Why My Free Community Makes More Money Than Paid
Brenda Rigney
7,183 views
Check out my Skool communities here
👉🏼 https://www.skool.com/skool-scale-cam...
👉🏼 https://www.skool.com/ai-driven-busin...
👉🏼 https://www.skool.com/the-skool-summi...
Create your own Skool community 👇🏼 https://www.skool.com/signup?ref=8533... (affiliate link, I may earn a commission if you join through this)
I run two free Skool communities with over 12,000 members combined — and they generate more revenue than most paid memberships ever will. In this video, I'll show you exactly how to monetize a free Skool community using 5 real revenue streams, why the freemium model outperforms traditional paid tiers for community growth, and how over-delivering in free communities is the smartest business decision I've ever made. This is how to build a profitable Skool community in 2025 and 2026 without charging a single dollar upfront.
00:00 Intro
00:32 Why most free communities fail
01:29 Treating free like a premium product
02:42 Inside Brenda's two communities
03:55 Revenue stream #1: Summit sponsorships
05:50 Revenue stream #2: Conversion to paid
07:52 Revenue stream #3: Affiliate commissions
09:47 Revenue stream #4: Pin posts & promotions
11:04 Revenue stream #5: Course sales
12:51 Design premium from day one
17:14 The reciprocity principle
19:42 Stop gatekeeping your best content
23:40 Start over-delivering (without burning out)
25:28 Think ecosystem, not funnel
26:27 The long-term payoff
In this video we go over the following questions:
Why do most free Skool communities fail to generate revenue?
How can a free community earn more than a paid membership?
What are the 5 revenue streams inside a freemium Skool community?
How do you design your freemium model the right way from day one?
What is the reciprocity principle and how does it boost your Skool discovery ranking?
Should you give away your best content for free?
Subscribe to Brenda Rigney to learn more about building profitable Skool communities and growing your online business.
12 Comments
Thanks once again for all the time you spend answering our questions both asked and unspoken ❤
I'm a new subscriber of yours, now, and I'm going to sign up to your Freemium Skool Community.
I've been struggling as an online marketer, off and on for the past 6 years. I've considered turning to Skool to create a community, but wasn't really sure how to go about it. Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok just don't feel right for me and turn me off as a way of marketing. I rarely check Facebook every day let alone post anything. And although I have an Instagram account, I look at it about once every 2 months and haven't posted anything for over 4 years.
After having been a member of a few different Skool Communities over the past year or so, I can see how it might suit me, my potential business and my style, (which is very eclectic) much better.
I'll see you in your community! Thanks again for the inspiration. Janice
Why My Free Community Makes More Money Than Paid
Brenda Rigney
7,183 views
Check out my Skool communities here
👉🏼 https://www.skool.com/skool-scale-cam...
👉🏼 https://www.skool.com/ai-driven-busin...
👉🏼 https://www.skool.com/the-skool-summi...
Create your own Skool community 👇🏼 https://www.skool.com/signup?ref=8533... (affiliate link, I may earn a commission if you join through this)
I run two free Skool communities with over 12,000 members combined — and they generate more revenue than most paid memberships ever will. In this video, I'll show you exactly how to monetize a free Skool community using 5 real revenue streams, why the freemium model outperforms traditional paid tiers for community growth, and how over-delivering in free communities is the smartest business decision I've ever made. This is how to build a profitable Skool community in 2025 and 2026 without charging a single dollar upfront.
00:00 Intro
00:32 Why most free communities fail
01:29 Treating free like a premium product
02:42 Inside Brenda's two communities
03:55 Revenue stream #1: Summit sponsorships
05:50 Revenue stream #2: Conversion to paid
07:52 Revenue stream #3: Affiliate commissions
09:47 Revenue stream #4: Pin posts & promotions
11:04 Revenue stream #5: Course sales
12:51 Design premium from day one
17:14 The reciprocity principle
19:42 Stop gatekeeping your best content
23:40 Start over-delivering (without burning out)
25:28 Think ecosystem, not funnel
26:27 The long-term payoff
In this video we go over the following questions:
Why do most free Skool communities fail to generate revenue?
How can a free community earn more than a paid membership?
What are the 5 revenue streams inside a freemium Skool community?
How do you design your freemium model the right way from day one?
What is the reciprocity principle and how does it boost your Skool discovery ranking?
Should you give away your best content for free?
Subscribe to Brenda Rigney to learn more about building profitable Skool communities and growing your online business.