Let's talk about how much content your classroom had when you started your community.
I personally recommend starting WITHOUT content and developing it with the founding members or creating it based on the feedback from the first members.
If you start with a lot of content right away, you condition your new members to watch videos, which is something you know from member areas (coaching).
thank you 🤗 I want to realise this in the same way. I'm starting my community soon and will also switch off the classroom for the time being and then create content through the Zoom calls. I'll then bring this into a good form with my existing content before I open the classroom.
It's exciting to go down the path of founding a community without ready-made content, because it allows you to respond flexibly to the needs of your members. In my own experience, however, I have offered both free and paid content from the start and have had good success with it. It's not just about delivering content, but also about creating interaction and continuously offering new added value - this has proven to be very effective in my community.
This is a very interesting question. I am curious what people with more successful communities will answer. I embedded quite a lot of my YT-tutorials into my classroom to share the programming code as feedback, with call to actions so the members can post questions or their own charts/analysis.
I get your point about conditioning but I think I will be more successful by establishing a expert-community where most people will come and stay for my content. But I will try to make the posts as engaging as possible. Asking members about their experiences when I post a topic.
We will see how this strategy pans out over the next weeks and moth.
I noticed that too. And for many people that is a great added value. You get the content from the coach, often with a discount, plus extra zoom meetings, plus other members that go through the same material and you can share your experiences.
However I think the last part is even the most valuable; engaging with like minded people, or people that share a similar goal and even have very different background and insights. That is something a course cannot deliver.
I found your post super interesting because you address exactly the point that I've noticed too: there are members who consume the content but never really engage in interaction. This is something I've observed in my previous communities as well.
I have already started two communities, and I'm about to archive one of them. The second one is running very successfully, and now I'm launching a new community aimed at entrepreneurs who want to combine a successful business with a happy private life.
For this new community, I’ve decided to start completely without content and focus solely on member interaction. I’m even considering not using the classroom at all because I’ve noticed that content is often available but not utilized—or just consumed without any real exchange happening. My plan is to foster interaction within the community area through clear categories and structures while ensuring everything remains organized and easy to navigate.
Your post reassured me that this approach is worth trying. Would you take the same approach in my situation, or do you have any tips I should consider?
I think the future in Coaching is "sharing experience" not watching videos. So i would try to start with less content. I dont say NO content for the future.
If you produce content WITH the community, your members have more the feeling of beeining part of the tribe and the community.
I started with 100 videos, because they sre exercise sessions and health & fitness education. But I cheated as I transferred a small membership from another platform.
Now I'm looking for growth I'm going to set up a free group with maybe just a 6 session beginner course (unlovk as you go with engagement) and a couple of tutorial videos.
I did the same. I’m using the old content for the free community but I will eventually use my paid lives for a paid unlock feature in the free community
I am not a fan of old content for new people, i am a fan of creating content with the community. I have more then 50 business courses, but i choosed to make everything new
super good stuff. The possibilities are endless when you make room for the updates . Because it’s not set in stone you have space to make any kinds of changes
My plan is to provide group coachings every week. The first content will be the recordings. From this I will extract specific topics and put it in a video with more explanation, exercises, worksheets etc.
The needed basic information will be in a small video section that I actually produce. When we have a question in the community I answer it with a video and put this also in the fitting section of the course.
Launch your community without content and make some sale it will boost and go daily live with your audience for next 30 days and now put that recording in your classroom boom your content is ready and you’re in track with your sales too
I need to create a bit of content, as people expect yoga and meditations to do when they join a membership. If they didn't have anything, they'd go elsewhere, as there's plenty of free yoga on YouTube. Also, I have chronic health conditions that mean that sometimes I physically can't create content for up to a week, so it makes sense to have a backup of things I can easily post.
Interesting question. I started with classroom and only later read about the function with you @calvin Hollywood. Then I turned it off. Now that something is in it, it is on again. To "clean up" I would turn it off again in between.
i only put ONE course with TWO folders in it & a total of a whopping THREE pages ✅😎 I think I’m gonna leave it at that and start getting people in now 😂
We started with a very, very, VERY simple course that delivered on what we promised and then built out more in depth content based on feedback and what we observed members needed 🙏
This is interesting…. I may have to try this approach. I already created an entire goal setting masterclass to put in Skool and sell on my website. Now you got me thinking about something…. 🤔
I love the idea of implementing content as the community grows! It takes the stress of knowing what to put up AND gives the founding members exactly what they need. I’ve been doing this so far and it’s been going well 👌🏼
I feel that this is a great approach to get your community involved right away!
I'm starting a "contractor in your pocket" community to help DIY'ers get things done in their homes. I don't have any content to share at this moment, but figured that the first few members could give me ideas based off of their needs.
honestly it makes a lot of sense, but question, what value would they gain apart from the calls and community messages to convince them to join (genuine question, just want to know how do you approach it)
I have been super scared about the content piece. I crafted 1 course for my free community because I want to give them value but not the personalized value I can provide in my paid community. I'm hoping this tactic works.🤞
AND!!! If your free stuff is REALLY GOOD, people won’t mind paying for the better solutions in the future because your free information provided them with so many ways to overcome their current challenges. That’ll give you your testimonials and improve your credibility too
I'd say give it to them and provide as much knowledge as possible. Then the people who need extra time one on one or want to go more in depth can pay you for that time.
This is good because this is what I have been concerned about going forward. I think I’m worried that if I don’t have any content that there is nothing to draw them into my group with.
it’s not true! When you build according to their needs it can be better for all cause you aren’t wasting time building something you “think” they will want, and they get exactly what they need to reach their goals!
Right that's what I want to do I don't want to put all my time into something thinking that's what they want and come to find out they don't. Thank you
I feel a responsibility to have "something" for them to get started on, something in the classroom that I know, through my expertise, will be helpful and valuable on their journey toward transformation. However, not every community has to be used in this way.
The community aspect, for me as I start running a community, is going to be great because I don't necessarily have all the answers for everyone in every situation. I don't grow in all parts of the world and I hope that the community jumps in and helps with their knowledge on certain topics to help others.
Overall, it's a question that has to be answered for yourself and what your community is about. Both ways are completely correct... and a mix is superior.
P.S. I want to especially use the classroom to build a searchable "library" both from the community and the classroom itself. My eyes are on the developing content in the community that proves to be superior and worth adding to categories and subjects in the classroom "Library".
Yes, do it in your way. I just share my experience, what i learned and worked best for me and my clients, when they like to have an enganged community.
And in my experience, the biggger the classroom is, the less engagement you will have or it is very though to create engagement.
I started with content - free and paid. I also do weekly events. I'm in the process of getting feedback on what else they'd like to learn and then I'll decide if I want to offer it for free or if I want to put it into my upcoming paid community.
I love this idea! I didnt start Skool because I had no content, it took me months to develop what I thought was worthwhile content before I started Skool, I wish I would have just jumped right in!
I am all for less churn and more community. Beingyoirsf and letting them.getting to know you means that they become YOUR fans and they also get to know each other. This way they not only show up because of you, but they show up for each other too!
I've repurposed some of my YouTube content to "fill out" the Classroom while I work on new content. I've recruited some of my campers, counselors and parents from my kicking camps to participate initially. Trying to post something new everyday and monitor and respond. Hasn't "taken off" yet, but I am seeing glimpses of what may be possible.
Calvin it is very informative, reinforces my views that i should wait to upload content until a few people follow and cater to that. thank you for asking
I’m at the beginning of my Skool community. 23 founding. Learning the ropes of the platform atm. I have a ton of content from my business that I could chuck in but I’m really listening for the challenges and building a relationship so that I can tailor as much as I can to what it is they need (and what it is they don’t know they need). Talking, learning and executing little bit by little bit. I know if I throw everything I have in there it’ll be firehouse but idk yet… will see
I have started already using the content I have so far from calls- I had planned a 5 part series in a webinar format which I have 1300 signed up in pre list anyway- Skool just came apart as I was ready to launch so using it as free storage for audience building trust.
Well this post gives me hope! I thought I had to build out courses and have many opportunities for people to buy in. I'm going to start with my small offer, a work book and build from there. lots of good comments on this post!
Very interesting, as I'm having trouble engaging my community. I started with little to no content, but added as they weren't very engaged. This is with my free community that I'm turning into paid. I do love the concept of building with your community.
It's a bit of a chicken and egg thing: until you have content that people want, they won't join (or they'll churn quickly). If they don't join, you can't really ask them what kind of content they want. People with an existing audience and proven content have a big advantage when migrating to Skool because of this.
For the rest of us: I don't think the debate is "no content" vs "too much content" at launch. It's more about: does your content "strategy" encourage users to stay for a long time? (encouraging user participation is helpful, but it's usually done in the name of increasing retention too)
To that end: I think the question is, do you have/can you make content that benefits from being drip-fed weekly/monthly rather than dumped all at once?
Its not, when you promote your community as a place for people and not a place for courses. When you meet friends in person, most of the time you do not watch movies together, right. Most of the time you talk and hang around.
I agree that a Skool group is better thought of as a bar rather than a movie theater. Members come back for the people rather than for the content
But, if you're starting a new group from scratch (and you're the only admin), you need *something* to encourage your first members to stay around long enough to give you input on what kind of content they want. Or have you found that cold members joining an "empty" group are willing to provide this kind of input right away?
To clarify: I'm not advocating an either-or strategy: I think the best groups are a blend of content and community. But, as many of the other posters have said, initially sparking/seeding the community is the hardest part, so that's where I wanted to focus the discussion.
I am starting a community in a very particular niche, and I must offer a small portion of content that at least explains the purpose of this community. From there, I can see who engages and what interests them, so I can start building on content. It differs for everyone, but starting with lots of content is not my recommendation. You may end up with non-engaging members and waste good content for no reason.
I just signed up & my browser lost the “setting up my page” site in Facebook & im so grateful I had to open a new browser to log in so I can see this since I’m new here!
I have a small paid community that is just starting to be engaged… I wanted to develop with them but seems tough to get them to engage let alone help me develop curriculum 😅 any advice - love the idea and desperately want to help them solve the problems I can
I'm just starting this minute. I think i understand what this is all about but please comment and let me know what you think.
The goal is to creat a social group that will be able to discuss a topic or group of topics. Since we want to charge members of the group, we need to provide something in return such as information, tutorials, or entertainment. If the content is worth it, then people will share it and your community will grow.
I drove a truck for about 8 years and did a lot of different jobs. I also have several contacts still in the industry. I think that I would do well to go with that and provide content to help educate truck drivers.
So, following my current subject matter, I will create videos (courses and content) about truck driving. Ie: the challenges, common problems, experiences, ect?
Just starting here and still learning but wondering what you all think of my about page and getting my community started. Any feedback is appreciated and feel free to join if you’re interested in the topic. Thanks. https://www.skool.com/pdec343-2561/about
for bringing this very important topic up! I am going in with courses that were already built from before by my influencer client. Let's see how that works. we will be providing video calls and will for sure turn them into content for the group. I am almost done with building the community, doing the SV (Sales Video) tomorrow and then we going live! Will keep you all posted on the progress. I am reaching out to influencers of parallel niches to create partnerships with them and have them send their audience to my community. I am guessing once I get to partner with influencers, their audience will convert higher since we using the influencers high trust. Cross my fingers :)
I just started this journey, super noob here ! I don’t have any content yet but I also don’t have to confidence to zoom meet either ?’?! So now what ?! I’m so new I don’t even really understand what’s supposed to be inside my membership
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