Lydia Martin ditched her four-to-five-day live challenges that hit $214,000 in 2022 but created volatile income swings. She launched Ignite, a membership, in February 2023 with 47 founding members to get predictable revenue and deliver real-time coaching. Three years later, most of those founding members are still active.
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You. We're kicking off a brand new chapter of the podcast with a special 21 day series called From Purpose to Impact. I'm celebrating by giving back to listeners who are ready to take the next step. If you've been feeling stuck, overwhelmed or unsure of how to move forward in your online business, I want to hear from you. Simply go to youronlinebusinessmentor.com and tell me what's been holding you back or ask a question you'd love for me to answer on the show and you'll be entered in a special listener giveaway for access to programs designed to support you in your journey. I can't wait to help you get unstuck and moving forward. Welcome to day 10 of my 21 day series from purpose to Impact. Today I want to share why I stopped relying on big launches and built a membership instead. If you've been following my journey, you know, for the first three years of my online business, everything revolved around live launches. And when I say live launch, I do not mean sending a few emails and hoping for sales. I mean structured, intentional live events, typically four to five day challenges where I showed up every day to teach, solve a specific problem, and coach in real time. At the end of those challenges, I would invite people into my paid program and that rhythm is what built my business. I would plan for my challenge, promote it, show up live, open enrollment, deliver the program, and then start preparing for the next one. And honestly, it worked. Those launches are what helped me build a six figure online business. They grew my email list, they sharpened my messaging, my skills, and they just helped me learn how to sell, serve and lead. But they also created something I did not expect. A revenue roller coaster. Some months were strong and energizing and other months were quiet and uncertain. And even though my annual revenue was increasing, the emotional rhythm of building, launching, delivering, and then starting all over again was beginning to wear on me. So in 2022 I generated about 214,000 in revenue with a 67% profit margin. So on paper, everything looked great. But behind the scenes, I definitely saw the pattern of strong launch months, followed by slower months, followed by prep for the next launch, followed by the next surgeon. And so that was exciting and profitable. But the inconsistency was exhausting. And at this point in my life, that inconsistency carried more weight than it used to. Because at the end of 2021 we retired my husband from his 30 year IT career that had always been a dream of ours. And when it finally happened, it was so Exciting and amazing. But it also changed the stakes. My online business was no longer supplemental income. It was our income. There is something very different about starting each month at zero, when you know your family is depending on what you create. I no longer just wanted growth. I wanted stability. I wanted predictable revenue. And I wanted to design something that supported our life and our family, not something that kept us holding our breath in between launches. So that's when I started asking a different question. What would it look like to build something more sustainable now, obviously, one of the benefits of a membership is recurring revenue. The idea of having a thriving community that chooses to stay month after month is so appealing. But revenue was not the only reason I started considering a membership. I realized something important about how I teach. And I realized that the most valuable parts of my programs were not the recorded lessons. It was the live Q&As. It was the coaching conversations, those in the moment adjustments according to what was happening in the world in real time. Because things change. Technology changes, platforms and algorithms shift, AI tools emerge. What worked six months ago sometimes needs adjusting. And so I found myself constantly wanting to update my courses to keep them relevant. Now, thankfully, I was usually running live cohorts, which did make refreshing my courses easier. I could refresh examples, I could share what was working now and kind of adapt in real time. And that's really what made it click. That live support is not just an add on, it's where true transformation happens. People do not just want content, they want guidance. They want context. They want somebody helping them apply what they're learning to their actual situation. And teaching in real time has always been my sweet spot. So a membership was not just about recurring revenue. It was about building a model that would allow me to teach what is working now, not just what worked when I first recorded the content. So you may be wondering, if memberships are so powerful, why didn't I launch one sooner? The truth is, I was super cautious. I had actually watched many entrepreneurs I respected launch incredible memberships that quietly shut down a year later. I did not want to build something unless I could see myself sustaining it long term. And here's something people don't talk about. Memberships do not typically generate big revenue right away. If you're used to selling a $997 course and you now switch to a $47 a month membership, it can feel like you're going backwards. Memberships are built on retention, on volume and consistency. So I knew if I was going to launch one, it had to be intentional. And it had to be strong from day one. I needed the support structure in place to run it well so that I could run it long term. At that point I did have a small team. I had a part time admin va, I had a full time kajabi and canva va and my husband was working with me on the podcast and my YouTube channel. With that support and with more clarity about what my students truly valued, I knew the timing was right. In February of 2023, I launched Ignite with 47 founding members. Many of those founders are still in our membership today. Three years later and I couldn't be more grateful. So do I wish I had built my membership sooner? I honestly don't think it would have been the same experience if I had. Live launches are what built my foundation. They helped me discover who I was, the content I like to deliver, and the audience I wanted to serve. They also helped me build my audience and authority. And they helped me retire my husband so I wouldn't change a thing about those first three years. But designing predictable revenue built something else. Peace. Because the truth is, you don't build a freedom based business by holding your breath between launches. You build it by choosing a model that supports your life. That's why I built a membership. Not because launching stopped working, but because I wanted a business that worked even when I wasn't in launch mode. So if your revenue feels like a roller coaster right now, it may not mean you need a better launch. It may mean you need a different model. Remember, clarity and impact come from action. In the next episode, I'm going to share all the details of my founding member launch and what changed once predicted revenue entered the picture.
