Skool News #80: Custom Ads, TikTok Live, Platinum Lessons

Skool News #80, published on 27 October 2026, says owners at Growth Boost levels three and four can now upload their own ads, reports lessons from an event for groups above $100,000 a month, and tells how Samuel of Creative Owners Club says he grew from zero audience using TikTok Live alone.

This is the episode where the custom ads previewed in #79 were shown as live. The TikTok Live story got the title, and we pulled it out into a separate guide: how to grow a Skool community with TikTok Live.

How do custom ads work on Skool now?

Owners at level three or four open the Growth tab in group settings, upload 1080 x 1080 images into their custom slots, and choose whether to run them beside the AI ads or alone by switching the AI ads off under "how ads work".

The numbers changed in a week. On 20 October the hosts described up to 30 custom ads at level three and about 10 AI ads at level two. On 27 October the tab no longer promised "up to 30", and level two was six. Thirty is now a stated destination. Check your own Growth tab rather than either episode.

The hosts' advice is to keep both sets running and see what wins, because Skool will split test them anyway. If you dislike the AI ads you can turn them off or regenerate them. Ad results also lean on the page behind the ad, so a clear About page still comes first.

What were the lessons from Skool Platinum?

Beyond the TikTok Live training, the hosts drew two lessons from a day with about 30 Platinum owners, meaning groups at $100,000 a month and up: those owners run simple businesses, usually one group and one primary traffic source, and traffic matters most.

Samuel is their example: one group, $25 a month, TikTok Live. Their line is that beginners complicate things and advanced owners keep them simple. They also say you do not make serious money without a lot of traffic, and that a traffic source plus a product is all you need for things to take off. This is an observation from one mastermind day, with no data shown.

The interviews sit in the Skoolers classroom under "Platinum interviews", per the episode. We have not reviewed them for this recap.

What did Samuel say about TikTok Live?

Per the hosts, Samuel went live on TikTok every day for a couple of hours with no audience and no ads, talked about his subject even when nobody was watching, and reached about $225,000 a month with a $25 product in a matter of months.

The hosts' explanation is that TikTok's AI listens to the content of the live and sends relevant viewers, then sends more when they engage. That is their theory, not a TikTok statement. They also say he taught this to affiliates and to other Platinum owners, some of whom now call it their number one traffic source. None are named.

The figures do not line up, so here they all are:

Our Creative Owners Club breakdown has the offer and the older leaderboard readings. For what this does and does not prove, go to the TikTok Live guide.

What is on the Skool road map after #80?

The road map on 27 October had Live Calls V2 in limited testing, Growth Boost V2 still in progress, a secret project, and payment methods, with global search, a global calendar, currencies and a native app up next.

The live calls timing was specific: some owners with large calls would test that week, and if it held up it could reach everyone the next week. Payment methods were skipped ("I yapped about this for like 5 minutes last week"), so #79 remains the detailed account. New here is a detail on global search: results for a name would prioritize people you are closest to. On Growth Boost, the hosts say they are not yet at 1 or 2 percent of its full potential, and more ad formats are being worked on.

Which groups were score of the week in #80?

The three groups were The 1550+ Formula at a stated $102,000 a month, Miss Megan Makeup Revival at about $9,500 a month, and Miriam Gimal, described as going from zero to over $100,000 in three days.

James Lu's point is the useful one for owners. The hosts relay that when he put a star student on his About page, his conversion rate went up, which they put down to a real person sharing a real result. No conversion figures were given.

Miriam Gimal's launch is a different animal from the rest. As told by the hosts: traffic from Instagram and TikTok plus $1,000 in ads pushed 15,000 people onto a YouTube live, then 5,000 joined the group and 2,000 of them paid. The $100,000 combines annual and monthly plans, so it is cash collected, not monthly revenue. That is why it does not conflict with the $67,612 monthly figure on the leaderboard. The hosts add that the owners said the money would go to scholarships for children with autism. We have not checked that.

Frequently asked questions

Can every Skool owner upload custom ads?

No. The hosts say uploads are for levels three and four. Level two gets six generated ads only.

What size should Skool custom ads be?

The episode says 1080 x 1080 images. Level four is also described as supporting video.

What is Skool Platinum?

In this episode, Platinum is the status at $100,000 a month in recurring revenue. The hosts describe inviting a group of about 30 such owners for a day of sharing what is working.

Where is Samuel's TikTok Live training?

According to the hosts, inside the Skoolers community: Classroom, then Platinum interviews. It includes a recording of one of his real lives.

Did Miriam Gimal really make $100,000 in three days on Skool?

That is what the hosts report, combining annual and monthly plans. We have not seen the numbers. The leaderboard showed $67,612 a month on 6 November, which measures something different.