I go behind the scenes into how I make money with my freemium communities. What are your thoughts and questions?

If Skool's $9 Hobby plan could cover its own costs with just a few members each month, would you launch a low-ticket community around a specific topic you're passionate about? 💬 If yes, what would the community be about? Share in the comments

When @Christine Vabre first came to me, she was doing what so many online business owners believe they have to do. She was creating content for Facebook.Growing her Skillshare audience.Driving traffic to her website.Trying to keep multiple platforms alive—all while teaching watercolor and serving her students. Like many entrepreneurs, she was working hard to stay visible. But visibility wasn't the problem. Her business was spread too thin. Over the past year, Christine made one powerful shift: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗹-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. Instead of trying to send people everywhere, she started sending everyone to one place—her community. That single decision completely changed the way she runs her business. Today, 80% of the members joining her community come directly from Skool. Think about that for a moment. Instead of constantly chasing attention with endless content creation, the platform is bringing qualified people to her. That means she spends far less time marketing and far more time doing what she's truly passionate about—helping people discover the joy of watercolor. But the biggest transformation wasn't just where her members came from. It was what happened once they arrived. Without distracting ads, algorithms, or competing notifications, Christine is able to build trust much faster. Her students get to know her. They engage. They stay. They experience her teaching instead of simply scrolling past another social media post. And when trust grows... Sales follow. Christine shared that nurturing people inside her community has led to roughly four times the sales she experienced with her previous business model. That's what happens when you stop renting attention on social media and start building relationships inside a community you own. My favorite part of Christine's story isn't the sales, though. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲. Today she's running a thriving business while working just 25–30 hours a week. Instead of living on the content treadmill, she's spending her time where she creates the greatest impact—supporting her students, growing her community, and doing work she genuinely loves.

First off… if you’ve started your Skool community >> congrats, amazing and fantastic!! 🎉 Such a good place to be right now. I’ve actually stepped away from Instagram and LinkedIn over the last month, and I’m all in on Skool… and honestly? The shift feels really good. I’m seeing a lot of new people getting started, so I wanted to keep this super simple: 👉 You can get your first 50 members without ads. 👉 You don’t need a big audience. 👉 You don’t need to overcomplicate it. I mapped out exactly how to do it in the infographic below 👇 Share in the comments what you already knew...and what was new to you!

What's not to love about getting a notification that you've reached a new level on the Skool Leaderboard? It's one of the features that makes Skool so kool, getting that validation that your contributions to a community are welcome and valued by others in the group. But the higher you get, the bigger the jump between levels, so at the same time you're celebrating the goal you've just reached is the reality of what's ahead to reach the next goal: that empty grey ring around your profile pic, and a seemingly impossible number of points needed before your next level. "Good news! You reached Level 7 🤩! Only 5,999 points to go before Level 8...😳" Still, it's a fun feature, and as the newest Pathfinder here in Skool Scale Camp, I'm honoured to join @Heather Boers @Christine Vabre @Kimberly Armatys and @Lindsay MacGregor in the Leaderboard All-Time Top 5. Who will be next? No matter where you are now, every point counts, so keep on showing up and give your fellow 'Scampers' something to 👍 Like. In fact, have at look at where you are on the Leaderboard right now. If you're getting close to reaching a new level, Comment here and I'll cheer you on. Every 👍 = 1 point, you might be closer than you realize to completing your current level. And I love giving tipping points to those who are about to tip... Let's go!