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✨ Free Setup Guide

Soul-Aligned Skool
Community Setup

The exact step-by-step checklist to launch your Skool community from scratch — built for spiritual entrepreneurs.

Brought to you by Spiritual Business Skool ✦ Amanda Smith

Skool From Scratch — Full Setup Walkthrough
Watch Free Tutorial
🎥 Step-by-Step
Skool From Scratch — Full Setup Walkthrough
📊 Know Your Numbers Before You Build
Free Community
20%
avg. about page conversion rate — low friction to join
Paid Community
4%
avg. conversion rate — needs much higher traffic volume
$8/mo × 1,000 members
$8K
floor MRR — predictable, not starting from zero monthly
Tiered model potential
$37K
est. MRR with $8 / $88 / $444 tiers at scale
Your Setup Progress 0 / 0 complete
🌀
Phase 01
Decide Your Model
Choose your monetization strategy before you build
✓ Done ▼
Choose your monetization model
Free Community — living, breathing lead magnet. Great for trust-building but needs a clear upgrade path.

Paid Community — only 4% about page conversion vs 20% for free. Avoid unless you have a large existing audience (20K+ on TikTok or 10K+ on YouTube).

Free + Paid (two communities) — double the operational complexity. Your best free members migrate to paid, leaving the free community dead.

✨ Freemium (recommended) — one community, multiple tiers. Free entry, paid upgrades inside. The $8/$88/$444 model. Lowest friction, highest leverage.
Decide: Pro or Basic plan?
Pro ($99/mo) takes only 2.9% vs 10% on Basic. Worth it for the custom URL alone — treat it like a domain asset. You can always upgrade/downgrade later. Processing payments directly through Skool keeps operations clean — no extra layers to manage.
Ask yourself: what do I want a boring Tuesday to look like?
This is the real question before choosing your model. High ticket = sales calls, funnels, DMs, live launches — very active, high-touch. Low ticket membership = systems that run while you sleep. Neither is wrong. Both require either your time or your money. Choose the one you can actually sustain.
⚙️
Phase 02
Create & Configure
Build the minimum viable community on Skool
✓ Done ▼
Create a new Skool community
🔗 Start with 14 days free
Set your group name — SEO-optimize it
Include a keyword your ideal member would actually search. You can change your group name anytime, but your URL only once — so don't rush the URL. Look at what thriving communities in your niche are doing: go to Discover Communities and type in your keywords to see what naming conventions are working.
Set Public or Private
Public: Every post and classroom page shows up in Google search results. Free organic discovery — if someone searches your topic, your community can show up. Also helps with Skool's internal discovery algorithm.

Private: More curated energy. Nothing visible until they join. Better for paid or intimate communities.
Upload community icon (128 × 128 px)
🎨 Create in Canva
Upload cover photo (1084 × 576 px)
🎨 Create in Canva
Choose your custom URL (Pro plan only)
⚠️ You can only change this ONE time — choose carefully. Pick something that stays true no matter how many times you rebrand your group name. Think of this URL like a domain asset.
Write your 150-character community description
Formula: "I help [WHO] do [DREAM OUTCOME] without [THING THEY HATE]." Use keywords — Skool uses this for search. Pile in the buzzwords your ideal member would type. If a slightly tipsy grandma can understand it, it's clear enough.
Add 3–5 discussion categories with emojis
Recommended: 💬 Community Discussion  |  🏆 Wins  |  ❓ Questions  |  📌 Request a Training  |  📝 Homework
Add your links
Include: (1) Your calendar booking link, (2) your Skool affiliate link, (3) optionally your most active social profile. Note: once someone's in Skool, you may not want to push them off-platform — weigh that before adding socials.
✍️
Phase 03
Build Your About Page
Your sales page that converts visitors into members
✓ Done ▼
Research other About Pages before writing yours
Go to Discover Communities → search your niche keywords → note what colors, phrases, and buzzwords the top communities use. What do you like? What stands out? Steal like an artist — then make it yours.
Write your About Page copy (1,000 characters max)
Structure:
1. Identity callout — who exactly is this for? Use 2+ descriptors (gender, age, stage of life, niche, passion). Don't make them guess.
2. Features — what's inside the community?
3. Benefits — how is their life better because of those features?
4. CTA — "If this is you, click the Join button for instant access."

Skool modeled this after Amazon checkout pages. If you can't get it across in 1,000 characters, the message isn't clear yet.
Upload your About Page cover image (1400 × 790 px)
🎨 Create in Canva
Add a video to your About Page
The best options: (1) A walkthrough tour of your community showing them around and pointing to the good stuff, (2) A relevant YouTube training that represents your offer, (3) Client wins montage. You do NOT need a polished VSL. A genuine Loom tour often converts better.
▶️
Watch Next
The Real Psychology Behind Spiritual Marketing
→
🔌
Phase 04
Plug-ins & Automations
Set up the systems that work while you sleep
✓ Done ▼
Set up membership questions
Always collect: 💌 Email address (you own this forever)

Then add multiple-choice questions — and make the answer options match resources you already have inside the community. Why? Because when someone joins and says "I need help with offers," you can record a personalized Loom video showing them exactly where that resource lives in your classroom. That's your onboarding superpower.
Set up Auto-DM for new members
⚠️ Turn this OFF until you have at least 10 members. Then activate it with a question rather than a statement — e.g., "Hey #NAME#! Welcome to #CommunityName#! What's your Human Design type?" A question creates a conversation. A generic welcome gets ignored.
Unlock Chat at Level 2
Eliminates bots and spammers — they'd have to genuinely engage in order to DM other members. Keeps your community quality high, especially important in spiritual spaces.
Turn off Instant Membership Approval
Review applications manually — it keeps quality high and gives you the chance to see their answers to your membership questions. Don't leave the door wide open.
Name your Leaderboard levels (soul-aligned)
Create level names that feel on-brand — spiritual, empowering, on-niche. Use AI (ChatGPT or Claude) to generate a full set instantly. Then set up level-up incentives: what classroom resources unlock at each level? Announce them in your intro post so members know what to work toward.
💜
Phase 05
Welcome Your Community
Make your first members feel like VIPs
✓ Done ▼
Write your pinned Intro Post
Template: "Welcome to [group]! Do [these things] to [dream outcome]. Join the [challenge] to [outcome]. Get to Level 3 by posting and engaging (unlock [reward]). Join weekly calls for questions." Spell out the level-up incentives explicitly — don't make them guess.
Create your "Start Here" course in the classroom
Important: Do NOT build a full course library before you launch. You want to throw a party, not deliver a 56-point PowerPoint. Build alongside your members based on what they actually ask for.

3 options for your first classroom resource:
1. Results showcase + onboarding — show wins, show them how to unlock resources, give them a booking link for a 1:1 call
2. 5-part Video Sales Letter — Video 1: your origin story; Videos 2–4: address internal/external/circumstantial objections; Video 5: present the offer
3. 5-day Challenge — most powerful first resource. One action per day, mapped to your offer. Gets them to a first win fast.
Create your weekly call recordings course (locked)
Add a private course for your paid call recordings. Grant access by going to the member's profile manually — only paid members get in. This creates natural FOMO from the free side.
Add calls to the Calendar tab
Set to recurring. Choose Skool-hosted or Zoom/Meet. For paid calls: set "Who can attend" → Members in a specific course (your paid course). Check "Remind members by email one day before." Free members can see the call exists — they just can't attend without upgrading.
🚀
Phase 06
Launch & Get Members
Fill your community with the right people
✓ Done ▼
Invite your first 3 members
Your mom, your best friend, your most supportive colleague — ghost town energy is the enemy. You want the vibe set before real leads walk in. Don't be embarrassed to start small. Your first $8 member will change a switch in your brain more than any content strategy ever could.
Send personalized Loom videos to new members
This is your onboarding superpower. Go to their profile, check their answers to your membership questions, then record a short Loom (screen + face) showing them where that specific resource lives in your classroom.

Script: "Hey [name]! I saw you need help with [answer to question]. I have an entire resource on exactly that — it's called [X] and it's inside the classroom here → [show it]. Also here's a link to book a call with me so we can map out your next steps: [link]"
Go through your contacts & send personal invites
DM template: "Hey [name], I just launched a free community where I help [X] do [Y] without [thing they hate]. It's brand new and I wanted to personally invite you as a founding member because [make it personal]. Want me to send you the link?" — Note: don't blast the link unsolicited. Ask first. It converts better and feels better.
Start your content engine (organic growth)
The simplest funnel on Skool right now: YouTube → Skool community. That's it.

System: Weekly YouTube video → repurpose to IG/TikTok short form → every CTA points to your free Skool community. Use AI to map out 30 days of content in one hour: titles, scripts, thumbnails, captions, shorts. All done.

⚠️ Make sure your organic funnel is converting at 1–3% before running paid ads. Otherwise you're accelerating a leak, not a funnel.
▶️
Watch Next
9 Ways to Blow Up on Skool — with Human Design
→
Build your offer based on what members actually ask for
Don't make something in a vacuum that nobody asked for. Watch your "Request a Training" category. Note what questions keep coming up. Build the offer based on that real data. Then book sales calls through your community, calendar, DMs, and calendar link. The community qualifies the leads — you close them.
💬 Top Questions
How much content should go in your free community? ▼
Enough to demonstrate value and keep people engaged — but NOT so much that they never need anything else. Your free community should give them a taste of your methodology and a clear path to get more. Freemium works because free members can see there's more locked content — that FOMO is your conversion engine. Use AI to build interactive tools and artifacts (trackers, generators, frameworks) as your free resources. These convert way better than static PDFs because people actually use them and see results.
What's the difference between the freemium model and a free + paid community? ▼
Freemium = one community, multiple tiers inside it. Free entry, paid upgrades unlocked within the same space. Free + Paid = two separate communities to manage. The problem with two communities: your most engaged free members are the ones who upgrade — so they leave, and your free community slowly dies. Plus you're managing double the operational complexity. Freemium is simpler, more sustainable, and keeps all your social proof in one place.
Should I start free if I don't have a following? ▼
Yes — 100%. Free removes the friction barrier and lets you build trust, get feedback, and validate your offer before asking for money. It only takes a 4% conversion rate on a paid community vs 20% on free — do the math on how much traffic you'd need to build from scratch. Once you have testimonials, engagement, and a proven offer, converting to paid tiers is way easier because the community already has momentum and social proof.
What's the golden onboarding sequence? ▼
Step 1: Auto-DM with a question (not a generic welcome). Step 2: Within 24 hours, send a personalized Loom video referencing their membership question answers and pointing them to a specific resource. Step 3: Point them to the Start Here module. Step 4: Share your calendar link for a 1:1 onboarding call. The goal is to get them to their first win as fast as possible — that's what retains members and creates testimonials.
Public or private community? ▼
Public = every post shows up in Google search results. Free organic SEO discovery. If someone searches your topic on Google or even ChatGPT, and your community has content about it, you can show up. Private = more curated, intimate feel. Nothing visible until someone joins. Both are valid — public is better for growth early on, private for paid or more selective communities.
How do you attract your first 100 members? ▼
Three lanes: (1) Personal outreach — go through every contact in your phone, email list, and followers. Send personal invitations, not mass blasts. Ask if they want the link before sending it. (2) Content engine — YouTube weekly video repurposed to short form, all CTAs pointing to Skool. (3) Cross-community — show up in other Skool communities in your niche, provide genuine value, and let people come to you. Organic + personal is the fastest path early on, before you have the conversion data to run ads effectively.
When should I start running paid ads? ▼
Only after your organic funnel is converting at 1–3%. Ads accelerate what's already working — they don't fix what isn't. The upside: Skool has a built-in Facebook Pixel and email integration, so targeting other Skool members with paid ads is incredibly effective. Meta already knows what a great Skool member looks like. Once your funnel is proven, ads can scale it fast.
How do you add coaching to a free community without giving everything away? ▼
Lock your call recordings at a specific level or inside a paid course. Free members can see the calls exist on the calendar — they just can't attend without upgrading. Add your paid tier ($88/month or similar) that includes live weekly calls. The free community qualifies leads by letting them experience your value; the paid tier is where the real transformation happens. This is the natural upgrade path — no pushy selling required.
✨
Your Skool is Set Up.
Now Let's Fill It.

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Made with 💜 by Spiritual Business Skool  ·  Amanda Smith