HighLevel Step-By-Step Community Setup Guide

Video Summary

In this video, I walk through exactly how I would set up a hybrid community business from scratch inside HighLevel—from a brand-new sub-account all the way to selling access and granting members entry to courses and community spaces.

The process starts by creating a new sub-account and immediately setting up a dedicated email sending domain, which is mandatory for good deliverability. Using Cloudflare or HighLevel’s built-in domain tools, this step takes just minutes and lays the foundation for reliable email communication.

Next, I configure the Client Portal, which acts as the central login hub for everything: communities, courses, billing, and affiliates. I customize permissions to remove unnecessary features, set the default landing experience to the community, and update branding so the portal feels cohesive and intentional.

From there, I create the community itself. I walk through choosing public vs. private settings, disabling member invites, and structuring channels—including private channels like VIP access, course discussions, and event replays. I also demonstrate how events and live calls work inside HighLevel communities, including private RSVP-based events tied to specific channels.

Once the community framework is in place, I move into the learning side of the hybrid model. I create courses in the backend, apply a reusable course template, and then surface those courses inside the community’s Learning tab—so members consume content directly within the community experience, not in a disconnected course portal.

With content and community ready, I integrate Stripe and create a membership product for the community. Instead of pricing individual courses, the model focuses on one recurring membership that unlocks everything—supporting the idea of curation and continuity rather than fragmented purchases.

I then build a simple funnel to sell access, connect a custom domain, and link the membership product to checkout. Finally, I create a workflow that listens for successful payments and automatically grants access to the community—and, if needed, to private channels like VIP areas. I also show how to send a custom welcome email using a magic login link, ensuring members can instantly set their password and log in without friction.

The result is a fully functional hybrid community business inside HighLevel—courses, community, payments, funnels, and automation working together as one system.

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Key Takeaways

• Hybrid Community Model: Combines courses (information) with community (connection) and automation (continuity).
• Start with Email Infrastructure: Always set up a dedicated sending domain first for deliverability.
• Client Portal = Central Hub: Controls access to communities, courses, billing, and logins in one place.
• Community Structure:
  • Use private communities for controlled access.
  • Create private channels (VIP, Courses, Replays) for tiered experiences.
• Events Inside the Community: Schedule live Q&As and workshops tied to specific channels with RSVP and reminders.
• Courses Live Inside the Community: Create courses in the backend, then add them to the community Learning tab for a unified experience.
• Membership-Based Pricing: One recurring product unlocks all courses and community access instead of selling courses individually.
• Funnels for Sales: Use HighLevel funnels to sell memberships and connect them to a custom domain.
• Automation is Critical:
  • Trigger: Payment Received → Success
  • Action: Grant community access (and optional private channel access).
• Magic Login Link: Always include the login URL in welcome emails so members can instantly access the community.
• Scalable Foundation: This setup gives you everything needed to launch, then refine and customize over time.