7 Membership Site Models For Coaches and Consultants

Tired of chasing after clients and trading time for money?

There’s no better way to scale a coaching or consulting business than a membership site.

By setting up a membership site you can:

Add a new stream of passive recurring revenue to your business
Reach a wider client base
Offer a lower-priced entry-level product to build your customer base and upsell your services to

Seriously, a membership site is a win-win all around for you and your customers.

Setting up a membership site is another story. For starters, which model will you choose? And how will you price it? Read on as I break down everything you’ll need to know to launch a successful membership site that will scale your coaching business well past six figures.

Table of Contents

What to Include in a Membership Site

7 Membership Site Models That Are Great for Coaches and Consultants

Level up Your Membership Site: Mix and Match Your Models

How to Price Your Membership Site

How to Find Content for Your Membership Site - Fast

Free Download - How to Launch a Membership Site: The Ultimate Guide for Coaches and Consultants [Access Now] >>

What is a Membership Site?

A membership site is a gated online platform that provides exclusive content, resources, and services to paying subscribers regularly.

Think of a membership site as a digital hub where members can access specialized knowledge, training materials, and community features that are unavailable to the general public.

Unlike traditional one-off purchases or single courses, membership sites operate on a subscription model, giving you a new sustainable revenue stream to supplement your higher-ticket services.

Membership sites have become increasingly popular among coaches, consultants, and service providers because they allow them to scale their impact beyond one-on-one client work while building a predictable income stream through monthly or annual membership fees.

Why Coaches and Consultants Should Launch a Membership Site

I can’t repeat this one enough: a membership site is one of the best ways you can expand your business, reach new clients, and save time in the process.

While there is no shortage of boot camps, seminars, and workshops aimed at helping coaches close more clients, there is nothing better than a membership site to actually grow your revenue (and free up your time).

If you’re not sold already, here are a few of my other favorite reasons coaches and consultants (or anyone who has limited time) should consider creating a membership site:

Membership sites provide a scalable way to leverage your expertise and time, allowing you to serve hundreds of clients at a time.
With this scalability comes a new predictable recurring revenue stream to help grow your business. This is especially helpful in the feast-or-famine that comes with client work.
Membership sites create opportunities to build deeper relationships with clients through consistent engagement and community building. This leads to better retention and more referrals.
There’s no way around it - there’s a limited geography you can serve as a coach. A membership site allows you to build a global audience, no matter where your customers are located. The best part is you don’t need to sacrifice your free time after hours to do it.
Your membership site will probably start small, but as it grows, it can scale into a major driver of your business that funnels in new clients and propels your income exponentially. You’re not just building this to take on a few clients. Your membership site can snowball over time.

If you’re sold, then read on to see what to include in your membership site and which model to choose.

What to Include in a Membership Site

Just as you design your coaching or consulting packages and offers, you have the freedom to determine what goes into your membership site.

If you’re stumped, here is a great place to start:

Gated content: Offer premium video content, courses, worksheets, and more just for your members.
Engagement tools: By building a private community or forum, you can connect with your members - and give them a venue to connect with each other.
Live components: Make a bigger impression and establish credibility through webinars, live coaching calls, or Q&A sessions for a premium feel.
Perks and discounts: Offer discounts for your other coaching, consulting, or educational products to make your members feel valued and appreciated.

The Ultimate Guide to Launching a Membership Site!

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The precise mix depends on your niche, business model, and the transformation you help members achieve. The key is to create a steady stream of valuable content that keeps your subscribers engaged.

Worried about creating all this content yourself? You can purchase ready-to-sell PLR content to fill your membership site. PLR can turn 10 months of work into 10 minutes, freeing up more time to grow your business.

Armed with content, let’s continue with those models you can choose from.

7 Membership Site Models That Are Great for Coaches and Consultants

There are dozens of membership site models to choose from, but I find the following seven are a great place to start:

Paid newsletter
Dripped content
Paid community
Online course
Content library
Private masterminds
Group coaching

Let’s break down each one!

1. Paid Newsletter

One of the simplest models to start with is a paid newsletter. This offers subscribers exclusive, curated content delivered directly to their inboxes on a regular schedule.

This format is particularly effective if you are an excellent writer and have tons of tidbits to share, whether it be industry insights, analysis, or actionable advice. Newsletters are fairly low-maintenance, making them an attractive starting point for those entering the membership space.

2. Dripped content

Dripped content is a bit like a paid newsletter with a twist: you’ll set a predetermined schedule for new content to go live to build up anticipation around each new launch.

Dripped content is a great way to maintain engagement over time and encourage new members to stick around for the long haul. If you have a backlog of content or can create content quickly, you can easily build up a year’s worth of auto-scheduled content for your audience.

3. Paid Community

For those looking for something a bit more active, a paid community is an excellent option. A paid community creates a dedicated space where members can connect, network, and support each other while benefiting from your expertise.

Paid communities thrive on peer interaction, shared experiences, and collaborative work, which can make them a bit of a challenge to manage and grow successfully if this is your first time launching a membership site. Communities can be hosted on platforms like Circle, Discord, or Facebook Groups, offering members a sense of belonging and ongoing support that extends beyond traditional coaching relationships.

Check out my guide for the top membership site platforms for a full walkthrough!

4. Online Course

While you could sell online courses individually, you could also sell online courses through a membership offering that provides a structured, self-paced learning experience for your customers to work through at their own pace.

Sounds a lot like a regular one-time online course right? By offering new content, regular updates, or ongoing support, you can sell a recurring subscription rather than a one-time fee.

The Ultimate Guide to Launching a Membership Site!

Get the Free Guide and 30% off A Year’s Worth of PLR Content.

5. Content Library

Why stop at one course? Build a library of courses to give your members unlimited access to a collection of courses, tutorials, templates, and more.

Course libraries are ideal if you have a healthy backlog of content or can create educational material quickly. This allows you to package and organize your content for your members to access and to add to it periodically to keep things fresh. Think of it as your own mini Netflix, but instead of Hollywood blockbusters, you’re the star.

I have a little secret for you: you don’t need years of experience to build up this content. You could purchase ready-to-sell PLR content and rebrand it as your own (more on this later).

6. Private Masterminds

While I said membership sites are a source of passive income, they don’t all have to be 100% passive.

Sometimes, it’s a mix of passive and active, like a private mastermind. This allows you to scale your expertise across multiple customers without spending time with each one – more revenue for your business with less time spent, a win-win!

Private masterminds are particularly effective if you want to maintain personal connections with clients while expanding your reach.

7. Group Coaching

Similar to a private mastermind, a group coaching offer allows you to sell a structured package of coaching sessions while serving multiple clients at once. This strikes a great balance between scalability and personalization, allowing you to build connections with clients without sacrificing too much time.

The regular live sessions create accountability and foster community among members while maintaining a personal touch.

Here’s a handy table to compare the pros and cons of each model:

*Courses and content can take weeks to create, but by purchasing PLR courses, eBooks, lead magnets, and more, you can build up enough content for any model in minutes.

Level up Your Membership Site: Mix and Match Your Models

Here’s a special trick to add some pop and sizzle to your new membership site: mix and match your models.

You don’t just have to pick one and stick with it. You could:

Start a paid newsletter and sell courses
Build a community and upsell to a mastermind
Launch a group coaching program periodically throughout the year and offer community access after completing

If you want some “real life” examples, look no further than Jane, a Content Sparks customer who purchased courses from my shop and offered them through a group coaching program and membership offer. Or Barbara, another happy customer who runs a successful coaching business aimed at female entrepreneurs and built an academy to scale her knowledge.

The sky is the limit. I recommend choosing 1-3 models to see how you can combine them into an extra-special unique offer that helps you stand out and scale.

The Ultimate Guide to Launching a Membership Site!

Get the Free Guide and 30% off A Year’s Worth of PLR Content.

How to Price Your Membership Site

Once you’ve settled on a model, now it’s time to choose a price for your membership site.

If you offer coaching or services, then I recommend positioning this to complement your high-ticket offers. You can choose one of the following pricing models:

1. Monthly Subscription ($19-97/month) Easiest to sell due to low commitment. Creates steady monthly recurring revenue with seamless checkout.
2. Annual Subscription ($190-997/year) Priced at 10-11x monthly rate. Secures full-year revenue upfront and typically offers 1-2 months free as an incentive.
3. One-time Payment Good for acquiring initial customers wary of subscriptions. This is less ideal in the long term as it limits recurring revenue potential.

Pro Tip: Consider offering both monthly and annual options, with annual at a discount. Start with lifetime access for first customers, then transition to a subscription model.

Learn more in my complete guide to pricing your membership site!

How to Find Content for Your Membership Site - Fast

A steady flow of new customers to your membership site is great in theory, but that content needs to come from somewhere.

Once you launch a membership site, you need to provide a constant stream of valuable content to attract and retain your members.

Here are a few of my favorite sources for content:

Create and launch courses yourself: This is one of the simplest ways to start. Be warned though: creating online courses can quickly become expensive (check out the final bullet point to fix that).
Invite guest experts: Add a bit of variety by collaborating with industry experts to create exclusive content for your members.
Encourage member contributions: Build a community where your members can share their experiences, case studies, and insights. This is a form of UGC (user-generated content), and it will keep them engaged with minimal input from you (aside from responding and moderation).
PLR: This is my favorite tip and the best “hack” for sourcing quality content fast. PLR (private label rights) allows you to purchase and rebrand content to sell to your audience. From PLR courses to PLR lead magnets and more, there is no shortage of products you can purchase.

Download My Free Membership Site Guide

Coaching and consulting can be rewarding, but it is a tough business to scale.

If you have your eyes set on mid-high six figures, then you will need a semi-passive offer that can help you grow your business without filling up your entire calendar or hiring staff. That offer could be a membership site.

I’ve created a downloadable guide to creating a membership site to help set you up for success.

Click the button below to download your guide.

I have an extra-special bonus for you too: if you want to fill your membership site with stellar content, then you’ll also get a 30% discount on your first order for my shop.

So click that button and build the membership site of your dreams!