#122 The First 30-Day Welcome Window
This week I ran a 90-minute new community strategy workshop with a client to map out their onboarding from scratch.
At the same time, my team is in the middle of building out several onboarding experiences as part of our Circle build projects.
And behind the scenes, I’m refining a new agency framework that bakes onboarding right into the foundation of every community we design.
Onboarding is one of the most critical experiences you will design as part of your community experiences... and it lasts a lot longer than a welcome email.
Let’s talk about the moment right after someone buys.
You’ve finally made the sale. They clicked purchase, the payment went through, and now they’re in your program, membership, or course.
This is the part where most community builders exhale — ahh, we did it!
But this is also the part where your members are the most likely to bounce.
📉 They forget to log in.
📉 They don’t show up to that first event.
📉 They ghost the welcome email and never come back.
Here’s the hard truth:
The first 30 days are the most engaged your customers will ever be (yikes!) — so it’s important that we capitalize on it.
If you're noticing drop-off early in your member journey, you’re not alone.
The solution isn’t to build more content or send more emails.
It’s to make those first 30 days feel irresistibly relevant, easy, and rewarding.
Here are 3 ways to do that:
(1) Make expectations crystal clear
The #1 mistake I see community builders make is assuming their members will just figure it out. They won’t. That’s not shade – that’s human behavior.
When people join your program, they’re often asking:
What am I supposed to do first? (and next)
How do I know if I’m doing it “right”?
Am I allowed to post? How do I participate?
You need to answer those questions for them.
Create an onboarding place, even if it’s scrappy.
Send a short sequence of 3–5 emails that walk them through the first steps.
Give them a simple checklist (or even a Loom video) to demystify the first week.
(2) Personalize the experience
Your new members need to feel like this thing they just bought was literally made for them.
You can fake that feeling (in a good way!) by adding a few simple personalization layers:
Ask them a quick intake question or quiz when they join
Offer a 1:1 kickoff call or personalized video message
Recommend a starting point based on who they are and what they need
Remember: Personalization isn’t about building 5 different versions of your product.
It’s about helping them see themselves in the version you’ve built.
(3) Design for a quick win
This is where the magic happens.
Most people don’t need to master your full framework right away. They just need one good result — one signal that this is working.
Here’s how you can engineer that:
Create a 20-minute mini exercise that solves a real problem
Host a new member-only co-working session to get one task done
Highlight a case study from someone who got a result fast
Give them a 1-week challenge to accomplish
Once they see progress, they’ll come back for more. Once they get a win, they’ll want to keep winning.
Your First 30-Day Action Plan
Here’s how to reduce drop-off and build momentum:
✅ Set clear expectations
✅ Personalize the experience
✅ Create one quick win
The rest of your program can work its magic after that.
But those first 30 days? That’s your one chance to earn their trust, their attention, and their ongoing participation.
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💬 Want help designing your onboarding?
This is one of our most-requested services at Affinity Collective. We’ll help you map your onboarding flow, design your email sequence, and build momentum with your best-fit members from day one.