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.

If Skool’s dashboard or analytics has ever confused you, this replay is going to help everything click. @Matthew Burns breaks down each part of the dashboard in a way that’s clear, practical, and genuinely easy to follow. He explains what your numbers actually mean, how to interpret them, and how to use your data to grow your community with confidence. He also digs into the areas most creators misunderstand, like when your data becomes reliable, why month three churn shows up in so many communities, and how to tell whether your retention is healthy. He covers cohorts, conversion, cash flow, LTV, and more, all in simple beginner friendly language. So if you’ve ever opened your dashboard and felt overwhelmed or unsure what you’re looking at, this training will finally make it make sense. Watch the replay here: Skool Dashboard Explained: How To Read Your Data And Grow Your Community Faster 👇 If you have any data questions after watching, feel free to tag Matthew Burns in the comments. He lives for these conversations and is always happy to help.

Onliners is designed to train, support and encourage you to make your first $1 on Skool. And we especially love genuine beginners over 50. Join us for free --> https://www.skool.com/onliners-9041/about?ref=9872a2d3a5dc4e429f2ba983e2beede9 Thanks @Jenna Ostrye for the opportunity to promote our communities and grow together :)

We are doing a community call with @Matthew Burns next Wednesday at 3:30pm CST. The new Skool analytics dropped this week and a lot of people want clarity on what they are looking at and why it matters. Matthew is great at making analytics simple. He will walk us through real dashboards, explain what each part means, and help you understand what to focus on so you can make smarter decisions for your community. If you want your numbers reviewed during the call, screenshot your analytics today and share them below. 👇 You can get several screenshots by clicking through the four squares at the top and using the extra tabs like Members tab then Members/Engagement Cohorts toggle. Then take a fresh set next Wednesday before the call so we can compare the changes. Who is joining us?