Here’s a powerful strategy by Doug Boughton for leveraging Skool’s one-time products to maximize revenue and community engagement. It’s simple, it works, and it’s one of the easiest ways to replace the headaches of a low-ticket offer. ➡️ Step 1: Switch from Subscription to One-Time Payment Instead of charging a monthly membership (like $97/month), flip it into a one-time payment (e.g., $997) within your free community. Here's why: - No churn: No more worrying about members dropping off every month. - Higher commitment: When someone pays upfront, they take it seriously. They show up, put in the work, and get results faster. - Cash boost: You’re collecting what would’ve been ten months of payments all at once. Bonus move: Offer the $997 as credit toward a higher-tier program (like a $5k/year coaching program) once they complete the initial program. ➡️ Step 2: Keep Paid Members in the Free Community This doesn’t just boost revenue—it changes the whole vibe of the community. Paid members stay in the free community, and here’s what happens: - Engagement skyrockets: The energy is different when you mix paid and free members. - Creates status: Paid members get perks—special Zoom backgrounds, hotseat feedback—and that makes others want in. - Win visibility: Paid members share their success, which motivates others to step up and upgrade. ➡️ Step 3: Client Spotlights for Social Proof Shine a light on your top paid members. Interview them, promote their communities, and use their testimonials. It’s a win-win—they get exposure, and you get proof that your system works. ➡️ Step 4: Set Up a Smooth System for Paid vs. Free When someone buys the $997 offer: - Unlock the course and call calendar automatically. - Give them access to a paid-only category for exclusive support. - Have your client success manager keep an eye on these posts to prioritize their questions. ➡️ Methods to Sell the $997 Offer 1. Free course in the Start Here module — It’s basically a sales funnel disguised as a free course. 2. Launch posts and email promotions — Do this a few times a month, highlight new bonuses. 3. Onboarding calls — Invite people to enroll, and highlight client wins in pinned posts. 4. Paid member shoutouts during Q&A — Let attendees know they can get in on the action by enrolling. 5. Celebrate new members — Publicly welcome new paid members a couple of times a week. 6. Spotlight paid members — Promote their communities and celebrate their wins. 7. Workshops and other paid products — Sell them separately, or offer as bonuses with $997 enrollment. 8. VSLs in all paid products — Include links to the $997 with extra bonuses. 9. Calendar events — Promote enrollment with event links every month. 10. Free live trainings — Cover topics from the program, with an invite at the end.

A client asked me: Hey Arvind, is it correct that many members do not join a group for the classroom, and more so to connect 1-1 with the owner of the group and their posts? I've heard that spending a ton of time creating content for the classroom, can be a waste as most people don't even check it out, let alone complete it. What's your thoughts on this. My response: Like everything else - it depends on the audience, the niche and the community owner. I know some communities where the opposite is true - where people join for the classroom stuff. It also depends on our posting strategy. Where are we driving people using our posts? Are we trying to get more signups for the 1:1s/group calls or are we trying to get them to the classroom? My thoughts in our case: The classroom shouldn't be a bunch of "theoritical courses" - the kind of stuff we see everywhere. It should be tools people can actually use when they are executing. For example, if I want to set up a podcast – I’ll need to figure out the equipment, software, and editing process. And if I have no clue where to start, that’s a problem. Even if I know a bit about audio editing, maybe I’m overwhelmed by all the details or just procrastinating. It could be anything. Now, if there was a "do-it-along" video on setting up a podcast from start to finish, where I could pause and follow step-by-step – I’d love it, even if I’ve dabbled in podcasting before. And when we have 1-1s, people are going to come up with these pain points. So then we can drive them towards these tools which are action oriented. Overarching principle is the 7-4-11 principle. (a buyer needs 7 hours of interaction, across 11 touch points, in 4 separate locations before they make a purchase.) I'm sure you know it. So having a super action oriented course would ensure that they are interacting with you when you sleep and it acts as an extra touch point in an extra location. The 4 locations in Skool would be: - Classroom - Forum - Video Call - DMs

I was writing my honest review on Skool and that's when it struck me - your community culture is heavily influenced by the moderation. Recently, the main Skool community cracked down on what they called "fluff posts" and started moderating heavily. While it can be argued that low-quality posts went down - it took away some of the fun away. Now it's become more like a product-feedback forum and less like a community. Nothing wrong about it as long as that's what their intent is. But if you're into making money, you need to make things a lot more fun and casual. There will definitely be bad apples which you can always ban, but do not sacrifice the possibility of engagement to strict moderation.

Cap'n Jack Sparrow was my childhood hero and is my adulthood mentor. So this leaderboard is for him! Which one is your favourite?