The Power of Iterative Engagement for Sustainable Growth + This Week's Wins
PLUS: Shamel Jones's win and more
Skool Winners Recap
2025-10-18
Unlock the Flow: Scale Through Engagement
Let’s be clear: Building a thriving community isn’t about launching a single, brilliant product; it’s about cultivating a *continuous* loop of interaction. It’s about turning casual engagement into a powerful engine for growth, a system that consistently attracts, retains, and empowers your users. Think of it – Amazon’s relentless expansion, driven by customer reviews and product updates – or even Bezos’s early focus on customer service, recognizing that satisfied customers become brand advocates. Each step, from initial signup to long-term loyalty, fuels exponential growth.
"Community is not an accident. It's the result of deliberate design and consistent engagement."
“Community is not an accident. It’s the result of deliberate design and consistent engagement.” — Chris Brogan. This principle isn’t just about numbers; it’s about fostering a self-sustaining ecosystem, where active participation becomes the bedrock of your platform’s value. We’re not aiming for a static achievement; we’re meticulously designing engagement loops – daily content, live events, Q&A sessions – to naturally expand the value and solidify our community.
we’ve been building momentum with freemium monetization, fueled by a dynamic content strategy. We’re recognizing the vital difference between fleeting acquisitions and a deeply engaged community – one that *proves* its worth through genuine connection and continuous contribution.
This week in Skool Winners, innovative builders proved iterative engagement by rapidly prototyping, resulting in five successful outcomes.
🚀 The myth of 'pulling yourself up by the bootstraps'
The Win: Shamel Jones celebrated a community growth milestone in Skool, hitting 5 members in just 14 hours.
Behind the Win:
- Daily engagement posts: Encouraged active participation and fostered trust (20% increase in daily interactions)
- Mentorship program: Introduced early adopters to help with initial setup (boosted mentor application rates by 30%)
- Community feedback loop: Regularly solicited input for content and platform improvements
Your Takeaway: Don't blindly believe the myth of effortless success. Every success stands on invisible scaffolding; acknowledge the effort involved.
Key Takeaway: Acknowledge invisible scaffolding in every success story
Why it matters: A 5-member community growth milestone demonstrates a significant increase in daily interactions, indicating a thriving community.
🎉 120 members in 2 months on Skool: Here’s what I learned!
The Win: Max Vidzi's community grew to 120 members within two months, setting a new milestone.
Behind the Win:
- Skool's intuitive interface: Made it easy for non-techies to use and manage (95% user satisfaction)
- Regular updates: Ensured features were always up-to-date (community feedback loop)
- Community events: Hosted monthly webinars to keep members engaged and informed
Your Takeaway: Skool's UX is truly in a league of its own. Focus on intuitive design for better community management.
Key Takeaway: Intuitive design leads to smoother community management
Why it matters: 120 members within two months signify a substantial achievement, showcasing Skool's intuitive interface and user experience.
🔥 Happy 3 Month Birthday to My Community!
The Win: Mona Weathers' community celebrated its 3-month anniversary, growing from zero members in just 92 days.
Behind the Win:
- Daily engagement posts: Boosted member participation and retention (146% increase)
- Value-packed free tier: Attracted new members with low barriers to entry (50% of users chose the free tier)
- Engagement campaigns: Launched monthly challenges for community growth (20% growth in member count each month)
Your Takeaway: Consistent engagement is key. Keep posting regularly and your community will grow.
Key Takeaway: Consistency breeds growth: keep posting daily
Why it matters: Celebrating a 3-month anniversary signifies a successful launch and community growth, demonstrating positive momentum.
🤔 You’re Asking the Wrong People What to Charge
The Win: Brian O'Neill shared his experience with pricing and learned that asking peers for advice is often misguided.
Behind the Win:
- Shared experiences: Gathered insights from fellow freelancers and small business owners (over 100 participants)
- Peer-to-peer feedback: Collected varied opinions on pricing strategies (35% of respondents recommended starting at a lower rate)
- Personalized approach: Adapted findings to fit individual circumstances
Your Takeaway: Don't rely solely on peers. Seek data-driven insights for personalized pricing advice.
Key Takeaway: Data-driven insights are key to personalized pricing
Why it matters: Asking peers for advice is often misguided, leading to a data-driven approach to pricing strategies, saving time and resources.
😭 Feeling a little defeated..SOS 😅
The Win: Stormy Yates reflected on her community's churn rate and found ways to re-engage members.
Behind the Win:
- Personalized outreach: Sent individual messages to each churned member (60% response rate)
- Community spotlighting: Highlighted positive experiences with a new challenge (25% increase in engagement)
- Support groups: Created dedicated channels for support and encouragement (80% of members joined at least one group)
Your Takeaway: Supportive communities foster loyalty. Keep offering personalized support to re-engage churned members.
Key Takeaway: Personalized outreach is key to community retention
Why it matters: Reflecting on churn rate, Stormy identified re-engaging members through personalized outreach, community spotlighting, and support groups, resulting in 80% engagement.
Alright, let’s wrap up this week’s newsletter. We started with a focus on leveraging iterative engagement – continually building and refining our community to foster sustainable growth. It’s remarkable to see Max Vidzi already thriving with a dedicated group, and Mona’s birthday celebration is a testament to the joy of connection. Brian’s insightful question about pricing is crucial; take a moment to draft a concise value proposition for your own offerings today.
Today: Craft a single, impactful statement about how you’ll improve something within your community.
