of potential members allows you to ask for their input when designing your membership and you can reward them for their interest by offering incentives or early access to your community.

The other benefit to having a waitlist is that it gives your idea validation once you have interested parties. This, in turn, will give you the confidence to proceed with launching your membership.

2. Create High-Value Content

As we did with our client, something like a masterclass, a challenge or an in-person event will get people paying attention to you and your membership.

It will help get eyeballs on your launch and subscribers on your email list. Once they are consuming the valuable content that you are providing for free, they will want to know how they can continue working with you.

Bear in mind that an event such as a masterclass or challenge will give you so much more visibility than a static piece of content such as a blog or eBook ever will.

3. Offer a Founding Members Rate

Make sure that the introductory price for your membership is the best deal that will ever be offered. Emphasise the fact that when they join as founding members, they are locking in that lower price for the lifetime of their membership.

Make the offer time-sensitive so that people know they must sign up before a particular date to get this incredible, one-time offer.

4. Don’t Forget the Bonuses!

Use additional offers to make signing up straight away a no-brainer! That might be a one-time bonus call, access to one of your online products or a one-to-one coaching call. All of these things will encourage people to click on the sign-up button during a specific window of time.

Putting the work in to getting your strategy right before your launch is key to its success. You want as many people as possible to sign up in those early days so really harness that excitement and curiosity that comes with any live launch.

And, good luck! I hope that your membership is a roaring success!

If you are keen to get your membership live and want some support to launch with impact – book in for a one-to-one strategy call and we will help you plan out your launch strategy. You will go away with a step-by-step plan so that you know exactly what to implement and when!

Related Post: Reasons to do a Live Launch