The Membership Blast — 034
Lessons From Our 81 Highest-Revenue Customers
Chicago has officially turned into a sauna.
It’s been around 91° all week, so I’ve been hiding inside as much as possible. Thankfully, that gave me a chance to sit down with something our Customer Success Manager, Shannon, recently wrapped up: our quarterly Super Star Audit.
If you’ve ever chatted with Shannon, you know she’s passionate about helping our membership business owners succeed.
She spends her days onboarding new paid customers, working with agencies, and helping many of our biggest membership businesses grow. One of the coolest parts of her job is that she gets a front-row seat to see what’s actually working across hundreds of memberships.
Every quarter, she takes a closer look at our biggest success stories.
This quarter, she reviewed 81 of our highest-revenue customers, digging through their MemberSpace accounts, customer history, and public websites to answer one simple question:
What are the fastest-growing membership businesses doing differently?
Some of the patterns were things we’ve talked about before.
Others surprised us.
But one thing became very clear…
They don’t sell memberships.
They sell transformation.
The membership is simply the vehicle.
The promise is becoming a better investor.
Landing more clients.
Growing a business.
Saving time.
Learning a valuable skill.
Improving a career.
People aren’t buying access to content.
They’re buying a better version of themselves.
Here were a few other themes Shannon found.
They earn trust before asking for money.
The best businesses don’t immediately throw a pricing page in your face.
Instead, they give people a reason to trust them first.
A free guide.
A newsletter.
A YouTube channel.
Templates.
Free resources.
By the time someone reaches the membership, they’ve already received value.
Their memberships get better over time.
The strongest memberships aren’t static.
They’re always growing.
New content.
New downloads.
Fresh templates.
Live events.
Community discussions.
Searchable libraries.
Members feel like staying another month is an easy decision because there’s always something new waiting for them.
They focus on outcomes, not features.
Instead of saying…
“You get 50 videos and a private community.”
They say…
“You’ll save hours every week.”
“You’ll land more clients.”
“You’ll become a better designer.”
The difference is subtle, but incredibly powerful.
They prove everything.
The fastest-growing memberships don’t rely on vague promises.
They show proof.
Customer stories.
Real numbers.
Case studies.
Years of experience.
Specific results.
The more evidence visitors see, the less convincing they have to do.
✅ Rewrite your homepage around the transformation people want, not your membership.
✅ Give visitors something valuable before asking them to subscribe.
✅ Keep adding value so your membership feels more useful every month.
✅ Replace generic claims with customer stories, testimonials, and numbers.
✅ Ask yourself this question:
“What transformation am I really selling?”
That answer is probably much more compelling than “a membership.”
One last thing…
Huge credit goes to Shannon for putting this audit together.
One of the things I love about MemberSpace is that every new paid customer gets access to Shannon for free.
She’s helped a lot of new membership business owners avoid common mistakes, think through pricing, improve onboarding, and ultimately build stronger membership businesses.
So if you’re a new paid customer and haven’t yet, book an appointment with Shannon now.
It might end up being the highest ROI hour you spend on your membership this year.
Stay cool,
Marvin
Chief Growth Officer
MemberSpace