Help members set goals the day they join

People join a membership because they want something to change. They want to pass an exam, land their first paying client, speak confidently in a new language or finish a project that has been stalled for years. Yet most membership sites never ask what that change is. The member pays, gets a login and is left to work out for themselves how the library connects to the goal in their head.

Asking for a goal on the very first day does two things. It gives the member a reason to come back that belongs to them, not to you. And it gives you the information you need to guide them, measure their progress and remind them why they joined when their motivation dips. Here is how to do it well.

Why the first day is the right moment

Motivation is rarely higher than at the moment of joining. The member has just made a decision and spent money on it, and their reasons are fresh. Wait a month and those reasons blur into a vague sense that the membership was “something I meant to do.”

A goal written down on day one also acts as a small commitment. When a member states, even privately, “I want to record my first voice-over demo within eight weeks,” they have turned a wish into a plan with a finish line. You can then build everything else, from recommendations to check-ins, around that finish line.

Ask for the goal in the right place

You have several options, and you can combine them:

• On the sign-up form: one optional question, such as “What would you most like to achieve in your first three months?” Keep the form short; one question is enough.
• On the first screen after joining: a short welcome step where the member picks from a few common goals or writes their own.
• In the welcome email: a question the member can answer simply by replying.
• On a welcome call, for members who get one, where you can help them shape the goal as you talk.

Offering a short list of common goals with an “other” option works well. It is quicker than a blank box, and it lets you group members by goal. Take the list from what members actually tell you, not from what you assume.

Help members turn a wish into a usable goal

Members' first answers are often broad: “get better at voice-over” or “learn to invest.” A broad goal is hard to act on and impossible to finish. Nudge members toward something more useful with a simple framework they can apply in a minute:

1. Specific: what exactly will be different? “Record a two-minute commercial demo.”
2. Visible: how will they know they have done it? “A finished file I can send to agents.”
3. Timed: by when? “Within eight weeks.”
4. Sized: how much time can they give it each week? “Three hours.”

The last question matters more than it looks. A member with three hours a week needs a very different path from one with fifteen, and asking now saves you from recommending a plan they cannot keep.

Here is a before-and-after from a hypothetical membership for aspiring voice-over artists:

Before: “I want to get into voice-over.”

After: “In the next eight weeks I want to record a two-minute commercial demo I'm proud to send to three agents, working about three hours a week.”

Connect every goal to a starting path

A goal is only helpful if the member can see how to reach it. For each of your common goals, prepare a short starting path: the three to five lessons, templates or community spaces most relevant to it, in order. This is also where starting learners in the right place matters. A member aiming for a professional demo who already has some training should not begin with lesson one on breathing.

Show the path immediately after the member sets their goal, so the very next click moves them toward it. If your membership software lets you tag members by goal, use the tag to tailor emails and recommendations later.

Follow up on the goal, or do not bother asking

Asking for a goal and never mentioning it again is worse than not asking. It tells members you were collecting information rather than listening. Plan at least three follow-ups:

• After one week: a short note that repeats the goal and suggests the next step on the path.
• Halfway to the deadline: a check on progress, with an invitation to adjust the goal if life has intervened.
• At the deadline: congratulations if they got there, and help setting the next goal either way.

Here is an example of the halfway note:

Subject: Four weeks to your demo

Hi Oskar,

When you joined, you set a goal to record a two-minute commercial demo within eight weeks. You're halfway there, and you've finished the script-choice and mic-technique lessons. Nice work.

Next up is the home-recording setup lesson, which takes about forty minutes. If your plans have changed, reply and tell me, and we'll adjust the goal together.

Cheers, Lucinda

A personal follow-up like this is even more effective when a member has already spoken to you, as described in when a personal onboarding call is worth it.

Your first steps

1. Choose where you will ask for a goal: at sign-up, on the first screen or in the welcome email.
2. Write a short list of common goals, drawn from what members have told you, plus an “other” option.
3. Build a starting path of three to five items for each common goal.
4. Schedule follow-ups at one week, halfway and at the deadline.
5. Review goals every month to see which ones members reach and which they abandon, and improve those paths first.