Most people promoting Skool are doing it the same way. They make generic “what is Skool” videos, run broad campaigns, and hope something sticks. Meanwhile, the search volume for Skool-specific queries is climbing every month, and right now there are low-competition, high-intent keywords sitting wide open. If you get in front of the right searches before this platform fully matures, a single referral can pay you 40% recurring commission for as long as that person stays subscribed.
Skool gained real momentum when Alex Hormozi, the author of $100M Offers and $100M Leads, became one of its most visible advocates. His TikTok following brought a wave of course creators, coaches, and digital entrepreneurs to the platform. That means your potential referrals are not random. They are people with a business idea, a course to sell, or a community to build, and they are asking very specific questions you can answer with simple, targeted content.
What You’ll Walk Out With
- The exact commission structure for the Skool affiliate program and what 40% recurring really adds up to month after month
- Why starting at the bottom of the funnel beats broad awareness content, especially on a platform that is still in its growth phase
- A letter-by-letter YouTube keyword strategy to find gaps before everyone else fills them
- The bonus offer method that separates you from every other Skool affiliate right now
- How to pick one specific niche audience and build a community that earns you commissions automatically
- A comparison-video framework for capturing buyers who are already in decision mode
- How to use the free Ahrefs keyword tool to surface low-competition Skool search terms before you record a single video
- Not sure which platform or business model fits your skills? Find out in 60 seconds at finder.platformproof.com
What Is Skool and Why Should Affiliates Pay Attention Right Now
Skool is an online community and course platform. It lets creators upload content, host discussions, and keep members engaged all in one place. You can run a free community or a paid membership, and the interface is designed to be simpler than older platforms like Kajabi or Mighty Networks. The platform is relatively new, and if you look at its search trend data, it started gaining real traction in early 2024. The growth curve is still in an early stage, which means most of the keyword real estate has not been claimed yet.
The platform appeals to a very specific type of person: someone who has been using Kajabi, ClickFunnels, Mighty Networks, or another course and community tool, and wants to know whether Skool does the same things, only simpler. That person is already motivated to buy. They just need someone to answer their questions honestly and help them make a confident decision. That is the opportunity this video walks through across eight distinct methods.
The Skool Affiliate Program: 40% Recurring Commission on Every Referral
To get started, go to Skool.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click “Become an Affiliate.” Once accepted, you earn 40% recurring commission on every referral who stays on a paid plan. Skool’s paid membership is priced at $99 per month. That means you earn roughly $39.60 every single month for every person who signed up through your link and stayed active. If you refer 10 people who stick around, that is close to $400 per month in recurring income from one product.
The recurring model is what makes software affiliate programs different from one-off product promotions. You do the work once to generate the referral. The commission continues as long as the customer stays subscribed. Your job after the referral is to help your community members get real value from the platform so they do not cancel. When they win, you keep getting paid.
Method 1: YouTube Bottom-of-Funnel Tutorials
The most direct path to Skool affiliate commissions is creating YouTube tutorials that answer questions people already have about the platform. Type “how to” followed by a blank “in Skool” into YouTube’s search bar. You will see queries like “how to use Skool for beginners,” “how to create a course in Skool,” and “how to build a community in Skool.” These are people who have already decided Skool is their platform. They just need help doing a specific thing.
These videos do not need large view counts to generate commissions. A tutorial titled “How to Use Skool.com for Beginners” had 13,000 views from a channel with only 4,000 subscribers. Another Skool tutorial had 15,000 views from a 16,000-subscriber channel. A third on “How to Create a Course in Skool” had 3,000 views from a 7,000-subscriber channel. Small channels are fully competitive here. The viewers landing on these videos are not casual browsers. They are people who have already chosen Skool and need help getting started or switching over from another platform.
The person landing on your tutorial is either already inside Skool and stuck on something, or they are switching from Kajabi or ClickFunnels and want to see how Skool handles a specific workflow before they fully commit. Both are a short step away from clicking your affiliate link.
Method 2: Run the Alphabet to Find Untapped Keyword Gaps
Once you have covered the obvious “how to” queries, run the alphabet. Type “how to A in Skool” in YouTube’s search bar, then “how to B in Skool,” and work your way through all 26 letters. Most will not produce anything useful. But every so often you will land on a question with real search volume and almost no good answers. That is your video topic. Nobody else thought to check that letter, and you show up first. Your affiliate link is the only one the viewer sees.
This technique works on any platform that is growing fast enough for search trends to outpace content supply. With Skool still building its audience, many of these alphabet gaps have not been filled. A handful of small, specific videos can build a channel that consistently sends referrals your way without requiring a single viral moment.
Method 3: Use the Free Ahrefs Keyword Tool to Find Low-Competition Searches
Beyond YouTube’s own search bar, you can use the Ahrefs free keyword generator to find Skool-related keywords with low competition and real search volume. Type “Skool” into the tool and scroll through the results. Look for question-format keywords that other creators have not addressed yet. You might find queries like “Skool vs Circle,” “how much does Skool cost,” or “is Skool worth it” sitting at low difficulty scores. Each of those is a content opportunity.
The free version of Ahrefs limits the volume of data you can see, but for a growing platform like Skool, you do not need deep data to find usable gaps. Even a partial picture of keyword demand is enough to prioritize your first five or six videos and get in front of people who are actively searching for answers before the competition catches up.
Method 4: Offer Bonuses That No Other Skool Affiliate Is Giving
Right now, most affiliates promoting Skool share their link and nothing else. There is no differentiation. But when someone is deciding which affiliate link to click, they pick the one that gives them more. You can win that decision by attaching a bonus to your link that no one else has thought to offer.
The bonus does not have to be expensive or complicated. A free workbook on how to structure your first Skool community. A free ebook on setting up a paid membership from scratch. A one-on-one coaching call to help a new Skool creator get their first 10 members. A short masterclass on building an audience inside Skool through organic social. Any of these make your offer stand apart from the six other Skool affiliates that same person has already seen.
The core idea is straightforward: the customer is paying the same $99 per month whether they sign up through your link or someone else’s. But through your link, they get something extra. That extra item does not have to be large. It just has to exist. Being the only affiliate who offers anything at all is enough to capture most of the referrals in this still-early market.
Method 5: Niche Down to One Specific Audience
The majority of Skool affiliates are going broad. They promote it to anyone who might want an online community. Broad promotions convert poorly because no one feels like the message is for them specifically. The fix is to pick one group and build your entire Skool promotion around that group’s exact situation.
You could build a Skool community for gardeners who want to sell a course about their hobby. You could focus entirely on TikTok creators who want to move their audience into a paid membership they control. You could target Instagram coaches who need a better way to host group programs without the chaos of Facebook groups. When you speak directly to one type of person, they pay attention. When you build a free Skool community for that person, they join to see how the platform works. Once they see it working, they start their own paid community. That is when your affiliate commission activates.
Niching down also protects you against the coming saturation. General Skool content will get crowded as more affiliates discover the platform over the next year. But “how to build a Skool community for personal finance coaches” is a much smaller target, and most competitors will never bother going that specific. You can own that space before anyone notices it exists.
Method 6: TikTok Tutorials and the Community Funnel
TikTok is a real traffic source for Skool affiliate content. Short tutorials that answer common Skool questions get picked up quickly on a topic where existing content is still limited. The recommended strategy is to create specific tutorials, and at the end of each video, invite viewers to join your free Skool community where you go deeper on the topic. Once they are inside your Skool community and experience the platform firsthand, many will decide to build their own paid communities. You earn the affiliate commission on their subscription.
This is a two-step process. The TikTok video handles discovery. Your Skool community handles the conversion. The viewer arrives on TikTok not knowing they need Skool. By the time they join your community and see how it all works, signing up for their own paid plan becomes the natural next step. You do not have to pitch them. The platform sells itself once they are already inside it.
Method 7: YouTube Comparison Videos
Comparison videos capture a different kind of viewer: someone who already knows what Skool is and is deciding whether to switch from their current platform. That person is much closer to a buying decision than someone just learning what Skool does. Searches like “Skool vs Kajabi,” “Skool vs Circle,” “Skool vs Mighty Networks,” and “Skool vs Discord” all have real search volume and low competition right now.
The numbers from the source video show exactly how this works. A “Skool vs Kajabi” video had 1,300 views from a channel with 11,000 subscribers. Another had 2,800 views from a 23,000-subscriber channel. A comparison covering “Teachable vs Circle vs Skool vs Kajabi vs GoHighLevel vs CC360” got 911 views with just 1,000 subscribers. These are not viral numbers, but they are targeted numbers. Every viewer on those videos is a potential buyer. You do not need a large audience to make comparison content work. You need a specific audience that is already in decision mode.
Comparison videos also let you expand your content library naturally. Once you cover Skool vs. Kajabi, you do Skool vs. Circle, Skool vs. Teachable, and Skool vs. Discord. Each video targets a different buyer who is already using a competing platform. Roundup searches like “best membership platforms” had 16,000 views on one video and 14,000 views on another in the dataset shown in the video. These pull in people who have not yet picked a platform, and Skool becomes your recommendation inside a comparison they were already searching for.
Method 8: Use Your Email List to Warm Up Your First Referrals
If you already have an email list, even a small one with a hundred people on it, you have a head start. Send your list a message explaining that you are building a Skool community to offer better support, direct answers, and a tighter connection than email alone allows. Invite them to join. Show them how the platform works. As they see the value and decide to build their own communities on Skool, they subscribe through your affiliate link.
This method works best when you genuinely use Skool as a community hub and teach your members how to get results with it. The more value they see firsthand, the more likely they are to want their own Skool community. That is the conversion event. You are not pitching the platform. You are just showing it working, and letting people make their own decision based on what they experience directly.
Not sure which affiliate program fits your skills and current audience size?
Answer a few quick questions and get a clear, specific recommendation at finder.platformproof.com.
The Funnel Strategy: Why Bottom-of-Funnel Beats Top-of-Funnel for New Affiliates
Understanding where to start is the decision that separates affiliates who earn from affiliates who give up. The sales funnel has three levels, and they are not equal in terms of how much work it takes to turn a viewer into a commission.
At the top of the funnel, you have broad awareness content. A search like “how to build a community” pulled 37,000 views from a channel with 121,000 subscribers. A search like “what is Skool” drove 53,000 views on one video and 63,000 views on another. Those numbers look impressive, but the people watching are far from ready to buy anything. They are still figuring out whether they even have a problem that Skool solves. Competition is high, and conversion rates are low.
In the middle of the funnel, you have comparison content. These viewers know Skool exists and are weighing it against a competitor. They are closer to a decision, but still evaluating options. “Skool vs Kajabi” is middle-of-funnel content. The viewer is interested but not committed.
At the bottom of the funnel, the viewer already knows the problem and already knows the solution. They searched “how to create a course in Skool” because they have decided to use Skool. They just need help with one specific action. A video with 3,000 views at the bottom of the funnel converts more affiliate commissions than a video with 50,000 views at the top. The intent is that much stronger.
This is not a theoretical claim. Alston built his first affiliate income stream by creating bottom-of-funnel content about a course platform called Income School. His channel had fewer than 300 subscribers at the time. The commissions were $50 to $100 per referral at various points over the four years he promoted it. He earned those referrals not because of a large audience, but because every person watching his videos was already looking for exactly what he was reviewing. Once he identified that the approach was working, he created nearly every subsequent video about that same platform until he moved to a different product.
The practical action this points to: start at the bottom. Create content for people who already know they want Skool but need answers to specific how-to questions. Build up from there as your channel grows. By the time you are competing for top-of-funnel keywords, you will already have a base of viewers who trust your take on the platform and return to your channel when they have new questions.
Find Your X
Skool is one option, but it is not the right fit for every affiliate marketer. The method that earns you consistent commissions depends on your current skills, your existing audience, and the kind of content you are actually willing to create and publish consistently. If you want to skip the trial and error and find the platform or business model that matches where you actually are right now, head over to finder.platformproof.com. Answer a few quick questions and get a clear, specific recommendation without having to test five things to find the one that works.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the Skool affiliate program pay?
The Skool affiliate program pays 40% recurring commission on every referral who stays on a paid plan. Skool’s paid membership costs $99 per month, so each active referral generates approximately $39.60 per month for as long as they remain subscribed. There is no cap on the number of referrals you can send. Ten active referrals comes out to roughly $396 per month in recurring income from one product.
Is the Skool affiliate program free to join?
Yes. You apply by going to Skool.com, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and clicking “Become an Affiliate.” You submit an application requesting access. There is no fee to join as an affiliate, and you do not need to be a paying Skool member yourself to apply.
Do I need my own Skool community to earn affiliate commissions?
No. You can earn commissions purely through content, whether that is YouTube tutorials, comparison videos, TikTok, or an email list. That said, building your own free Skool community is one of the most effective methods covered in this video, because members who experience the platform directly are much more likely to start their own paid communities. When they do, you earn the affiliate commission on their subscription.
What is the difference between Skool free and paid plans?
Skool allows creators to run both free communities and paid communities. The free tier lets you host a community without charging members for access. The paid plan, which costs the creator $99 per month, unlocks the ability to charge members for access, among other features. The affiliate commission you earn is based on the creator’s monthly subscription to Skool, not on the memberships your audience pays inside someone else’s community.
How long does it take to start earning Skool affiliate commissions?
There is no fixed timeline. It depends on how quickly you publish content and how well it targets people who are already searching for Skool. Affiliates who create bottom-of-funnel content, tutorials answering specific how-to questions, tend to see their first clicks and conversions earlier than affiliates creating broad awareness content. If the content ranks and attracts targeted viewers, first commissions can arrive within the first few weeks of publishing.
What type of content works best for promoting Skool?
Tutorial videos and comparison videos are the two strongest formats based on the data shown in this video. Tutorial videos answer specific questions from people who are already using or evaluating Skool. Comparison videos capture buyers who are deciding between Skool and a competing platform like Kajabi, Circle, Mighty Networks, or Discord. Both types attract viewers who are closer to a purchase decision than people watching general introductory videos about the platform.
Can I promote Skool on TikTok?
Yes. Short tutorial videos answering specific Skool questions are a strong format on TikTok, especially given how little Skool-focused content currently exists there. The recommended strategy is to use TikTok to drive viewers into your own free Skool community, where they experience the platform firsthand. Once they decide to create their own paid community, they become your affiliate referral. TikTok drives discovery, and your community closes the conversion without any direct sales pitch.
How does promoting Skool compare to promoting Kajabi as an affiliate?
Kajabi is a more established platform with a larger existing audience, which means affiliate content is more competitive and harder to rank. Skool is newer, so the keyword landscape has more open gaps and smaller channels can rank faster. If you are deciding where to focus first, starting with Skool’s bottom-of-funnel tutorials while the low-competition window is still open makes sense. You can expand into Kajabi comparison content as your channel grows and you have real experience with both platforms to draw from.
Read Next
If you are weighing Skool against its closest competitor before you start promoting either one, this side-by-side breakdown will help you make the decision with confidence.
Skool vs Kajabi: Which One Is Right For You?
Sources
- Skool.com affiliate program page (Skool.com, 2024)
- Alex Hormozi, $100M Offers and $100M Leads
- YouTube search data shown in source video for “how to use Skool,” “how to create a course in Skool,” “Skool vs Kajabi,” “what is Skool,” “best membership platforms,” and “how to build a community” (2024)
- Ahrefs free keyword generator (ahrefs.com/keyword-generator)
- Alston Godbolt, Income School affiliate case study referenced in source video (channel history, 2020-2021)
Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.