Validate your membership idea before you build anything

The most expensive way to find out whether people want your membership is to build it, launch it and wait. Months of recording videos, writing guides and configuring a website can end in a quiet launch day and a handful of sign-ups from friends. Usually it's because the owner never checked whether enough people wanted this specific thing, at this price, from them.

Validation means gathering evidence that real people will pay before you invest heavily in building. It costs very little, and it usually improves the idea itself.

Why compliments are not evidence

When you describe your idea to friends, family or followers, most will say something encouraging. “That sounds great.” “I'd definitely be interested.” “You should totally do that.” They feel like validation, but saying yes to a hypothetical costs nothing.

Real evidence has a cost attached. Someone gives you their time in a proper conversation, their email address for a specific offer, or, best of all, their money. Aim for the strongest kind before you build.

Start with twenty real conversations

Before you write a sales page or set a price, talk to around twenty people who fit your intended audience, the people you identified when you worked out how to choose a niche. Find them in groups you belong to, among past clients or through introductions.

Keep each conversation to about twenty minutes, and spend most of it listening. The trick is to ask about what people have actually done, not what they think they might do. Here is a simple script you can adapt:

“Thanks for making time. I'm researching how [type of person] deal with [problem], and I'd love to hear about your experience. I'm not selling anything today.

Tell me about the last time you ran into this problem. What happened? What did you try? Have you spent money on solving it: books, courses, coaching, tools? How did that go? What's the most frustrating part that still isn't solved? If a solution existed tomorrow, what would it need to include for you to use it every week?”

The script doesn't pitch your idea at all. You want the problem in their words. Note the exact phrases people use, because they'll become the language of your marketing.

What to listen for

After a dozen or so conversations, patterns appear. Some signs are encouraging:

• People describe the problem vividly and with feeling, without prompting.
• They have already spent money or significant time trying to fix it.
• They mention wanting ongoing help, accountability or a group of peers, not just one answer.
• They ask when your thing will be ready, or whether they can join.

Other signs should give you pause:

• Answers like “sounds interesting” or “I'd probably check it out.”
• The problem exists but nobody has ever spent a cent on it.
• Everyone describes a different problem, suggesting your audience is too broad.
• People are happy with the free resources they already use.

Mixed results are normal. They usually point to a sharper version of the idea: a narrower audience, a different format or a more specific promise.

Ask for money before the product exists

The strongest evidence is a pre-sale: people paying for a membership that hasn't launched yet. It sounds uncomfortable, but it's entirely fair if you're honest about what people are buying.

A good pre-sale offer has four parts: a clear description of what members will get, a launch date, a reason to join early (usually a lower founding price), and a promise of a full refund if you don't launch. Here is an example for a hypothetical business coaching program for freelance bookkeepers:

Subject: Founding places for the Bookkeepers' Growth Circle

Over the past month I've spoken with more than twenty freelance bookkeepers about the same problem: too many small clients, not enough time and no clear path to raising prices. I'm building a membership to fix that: a monthly workshop, a library of pricing and proposal templates, and a small private group for questions.

It opens on the first of next month. Founding members pay $29 a month instead of $49, for as long as they stay. If I don't open on time, you get a full refund, no questions asked.

I'm capping founding places at 25. Reply to this email and I'll send the sign-up link.

Asking people to reply first keeps the barrier low and starts a conversation.

Waitlists are useful, but weaker

If a pre-sale feels like too big a step, a waitlist is a reasonable middle ground. A simple page describes the membership and invites people to leave their email address to hear when it opens. It is also a good way to start growing your email list before launch.

Treat waitlist numbers with caution, because joining costs nothing. To make them more meaningful:

• Ask one question on the form, such as “What's your biggest challenge with this right now?” Thoughtful answers signal real interest.
• Email the list regularly with useful material and watch how many people open and reply.
• Show the planned price on the page, so people join knowing roughly what it will cost.

As a purely illustrative example: say 400 people join your waitlist and you invite them all to a founding offer. If 20 of them buy, that's one in twenty, and you have 20 paying members before building anything. If 3 buy, you've learned something important while it's still cheap to change course.

Decide in advance what counts as a yes

Validation only works if you set your bar before you see the results. Otherwise it's too easy to talk yourself into going ahead regardless. Write down a simple rule, such as “If at least 20 people pre-pay by the deadline, I build it. If fewer than 10 do, I go back to the conversations and rethink the offer.”

Pick numbers that would make the first few months worth your time. They don't need to cover a full salary; they need to prove that strangers, not just friends, will pay.

Your validation plan

1. Write a one-sentence description of who the membership is for and the problem it solves.
2. Book twenty short conversations with people who fit that description.
3. Note the exact words they use, what they've already paid for and what still frustrates them.
4. Set your success threshold in writing.
5. Make a founding pre-sale offer with a date, a price and a refund promise, or open a waitlist with a question on the form.
6. Compare the results with your threshold, and build only what the evidence supports.