Should You Have a Public Skool Community or a Private One? 🤔

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9h • Posts

There is no "one-size-fits-all" answer to this question, and I think that is why so many people feel unsure about what to choose.

Most people are trying to make this decision based on what they think they “should” or are “supposed” to do, instead of what actually makes sense for their niche, their goals, and the type of community they want to build. Including whether they even have a real plan for getting members. 👀

And a big part of the stress around this choice comes from thinking it is final. Like once you pick public or private, you are locked into it forever.

That is not actually how I look at it. 🤷‍♀️

You have way more flexibility than you think. You are allowed to test. You are allowed to change your mind. You are allowed to treat this like an experiment and collect real data instead of trying to make the perfect decision upfront.

Whatever you choose is going to show you how people actually respond. What they engage with, what they ignore, and what needs to change. Don't forget to track it! ✍️

You have way more flexibility than you think. In fact, you should be testing. You should be changing your mind when you get more information. And if you needed someone to tell you, you are allowed to have more than one community serving different purposes. Especially if one of them is meant to help you get discovered. It does not have to be complicated or add a "massive" amount of work.

Because I will tell you one big myth that is still floating around out there.. you know the one..

"If you build it, they will come."

No. 😐 That is not how it works.

So much good work never gets seen. Not because it is bad. Not because the person is not smart or capable. But because nobody ever sat them down and said the simple truth.

You have to get traffic. * hello * Please read that again.. PLEASE! lol

This is not me trying to sell you on a traffic package. Yes, I have found people that can help you like

@Eric Howell

and his upcoming Free community Traffic Lounge and then even

@Matthew Burns

with his ProveWorth community that is essentially the community Trust Pilot or Yelp. Two people I trust a lot, because I know traffic is needed for you to even get the business help.

I legit just want you to win & I don't mind being the one to burst a bubble if it means you could get the life you want.

You need actual eyes on what you are building. Otherwise you are just putting effort into something without giving it a real chance.. just hoping something magically happens?

And yes, you can get eyes on you from Skool! 🙌

But too many people think that means only three things: Discovery, affiliates, and sometimes trying to use Skoolers as a traffic source (even though that is not the purpose of that community and is literally against the Skoolers community rules).

Those are not the full picture.. at all!

Most of that traffic still lives inside the Skool platform. Which means you are mostly visible to people who are already on Skool.

A public community gives you something different. It gives you visibility outside of Skool.

Your public community makes your content searchable on Google and easier to be found through AI too. So people can find you even if they have never heard of you, never been on Skool, and were not actively looking for your community. 👈 Read that again.. do you realize how powerful that is??

Sam even confirmed AI is checking Skools out: 😎

"We see them crawling about pages all the time!" - Sam Ovens

🔥 So here is the real question I want you to sit with:

Does your audience actively search online for what your community is about?

If the answer is yes, then a public community makes a lot of sense, because you are building something people are already trying to find. 🕵️‍♀️

If the answer is no, are you sure?? I honestly doubt that.

Think about it again. How did you learn about this in the first place? Did you ever search it yourself?

It does not matter if it is a business, a skill, or even a hobby. Most people search. They look things up. They want examples, ideas, and answers to questions they have..

That behavior does not suddenly stop just because it is “not a business niche.” It is human behavior.

And that is exactly why a public community can make so much sense when discoverability is part of your goal.

If we can agree a public community is a good idea, then here is the next thing to think through. Can you actually serve your members in a public community, or do you need a private one? That is what determines if you need one community or two.

A public community is exactly that. Open to the public. That is perfect for a lot of topics.. a lot! But if your space is about something personal and you want people to feel safe sharing, opening up, and actually connecting.. then you need a private community. I know I don't need everyone knowing my personal thoughts and feelings. 😅 And if you also care about being discovered, then yes, you probably need two. And no, that does not automatically mean burnout or a massive amount of extra work.

There are also people who choose to have a free public community and a separate paid community, even when the topic is not personal. Not because it needs to be private, but for a bunch of different reasons. The kind of support they want to give, how they separate free and paid, or just what makes the most sense for them.

Over the next few posts, I am going to keep breaking this down even more and share how you can actually build a public Skool community that works:

Things to make sure you do if you go from private to public
What will help your public Skool community
Skool tips for a public community, including how to prevent spammers and low quality posts
And the Skool strategy I personally recommend and will lead by example with

So if you found yourself answering “yes” to the public community question and you want to understand how to do this in a way that actually works (even if that means running two communities without burning yourself out), stay tuned.

👇 But for now, I would love to know what your answers were to the questions above. Did anything else come up for you? Any hesitations, concerns, or things you are excited about when it comes to having a public Skool community?

I can do it with just one community 😎

My plan will need two communities ✌️

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