Welcome to
Build the Brand then the CommunityGetting your community to know, like and trust you
You Need Rules
Every group needs to have rules. Rules help people feel safe and secure when interacting in your group and know the way they’re supposed to conduct themselves.
The rules represent the minimum behaviors you’ll tolerate in your group and are there to protect everyone who enters. They’re the behaviors you want to discourage or even forbid. This is different from your guidelines, which describe the behaviors you want to encourage. We’ll come to these in the next module.
Your rules will be based on your values and the purpose of your group. For example, if your group is to encourage networking and sharing of products among your peers, then it would be inconsistent to ban all self-promotion. However, you might include a specific thread dedicated to a community marketplace.
It’s your community, and the rules section is where you get to tell people how they are expected to treat one another. There’s no right and wrong here. There are, however, some fundamental rules that will apply to all groups which help group members feel safe and promote mutual respect. These basic standards may also be imposed by the platform you use.
These basic rules would be things such as:
- No swearing
- No racist, sexist, or homophobic comments, e.g. no hate speech
- No spamming
- No harassment or bullying
Your community rules will probably go further than these, and often relate to questions of safety and privacy, as well as selling and advertising.
Take a look at your community purpose and consider questions like:
- No swearing
- No racist, sexist, or homophobic comments, e.g. no hate speech
- No spamming
- No harassment or bullying
Your community rules will probably go further than these, and often relate to questions of safety and privacy, as well as selling and advertising.
Rule Violations
You can devise all the rules in the world, but there will always be people who abuse them. They may be deliberate or unthinking, but either way you’ll need a plan in place to deal with violations quickly and objectively.
Part of your rules section will tell members what to expect if they transgress. This will usually relate to the deletion of inappropriate posts and eventual removal from the group. We’ll explore this further in a later module.
Key Takeaways:
- Your rules are there to protect community members and promote mutual respect.
Action Steps:
1. Decide what elements you will put in the rules for your community membership.
2. Write the rules including what will get people banned and what will happen if they break the rules.
A Word
From Tamara
As an entrepreneur myself I completely understand the stress, anxiety and frustration around launching or growing a business. I also know the rewards and life style change the hard work can provide you if you stay focused. I am here to inspire and motivate you to push forward. The fact that you’re investing in your business education let’s me know you’re in this to win. Rest assured I’m here to help you…. These courses are set up to help you understand the basics. To dig deeper into your specific plan of action we will discuss where you are, where you want to be, eliminate any blocks preventing you from getting to the next step and create an action plan.
