15 Skool Tips · Skool Community

15 Skool Tips

I wrote this as a blog post that has images and tutorials on certain things (you can read that here https://entreresource.com/skool-tips/) but here is the summary so you don't have to jump over there if you don't want.

#𝟭 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 (𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝟲)

If you don't plan on having unlocks, you really aren't getting most of the benefits of Skool.

Seriously, the unlocks are the heart of the program. The gamification is what drives engagement. More engagement leads to a better community.

Engaged members see better results, which leads to word of mouth marketing for you which means, you guessed it, more sales and less churn!

I mention level 6 specifically here because that is the level that requires above average, consistent engagement. However, it's also realistically obtainable.

The best thing you can do is have unlocks at each level eventually. I'd start at level 6 though and make it something that is genuinely awesome and then do the others after.

#𝟮 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀\

Don't let the words "Classroom" or "course" fool you. Unlocks don't need to be courses. They just need to be delivered in the same style as a course.

They will always appear in the classroom area, but they can be things like access to events (in-person or cyber) or downloadables (PDFs, eBooks, Worksheets, etc).

For my unlocks, I have courses, bonus videos and useful spreadsheets.

They include a training video and a link to open and copy the spreadsheet. This is what that looks like on the inside.

Get creative here, you could also offer things like free software or discounts on other things you offer.

That's big "win-win" as it could drive additional sales off Skool.

If you want to deliver a digital download like an ebook or cheat sheet, you'll just need to host it somewhere. If you have a wordpress website, it's very easy.

You can learn how to host your files and make them downloadable for free here.

#𝟯 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲

I don't have the data, but we can safely assume that having a mobile version of Skool handy will dramatically boost the engagement rates for members.

Whenever I want to use Facebook less, the first thing I do is delete the mobile app so I'm forced to use it on desktop.

Don't leave this to chance, in your welcome message to members, remind them to install the app.

I recommend that you do two things.

First, add it to your welcome message.

Next, make an action post for it.

You might also want to add do a "Send email to all members," notification when you make the action post and then once or twice later on as new members join.

#𝟰 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿

The discover feature in Skool is only going to get more popular over time. If your group is public and you want to drive sales organically through Skool (why wouldn't you?), make the title obvious.

Instead of something vague like "Born for This," that could apply to any number of niches, be more descriptive in the title and the description below it.

Ask yourself, "what words would someone type in to find my group?" Then make sure that you include those words in your title and description.

#𝟱 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 + 𝗠𝗮𝘅 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

Skool doesn't give us a ton of real estate to promote our groups. So it's important that we use every bit of it that they give us.

The best way to get as much bang for your buck as possible is through video. You can embed videos that appear on your group description page.

You can also add images which are a great way to quickly explain more about your group than you can fit in the 1,000 character limit they give you.

#𝟲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲" 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗹

If your community is small enough for it to be feasible, reach out to your members who are online.

This is a great way to make people feel seen and valued. Both of which are conducive to increased retention and a more thriving community.

#𝟳 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

I regularly like to post and congratulate members who have reached new levels as well as give props to the top weekly contributors.

This is just like gasoline for engagement.

#𝟴 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

Categories give structure to your group. New members will reap the benefit of a deep pool of existing posts and engagements.

Categories make it easy to skip between them and find exactly what you're looking for.

Adding emojis in front of your categories is a nice touch.

#𝟵 𝗣𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝟲)

Bonus: Make a short welcome video that explains the group and how Skool works.

#𝟭𝟬 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀

Bonus: Make a short welcome video that explains the group and how Skool works.

You'll find the place to add links inside of your admin area.

#𝟭𝟭 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗮𝘆𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁

You might be surprised to see that Skool doesn't allow you the ability to format text in your discussion posts. No bold or italics options are available.

This isn't a missed feature, it was actually a feature that was removed. Sam Ovens said that people couldn't control themselves and were making all bold posts, so they killed it.

However, you can bypass this using YayText.com .

I used this for my welcome post and that was about it.

#𝟭𝟮 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 "𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆

Action items are a great way to drive engagement. Adding an "Action" category makes it easy for members to see all of the available action items so they can go level up most quickly.

I call mine ⚡️ Action Posts (Level Up).

I feel like it's better than just "Action" since that isn't super clear.

Just make sure the action points are relevant and important.

#𝟭𝟯 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼-𝗗𝗠

Skool lets you send a message to all new members of your community. This is an awesome chance to remind them of important first steps or action items.

Just be prepared to answer replies. Don't turn this on if you don't have the bandwidth to reply to messages back.

#𝟭𝟰 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗭𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗖 𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

If you aren't familiar with Zapier, this part can be a little tricky, but it's worth doing.

Without this integration, you'll have to add the emails of new members manually into your email marketing software.

That's not the end of the world, but why do something over and over when you can do it once?

The process will be different based on which of the hundreds of email marketing software you use but I use ConvertKit.

#𝟭𝟱 𝗡𝗼 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱!

The best way to get people to stop engaging in your community is by letting their questions go unanswered.

Make a habit of checking your group daily and answering questions.

If that's not something you can make happen, consider hiring an admin or moderator to do it.

People will do it for free, but you should pay them if you're making money on the community. Just my 2 cents.

𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗽: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹

I actually use WordPress and ThriveCart on the front end of my Skool community. I do this for the following perks.

#1 Affiliate Program

Skool has confirmed they have their own affiliate program coming soon, but in the meantime, this worked wonders for my initial launch.

#2 One time payments.

Skool is focused on the recurring payment model. I love that model too, but on my sales funnels, I like to do one time payments. ThriveCart made that doable.

#3 Upsells, downsells and bump offers.

What is an offer without a funnel anyway?

#4 Paying out my co-creators automatically through JV contracts.

This is an amazing feature no one seems to know or talk about. 50% of my earnings went to my partners Liz and Toni and ThriveCart allowed me to pay them automatically on each sale.

#5 More room for selling folks on the offer.

Skool doesn't currently have much by way of a true sales pages. With WordPress and ThriveCart, I was able to create a long form sales page that I could actively split test.

I included this as a bonus tip because it's far from necessary and for many people, it might just slow them down from taking any action. You can always come back later and make a full-blown sales funnel.

Let me know what you think, what I missed and if I got anything totally wrong!

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