@Donna Thornton has a personal message for you: Hey you, Yes, you. The one with seventeen ideas, three unfinished projects, and a community you care about more than most people probably realize. I see you. I know how much thought goes into the things nobody notices. The welcome message you rewrote six times. The post you were sure would start a conversation. The idea you keep turning over in your head because you're not quite sure what to do with it. And I know how easy it is to look around at what everyone else is doing and start questioning your own decisions. I get it. Todd and I are building a community, too. We have our own questions, experiments, and moments when things don't turn out quite the way we expected. And here's something we're learning. Sometimes what you need most isn't another answer. It's someone who will slow down long enough to understand what you're actually trying to do. Someone who, when you say, "My members aren't engaging," doesn't immediately hand you ten more things to post. Instead, they might ask, "What did your members come here hoping to find? And how would you know if they're finding it?" That's a different conversation, isn't it? And sometimes it's another builder saying, "Oh, I tried something like that! Here's what happened." Or someone remembering your little experiment from last week and asking how it went. Those are the moments I love. Because suddenly you're not just collecting advice. You're figuring things out with people who genuinely care about what you're building. One of our members, Helen, recently described 𝗦𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 as this wonderful bouquet of thinkers, dreamers, logic, beautiful chaos, ups and downs, and life experiences. That made me incredibly happy and grateful. Because she sees something I've been hoping we'd create all along. Not a room full of people who think alike or have everything figured out. A room where our different experiences help us see things we might never have noticed on our own.

Most grandparents buy the coloring book... @Tina Alexander, on the other hand, made one. Then she made four more! Not bad for someone who says she's not an illustrator and has never taken a single art class. She just really wanted to give her grandkids something 𝘀𝗵𝗲 made, not something she grabbed off a shelf. And when she was done, it looked like a real book... Because it was! That's when she had her aha moment. The leap from "a gift for my grandkids" to "a book for sale on Amazon" was a whole lot shorter than she thought. Between August 20 and September 16, she published five books in total. Four are for kids ages 4 to 8, with robots, animal careers, community helpers, and girls who build things. One is for grown-ups. All are under her own name. 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵? $𝟬. Now, you all know I'm all for getting things done for as little as possible, but this next part is what really 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Did you know that when you price your books on Amazon, there's a big difference between $8.99 and $9.99? It's way more than a dollar's worth. Most of us would pick $8.99 because it feels safer and friendlier... except Amazon pays a 60% royalty at $9.99 and up, and only 50% below that. On one of Tina's books, that works out to: $8.99 → $2.20 in her pocket $9.99 → $3.69 in her pocket One dollar on the price tag puts about $1.50 more in her pocket on every single sale. Playing it safe would have cost her roughly 40% of what she earns per book. Tina did the math before she hit publish, because that's how she rolls. She figures out how it works before she jumps in. She wrote the whole story on her blog, including what it costs, what you keep, and everything Amazon asks of you that nobody really warns you about. You can click straight through to check out all five books from there. 👉 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗶𝗻𝗮'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 And with Christmas right around the corner, why not gift a coloring book made by a real grandma to the little ones in your life? 🎄

I vet every single member who comes into 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗻 𝗦𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗹. This one looked legit. I checked her comments & activities in other communities and there was zero mention of a Shopify store anywhere, no Telegram mention, nothing. She never would have made it through the door if there had been. Then she dropped 93 comments overnight, every one bending back to her Shopify store. I woke up to 𝟵𝟯 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 and my DMs going off because there was a spammer amongst us. It gets better. She jumped into a thread and replied as if she had collaborated with me. We have never spoken. This part, though, I absolutely love! Those DMs came from members who know me and this community so well they sniffed her out in minutes. That is the community we built together! So if you are here to spam, consider this your one and only warning: The Directory is a community, not a hunting ground. Try this and you get the boot. No second chances. She got the boot this morning. Happy Saturday. Go troll somewhere else. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿!!!

30% of US American adults consult THIS at least once a year for answers. What is it? @Kristi Rieke

Skool is officially in session, and @Rose Colbourne just earned herself a GOLD STAR! ⭐🎉 Help me celebrate our newest Level 7 member inside The Directory On Skool! If you haven't met Rose yet, she's the wild woman behind 𝗦𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺, where the cool kids hang out and there's ALWAYS something fun going on! 😂 Even though she tends to be the class clown, Rose has over 20 years of experience helping people grow and scale online, and she's bringing that knowledge to you! Inside her community, she helps coaches, creators, and community owners grow their memberships, boost engagement, and turn connections into paying customers. All while having a little fun along the way with things like "𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻", "𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆", "𝗧𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲" threads and so much more! 🍎 Go check out 𝗦𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺! And you know what reaching Level 7 means... 🌟 Rose has officially earned her place in our 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲! She's joining our growing lineup of Level 7 members who have earned some extra visibility for showing up and contributing to The Directory! Rose, congratulations on reaching LEVEL 7!! 🥳 You've brought so much fun and energy to this community, and now it's your turn to enjoy a little extra time in the Spotlight! Everybody, help me give Rose a BIG round of applause! 👏🎉