Just Copy Me! How to Start Your Skool Community
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
A 12-Point Action Plan to Start Your Skool Community (Step-by-Step)
Starting a Skool community can feel overwhelming at first, especially if you are building it for lead generation, a paid membership, or a client hub. The good news is Skool is simple once you follow a clear setup sequence.
Below I have outlined a practical 12-Step Action Plan from my personal experience that you can use to launch your community from scratch, set it up professionally and begin attracting your first members.
Check out the RETRO video introducing Skool by Sam Ovens. You might detect the New Zealand (Kiwi) accent too!
Step 1 - Start Your 14-Day Trial and Create Your Group
Begin by starting your Skool trial and creating your group. Choose a name that clearly reflects the transformation or topic your community is about. Avoid clever names that do not explain what the group is for. Your future members should immediately understand the theme and benefit.
Skool has two monthly pricing options. #1 is called the 'Hobby Plan' at $9 USD/month and #2 is the Pro Plan at $99 USD/month. Both plans offer different features and benefits therefore, it would be beneficial to check these out.
The pricing structure is refreshingly simple compared to platforms that charge based on subscribers or tiers. There are no hidden fees, and you’re free to set your own membership pricing, from FREE groups to PAID premium communities charging $500 USD+ per month!
Visit the Plans on offer HERE and start your 14 Day FREE Trial.
Step 2 - Set Your Group Basics in Settings
Go to Settings → General and update the fundamentals:
Group name and description
Group icon and cover image
Group colour and branding
Group initials
Public or private setting
These basics make your community feel real, trustworthy and ready for members.
Pro-Tip: Create your images and icons on Canva (www.canva.com).
Step 3 - Decide Public vs Private
This decision affects how people discover your group.
Public group: People can view posts and content without joining (they just cannot participate). This can help with organic discovery and visibility.
Private group: People must join to see what is inside. This usually feels more exclusive and can work well for paid groups or client communities.
Pick the option that matches your goal, visibility for discovery or privacy for member experience.
Step 4 - Create a Simple Brand Kit for Icon and Cover
Design your icon and cover in Canva (or your preferred tool). You do not need anything complex. You want clean, readable branding that looks good on desktop and mobile.
What matters most:
High contrast text
Simple imagery
Consistent colours and fonts
Keep it straightforward, you can always refine later.
Step 5 - Write a Strong Group Description
Your group description is one of the highest leverage pieces of writing you will do in the setup.
Use this framework:
Who this community is for
What it helps them do
How it helps them and the outcome they can expect
Also include what members can avoid (for example, wasting time, feeling lost, being overwhelmed). A strong description attracts the right people and repels the wrong ones.
Step 6 - Claim Your Custom URL (When Ready)
Skool allows you to claim a custom URL, but you typically only get one chance and it requires a paid plan. That means you should take your time and confirm spelling and wording before locking it in.
Choose something:
Short
Easy to say out loud
Easy to remember
Closely aligned to your group name
Step 7 - Set Up Discussion Categories
Discussion categories help your community stay organised and make it easier for members to post correctly.
Start with simple categories like:
General
Announcements
Wins
Questions
Feedback
For Announcements, consider restricting posting to admins and moderators only, so it stays clean and useful.
Step 8 - Turn On Membership Questions (Especially for Free Groups)
Membership questions help you collect valuable data and qualify members.
Recommended questions:
Email address
Phone number (optional but useful if you run live events)
A simple qualifier (for example, business stage or experience level)
If you ask for a phone number, give a reason, such as access to a free resource or event reminders.
Step 9 - Create an Auto-DM
Turn on the Auto-DM plugin and write a welcome message that points new members to one clear next step.
A strong Auto-DM usually does three things:
Welcomes them personally
Sets expectations
Sends them to your 'Start Here' onboarding course or post
This reduces confusion and improves engagement from day one.
Step 10 - Build Your 'Start Here' Onboarding Course
Inside the Classroom create a simple onboarding course. Call it “Start Here” or “Onboarding”.
Include pages like:
Welcome and what to do first
What members will get from the community
Why your approach is different
How to participate
Where to find key resources
The goal is to guide members quickly, help them feel supported and lead them towards your next offer or key action.
Step 11 - Add Weekly Calendar Events (Q&A, Workshops, Onboarding)
In the Calendar set up at least one recurring event each week. This is where engagement and conversion often happen because you are interacting live.
Examples:
Weekly Q&A call
Monthly workshop or masterclass
New member onboarding session
You can also limit events to certain member levels or courses if you want to reward engagement or create tiers.
Step 12 - Optimise Your About Page and Invite Your First Members
Your Skool About Page is your conversion page inside the platform. Make sure it clearly communicates:
Who it is for
The outcome members will achieve
Social proof (testimonials, results, screenshots)
What they get inside (courses, calls, templates)
A clear call-to-action to join
Then do the most important growth move and invite your first members through personal outreach. Start with friends, colleagues, warm leads and existing followers. After they join send a quick personal message to ask what they want help with and start a real conversation.
Pro-Tip: Create some YouTube videos/content to build trust with your audience. Include your Skool Community link in the description of your video.
If you follow these 12 steps in order, you will have a clean, structured Skool community that looks credible, feels easy to navigate and gives members a clear path from joining to engaging. Start simple, launch quickly, improve as you go and focus on serving the people inside the community.
I hope you've found these steps practical and helpful.
Romney Nelson - Founder of Global Self Publishing