Building a Skool Community: Raw Behind-the-Scenes Documentary

In this raw documentary-style video, I take you behind the scenes of building and scaling a thriving community on Skool, showing you the unfiltered reality of what it takes to grow from scratch. You’ll see the actual platform interface, the strategic decisions, the wins, the mistakes, and the exact tactics I’m using to climb the rankings while building monthly recurring revenue.

This isn’t a polished tutorial—it’s a daily vlog documenting my journey as founder of GSH Network and co-owner of Growth Squad Heroes.

I’m pulling back the curtain on everything from pricing changes to gamification strategies that worked (and didn’t work).

Building Community the Unfiltered Way

In my video, I explain that we’re on a mission to build the biggest Skool community, and I’m documenting every step along the way. This isn’t about showing you the highlight reel—it’s about showing you the real work that goes into creating a successful online community. I’ve been helping people learn how to make money online for over two decades, and I want to share with you exactly what’s working right now on the Skool platform.

The Growth Squad Heroes community started with a founding launch price, but as I share in the video, we’ve made strategic pricing adjustments based on the value we’re delivering. We’ve doubled the price from $10 to $20 per month, and we’re transitioning to an ARR (annual recurring revenue) business model alongside the monthly option. This gives members flexibility to commit short-term or long-term while saving money, and it allows affiliates to earn 50% commissions on referrals.

The Reality of Organic Growth Strategies

Throughout my documentary, I show you the organic strategies that Fletcher and I are testing to grow our community. We’re not relying on paid ads—we’re using profile optimization and strategic engagement to attract the right members. I explain how your Skool profile works as a conversion tool when people discover you on the platform. When someone visits your profile, they see your bio and your community, which is why having a clear call to action is essential.

I also share a valuable lesson I learned about cold messaging on Skool. When I became co-owner of Growth Squad Heroes about three and a half months ago, I wanted to reach out to actively online members who weren’t yet part of the community. I sent messages letting them know about our new strategy and what they could be part of. However, I quickly discovered that you can only send 10 cold DMs per week before Skool blocks you with an automated message. This wasn’t intentional spamming—I was genuinely trying to serve existing members—but it taught me the importance of understanding platform limitations.

Gamification: What Worked and What Didn’t

One of the most interesting parts of my video is when I dive into the community metrics and gamification strategies. I show you inside the Skool dashboard where we track engagement, and I reveal a critical mistake we made. We introduced “Squad Games” which created the most activity we’d had in a single day. The engagement was phenomenal, and the community was buzzing with energy.

Then we made a decision that tanked our engagement—we replaced Squad Games with “Squad Game Battle Team.” The new format simply didn’t resonate with members the way the original did. When I pull up the metrics in the video, you can see the activity drop clearly. Even though our total member count continued to grow, the engagement per member decreased. This is a perfect example of the principle: if something’s not broken, don’t fix it. We learned this lesson the hard way, and I show you the exact data that proves it.

After recognizing what happened, we brought back the original Squad Games format, and I’ll be documenting how the engagement responds in future videos. This is the kind of real-time strategic adjustment you need to make when running a community—being willing to admit when something isn’t working and pivot quickly.

Ranking and Discovery on the Platform

In my video, I take you directly into the settings and metrics of our Skool community. At the time of recording, we had 13 paid members and were ranked #66 in the discovery rankings. The discovery section is crucial for organic visibility on Skool—the higher you rank, the more potential members see your community when browsing the platform. I mention we hit #65 in the Self-Improvement category, which represents significant progress in a relatively short time.

The metrics dashboard shows activity levels day by day, and I walk through how to interpret this data. You can see spikes when we run engaging activities like Squad Games, and you can see valleys when we tried strategies that didn’t resonate. This data-driven approach to community building is essential. You can’t just guess what’s working—you need to look at the actual numbers and let them guide your decisions.

Community Culture and Member Engagement

Throughout the documentary, I emphasize the importance of creating a community that genuinely cares about its members. This isn’t just about collecting monthly fees—it’s about creating an environment where people want to escape their 9-to-5, scale their business, find leads, and get the support they need to grow. I explain that when someone joins Growth Squad Heroes, we’re committed to adding value immediately, and for engaged members, we help connect them with others in our network.

I show actual posts from inside the community and talk about the importance of responding to members quickly. When you see a post, if you can comment right away, it creates momentum. The energy you bring to your community determines the energy you get back. I emphasize having fun with it—when you genuinely enjoy what you’re doing, the money flows more naturally. If you’re just focused on extracting revenue without providing value, members will sense that immediately.

Before recording certain sections showing member conversations and screen shares, I created a poll asking for permission from squad members. This demonstrates the importance of respecting your community’s privacy and data protection, even when creating content about your community. The vote came back positive, and members appreciated being asked.

The Inner Circle and Deeper Access

In my video, I mention that beyond Growth Squad Heroes, there’s an inner circle tier that provides even deeper access and support. This is where we work more closely with members who want hands-on help building their Skool communities. At the time of recording, lifetime access was $2,998, but I explain we’re transitioning to an annual recurring revenue model as well, giving people options for how they want to engage and commit.

I make it clear that we’re only taking on five people for intensive support at this stage. This scarcity isn’t manufactured—it’s real. Quality support takes time and energy, and limiting the number ensures everyone gets proper attention. If you’re passionate about what you do, I encourage you to create a Skool community around it. The platform offers a $9 hobby plan with a 14-day trial, which removes any barrier to getting started.

The Daily Documentary Approach

What makes this video series different is the raw, unpolished documentary style. I’m not creating brushed-up, perfectly edited content—I’m showing you the reality of what goes into building and managing communities. I’m challenging myself to put out 5-10 minute videos every day documenting my journey, showing the wins, the struggles, and everything in between. Repetition is how we learn, and by showing up consistently, I’m demonstrating the same commitment I’m asking from community members.

I explain that in movies, everything looks fun and exciting—there’s energy, action, drama, love, and romance. But you don’t see the work that goes into it. You just see the trophies, the accolades, the ranking in discovery, the engagement. I want to show you what happens before all that—the strategic thinking, the testing, the failures, and the adjustments. This transparency is what separates theoretical knowledge from practical wisdom.

The video includes glimpses of my actual workflow—editing previous Skool calls to upload to the community, checking notifications, responding to posts, and reviewing metrics. You see me navigating the platform in real-time, clicking through different sections, and making decisions on the fly. This is what daily community management actually looks like, not the polished version you see in most tutorials.

Technology and Mindset

Early in my video, I talk about the importance of mindset and having the right people in your head, even if they’re not physically around you. Technology allows us to access wisdom and energy from mentors and peers around the world. Reading, exploring, going down rabbit holes—this is how you unlock new levels of thinking that translate into business growth.

I mention that we use organic strategies with Fletcher to grow the community, and we’re testing these approaches so we can share what works with members. The Skool platform itself offers tremendous opportunities for organic growth through profile visibility, discovery rankings, and strategic engagement. You don’t need a massive ad budget—you need consistency, value, and genuine care for your members.

Why This Matters for Your Journey

Whether you’re already building a Skool community or just considering it, my video shows you that success isn’t about perfection—it’s about consistent action and willingness to learn. I’ve been in the online business space for over two decades, and what I’m showing you represents tested principles applied to a modern platform. The fundamentals of community building haven’t changed: provide value, engage authentically, track what works, and adjust quickly when something doesn’t.

I encourage you to leave your story in the comments and share your own Skool community link if you have one. There’s no lack of abundance in this space—there’s room for all of us to grow. The monthly recurring revenue model that Skool enables, combined with the affiliate structure where you can earn 50% commissions, creates real opportunity for sustainable online income. But it requires the work that most people don’t want to show you—the daily grind, the strategic thinking, the metric analysis, and the community care.

This is just one episode in an ongoing series where I’ll be documenting my journey every single day. You’ll see the progression, the challenges, the victories, and the lessons learned. If you want to understand what it really takes to build a successful Skool community, following this daily vlog will give you insights you simply can’t get from polished courses or theoretical training.