About a month ago, I started building my Skool community. I didn't have a big audience. I didn't have a paid offer. I definitely didn't have everything figured out. I just committed to showing up every day. Here's where things stand after 29 days: 37 members 184 visitors 31 signups 16.8% visitor → signup conversion 97% engagement The numbers are still early, but I learned a lot along the way. 1. Networking beat content (at first) I expected YouTube to bring in most of my members. Instead, most of my early growth came from genuine conversations inside Skool. Commenting. Helping people. Jumping on calls. Building relationships. Content is starting to help now, but relationships came first. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Clarity is a growth strategy When I launched, my positioning was too broad. The more conversations I had, the clearer my mission became. That's why I even renamed my community to 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯. Once I knew exactly who I wanted to help, creating content and talking about my community became much easier. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Discovery calls are market research I had around 𝟭𝟱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 this month. Only one was a sales conversation. And honestly, that was enough. Those conversations taught me more about my audience than hours of guessing ever could. Every call helped refine my messaging. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Engagement starts before people join I used to think engagement was about posting every day after someone became a member. Now I think it starts before they even join. If someone already knows you, has talked to you, or has seen you helping others, they're far more likely to participate once they're inside.

One lesson has been sitting in my head all day: “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sail.” I think this applies perfectly to building a community. You can’t control: - Whether people engage today. - Whether someone leaves. - Whether another community launches in your niche. - Every algorithm or platform update. But you can control: - The conversations you start. - The experience members have. - How consistently you show up. - How quickly you adapt when something isn’t working. The communities that survive aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest launch. They’re the ones that keep evolving based on what their members actually need. Every quiet week is feedback. Every active week is feedback. Adjust the sail, not the destination. What’s one adjustment you’ve made in your community that produced a surprising result?

Donna and I recently posted a one-hour consulting call in the classroom for $450. We'll break down how we landed on that number tomorrow. You can drop your guesses in the comments. Hint: It was for several reasons. Before then, sit with a few questions: What would you charge for one hour of consulting in your niche? Why that number? Not the polished answer, the real one. Is it based on what the hour is worth to the person buying it, or on what you can say out loud without flinching? And if that hour genuinely solved someone's problem, what would it be worth to them? Bring your number tomorrow. We'll talk about why most people guess low, and where this whole thing goes once you stop selling hours one at a time.

You have probably heard plenty of advice about making money from your community. “Start with a low-priced membership.” “Never charge until you have 100 members.” “High-ticket coaching is the fastest path.” “Give everything away free first.” But which advice actually works, and which ideas only sound good? This month, we are putting common monetization advice under the Skoolology microscope. Before we begin, we want to hear from you. What monetization strategy have you: ✅ Been told you should try ✅ Heard repeatedly online ✅ Tried without success ✅ Always wondered about ✅ Suspected might be a myth Share one strategy or piece of advice in the comments. We will choose several of your answers to examine, test, and discuss throughout the month. 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺, 𝗼𝗿 “𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲” 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵, 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆?

Notes from the July 30 mastermind call This came out of a paid Premium mastermind call on Growth Boost and where communities are heading. We share the substance of some calls with everyone here rather than keeping it behind the paywall. Not every community works that way, and there is a reasonable argument for the other approach. Our view is that if something material has changed on the platform, you should know about it whether or not you are paying us. So here are the parts that matter, whatever level you are at. Retention now matters more than engagement This is the biggest shift, and most owners have not adjusted to it yet. Skool has introduced the beginnings of an efficiency score that determines which communities get pushed through Growth Boost advertising. Historically the scoring leaned on engagement. Going forward, retention carries considerably more weight. Sam has said retention needs to be above eighty percent. Aiming above ninety gives you cushion. But do not conclude that engagement stopped mattering. It simply matters for a different reason now. Retention is what matters to Skool. Return on Investment matters to Skool. Engagement is what matters to you. People who never participate almost never upgrade to a paid tier. So engagement is not about a busy feed, it is about producing members who eventually want the next thing you offer. One practical warning that follows from this. Be careful about removing inactive members. Some owners have cleared out people who had not posted in a while. If retention is now scored, that may work against you. And here is the part nobody has a confident answer to yet. What do you do about members who have never participated, or accounts you suspect may not even be real people? Removing them cleans up your community and may damage the score that decides whether you get advertised. Keeping them protects the score and leaves dead weight in your feed. There is a real argument on both sides and the honest position is that it is not settled. Whatever you do, decide it deliberately rather than on instinct.