I have two successfully monetized Skool communities. And they are very different. Different audiences. Different purposes. Different pricing. Different member experiences. Different roles within my business. One is in the top 1% of communities on Skool. If I had only built one successful community, it would be very easy for me to assume that my way was THE way. Running two very different models has reinforced something I already knew from more than 25 years in education: Good design starts with the people you are serving and the outcome you are trying to create. I am an award-winning educator with a Master’s degree in Education and more than 25 years of experience in curriculum and course design. So when you bring me your Skool community, I am not trying to turn it into mine. I am looking at the pieces and asking: What makes sense here? What does this audience need? What does this business need? What can this owner realistically sustain? That is the work we do inside the Build Lab. Join us today! I can't wait to see you inside. 😉

Our own VIP CLASSIFIEDS member @Celia Kibler is hosting a free masterclass on Tuesday that you won't want to miss. If you are building a blended family, this session is for you. Check out the calendar for the time in your time zone! This is what Celia has to say: Success at work is much harder when there’s constant stress at home. If you’re building a business while navigating remarriage, step-parenting, co-parenting, separation, divorce, or blending two families, you already know how difficult it can be to stay focused when your family life feels chaotic. The stress follows you into your work, your relationships, your energy, and your decision-making. It doesn’t have to stay that way. Join me for this FREE live Blended Family Reset Masterclass, where I’ll share practical, proven strategies from more than 30 years of real-life experience as a stepmom and step-grandmother and over 40 years of helping families create calmer, healthier relationships. You’ll discover how to: • Reduce conflict without constant battles. • Strengthen relationships between parents, stepparents, and children. • Help children feel safe, secure, and connected. • Create healthy boundaries and realistic expectations. • Build a home that supports your success instead of draining it. When home feels calmer, you have more emotional energy, clearer thinking, stronger relationships, and more capacity to show up as the parent, partner, and business owner you want to be. Because the most important team you’ll ever lead is the one waiting for you at home.

Here’s something interesting: many biographical films begin with a book. Before a life story reaches the screen, it often has to be written, shaped, and preserved. That is exactly what Write Your Life Story in 12 Months is designed to help you do. You do not need a perfect outline. You do not need to consider yourself a writer. You can begin with scattered memories, unfinished chapters, old photographs, or one story you have always wanted to tell. Inside the community, you’ll receive: 👉 A personalized scorecard showing you what to work on next 👉 Clear guidance based on your current stage 👉 More direct, personalized support from me 👉 Structure and accountability to keep you writing 👉 A community of people turning their memories into books For a limited time, you can join with a free 7-day trial through Monday, July 27. Your life may or may not become a movie. But it deserves to be written. 👉 START WRITING YOUR LIFE STORY

Classified people... I am launching a second Skool. It is for high-MRR Skool owners who want to learn how to think like a buyer to earn more now -- and to have a bigger payday if they decide to sell their community later. It will teach my 6 big sale-prep steps. And then the upsell is that I will come alongside you and consult in your sale if you want to exit. I may also partner with brokers to help sellers find a buyer. Ideas I have so far include: SKOOL M&A DEPT SELL YOUR SKOOL YOUR COMMUNITY EXIT YES YOU CAN SELL YOUR COMMUNITY COMMUNITY EXIT DEPT THE CASH OUT PLAN Why am I starting this community? Well, there are plenty of Skools out there teaching rich people how to get into BUYING small businesses. There is NO ONE here for the Sellers. Your buyer has usually bought multiple times, but you are usually selling for the FIRST TIME. Having SOLD my first community in '21, I know this unlevel playing field from painful experience. And I'm here to improve the odds for community owners who want to have a more profitable business, both now and when they sell. What do you like for a name for this? Do you have other ideas? Appreciate your input --

In a post in Skoolers from 2024, someone asked what a "good" retention rate is for your community. Sam Ovens gave the following statistics for churn. Churn is the opposite of retention. It is the number of paying members who leave your community: 2-9% = Amazing 10-19% = Good 20% = Average 21-30% = Bad If we translate this into retention rate, which is what is what is now reported by Skool in your settings instead of churn, it looks like this: 91-98% = Amazing 81 - 90% = Good 80% = Average 70-79% = Bad I looked at my own numbers and was confused, so I asked him for clarification. His response was that the retention rate in the CLASSIFIEDS is "exceptional!" Why exceptional? Because the retention rate is better than 100%. It is actually 105%!!! Retention is defined by Skool as "the amount of MRR revenue at the start of last month which is still active at the end of last month." In the Build Lab, my other community, the retention rate is 96%. Want to know how to improve your retention rate in your community and the #1 thing I do to ensure that my own retention rates stay high? Check out the new Standard tier of the Build Lab. We discuss this and many other factors that play a real role in making sure that your community is successful for the long term (and none of them have anything to do with flames, games, or insane MRR goals)! I'll be doing a live training at the beginning of August on my top 6 retention strategies so that you can start implementing them immediately. Oh, and there's a 38% discount if you sign up for the year - because we all know that it's going to take longer than a minute to get your community where you want it to be. 😉 Check out the Build Lab here! I can't wait to support you in creating a successful Skool community that gets meaningful results for both you AND your members!