Building a Membership Business Using Notion

Have you ever considered turning your study notes into a source of recurring income? With Notion and a few smart tools, you can build a membership business that brings value to your audience while generating extra cash.

What We're Covering

In this blog post, we’ll guide you step by step to transform your personal or academic notes into a fully functional membership site. You’ll learn how to organize and optimize your content in Notion, convert those pages into an interactive website, and implement subscription plans with a seamless payment process. We’ll also cover tips for marketing your membership, retaining subscribers, and scaling your business over time. By the end, you’ll understand how to launch, monetize, and grow a thriving notes-based business—all without writing a single line of code.

Building the Notes

Every successful membership site starts with high-quality content. In our case, that foundation is the structured revision notes crafted during medical school. The author began by mapping out each subject area—like the circulatory system or neuroanatomy—into distinct pages. Within each page, Notion’s toggle blocks helped break complex topics into digestible subtopics, such as arteries, veins, and capillaries, each nested under expandable headings. This hierarchical structure reduces cognitive overload and makes navigation intuitive.

As a bonus, active recall questions were embedded directly under each toggle. For example, the question “What are the three layers of the heart wall?” hides the answer until clicked, prompting readers to self-test and reinforce learning. You can also incorporate backlinks between related topics—link your neuroanatomy notes to neurophysiology pages, for example—to create a cohesive knowledge graph. Embedding external resources like PDF articles or YouTube lectures via embed blocks can further enrich the learning experience. Additionally, using consistent naming conventions and tags makes it easy to filter and search content. After investing hundreds of hours into this process, the author realized this resource could serve thousands of students facing similar challenges.

Building the Website

Once your Notion pages are polished, the next step is to turn them into a live website. Initially, the author tried Notion’s built-in “share-to-web” feature, but it lacked customization and robust branding options. After researching on Twitter, they discovered Super (https://super.so/), a no-code platform that seamlessly applies custom themes and navigation to Notion content.

To build the site:

1. Choose a theme like “Ether,” which offers left-side navigation for quick page switching and a minimal UI that keeps focus on the content.
2. Customize the design using Notion’s blocks—such as images, callout boxes, and quotes—to enhance visual appeal. Embedding videos or diagrams directly into pages can further enrich the experience.
3. Link your custom domain for a professional URL (e.g., dontfinals.com), improving credibility and SEO.
4. Add descriptive page titles and meta descriptions directly in Super’s settings, and include relevant keywords naturally in your headlines and image alt-text.
5. Ensure your site loads quickly by optimizing images and minimizing heavy embeds, then test responsiveness on desktop and mobile.
6. Regularly submit a sitemap to Google Search Console to help index new content and track performance.

By following these steps, you can launch a polished website that showcases your notes and engages visitors without touching HTML or CSS.

Building the Membership

With the site live, the final layer is setting up a subscription model. The author chose MemberSpace (https://www.memberspace.com/) to lock premium pages and handle payments. This platform integrates with Notion sites to enforce content protection and automate user access.

Here’s how to structure membership plans:

1. Define clear tiers—for example, a basic “Medicine” plan, an advanced “Surgery” plan, and an all-access “Pro” tier that covers every specialty.
2. Use MemberSpace to restrict pages: tag premium sections in Notion and protect them during the setup wizard.
3. Configure payment gateways (Stripe or PayPal) for a smooth checkout experience.
4. Set trial periods or one-time discounts to attract first-time members.
5. Monitor analytics to see which pages are most accessed and adjust your plans accordingly.

Whether you’re creating study guides for law, marketing frameworks, or HR toolkits, this method works across industries—and lets you automate billing, renewals, and member management without manual intervention.

Tips for Growth and Retention

Launching your site is just the beginning. To turn a one-time customer into a loyal community member, consider these strategies:

• Encourage feedback by adding comment sections or surveys to key pages, then iterate your notes based on user suggestions.
• Build an email list using embedded sign-up forms; share regular updates, bonus content, or exclusive Q&A sessions to keep members engaged.
• Offer live webinars, office hours, or community forums to foster connection and justify recurring membership fees.
• Use promotional campaigns—like limited-time bundle deals or refer-a-friend discounts—to drive growth.
• Track key metrics such as churn rate, average revenue per user (ARPU), and content engagement to refine your membership model over time.
• Host occasional challenges or contests to incentivize members to explore new content and share testimonials.

These tactics not only increase retention but also help you understand member needs, ensuring your business remains sustainable and competitive.

Conclusion

By repurposing your hard-earned notes and leveraging tools like Notion, Super, and MemberSpace, you can build a scalable membership business that reflects your expertise. Whether you’re a student, professional, or content creator, this process transforms dormant study materials into a revenue-generating website and subscription platform.

• Bold actionable takeaway: Review your existing notes, organize them with Notion’s hierarchical and toggle features, and integrate Super and MemberSpace to launch a professional membership site within days.

Ready to turn your knowledge into a thriving business? Share your next steps in the comments, and let’s start building together!