How to Build a Profitable Online Community From Scratch (2024)
In my video, I walk you through the exact framework for designing a business from scratch, starting with who you serve and ending with how to make it profitable. This isn’t theory—it’s the same approach I use with Skool and how thousands of entrepreneurs are building their first online communities.
Whether you’re an expert in your field or just getting started, this framework removes the guesswork from building a business that actually works.
I break down every decision you need to make when launching your community-based business, from identifying your audience to structuring your offers.
Who Is Your Business For?
The first question I tackle in my video is the most important one: who is your business for? Most people overcomplicate this decision, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. The easiest approach is to look for people who share the same interests, goals, or problems as you. This is what I call scratching your own itch.
If you’re trying to learn how to day trade, flip houses, paint watercolors, or play ping-pong, there are thousands of other people facing the same challenge. Some of the biggest businesses in history were started by founders who simply wanted to solve their own problem and realized others had the same issue. The beauty of this approach is that you don’t need to be the expert from day one.
The Expert vs. Crowdsourced Model
I explain two paths you can take when building your community. If you already have expertise—you know how to fix cars, day trade, or master watercolor painting—you can position yourself as the expert. But for most people watching my video, the crowdsourced approach will be more accessible and practical.
Crowdsourcing means bringing together people who are interested in solving the same problem and leveraging the collective intelligence of the group. Community members can research solutions, test strategies, and bring their findings back to share with everyone. This creates value for the entire group without requiring you to have all the answers upfront.
Here’s what I call a skeleton key of life: when you assemble a group of 100, 500, or 5,000 people, you can reach out to high-status individuals who would normally ignore you. I can approach an expert and say, “I have a community of 2,000 people interested in this topic—would you do a 30-minute Q&A with them?” Suddenly, you’re providing distribution for their message, and they’re providing value to your community. It’s a win-win situation that lets you punch way above your weight class.
Free vs. Paid: Starting Your Community
The next decision I cover is whether to launch your community as free or paid. My recommendation for beginners is simple: start for free. This gives you time to attract members, understand what they value, and learn how to run a community effectively. You can always flip to paid later once you’ve built momentum and confidence.
Think of it like a nightclub. Early in the evening, they let people in for free to build energy and create a scene. Once the party is rolling and the venue is full, they start charging at the door. You can use the same strategy with your community on Skool. Starting with 1,000 free members and then transitioning to paid gives you tremendous momentum because new paying members are joining an already thriving community.
If you’re already confident you can deliver value and have expertise to share, you can start with a paid community from day one. This isn’t an irreversible decision—the flexibility is built into the model.
What Goes Inside Your Community
Once you know who you’re serving and whether you’re going free or paid, the next question is what to actually put inside your community. I break this down into three major buckets: access, content, and events.
Access
Access means giving your community members time with you or with experts they couldn’t otherwise reach. If you have 100 people who all want your attention, your time becomes scarce very quickly, which makes it valuable. This could be Q&A calls, office hours, or bringing in guest experts. Using my car mechanic example from the video, if you have 2,000 people interested in cars, you can convince a master mechanic who works on historic vehicles to do a Q&A. One person reaching out alone would get ignored, but representing 2,000 people opens doors.
Content
Content is anything you or your community creates that provides value. Because this is a closed environment, you can share exclusive material that doesn’t go public. This could be training videos, written guides, templates, or resources curated by community members. The key is making it exclusive to those inside your community.
Events
Events can be digital or in-person, large or intimate. You might host a digital conference, organize a local meetup, or arrange small group hikes. The variety is endless, and I encourage you to think creatively about what would serve your specific audience. Create a schedule or cadence so members know when to expect these value-adds.
The Value Equation
In my video, I reference the value equation from my book, $100 Million Offers, to explain what actually makes a community valuable. You’re solving a specific problem or helping people achieve an outcome—that’s the foundation. But the real differentiation comes from three variables: reducing risk, increasing speed, and minimizing effort.
Does your content help people avoid mistakes? That lowers risk. Can you show them how to achieve their goal in three months instead of a year? That increases speed. Can you help them get results without sacrificing the things they enjoy or forcing them to do things they hate? That reduces effort and sacrifice.
Whenever you’re planning content, access, or events, filter your ideas through this framework. Ask yourself: How can I make this less risky? How can I make it faster? How can I make it easier? If you can improve on these dimensions, you’re providing genuine value.
Building Your Audience as an Asset
One point I emphasize strongly is that your audience is the most valuable asset you’ll ever build. If you start free, don’t worry about monetizing immediately. Focus on building that asset properly. Whether it takes two months or six months to switch to paid doesn’t matter in the long run. Once you have a thriving community of engaged members, you can set yourself up financially for life.
I’m all about speed, but I’m more about doing things right. Starting with a free community and then converting it to paid with 1,000 existing members gives you incredible momentum. You’ll have contributors, engagement, and social proof that makes your paid offer far more attractive than launching to an empty room.
Make It Fun: Rule Number One
Rule number one of what I call the Skool games is to have fun—and I don’t mean that in a superficial way. In his book Money Master the Game, Tony Robbins interviewed dozens of billionaires, and every single one of them talked about business as a game. They loved doing it. That’s the throughline among high performers: they genuinely enjoy the process.
If what you’re building sucks, you won’t succeed. That’s why I got so invested in Skool—I saw the engagement, watched people make their first dollar online, and realized this could actually be fun for entrepreneurs at every level.
Find a Friend or Partner
I give two strategies for making business more enjoyable. First, find a friend. Even difficult tasks become more bearable when you have someone alongside you. Second, partner with someone who has complementary skills. This is exactly what I’m doing with Sam, the founder of Skool.
Sam loves building products but doesn’t want to create content all day. I love teaching and marketing but don’t have the bandwidth to build software. By partnering, we each focus on our strengths. Sam builds an incredible platform while I introduce it to my audience—people who want to make money online, don’t know where to start, and need a tool that handles everything. Skool solves that exact problem.
If you don’t want to build an audience, find someone who has one. If you lack expertise, source it from your community or partner with an expert. The possibilities are endless, and that’s the entire point of Skool—to make business fun and accessible.
Join the Challenge
If you want hands-on experience with this framework, I invite you to join the Skool challenge for free. It’s a 14-day program where I walk you through everything step by step. I personally take calls in that community to help people start their first online business. Once a month, I host a full-day mastermind training for people who are building and scaling their communities.
We’ve refined this process extensively—we’re very good at helping people reach that first dollar online. You can get started for free by creating your own community, joining the exclusive Skoolers community, introducing yourself, watching the course materials and past recordings, marking your calendar for weekly calls, and then using everything you’ve learned to design and launch your own community. From there, you start earning and scaling.
