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Course or Membership? How to Know Which Model Is Right for You

Should you launch a membership… or start with a course?

This is one of the most common questions I get from digital entrepreneurs.

If you listened to yesterday’s episode, I shared why I chose to build a membership instead of continuing to rely only on big live launches.

But today I want to share something just as important.

Why my founding member launch worked… and why I do not believe memberships should be your first move in most cases.

Let me take you behind the scenes.

How My Founding Member Launch Actually Worked

When I launched IGNITE in 2023, I did not blast my entire email list.

I did not post publicly.
I did not run ads.
I emailed 150 people.

Not leads.
Not subscribers.
Not followers.
Past clients and customers.

Every single person I invited had already paid me in some way. They had either joined one of my cohort-style courses or worked with me as a coaching client.

They knew how I taught.
They had experienced live Q and A calls.
They had been coached by me.

They did not just know my content.
They knew me.

I sent those 150 people to a private landing page with a personal video explaining what IGNITE would be. I invited them to become founding members at $67 per month, one month before the official launch.

I limited it to the first 50 people who joined.
By the end of that month, 47 people had said yes.

That was a 31 percent conversion rate. But here is the most important part.

That founding member launch was not successful because I had the perfect sales page.

It was successful because I had spent three years building relationships.

For three years I ran live challenges.
I sold cohort-style courses.
I hosted live Q and A sessions.
I coached in real time.

People trusted that I would show up.
They trusted that I would listen.
They trusted that I would coach them through their specific situation.

And because IGNITE was built around live support, that trust was everything.

Why Relationships Matter Before You Launch a Membership

If you are teaching business strategy, marketing, launching, or anything that requires nuance and feedback, people are not going to jump into a $97 per month membership without connection.

Now, could someone launch a yoga membership or a fitness membership without the same depth of relationship? Possibly. I have joined memberships like that myself.

But if your membership requires guidance, feedback, and transformation, you need relational equity first.

That is why I often recommend launching a cohort-style course before launching a membership.

A cohort course has:

•  A clear start and stop date
• A defined transformation
• A specific pain point it solves
• A focused group experience

It is easier to sell because the outcome feels concrete.

You can also charge significantly more.

Would you rather sell something for $997 that you deliver over eight weeks?

Or open something for $47 per month and hope people stay long enough to equal that same value?

It can take a long time to reach $997 through membership payments.

Memberships require volume.
They require retention.
They require consistency.

And recurring revenue only works if you have low churn.
If people are leaving every month, you are running on a hamster wheel.

Retention comes from trust.
Retention comes from people feeling supported.
Retention comes from them believing you will continue showing up.

And that foundation is built long before the membership opens.

The Ecosystem That Makes It Work

Even today, my membership is not “set it and forget it.”

We still launch it.
We still invite intentionally.
We still nurture relationships inside and outside the membership.

I also offer Cohort Impact Accelerator, an eight-week focused experience for entrepreneurs who want to create and launch a cohort-style course.

Some people join IGNITE first, then move into CIA.
Others join CIA first, then continue their support inside IGNITE.

The ecosystem works because the foundation was built on connection.

Not urgency.
Not hype.
Connection.

The Real Questions to Ask Yourself

If you are wondering whether to launch a membership or a course, here are the real questions:

• Have I led people through a clear process before?
• Have people experienced my teaching live?
• Do I have enough warm buyers who trust me deeply?
• Am I ready to commit to ongoing delivery, communication, and admin?
• Does this revenue model make sense for this stage of my business?

Memberships are beautiful when they are built on a strong base.

But if you launch too early and only two or three people join, it is very hard to build momentum from there.

That is why I often recommend starting with a cohort-style course.

It gives you:

•  Higher revenue faster
• Clearer messaging
• Stronger testimonials
• Deeper relationships

After a few successful cohorts, launching a membership becomes far more natural and far more sustainable.

Today, my membership generates about 50 percent of my annual revenue.

It is stable.
It is meaningful.
It is something I genuinely love showing up for.

But it only works because I invested years building trust first.

If you skip that step, it can feel like pushing a boulder uphill.

If you are just starting out with your first offer, begin with a cohort-style course.

Guide students through a clear transformation over four or eight weeks.
Build relationships.
Refine your framework.

Then, when the foundation is strong, consider launching a membership.

No matter what your next best step is…

Clarity and impact come from action.