(NB: thank you for all your recents feedbacks, i love to write this type of posts i'm really happy that it helps y'all a lot!!!) for me, building an engaged online community isn’t just about getting people in the door. it’s about keeping them active, connected, and excited to be there. i’ve tested a lot of strategies over the years, and here are the five that made the biggest difference for me : 1. set the tone from DAY ONE when someone joins your community, they should immediately know what it’s about, what to expect, and how to get the most out of it. be super clear on your group’s purpose and values, set guidelines for behavior, and let them know how they can reach you if they need help. people engage more when they feel safe and know the rules of the game. 2. never let a question go unanswered (obvious but powerful!!) nothing kills engagement faster than silence. when a member takes the time to ask something or share a win, jump in and respond as soon as you can. even a simple acknowledgment keeps the energy going and reassures them that they’re heard. bonus points if you encourage others to join the conversation too. 3. spotlight your members people love feeling seen. highlight your members by sharing their wins, featuring their stories, or even running fun q&a posts that let them share more about themselves!! Adding a lighthearted question to the mix (like “what’s your guilty pleasure snack?”) keeps things fun and makes it easier for people to connect!!! 4. normalize the messy middle (transparency is KEYY) not every part of the journey is smooth, and that’s okay. when members feel safe sharing both their successes and their struggles, the whole community benefits. encourage honest conversations about what’s working and what’s not. when people see they’re not alone, they stay engaged. 5. let your biggest fans step up your most engaged members are gold. give them space to share, lead discussions, or even mentor newer members. not only does this deepen their connection to the community, but it also creates a ripple effect where others feel inspired to contribute too <3

By creating free content for my community, i discovered a key that might SURPRISE you: more engagement is not always better (based on what i've saw!!!!) this is a HUUGE realization for a lot of community builders and business owners Instead of feeling pressure to do more, more, more what if you focused on being more intentional with what you already have? that’s where the real magic happens. MY NUMBER I is :the myth of more is better i recently had new coaches, personal brands & community owners clients in my system and for them, the more is better approach makes sense because they're working in environments where volume and scale drive decisions. But for small business owners, creators, and passionate community builders? that approach doesn’t work. I wasn't here to chase vanity metrics. I was here to build a sustainable, thriving community that truly matters.... SO let’s talk about what actually moves the needle. MY NUMBER II is: the key to a sustainable community I learnt that success isn't about sheer numbers. It's about guiding my members along a meaningful journey what i call the community commitment curve. This means moving people from discovering your community to joining, engaging, and eventually becoming leaders. Not everyone will take on leadership roles, and that’s okay!!!! But you do need a small, committed group to step up if you want long-term sustainability. NOW what should you measure? My 3 essential metrics : 1. participation: quality over quantity but... forget the idea that 100% of your members should be actively engaging all the time!!! It won’t happen and it doesn’t need to, Instead, aim for the 80/20 (Pareto) rule: About 20% of your members should be actively participating: These are your engaged contributors Within that 20%, a smaller core (about 4% of your total members) will be the true heart of your community!! Nurture these relationships. They are the ones who will keep the energy alive!!!! (THAT'S WHAT WE WANT!!!)

so here's how i fixed my ad targeting for skool and slashed my cost per lead from $30 down to less than $5. this is the exact process i used, and if you're running ads for your community, course, or coaching program, you’ll want to test this. step 1: set up a simple lead campaign start with a leads campaign in meta ads manual setup. keep it clean, no extra categories. i turned on advantage campaign budget and set a small daily spend ($8/day) to gather enough data. this lets me see which ads and audiences actually work without burning cash. step 2: create three ad sets to test targeting instead of guessing who my best audience is, i set up three different adsets with the same ads but different targeting methods. this is where the magic happens: 1. advantage plus (broad targeting) let meta do its thing and find my audience. 2. highly targeted interests (hdi) manually add interests, job titles, and behaviors. 3. layered targeting use the same audience as hdi but add an extra filter to refine it even further. this method makes sure i'm covering all angles letting meta optimize, using precise interest-based targeting, and layering for extra specificity. step 3: find your perfect audience using chatgpt for the hdi and layered targeting, i used chatgpt to generate a list of job titles, interests, and behaviors my audience might have. for example, since i was targeting skool community owners, i asked chatgpt to list relevant interests, sites they visit, and common job titles. i then took the best suggestions (like “online community,” “lead generation,” and “landing pages”) and plugged them into the meta ads audience settings. this helped me find hidden targeting opportunities meta wouldn’t have suggested on its own. step 4: duplicate and refine once my first adset was set up, i duplicated it twice and adjusted only the targeting. this saved time and kept the test controlled. then, i let them run for a few days to gather data. what happened? - the broad targeting adset did okay but wasn’t the best.

Ssooooo let's talk about facebook ad targeting specifically, open targeting. you’ve probably spent hours tweaking interests, behaviors, and demographics, trying to get your ads in front of the perfect audience. but what if i told you that targeting isn’t as important as you think? crazy, right? here’s what i’ve learned: open targeting where you let facebook do the heavy lifting and show your ad to the broadest possible audience can actually outperform detailed targeting in a lot of cases. why? because meta’s AI has gotten insanely good at figuring out who’s most likely to convert. but before you scrap all your targeting settings, let’s break this down. when does open targeting work best? 1. your ad account has conversion history – if you’ve already been running ads and getting results, facebook knows who’s likely to convert. the more data you have, the better open targeting can work. 2. your offer has broad appeal – selling jewelry? coaching programs? online courses? anything that could work for a wide audience tends to do well. but if you're selling something super niche like a training program for springer spaniel owners you might still need some specific targeting. 3. you’re advertising in smaller markets – if you’re running ads in a country with a smaller population or promoting a local business, detailed targeting can actually shrink your audience too much. open targeting works great in these cases. 4. you’re willing to let facebook’s AI learn – open targeting doesn’t always hit immediately. sometimes it takes a little longer for the algorithm to optimize. if you’re testing it, give it some time before deciding if it’s working or not. now, i’m not saying open targeting is perfect. some people go all-in and say you should never use any targeting at all not even retargeting. personally, i think that’s a step too far. for things like retargeting abandoned carts or running omnipresent content strategies (where you stay in front of leads with different types of content), you still want some level of control.

running a paid community isn’t just about slapping a price tag on access and hoping people show up. it’s about creating something people truly want to be part of something that feels worth paying for and, more importantly, worth sticking around for... the foundation: why people pay people don’t pay just for content. they pay for transformation, connection, and outcomes. content is everywhere (and mostly free), but a well-run community provides structure, accountability, and a clear path to results. think of it like a gym membership people don’t join just to have access to weights, they join because they want to get in shape, stay consistent, and be surrounded by others on the same journey. your audience determines your pricing pricing isn’t about what feels “fair” to you it’s about what feels valuable to your ideal members. selling to beginners? affordability matters. selling to professionals? they’re used to investing in results. don’t undercharge just because you feel bad asking for money; charge based on the value and transformation you’re delivering. engagement matters more than numbers having 50 engaged members beats having 500 lurkers. your goal isn’t to build a massive group it’s to build a space where people show up, interact, and get results. this means curating discussions, designing interactive experiences, and making people feel seen. why people leave (and how to prevent it) people leave paid communities for three main reasons: 1. they got what they came for (which is a win!) 2. they don’t see ongoing value (which is fixable) 3. they feel disconnected (which is preventable) to keep retention high, continually introduce new value live calls, expert insights, challenges, or even direct feedback. make them feel like they’d be missing out by leaving. what you’re really selling when running a paid community, you’re not selling access. you’re selling momentum. people pay to move forward faster, to be around others on the same path, and to have structured support that keeps them going. if you keep that in focus, your community will stay valuable and profitable.