Everywhere you turn everyone is talking about Skool and why you should start a community or membership on the platform. 

Some of the biggest gurus swear by Skool and are switching from Facebook communities. 

But why?

What’s the hype all about? 

In this post, I’ll break down the pros and cons of this platform before you decide to start a membership. 

Alright. Let’s jump into why Skool is cool and why everybody’s jumping on the bandwagon. 

Skool is Cool Because of Alex Hormozi

The first reason Skool has taken off is because Skool is co-owned by Alex Hormozi.

Alex made the announcement he invested as a co-owner of Skool earlier this year. 

Who doesn’t love Alex? 

I’m a fan and believe a lot of the hype is because the platform is co-owned by him. 

According to Alex, Skool is the easiest way to make $10,000 per month in 2024.

How?

I’ll get into this a bit later, but just know having Alex as a co-founder is a huge plus for the Skool is cool trend.

The Skool Branding is on Point

The second reason the Skool is cool trend has taken off is because of the amazing branding.

From the name, the unique spelling of Skool, the colors, and the playing of “Skool games” within communities. 

The whole Skool concept is taking people back to elementary school with the misspelling of words and the use of primary colors in the logo. 

As a brand strategist, their branding is on point and draws a lot of people in because it’s all-encompassing.

Skool is Cool Because of Gamification

The Skool community has gamification in place for both community owners and members.

Just like elementary school, you play games, but the games in the Skool community have higher stakes for community owners. 

Basically, the Skool games encourage membership owners to get as many new members as possible to grow their monthly recurring income. 

This leads to a competition among community owners to get as many members as possible in a short period of time where their stats are listed on a public leaderboard.

If that’s not enough to motivate people, the community owners of those groups often brag about how they gained X number of members in X number of days and how much money they’re making.

I don’t really like this aspect of Skool, but this seems to fuel people to get more members into their communities when they see others bragging.

Skool Pays Community Owners

You may not be aware, but Skool pays community owners to get other people to start Skool communities. Skool offers an affiliate offer of 40% of monthly recurring revenue for all referrals an affiliate brings in.

While affiliate offers are cool in general in the case of Skool I see it as both a pro and con.

Why?

Because many of the people I see pushing Skool so much aren’t disclosing that they are an affiliate.

Additionally, they are pushing so hard that I find it disingenuous.

Do these owners really care about the people they serve in their business, or are they considering the monthly recurring income they are getting from subscriptions and affiliate referrals?

Now, let me break down some of the cons I see with Skool:

Skool is Expensive

Skool costs $99 per month per community. So, if you want both a free and paid community for your business, you’re out almost $200 right from the gate.

For some business owners, $99 is manageable.

But what about the ones just starting out or want to cut their monthly expenses?

$99 is a lot when you consider Skool lacks other tools you need as a content creator.

Namely, video hosting for your courses.

In addition to paying a steep monthly fee for your community, you’ll also have to pay a processing fee for each payment you receive of 2.9% +30c.

Right now, Skool only allows you to charge members monthly. There isn’t an option to allow members to pay quarterly or annually.

There’s No Funnel in Skool

If you decide to start a community on Skool, you’ll have to figure out how to get people in your community.

With Skool, there’s no way to build a funnel like other platforms.

For example, I use MemberVault for my Passive Income Academy membership.

Within MemberVault, I can create a sales page, collect payments (without a fee), and gamify my membership.

While I’m not an affiliate of MemberVault, I’m a huge fan, considering it’s a great option for both beginners and experienced business owners.

Should You Give Skool a Try?

In my opinion, Skool is hyped up because of the amazing marketing and branding they have going on.

Nothing more than that.

Womp. Womp.

I’m clearly not a Skool affiliate; I’m just giving my opinion as someone who has participated in Skool communities and owns a membership herself.

There are other options if you want to start a membership.

Don’t fall for the Skool is cool hype.

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