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Jul 31, 2025
If you’ve ever wondered whether your expertise, the thing you can talk about endlessly, do in your sleep, or help friends with on a whim, could become the foundation of a recurring revenue business, this post is for you.
Membership sites are one of the most powerful ways to turn your passion into profit. They help creators build communities around their knowledge, scale their impact, and create income stability through recurring revenue.
In this guide, you’ll see real-life examples of everyday people who built successful membership sites, not celebrities or influencers. You’ll learn how they started, what made them stand out, and how they grew communities that not only support their business but also make a difference in people’s lives.
But first, let’s cover some of the fundamentals behind membership sites.
What Is a Membership Site?
A membership site is an online platform that gives paying members access to exclusive content, community, resources, and experiences. These types of sites are typically organized around a topic or skill that others are interested in learning.
Unlike a one-time course, a membership model focuses on ongoing value and transformation. Essentially, members stay because they’re getting results, connecting with others, and continuing to learn.
What Makes Membership Sites Stand Out?
Membership sites come in all shapes and sizes, but the most effective ones tend to follow a surprisingly similar blueprint.
They serve a specific audience
The most successful sites aren't for “everyone.” They’re created for clearly defined groups with shared needs or goals. Think families supporting autistic children, beginners frustrated with learning guitar, or ambitious sneaker flippers hungry for insider drops and resale wins.
They start from the beginning
Most membership site owners build their platforms with modest means: a simple offer, minimal tech, and often no pre-built audience. What they lack in polish, they make up for in clarity of purpose and the willingness to launch before everything feels “ready.”
They’re focused on outcomes
Instead of just providing content, these sites are structured to help members move forward. It could be towards writing their first book, mastering jazz improvisation, building a side hustle, or shifting their mindset. The product isn’t their content, it’s the transformation.
They lean into a story
Behind each site is a personal journey: the founder’s own transformation, struggle, or breakthrough becomes a relatable narrative that earns trust and motivates members to believe they can do it too.
These shared traits often form the backbone of what makes membership sites worth joining. And while each example we’re about to share has its own flavor, many of them blend all of these elements together.
So, whether you're launching your first offer or evolving from a one-time product into a recurring membership, you’ll find plenty of inspiration to draw from in this list of membership site examples.
Let’s dive in.
1. Tony Polecastro & Levi Kajula — Tony’s Acoustic Challenge
Tony and Levi's YouTube channel for guitar reviews kept getting the same question: "How do you play that?" They started with a simple membership for one song lesson per month, called Tony’s Acoustic Challenge.
After discovering Stu McLaren's membership framework, they transformed from being stuck at 1,200 members to consistently adding 200 to 400 new members monthly. Their membership site went from a side project to a mission-driven business.
Now with tens of thousands of members in Tony's Acoustic Challenge, they've raised thousands of dollars for Guitars for Vets over the years. As Tony shares, "It started out as kind of a way to make a living, and now it has turned into a way to make an impact."
Membership Success Secret: Simple, 10-minute daily lessons that remove overwhelm and keep members engaged long-term.
2. Ginger Dean — Loving Me After We
Working 12-14 hour days seeing clients via Zoom, Ginger was exhausted but knew her expertise in toxic relationships could help more women.
Starting with Instagram posts about what she discussed with clients, Ginger launched Loving Me After We. Her first launch brought in nearly 400 members, and by 900 members, she quit her demanding therapy job.
Now serving thousands of women monthly and generating tens of thousands of recurring revenue per month, Ginger created the revolution she envisioned. "To be able to create a membership and have a grander impact on a far larger scale has been a dream come true for me."
Membership Success Secret: Daily mentions of her membership on Instagram. As many of her members told her, "If you hadn't mentioned your membership as much as you did, I wouldn't have kept on being forced to really consider it."
Keep it simple. You don’t need a super complex launch with all the bells and whistles. Ginger is proof of that!
3. Mike Indovina — Home Studio Mentor
After 25 years in music — touring with KISS and Collective Soul, working in studios — Mike's friend suggested he teach recording. But Mike worried about competing with free YouTube tutorials.
Starting with one customer from the UK ("Paul Austin... when that email came through, it just blew my mind"), Mike built a membership around 10-minute focused lessons for home recording musicians.
The membership provides stable recurring revenue and time freedom. Mike's back playing drums in a band: "I feel like I have that ability now because I've created the business that gives me the freedom."
Membership Success Secret: Structured education beats free YouTube videos — members want a clear path, not random tutorials. You can see all of Mike’s work and services over on his website.
4. Patty Palmer — The Sparklers' Club
Patty's Deep Space Sparkle blog attracted teachers asking for her lesson plans. She was selling PDFs one by one.
Someone suggested a membership model, though Patty didn't even know what that meant initially. Working with Stu gave her a roadmap: "These are the components. You get to choose."
The Sparklers' Club now serves over 28,000+ teachers globally with standards-aligned art curriculums. Her husband Neil quit his engineering job to join the business. As Patty says, "We get to get up in the morning, grab our coffee... and do what we both really love to do."
Membership Success Secret: Switching perspective from "what can I sell?" to "how can this benefit my teachers?" made membership the obvious choice.
5. Tara Phillips — Autism Little Learners
The Challenge: Like many educators, Tara Phillips had multiple side jobs. Waitressing, spin instructing, delivering groceries, you name it. After her dad passed away from leukemia, she needed something to focus on while grieving.
Teaching herself through YouTube and Google, Tara created resources for autistic preschoolers. When someone suggested a membership, she launched Autism Little Learners with about 50 founding members.
In just two and half years, she tripled her teacher income and left the classroom. She bought her dream home, got married, and now impacts parents and educators globally — including a parent in Pakistan who messaged: "We have no education here for kids with special needs. This thing that you suggested worked."
Creating resources at the right developmental level that actually engage young autistic learners. Plus, in the beginning, Tara didn’t know any of the terminology or membership tech.
Membership Success Secret: Her story is a great example of how you learn and do, learn and do, and continue to stack the momentum to take you to the next level!
6. Susan Garrett — DogsThat
Teaching dog agility seminars 200 days a year meant being away from home constantly.
Susan transitioned from exhausting in-person seminars to online training through DogsThat. After attending Stu McLaren's workshop, she realized 95% of her income relied on launching course and one-time seminars, not sustainable recurring revenue.
Now she's home most of the time while serving a global community through her membership programs. Her podcast and membership site help dog owners worldwide create better relationships with their pets.
Membership Success Secret: "Instead of just going to Australia once every three years and helping people for a week, I could actually interact with them on a regular basis."
7. Dr. Ulrich Selz — Gut Health Membership
Having healed his own severe childhood gut problems, Dr. Selz wanted to help others beyond his one-on-one practice limitations.
Inspired at a Russell Brunson event where someone had 2,000 members paying $14/month for fishing coupons, Ulrich thought: "If he can do that with fish hooks, imagine what I can do with gut health!" His founding member launch succeeded right out of the gate.
Now practicing just 12 hours weekly, Dr. Selz reaches far more people through his membership. "As a physician, you want to help people. If you have the opportunity to help more people, I think this is the way to go."
Membership Success Secret: The founding member launch concept hit home with Dr. Ulrich—and it was so easy. "You start basically with nothing. You say, hey, I have this big idea of building a community. Who's in?" Then, you’re off to the races!
8. Lisa K. — Intuition Mastery Membership
Lisa was stuck in the exhausting cycle of launching online intuition courses repeatedly. If you launch courses or have products that make one-time sales, then you know the "boom and bust" she refers to.
Her membership started by accident when someone bought a "practice with me" product that had been sitting dormant. Starting with 5 people who never left, Lisa realized the power of ongoing practice and community.
In the first year, they doubled their income. Within three years, they tripled it. Growing from $25/month per customer to $500-600 through multiple membership levels, Lisa built a sustainable business teaching intuition as a skill, not a gift.
Membership Success Secret: "When they spend more time with me, they start to enjoy what I do, and then they want more."
9. Alex Kincaid — The Garden Studio
After burning out in law school studying human trafficking and refugee law, Alex Kincaid was crying for weeks. Her dad's gift of watercolor paints became her lifeline.
Despite having just an iPhone propped on books for lighting, Alex's 15-day Facebook Live challenge attracted 40+ founding members to The Garden Studio, her botanical watercolor membership. "The quality is so bad... But that was good enough for 40 something people to say, yeah, I'm going to join your membership."
Her membership serves people dealing with anxiety, grief, and illness. Alex shares her faith-based journey: "I believe we were created to create... When I can open up about that to people and say, here is a thing you can do that actually is going to impact your soul."
Membership Success Secret: Creating in community helps healing. As she says, "There is something that is really intricately connected within us when we're creative."
10. DaJuan Johnson — Think Bigger Coaching
While bartending for 12 years and acting (known for his role in Bosch), DaJuan kept getting asked by fellow servers and people in the industry: "How did you get an agent? How did you book your first part?"
His first launch brought just two members. But after Stu's advice to clarify his messaging, DaJuan shifted his language mid-launch and jumped to 28 members. His next launch brought in 51.
Think Bigger Coaching now serves actors with mindset training, audition techniques, and industry strategy. Members love learning from someone actively booking roles: "This opportunity here is definitely a confidence builder."
Membership Success Secret: Being the coach actors need — someone who's actively working and can share real-time industry insights.
11. Kadin Price — ShoeGeekFlips
During COVID, teenager Kadin Price started flipping sneakers from local outlets, earning tens of thousands. Friends wanted to learn his methods.
Inspired by a Stu McLaren workshop, Kadin launched a 15-day challenge that brought in 40 founding members to ShoeGeekFlips. Since then, he’s helped over 100 resellers hit $10,000 in revenue!
Now helping teens and adults build resale businesses with confidence, Kadin proves age doesn't limit impact when you have valuable expertise to share.
Membership Success Secret: Teaching a replicable system that helps others create their own side income.
12. Alain Picard — The Artist's Life Membership
When Alain's baseball dreams ended and the 2008 housing crash killed his painting sales, his wife was pregnant with their second child. She told him: "You're burying your gifts in the ground."
After a $100,000 course launch, Alain discovered Stu McLaren's membership model. His founding member launch brought in 187 people at $27/month — instant $5,000 monthly recurring revenue.
Now helping artists worldwide rediscover their creative confidence, Alain Picard sees his work differently: "You're trafficking in dream fulfillment with people. It's pretty amazing."
Membership Success Secret: "You can't encounter beauty without experiencing hope" — helping members create beauty that renews their communities.
13. Michelle Lloyd — United Artspace
After graduating art school, Michelle Lloyd was "completely unemployable." She built a free Facebook group to 12,000 artists, but wasn't monetizing it. There was opportunity, but she wasn’t sure what to do with the audience she created.
With just an idea and no content, Michelle launched United ArtSpace to 40 founding members. Following Stu's advice to "just love on those people," she focused on getting them results.
From those 40 founding members, Michelle has generated nearly $1.5 million in revenue, helped 3,000+ artists, launched a magazine, clothing line, and charitable giving. As a single parent, she bought her own home… something she never thought possible.
Membership Success Secret: "Working with Stu and The Membership Experience™, it's not only led me to what it is that I want to create... The financial aspect, I've just bought my own house."
Key Takeaways: What You Can Learn from These 13 Examples
Each membership site owner featured here started with one thing: a skill, experience, or story worth sharing. What sets them apart is their decision to take action — even if that meant starting without everything figured out.
Across the board, they:
- Solved a real problem for a real group of people
- Took small steps with big intent
- Prioritized impact and relationships
- Used frameworks (like Stu McLaren’s) to structure their launch
So, if you’ve been sitting on an idea, story, or solution that could serve others, now’s the time.
Ready to Build Your Own Membership Site?
These 13 stories show that you don’t need a big audience, fancy credentials, or perfect content to start. You need a plan, a purpose, and a platform that supports you every step of the way.
Join Stu McLaren’s free Membership Workshop and learn the exact framework these creators used to:
- Launch without overwhelm
- Grow with consistency
- Turn their expertise into scalable income
Your people are waiting. Your community deserves a forever home. And Membership.io is here to help you build it.
