In this podcast episode, host Sheena Bianchini answers a listener’s question about launching a paid community. She outlines a three‑step launch framework: (1) build a sales page that follows a four‑part formula—hook/pain, pitch/big purpose, community design plan, and offer/price; (2) execute a launch timeline that starts with a sales page 3‑4 weeks before launch, announces the community 2‑4 weeks before a live new‑member event, and concentrates a two‑week push of emails and social posts; (3) run a live launch event that shares the founder’s story, previews the community design, and sparks member connections using breakout rooms or guest interviews while avoiding large‑group introductions. She warns about the post‑launch “dip,” where early setbacks can cause premature quitting, and advises using that period for workshopping and experimentation to unlock growth. For acquiring the first members, she recommends “People Magic”: start with people you know and their referrals rather than relying on broad social‑media posts, which have low visibility. She also mentions using Mighty Networks for live events and community infrastructure. The episode is a practical, step‑by‑step guide for creators looking to launch a paid membership.
Do not post to social media and think anybody is going to pay attention. You are much better off starting with the people that you know and building from there. Woo! Help!
I'm about to launch my community and I'm totally lost. I know I should be preparing outside of posting on social media, but I'm not sure what else to do to create hype. Any advice?
The reality of launching a new membership, I call it the life of a membership or a life of a community, is you decide you're gonna do it and you get to work with your launch prep. And during your launch prep, anything is possible. Then launch day happens and 98% of things go right, but human nature is to focus on the 2% of things that aren't absolutely perfect. And that causes any of us to come down, or what I like to call the dip. When we're in the dip, in that post-launch dip, it's real easy to quit. And there's like, ah, everybody's so busy, this isn't what I thought it was going to be, this couldn't possibly work. And that causes a lot of people to prematurely quit, or I call it premature failure. But the beauty is when you stay curious, and you use that post-launch period of time to workshop. And what happens when you keep at it? You unlock growth. So for us to even get to post-launch through workshopping and on to growth, well, we need to do 3 things. Number 1, we need to create a sales page. Number 2, launch. And number 3, if you're not already starting with an email list or an audience, I have the simplest way for you to bring your first members into a paid membership. So with that, let's go ahead and dive in. As you think about your sales page, it follows actually a pretty straightforward formula. Your sales page needs to have the hook or talk about the pain that your ideal member is in. In. You want to grab people's attention. You're competing with a lot of ideas, a lot of messages that someone's going to see and really be inundated with. Then your pitch, which is your big purpose, your ideal member plus their best year ever, which is overcoming those challenges or that pain point or navigating that transition. Then you have your community design plan. This is what am I paying for? When I buy this thing? What are we gonna do together? And finally, you have your offer, which is the packaging of all of these pieces plus your price. So now let's move on to your launch formula. And the great thing about the launch formula is that it is used by people who are just getting started and by multi-million dollar creators and brands, and it kind of works universally for both. And here's how it goes. What you wanna do is announce your community about 2 to 4 weeks before you have a go-live event. Your sales page, typically you wanna have out 3 to 4 weeks before, and then you really make your push 2 weeks before your new member live event that happens exclusively within your paid membership. Not to everybody. That happens in the 2 to 4 weeks before you go live. This isn't a waitlist. Think about it more as like the lobby of your membership. And so people can start to meet each other, but you really say this is on when you have your launch event. And so 2 to 4 weeks sales page, and then you have this concentrated period of Emailing people, posting to social media. If you are just starting from scratch and you're not exactly sure who you're going to invite in, not a problem. This is the time that you actually go out and talk to people individually. And in doing the live event, that is the signal of we are off to the races. Then you want to start workshopping and experimenting that then unlocks growth. So you announce your community, you have your sales page 2 to 4 weeks before a live event. And again, people can be buying during those 2 to 4 weeks. They are in the community. There are places and lightweight things that they can do. And then the new member live event and that clear date of that new member live event is the thing that says the membership is now in session. And then you're workshopping, experimenting, and unlocking growth. So what are you going to do in that live member event on launch day? So here's what I like to recommend. So number one, you want to share your story and you want to talk about the motivation behind your big purpose. Why are you bringing people together that are human beings in this particular transition or navigating this particular kind of pain? So the second thing I like to do is preview your community design plan. Now, I don't like to tell everybody all my monthly themes. I like to make it a little bit more of a surprise at the beginning of every month. So you want to, though, let people know what to expect from your community. What are people going to do? What's the culture like? And then finally, you want to spark connections between members. Now, whatever you do, please don't— go around in a large group of people and ask everybody to introduce themselves. That is a recipe for disaster. Instead, go ahead and either use the livestream to call it out over chat or use Zoom and our Zoom integration in Mighty Networks to be able to put people in breakout rooms. But the key thing is you want your members to start to get to know each other. You can also bring somebody on stage with you in a livestream and start to actually ask them questions. So everybody is getting to know each other, not just listening to you. That is what a fantastic live event on launch day looks like, and you can take full advantage of it on your Mighty Network. All right. So finally, if you do not have members, but you are really excited to create your membership, I want to just offer one recommendation, which is do not post to social media and think anybody is going to pay attention. Instead, I want to encourage you to take advantage of the following formula. You have your ideal member. That is the profile of what you're looking for. You go out and you talk to your people. Then you get recommendations about their people. And as you start to bring members into the community from those two pools of people, you have your community's people. It is so much easier to start with people that you know or the people that your people know than it is to go out on social media where only about 1 to 5% of anything you post is seen by all the people who even follow you. So you are much better off starting with the people that you know and building from there. This is People Magic. I'm Sheena Bianchini. Until next time. Woo!
