I presented in The Business Connector today (Claudio's the new owner, asked me to kick things off). Spent 60 minutes breaking down the 3-tier CTA system that converts YouTube viewers at 5-8%. Why this matters for you: Most YouTube-to-Skool advice focuses on "make better content." This is different—it's about how you structure your CTAs based on what you're offering (free community, paid community, or product). Same principles I use to drive members here. If YouTube's part of your member acquisition plan (or should be), this will shortcut a lot of expensive mistakes. 📺 Presentation replay: https://www.skool.com/the-business-connector-7896/replay-the-3-tier-system-for-youtube-skool-traffic?p=1e5fb894 🔗 The community: https://www.skool.com/the-business-connector-7896/about?ref=c75adaa832e449d8b1ef463c22b1d8a9 40mins. Zero fluff. Immediate implementation.

The answer depends entirely on your starting point. Already have an audience? Go paid immediately. If you've built trust through an existing Facebook group, email list, or other community with hundreds or thousands of engaged followers, launching a paid Skool community makes perfect sense. These people already know, like, and trust you—that's the hard part done. Starting from scratch? Start free. Without an existing audience, your priority is learning the fundamentals: writing engaging posts, managing discussions, and understanding what your members actually need. You can't monetize effectively if you don't know how to run a community first. Think of it as an apprenticeship. Get 50-100 people in a free community, master the basics, then introduce paid offerings once you've proven you can deliver consistent value. The exception: If you're an established expert with clear authority (published author, recognized consultant, proven track record), you can skip straight to paid. Your credibility does the heavy lifting. Bottom line: Free communities build your skills and audience. Paid communities monetize the trust you've already earned. Choose based on where you are today, not where you want to be tomorrow.

Last Updated: January 16, 2026 Reading Time: 18 minutes Who This Is For: Skool community owners with 25-50+ members who want to turn engagement into revenue Why Paid Challenges Matter More Than Ever If you're running a Skool community with 25-50 engaged members but making less than $500/month, you're not alone. Most community owners treat their Skool groups like glorified Facebook groups—free value, endless engagement, but zero dollars in the bank account. The problem isn't that your members won't pay. The problem is you haven't given them something clear and time-bound to pay for. That's where paid challenges change everything. A paid challenge is a structured, outcome-focused program with a start date, end date, and specific transformation. It's not "join my community for general help." It's "join this 21-day challenge to launch your first digital product." This guide walks you through building and selling paid challenges on Skool in 2026—using AI to speed up content creation while maintaining your authentic voice. No fluff. Just the system that's helping community owners turn $0/month into $1K-$5K/month. What You'll Learn By the end of this article, you'll know: Why paid challenges convert better than traditional paid memberships for small communities How to design a challenge that solves one specific problem (not everything at once) Pricing strategies that work for community owners with limited audiences How to use AI to create challenge content without sounding like a robot The exact funnel to move free members into paid challenges Real numbers from Skool communities monetizing with challenges If you've been stuck giving away free value for months (or years), this is your roadmap to finally get paid. What are they getting access to? More of the same content they've been getting for free? Most community owners launch a paid tier and hear crickets because the value proposition is unclear. "Join my premium community" doesn't answer the question: What will I achieve?

This Skool News segment reveals the most important metric in community building: 10 true regulars. Forget vanity metrics like total members or daily signups. If you have 10 people who show up consistently and engage genuinely, you have the foundation for a thriving, profitable community. What Are "True Regulars"? According to this Skool News training, true regulars are members who: - Show up consistently (daily or multiple times weekly) - Engage with posts, comments, and calls - Contribute value to other members - Create the "heartbeat" of community activity Glenn's Photography Creative Circle (featured earlier in this Skool News episode) essentially has 70 true regulars—members so committed they created a music video together. But you only need 10 to build something special. The 90/10 Rule in Communities This Skool News training references the internet's proven statistic: 90% of people are lurkers. On YouTube, 90% never like, comment, or upload—they just watch. The same applies to Skool communities. Even with 10,000 members, if you have 10 core active people, the group feels alive. Those 10 create enough posts, comments, and engagement that the 9,990 lurkers perceive value and stay subscribed. How to Get Your First 10 True Regulars 1. Build Around Common Goals or Passion This Skool News segment emphasizes communities need shared purpose: - Common goal - Everyone trying to achieve the same thing - Common problem - Everyone experiencing the same situation - Common passion - Everyone loves the same hobby/interest Glenn's community united around photography. Underwater Squad (another Skool News feature) united around breath-holding. Your community needs that clear, specific focus that makes people say "these are my people." 2. Be a Leader Who Actually Cares According to this Skool News training, caring starts with showing up: - Log in daily - Check your community every single day - Read everything - Posts, comments, DMs, notifications - Respond thoughtfully - Make members feel heard - Solve problems - When members struggle, help them

This Skool News segment showcases the most heartwarming community content ever posted: Glenn's Photography Creative Circle members created an original music video expressing gratitude for their community. The production quality, emotional depth, and genuine connection prove that community building transcends business metrics. Glenn's Photography Creative Circle Stats Before diving into the Skool News feature, understand Glenn's community: - 72 paying members at approximately $40/month - Plus a free photography community - Weekly coffee hour calls (no agenda, just hanging out) - Built around photography passion while creating deep friendships The members loved Glenn's community so much they organized a community project: writing, recording, and producing an original song with professional video editing, individual member performances, and a world map showing their global reach. The Lyrics Tell the Story This Skool News video plays the full song, which reveals crucial community-building insights through its lyrics: "First you think it's about pictures, shutter speed and boring stuff... but then you learn it's about people." Members joined for photography education but stayed for relationships. This is the essence of successful communities—people come for the skill, stay for the connection. "Visionaries of the beauty that a broken day reveals... trying to make sense out of life." The community became more than technical training. It evolved into a support system where members help each other find meaning through shared creative passion. What This Skool News Feature Teaches Lesson 1: Small Communities Can Be Tightest Glenn's community has just 72 paying members—not thousands. This Skool News spotlight proves you don't need massive scale to create deep impact. Often, smaller communities foster stronger relationships because everyone feels known and valued. Lesson 2: No-Agenda Calls Build Bonds