Helllooooooo community builders! Let me share something wild that happened at a networking event yesterday. I walked into a room with 12 established business owners, and by the end, 8 of them were literally handing me their contact info, signing up for everything, and messaging me to work together. I even had someone who already had a Circle community ask about how hard it was to switch to Skool and book a call right there at the event. The kicker? I told them I wouldn't charge them a dime, even when one person DEMANDED to know how to pay me. But before you think I've lost my mind (it's already long gone lmao), let me break down exactly what's working and how you can use this approach to transform your own community-building game. // Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this - building a community is absolutely brutal sometimes. There are days when you get zero members, zero engagement, and it feels like you're shouting into the void. Especially when you're tying it to your expertise, your coaching, your whole identity. But here's what I've learned from talking to dozens of you in my DMs (and thank you for all the amazing messages, by the way): Everyone wants to sprint, but this is a marathon. The good news? While it's not easy, it IS simple. Dead simple, actually. // Remember that line from The Godfather? (Don't worry, I'm not throwing anyone to the fishes here.) When you make someone an offer so compelling, so obvious, that saying no would be ridiculous - that's when you know you've hit gold. Here's exactly what I said at that networking event: "I'll teach you how to build a community that transforms your business. I'll guide you through every step. I'll recommend the right software and communities. I'll be transparent when I'm an affiliate. But I won't charge you for any of this because I make enough from my existing clients and software recommendations. If you want more leads, more exposure, and to be the host of an awesome party that actually fulfills you - let's talk."

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and would love your thoughts. I am a big believer that while we here all love community, most people out in the rest of the world don't care about community at all. What they really care about...is utility. People want to know what they will uniquely get out of your space that they can't get anywhere else. In thinking about THIS community builders community, and making it valuable I'm going to start doing Daily Checkins and start up the course with an intro for how to make a good culture of accountability. Sharing weekly wins and creating daily accountability is something you couldn't get in Skoolers as an example. Do you do any form of accountability in your own communities, or want to? Would love to know if you'd find that to be valuable here!

Hi friends, one of the biggest opportunities that I am seeing constantly from our amazing community of builders here is that you not only need to get your message in front of the right people... but you need it to clearly point to how their attention is best spent with you because of how deeply you understand them. In a meta way, you all joined here likely because I did a halfway decent job of explaining that I could give you some utility to help you achieve your own goals, right? Here's the short summary: 1. You need to make sure that your audience feels like they deeply understand you. 2. You can do that by going through the process with AI to deeply dive into and profile those people. 3. As a thinking partner, AI will give you, at minimum, a much deeper understanding of who you are trying to serve and what they need from you. Our exercise in the comments: Who exactly is your target market and what are you trying to give them? Here are the prompts for you to check out! (CC @Brian Mangum!)

One of my favorite posts to drum up engagement is an offtopic post. Something where people feel comfortable sharing pictures or discussing what their weekend plans are. The 'weekend plans' is simply just this: what are your plans for the weekend? (shocking right?) You can tag or label it so people know it's more for fun. I also find once you get a couple people to share, it's much easier for other people to comment and respond back with positive or encouraging replies. For your next post, try something off topic - and then DM a few of your most trusted members or highest engagers and ask them to share their own feedback! As for us, my lovely wife and I are scoping out some farmers markets out here in Austin! Might even bring the pups. 🐕‍🦺 We're actually looking at getting a booth at some to both to represent Skool and also this community as an experiment to see if we can connect with more local community builders! So friends - you got any plans for the weekend? 😁

Hey everyone, I’m Rachel — thanks to Matt for the warm welcome! 👋 When I think about what a “win” looks like for me in being here, it goes deeper than just numbers or growing a group for the sake of it. 👉 My main goal is to learn how to build an engaged and supportive community from the ground up. That means: - Creating real conversations instead of just posts that sit there. - Learning effective onboarding so new members feel connected right away. - Finding ways to keep people active and engaged, even when life gets busy. - Building a space where members feel like they belong and are seen, not just “in a group.” I’d also love to pick up strategies around: ✅ Sparking interaction ✅ Keeping momentum going ✅ Creating value that members actually want to come back for At the same time, I want to give back where I can. I’ve had some experience creating smaller groups around things like farming, digital products, and supporting people who learn differently. What I’ve noticed is that no matter the niche, people stay when they feel: 💬 Heard 🤝 Connected 🌱 Like they’re growing I’m excited to share what I’ve learned so far, hear what’s worked (or hasn’t worked) for you all, and hopefully grow together as community builders. So let me throw a question back to you all: 👉 What’s one thing you’ve seen that really makes a community feel alive? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! 🚀