Build your content around your members' biggest problems

Most membership libraries grow by topic. You know your subject, so you make a lesson on each part of it: one on pricing, one on marketing, one on tools, and so on. It feels thorough. Yet members often scroll straight past a library like that, because they did not join to study a subject from end to end. They joined because something specific was hard, costly or frustrating, and they hoped you could help them fix it.

When your content is organized around those problems instead of around your subject, three things change. Members find what they need faster, because the library speaks their language. They see results sooner, which is what keeps them paying. And you stop guessing what to make next, because you have a clear list of problems and can see which ones you have not solved yet. Here is how to build that list and turn it into a content plan.

Topics describe your subject; problems describe your members

A topic is a label from your point of view: “Lesson pricing.” A problem is a situation from the member's point of view: “I haven't raised my rates in four years and I'm scared my students will leave.” The same content might serve both, but the framing decides whether a member recognizes it as the answer to their situation.

Problem-led content also tends to be more complete. A lesson on “pricing” can stay abstract. A lesson on raising your rates without losing students has to cover the letter to families, the timing, what to say when someone pushes back and what to do if a family leaves anyway. Solving a real problem forces you to go all the way to the finish line.

Collect problems in your members' own words

You probably know the broad themes already. What you need is the exact wording and the detail, because that is what makes content feel written for someone. Good sources include:

• A question at sign-up. Ask every new member what made them join now. The answers are problem statements.
• Support messages and forum posts. Look for phrases like “I'm stuck,” “I don't know how to” and “every time I try.”
• Cancellation reasons. A member who leaves because they “didn't get what they needed” is pointing at an unsolved problem.
• Short conversations. Fifteen minutes each with five members will often teach you more than a long survey.

If you want one survey question that does this job well, try something like this:

Think about the last time you felt stuck or frustrated with [your subject]. What were you trying to do, and what got in the way?

Asking about a specific recent moment gets you concrete answers instead of generalities like “marketing is hard.” Keep the replies word for word in a simple document or spreadsheet. You will reuse that wording in titles and openings later.

Sort problems into core, supporting and out of scope

Once you have twenty or thirty problems, you need to decide which deserve the most attention. Ask three questions of each one:

1. How painful is it? Does it cost members money, time, confidence or opportunities?
2. How common is it? Do many members face it, and does it come up again and again?
3. Can you solve it well? Is it genuinely within your expertise and suited to your format?

Problems that are painful, common and a good fit are your core problems. They deserve your best, deepest content and a prominent place in the library. Problems that are a good fit but less painful or less common are supporting problems; a short lesson, template or answer is usually enough. Problems you cannot solve well are out of scope. Be honest here. A pointer to a better source serves members more than a weak lesson written to fill a gap.

A worked example: a problem map for a music teachers' membership

Imagine a hypothetical membership for independent piano teachers who run studios from home. The owner, Tomas, gathered problems from sign-up answers and support emails, grouped similar ones, and sorted them. Part of his map looked like this:

• “Families cancel at the last minute and I lose the income.” Core. Existing content: one short article on studio policies. Gap: a sample cancellation policy, a kind but firm script for enforcing it, and a simple make-up lesson system.
• “My teenage students lose interest and quit.” Core. Existing content: none. Gap: a short course on repertoire choices and goal setting for teenagers.
• “I don't know what to charge.” Core. Existing content: one pricing video. Gap: a worksheet for working out a rate, and a letter template for raising it.
• “I get nervous before student recitals.” Supporting. Gap: one practical article with a recital-day checklist.
• “I need a new website.” Out of scope. Decision: point to a trusted outside resource rather than build a course.

Laid out like this, the plan almost writes itself. Tomas had spent months making theory videos that interested him but matched nobody's urgent problem. The map showed that his next three pieces should be the cancellation toolkit, the teen motivation course and the pricing worksheet.

Match problems to the stages of membership

Members do not feel every problem at once. A new member usually arrives with one urgent problem; a member of two years has different ones. Add a column to your map showing when each problem tends to appear:

• Arrival problems: the reason people join. Solve these quickly and visibly, ideally in the first week.
• Growing problems: the next obstacles members hit once the first one is solved.
• Advanced problems: the challenges of experienced members who have outgrown the basics.

If nearly all your content serves arrival problems, long-standing members will drift away. If most of it serves advanced problems, new members will feel lost. The map makes the imbalance visible before it shows up in your cancellations.

Let problems shape titles, openings and navigation

A problem map does more than tell you what to make. It changes how you present what you already have:

• Titles name the situation: “When families cancel at the last minute” rather than “Studio policies.”
• Openings describe the problem before the solution, so members know at once they are in the right place.
• Navigation can include a “Get help with…” area listing your core problems, each leading to the best content for it.
• Endings point to the next problem the member is likely to face, and the content that solves it.

You do not need to rename your whole library at once. Start with the pieces that answer your core problems.

Your first steps

1. Add a “what made you join now?” question to your sign-up form or welcome email.
2. Gather twenty problem statements, word for word, from support, forums and sign-up answers.
3. Sort each one into core, supporting or out of scope.
4. List the content you already have for each core problem, and note the gaps.
5. Make your next piece fill the biggest gap on your most painful core problem.
6. Revisit the map every few months as new problems appear and old ones are solved.

When every piece in your library answers a problem a member actually has, the membership stops feeling like a collection of content and starts feeling like help.