Hey all! I wanted to stop by with a little update on hosting my first summit inside my Skool community, The AI MAP Room. There’s a lot I’m already grateful for, and a few things I would approach differently next time. And what better place to share those lessons than with other Skool founders?! 𝗔 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗿: 𝗢𝗻𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸. Planning, speaker communications, classroom setup, promotional materials, graphics, emails, links... every finished piece seems to introduce three more things that need doing. 😂 I knew it would be work. I underestimated how much. The good news is that I’m building the framework and templates as I go, so a future summit should be easier to put together. 𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺: 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝗧𝘄𝗼: 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆. This has probably been my biggest lesson. I over-committed myself to a lot of other engagements on top of putting together and running my own summit. That on-top of all the work means I’m more tired at the end of each day, and I’ve had less energy for the interactions and live sessions I love inside my community. I’ve also been less present in other communities where I enjoy connecting and collaborating, including this one. The posts are still happening. But being present takes more than having content scheduled. 𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲: 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿. Having speakers introduce the summit to their own audiences has been one of the biggest benefits. You’re reaching new members through people they already know and trust, which is a lovely way for them to discover your community. It’s also shown me how much promotion can happen through collaboration. Paid ads can be an option, but they don’t have to carry the whole event. 𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺: 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺-𝘵𝘰-𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴.

I have just had a new person join my community (which you would have just seen @Donna Thornton) and now I am starting to feel like they only joined to see if they can onboard me into their business which train online community leaders. They answered the onboarding questions well, with genuine sounding answers, but now in the DM's it's starting to feel like a sales conversation. Wondering how others would navigate this situation?

I MADE THE PODCAST I COULDN’T FIND: Merch Marketing for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs I would love your support in following the show. I created it for people who want to use merch more strategically—but don't want to deal with the backend stress (sourcing, production, shipping) and just want a great new marketing opportunity to build their business. (Not landfill.) You do not need to start with Episode 001. Start with the problem that sounds most like yours: 001 — I’m not sure whether merch even belongs in my business. 002 — I hear “merch,” “swag,” and “promotional products” and I’m not sure what any of it really means. 003 — I want to make something, but I have no idea what to make first. 004 — I have expertise, prompts, a process, and I’m wondering whether part of it could become a physical product. And because I couldn’t launch a merch podcast without making merch... I’m giving away a personalized, co-branded Stanley Quencher. TO ENTER: Follow the podcast wherever you listen: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ISAOZsA6E4akvLNa8ohCK Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/merch-marketing-for-entrepreneurs-and-business-owners/id6817843867 And to enter to win merch, click here: https://barbarahobart.kit.com/a140c09da9 If you want to share it for those you think would find this podcast helpful, I would love it. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really appreciate your support.

Pull up a chair! ❤️ Wednesdays are our dedicated time to work on our Skool communities together. Bring a question, an idea, something you're stuck on, a project you'd like feedback on, or a win worth celebrating! Have experience that could help another builder? Jump in! It's also a chance to share what you know, make connections, and let others discover your expertise. There's no required live call or presentation. Participate however works best for you: 💬 Join the conversation in the Build Room thread. 📩 Request a DM or text conversation. 🎥 Ask Todd or Donna to arrange a call if talking it through would help. 🤝 Offer feedback, encouragement, or a helping hand to another builder. And remember, In the Build is open all week long. Wednesdays just give us a little extra time to come together around the work. No pressure. No need to have everything figured out. Just real people helping each other build better communities. ❤️🐼

I just realized I got my little flame 🔥 After a really rough start to the week this one little thing has given me a great boost to keep showing up and doing the work no matter what is going on in my life. Thank you to everyone here who always writes such interesting, helpful (and sometimes hilarious) posts and comments so it's been easy to respond and get up my daily activities! Especially you @Donna Thornton - you are trully incredible and I am so grateful that I found you 🙏