I've Been Growing My Group With Ads (Without Social Media)

I think relying on social media to launch something new is no longer the best approach for most average people.

Sure, if you're already famous or have an exceptionally magnetic personality, social media might be cool for you. But for the average person trying to start a Skool community, running ads can be far more effective.

Building a successful Skool requires zero social media following.If you're just starting out and don’t have a following, building one while simultaneously launching your Skool community is an enormous amount of work. It's seriously taxing. If you're like me, you'll burn out doing that. For me I wanted to launch my Skool and start delivering value to people without the hassle of the algorithm (talking IG, TikTok, FB).

From my personal experience, it took years to build an IG following for my clothing brand, and it was a grind. These days, I use ads because they fit my lifestyle better. I no longer want to hustle endlessly to get eyes on my community. I'm not up for 18-hour workdays anymore.

I have a family, a baby, and I want to optimize my time. I also don't want my little girl to see me glued to my phone or computer screen all the time. I want to spend most of my time with my kid, not in front of a camera or endlessly scrolling through trends so I can strike up viral videos.

Running ads reliably reaches my audience every single day. No algo drama. No chasing trends. It's straightforward: invest money, get results. Yes, results have a margin of variation.The diminishing reach on platforms like IG, where I have roughly 40k followers for my clothing brand but can really only reach 3k or 4k of them with a post, stresses me out. Before I joined Skool I was asking myself why I pour energy into a platform that doesn't show my content to my audience? Thats why I joined this place!

I’m not personally well-known. My successful clothing brand isn’t attached to me as a person. Sure, my name's in there, but I don’t associate my likeness with it because I’m not interested in building a personal brand. I wanted my brand to stand alone without me so I could live a private life.

When I started our group with Matt Fracek like a month ago, we had no personal brand. No one knew who I was. And that didn’t matter. People are starting to know about us more because of the value we offer in the group. Plus they see our ads.If I ever find the space to start working on my social media, I might. But I didn’t need to do that to start. That’s the point I am making. Starting was easier for us without social media.

(I am not referring to Skool or YouTube when I say social media btw.)

I am more driven to maximize a simple lifestyle and feel like a complicated business won't do that.

There’s nothing wrong with becoming an influencer or creator if that interests you. It can make things easier when starting and is a valid path. People that are good at that should do that.But if you're like me and social media overwhelms you, it's okay to just not do it. It's perfectly fine not to chase the 5-10% audience reach on Instagram.

By not scrolling through IG or TikTok, I have more time to add value to my community. Paying for eyeballs isn’t a bad thing. It’s like your local roofing company sending out flyers every spring to bring in customers. It’s reliable.

I pay money to buy time. Now I can use that time to serve my members.

I don't need an IG or TikTok following to be known and respected on Skool. I think the Skool following is inherently different.

If you're like me and have limited time, or if social media trends and algorithms overwhelm you, it’s perfectly okay to just run ads and hang out in Skool.

You can build a successful, respected community without becoming a social media star.

If you're struggling to start and your offer is locked, just run ads. Later, if it’s your thing, go build that social following now that you have members you’re serving.