The Soul-Sucking SKOOL Community Model (and a better alternative)

george-banko

I’m a peaceful guy. But I have to point out something that’s been bothering me lately.

So here it goes…

Dear copywriter friends, please reconsider if the SKOOL community model is something you really wanna do.

I see more and more business owners switching to this model of…

– I’m going to post 1,000 generic trainings and courses that nobody has the time to watch unless they’re unemployed or want to have zero life balance
– Offer ‘barely there’ support in the form of 1 zoom call a week at noon EST (just in case people wanted to not eat lunch)
– Gaslight copywriters who complain about the lack of effort of the community leader, saying they “just don’t have the right mindset”

All that stuff worked in 2014. Back when it was novel and actually helpful.

Doesn’t work now.

Even newbies can become B- level copywriters in a couple of months in 2024. There’s enough free education on YouTube for that. They don’t need another one of your generic courses.

The truth is…

If your paid service isn’t showing people…

– How to develop confidence in their own offers and brand (no job is safe in the age of AI, not even with the big companies)
– How to run their business effectively without feeling like they have to get on zoom with you and live in a black mirror dystopian hellscape
– How to get clients REAL results (no more hypey sales letters with testimonials about how someone feels better now that theyre in your community, what did you actually help them with?)

As much as I hate to say this, this year I’ve noticed people I respect in the industry switching to this SKOOL model, and I don’t think it’s helping people.

I’ve even signed up for $97/month services pitching “acquisition” strategies that boiled down to “go on linkedin and look for jobs bro.” Thanks. Can I have my $97 back?

The truth is that in today’s world…

There’s less human touchpoints than ever, and it’s making people feel isolated and depressed.

There’s also more content out there than ever, so competition is at an all-time high.

And lastly, there’s less transparency about what people are really getting with products that feel rushed out and fear-based (buy this AI based shit or you’re not gonna make it in AI land for example).

People might read this and think I’m being a “hater.”

But I’m just NOT feeling the idea of “live on the screen” and grind till you can’t grind anymore kinda life. And that’s what a lot of these SKOOL communities are preaching.

And sure, if that’s what you prefer and you’re crushing it, then by all means ignore this post.

This isn’t an anti-technolgy rant, by the way.

I guess the vision I’m seeing is kind of like the old physical mom and pop stores, back before everything became corporatized and then COVID-19 pushed us away from each other even more.

So it would be combining the old school mom and pop model with technology as the leverage point to make them more efficient and accessible to everybody – not just tech overlords.

Can we make that the focus?

Does any of this resonate?

Let me know.

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