##Goosepel · 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙁𝙔 🍓🐛🦋🌈⭐️🩷

##Goosepel

has been preaching the Goosepel in our community and just put an awesome post together that I wanted to share here. She thought it was too long to share in Goosify but I think if you are new here or having difficulty growing your community its a great summary of things we have learned from this community that has directly impacted to our growth

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We kicked all of this off by talking about how you really need to unlearn so many traditional business practices in order to be successful on Skool. Some of us on the call shared that we've started & grown many businesses over the years, & as much as that will ALWAYS be an asset to your Skool community, it's not going to be an end all. Skool is such a different animal in that way. It is all centered around building community & fostering genuine relationships with people - and yes, the Skool Games and the money aspect is also a key component, but you can't get to that point WITHOUT establishing that community part first.

To start, let's talk about THEME. This was such a huge take away for Brian and I because we were able to take our super boring/basic community about taxes & actually make it fun/enjoyable (not only for our members, but also for us)! Goose often refers to his community as "Broccoli Wrapped in Bacon" - meaning that you make something so fun & appetizing for people that they don't even realize they're learning & getting benefits from it. So, our community is clearly about taxes, but we have a Napoleon Dynamite theme that offsets the boring nature of taxes lol. It also helps give your members a safe space to open up when YOU set the tone with a non-traditional theme.

If you don't already have a theme in your own community, I challenge you to think of one! Go back to your childhood & think of something that makes you laugh or smile - something that YOU love. When we've presented this question at our IRL events, some people have come up with: a cooking theme, a city theme, a movie/TV show theme, and even a music genre theme! It can literally be anything that gives you joy & just run with it! Also, don't second guess yourself & wonder if others may not like it. I'm sure most of you aren't the biggest Napoleon Dynamite fans lol, & that's totally okay... it just makes the community fun & disarming. However, I LOVE Napoleon Dynamite & it's my favorite & most-quotable movie, so it brings me extra joy every time I come into Tax Class & that's an unmatched feeling.

2. Next, let's talk about INSIDE JOKES. Goose gives the example about how you would act with your childhood friends vs how you would act with people you just met (aka your community members). The inside jokes that you have with your childhood friends keep you connected & becomes more of a "if you know, you know" type thing. People who aren't in your friend group wouldn't understand the inside jokes & c'mon, who wants to be excluded from a funny joke!?

So, having inside jokes within your community bonds your members & again emphasizes that community aspect. I'm not sure if we have any silly inside jokes yet here... maybe Brian being referred to as "Tax Daddy" or the way we've all been using the word "Flippin" lol.

3. Now, let's talk about LEVEL 3 OPTIMIZATION. This is key when it comes to retention. Your goal is ultimately to get your members to "Level 3" within your community, because the data proves that members who get to Level 3 are more likely to stay & engage (these are going to be your core members who routinely show up). This also plays into the gamification that is Skool lol.

So, in your Level 1 & Level 2 classroom courses, you should make it super obvious that your goal is to get your members to Level 3! Here's an example of ours:

"At level 3 you'll unlock SWEET flippin' gifts to understand your business taxes better!

So, our goal is to get you to Level 3 ASAP.

⚪ Level 3 takes 20 points

⚪ Points are achieved when people like ur stuff"

4. Next, let's talk about CONSISTENT INTERACTION. This might sound self explanatory, but this also goes back to your childhood friends. The friendships that last & have the strongest bonds, are the ones that you're consistently putting in effort & time with - the same goes for your community! The more time you dump into engaging with your community members (comments, pinned posts, likes, shoutouts, group calls, etc), the stronger the bond will be!

5. Lastly, let's talk about REDUCING FRICTION. Unless you already have an established/large audience or following, you'll want to reduce the friction as much as possible in order to get people to join your community. Things like membership questions, pending approval (I believe there is no option for this on the Hobby Plan), & even low price entry fees (i.e. $1) put unneeded friction on possible new members. All of these things can be accomplished by adding that friction onto the community admin instead (adding the friction to your side instead of theirs - i.e. monitoring bots, collecting emails, collecting questions can all be done through other means).

For instance, you can tie those things into your intro post template - you can get answers to those questions & even emails if you feel they're necessary. Also, YOU WILL get bots as your community grows, but there are plenty of ways to deal with them without putting the friction onto protentional new members.

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