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.

AI is becoming the new search engine. People are not just typing into Google anymore. They are opening ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude, Perplexity, and asking real questions about problems they want solved. They are asking about strategies, tools, mistakes, comparisons, and recommendations. That means they are asking about solutions you likely already provide. If your content is clear and accessible, it has a chance to be surfaced when those questions are asked. If everything is hidden or buried, it cannot be referenced. This is an actual behavior shift in how people search and how they make decisions. We ran out of time on our last live call, so we are continuing it this Friday! Add it to your calendar if you want to be there live: Is AI Recommending You? Friday at 3:30pm CST In this session, @Matthew Burns is sharing updated 2026 learnings on AI discoverability and what he is seeing in real time from his own website being analyzed by ChatGPT and other AI tools hundreds of times per day. He is breaking down what that actually means for your visibility and what you should be paying attention to right now. It's not about IF your audience is searching.. they are. It matters if you're one of the answers being given to them. Whether you have a private or public community this information can be applied. Quick note: I will be getting back to the previously mentioned posts in this public community series. A piece of tech broke here and I am waiting on a package to arrive so I can finish everything properly. We are not skipping it. Just adjusting timing. 👇 Did you see the first call Matt did for us back in July? (You can see it here.)

I’ve been asked this directly and I’ve also seen a lot of people asking it publicly. Why are the Skoolers community rules vague? Some people are totally fine with it. Others really dislike it. Both reactions are okay. Some people prefer things extremely clear with exact limits. Some are used to platforms where everything is spelled out. Others have been part of large communities before and already understand why vague rules exist in the first place. Here’s the part that matters and why I now strongly recommend vague rules… even for smaller communities. Hard rules create loopholes. Vague rules create better communities. The moment you introduce hard limits, people naturally want to reach those limits. Instead of looking at the intention of a post, it turns into “does this technically fit in the guidelines?” It even takes away from something that makes a community really wonderful. If a community like Skoolers spelled out exactly what a good post is and what a bad post is, we might never see some of the creativity that comes from someone trying something out. From experimenting. From sharing something that wasn’t done before that ends up being genuinely good. Vague rules leave room for that. They also mean that as moderators and admins, we end up having a lot of conversations. We look at patterns. We make decisions based on context instead of black and white rules. Sometimes there is a new person who is just trying to fit in. A post might technically be questionable, but the right response is to welcome them and guide them. Other times someone is new and blatantly self promoting, which clearly is not allowed. In that case, we can redirect and still welcome them without letting the behavior continue. Those situations look similar on paper but they are very different in reality. Vague rules allow for that distinction. They also protect against bad actors. An example that Andrew Kirby shared explains this well. If people were told they would not be prosecuted for stealing things under $50, you would immediately see people stealing things up to $49. The clear rule creates the behavior.

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.

When you run a Skool community, approving new members is part of keeping things organized and useful for everyone. One simple habit that helps is checking whether a new member request looks consistent and genuine before approving it. In this post, I share one practical way to spot spam or fake accounts in Skool during the approval process, using information that’s already visible to you as an admin or owner. This quick check can help you • Keep member conversations relevant • Reduce unnecessary DMs and comments • Make sure people joining are who they say they are It only takes a few seconds per request and fits easily into your normal Skool moderation workflow. Watch Here: 3 Simple Steps to PROTECT Your Skool Community from Spammers Plus, here are a few awesome resources on how to manage spam in your community as well: 👉 How to manage spam in your community 👉 How to spot spam members Do you remember to report Spammers/Bots to the Skool Platform?