This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and it's really such a lovely time of the year to be thankful - the leaves on the trees are gorgeous shades of yellow, orange, and red, the sun is shining, and the farmers markets are bountiful! It's also the time of year I am so grateful to have a healthy, happy family and the ability to pursue entrepreneurship so that I can be more present for them. Alongside that, I am forever grateful for this amazing community and all of you who make it the warm, welcoming, and collaborative place that it is. The vibe her is one-of-a-kind, and so many people who join comment immediately that it feels like a great space - and that is all because of you! A few days ago, I accidentally allowed in someone who I shouldn't have. This person sent hundreds of spam messages using AI. Two amazing things happened as a results. First, three different people immediately reported the comments to me so that I could take fast action and ban him from the group. But also what occurred to me was that his comments were so easy to spot because they were so different from the usual lovely comments that are authentic and genuine and full of real connection. I appreciate so much how you all show up here every day posting authentically about how you are able to help others and then commenting on each others posts with genuine interest and questions. Running a group of this size is not easy, and I really depend on the vigilance of the group to help me keep it the safe space it is. I also really appreciate how the majority of you take it upon yourselves to make sure that you are following the community guidelines so that we don't have to do as much enforcing. So, on this lovely October Sunday, thank you and I hope you have a lovely day no matter where you are in the world. ❤️Shannon

If you missed some or all of today's masterclass for newish Skool community owners, have no fear, the replay is here! Even if you aren't newish but you are struggling to get traction and figure out which pathway is best for you, there is value to be found here. And...don't miss out because tomorrow (Thursday) in the Build Lab, I'm doing another masterclass about attracting new members and growing your audience. There are four main ways of growing your audience and number 4 is talked about very little yet it is the one thing that completely turned my business around! I hope to see you there. Oh, and after you watch the replay, let me know what you thought or if you have any questions. 😉

Sorry not sorry for the title. I'm closing my Skool Monetization Lab community, and the reason is simple. I give away good content for free, and free members don't act on it the way my paying members do. I'm in my 50s, and I don't have time to waste like the younger "whippersnappers" (I have never written that word before 🤣). For me, time is currency, so I looked at this as return on time. In my paid communities, people have put money in, so they turn up and do the work. In SML, free content gets treated like a free sample. People take it and don't act on it 😏 That gives me a simple rule on pricing: 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰: a low-priced subscription is the better model, because paying filters for people who will act. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁: stay free. A price on an empty room only leaves you with an empty room. My own traffic comes from YouTube, and that's what keeps my paid communities full. Two more reasons. There are now a lot of free communities teaching the same thing, so it's hard to look different from the one next door. And the same hours in my other communities earn more. I use one test. If I'm not hearing at least one "KACHING" a week, the time and resources are being wasted. SML started as a test, and it worked at the beginning. Then Skool changed the rules. I'm not going to sit and cry about it. I've never been afraid to kill what isn't working, so I'm closing the doors. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗔 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. Here's how to check yours this week: Add up the hours you spent on it last month, including posting, replying and prep. Then count the sales, bookings or paid sign-ups that came from it. Divide the hours by the sales and you have your number. If you can't point to at least one sale a week, ask yourself two questions. Do I bring my own traffic? Would the people in here pay for what I give them? If the answer to the first is no, the pivot may be as small as changing who you're bringing in.

One of the most important things I've learned since becoming an online entrepreneur is that the most important thing you can do to grow your business is to build relationships. Many of us (myself included) have rushed to promote our groups and services that we care so deeply about. And it only makes sense - we are excited about what we are doing! Today, I'd like to invite you to take a step back and introduce yourself to the group by answering the following questions: 1. Who are you personally? 2. Who are you professionally? 3. What is something you love doing outside of work? 4. What is something surprising about you? As you open up and make more connections, you will find that not only are people more interested in what you do, but they will also be more interested in helping you make connections with other people they know! 😉 After you introduce yourself, please scroll through the other introductions and add a comment to someone you have something in common with or would like to know more about. 😊 Please add your introduction in the comments below! ⬇️

If LinkedIn sometimes leaves you wondering who to connect with, what to say, what to post, or how to turn connections into actual relationships, I created this challenge to help you practice those things one small step at a time. Day 1 is live: Find One Person Worth Knowing. We're not starting with 100 connection requests or trying to collect followers. We're starting with one person you'd genuinely like to know better. Over the five days, we'll practice: Finding the right people Joining conversations Noticing who's already noticing you Starting a real conversation Following up and staying connected The challenge is happening inside LinkedIn With Confidence, my practical LinkedIn practice community. Membership is currently $5/year, and the complete 5-day challenge is included. If you'd like to practice with us, you can join here: https://www.skool.com/linkedin-with-confidence-5748/about We're already on Day 1, but you're not too late to join us.