Here’s what actually happens between picking a membership template and having a site people can join and pay for - the real steps, in order.
Step 1: pick the template, set the theme
Start from a membership template, then change the theme colours and fonts before anything else. This is the fastest way to make a template stop looking like a template, and it takes about five minutes.
Step 2: decide what’s free and what’s gated
Before writing a word of copy, decide which pages are public (your homepage, your pitch, maybe one sample post) and which are members-only. This decision shapes everything else, so it’s worth making deliberately rather than gating things page-by-page as you go.
Step 3: set your tiers and pricing
Most membership sites do better launching with one tier than three. Set a single price, write one clear description of what’s included, and connect it to checkout. You can always add a second tier later, once real members tell you what they’d pay more for.
Step 4: write the member welcome
The first thing a new member sees after paying sets the tone for the whole relationship. A short welcome page or email - what’s included, where to start, how to get help - goes a long way toward reducing the “I paid, now what?” feeling.
Step 5: connect email, and publish
Hook up a welcome automation so new members get that message automatically, then publish. The site doesn’t need to be perfect to go live - it needs to clearly deliver on what you promised on the sales page. Everything else can improve after the first members are already in.
What to fix after launch, not before
Don’t wait to perfect the member dashboard, the onboarding sequence, or the content calendar before launching. Get the core loop working - join, pay, get access - and improve the experience around it once you have real members giving you real feedback.