The first episode of The Online Community Show is officially live. This podcast is focused on real conversations about online communities, community building, trust, traffic, and connection. Not just the biggest success stories, but the full range of experiences from people who are actively building communities right now. In this first episode, @Eric Howell and I introduce the show, share how we met through Skool, and talk about why online communities are becoming one of the most important places on the internet in 2026. Here are a few of the things we get into: • Why social media often feels less social today and why communities are filling that gap • How online communities create real human connection in a world full of AI generated content • The difference between traffic tools and nurturing tools when you are growing a community • Why podcasting can become a long term trust builder for your future members • How overthinking and perfectionism stop people from starting communities or creating content • Why testing, experimenting, and learning together is one of the biggest advantages of communities One of the biggest ideas we talk about in this episode is that people are looking for something real again. When most social media feeds are filled with algorithms, ads, and content from strangers, communities create a place where people can actually talk to each other, build relationships, and learn together. We also talk about something that many creators misunderstand about podcasting. A podcast is not mainly a traffic tool. It is a trust builder. Someone might scroll past dozens of short videos and forget them instantly. But when someone spends thirty to sixty minutes listening to you talk, they begin to understand how you think, what you value, and whether they trust you. That is where communities grow. We already have 3 more episodes recorded with upcoming conversations featuring @Matthew Burns, @Victoria Gallagher, @Artin Asghari, & @Ethan Brits, each bringing a different perspective on building, growing, & running online communities.

I can't help it... I'll make a more in-depth post on this later... BUT I am so excited! 🥳 Christmas in February!

When I decided to make my community public, I got a lot of questions. But the main one was always the same. Why? 🤷‍♀️ The answer is that there are several reasons. I wanted to explain them, especially if you are thinking about whether you should have one too. I have always recommended having a public Skool community alongside whatever you are doing on Skool. Whether you are running your own community or supporting someone else, it is something I genuinely believe in and have told people to do for a long time. Especially now that we have the option of a $9 hobby plan community, but even when there was only the $99 option, I still saw it as one of the cheapest forms of SEO and marketing you could invest in. Do you know how much it costs to have someone do SEO for you? A good one can cost a lot, so this is super affordable. But at a certain point I realized something. Even if I understand how valuable it is and can explain what to do and how to do it, a lot of people need to actually see it. They need a real example. Something visual and hands-on. I get it.. I learn better that way too! 😅 Why am I so sure everyone should have one? I have tested the power of a public community on Skool, and I also know how powerful SEO is from long before Skool even existed. That combination is what made the decision obvious for me. Let me ask you this.. If you saw what YouTube looked like before it got big, or what TikTok looked like before it took off, and you understood the potential back then, would you not lean into it and tell others to do the same? That is where I believe Skool is at right now, and where the real opportunity is with AI discoverability. You're not too late to the game and you don't need to feel FOMO, because you're here right now. Another big reason is time. ⏳ I only have so much time in a day and everyone wants some of it, and I genuinely want to give it. But I am still only human with life happening. I am a single mom, I homeschool my little one, and I am everyone’s go-to person.

When you are on any online platform, we all know by now there is bound to be spam. People talking about dropshipping, asking you to move to WhatsApp, saying “Hello dear,” and sending messages that clearly do not belong in a real community space. Some of the common questions Skool community owners and admins have about dealing with spam are: How do I stop spammers in my Skool community? How can I tell if a Skool membership request is fake? What is the best way to prevent spam DMs in Skool? How do I use Skool’s features to reduce spam? Well Skool just released a new feature update that helps community owners spot spam accounts directly inside Skool membership requests. You can now see when a profile is marked as high risk for spam before approving them, which makes protecting your Skool community much easier. Before this update, one of the best ways to identify fake accounts was by checking location details through chat. Many spammers say they are from one place, but their profile data shows something completely different. That extra step worked, but it took more time. Now the process is faster and clearer. See the photo to see how the locations do not match. This is a simple example of how spotting these red flags early can help you stop spam accounts before they ever get inside your community. You can also put smart systems in place alongside this new feature. Setting level requirements for things like sending direct messages or posting in your Skool community helps reduce spam and protects your members. Requiring people to reach a certain level before they can message others or post gives you more control, saves time, and keeps your community focused on real conversations instead of cleanup. Personally, I recommend setting the chat level to at least 4. This gives you a better chance of spotting accounts that try to comment back and forth quickly just to level up and unlock messaging. It also gives real members time to get to know each other inside the community before moving straight into private messages.

One of the great things about Skool is that Sam Ovens listens when people ask questions or make feature requests inside the Skoolers community. Some questions that came up were: How do I get notified when someone posts in my community? How do I get a notification when a new member requests to join? These were common questions because most owners want to respond quickly and keep engagement moving. Until now there was no way to turn those alerts on. Skool listened and built the solution. You now have them in your notification controls. They are turned off by default. If you want alerts, you can turn them on manually. Here is how to update your notification settings: Click on your profile photo. - Desktop will show you the user menu drop down - Mobile you will have to click the 3 dots in the top right to get to the user menu drop down On the user menu drop down, click Settings. Then click on Notifications. - Desktop it will have tabs on the side and you see "Notifications" there - Mobile you will need to slide it to see "Notifications" Then expand the notification settings for the community you want to change. Click either On or Off for what you want to be notified on. You can turn on notifications for: • Admin announcements • Event reminder email • New customer email • Membership requests • Reported content • New Post This puts you in control of what you stay updated on. Faster approvals. Better responsiveness. A smoother community experience for everyone. Which notification are you turning on first now that the option is finally here?