“Social Traffic”, code of ethics

Posted by admin | When the conversation turns to business…. »

It seems that everyone has their own definition of social media but we have a consensus on at least one point – it’s an excellent way of interacting and bonding with like-minded people. It is exciting  to see the way the “Social Traffic” group on Facebook has evolved over the past 5 days and become a small movement with such great potential so quickly. After all what is our common focus? I see Glen’s discussion on what the group stands for has attracted a lot of input and it’s inspiring to watch the talent pool come to light, but throughout these discussions lets not lose focus on what brought us all together. We are all here because we want to be working with a better caliber of people under better quality relationships than what we are currently experiencing. If this is not the case why are we all here?

I think the subject matter of what we are working on will vary and I think groups within the groups will centralize around topics of interest.  We are here because we want to collaborate with a better quality of relationships than we are used to, and I am sure this group will provide that value to us. If we have the right mindset what we all want to happen within the group, will invariably happen. We can steer it in a direction which can benefit all of us.

With some great discussions gaining momentum and others about to start, I felt that it’s time to define a few guidelines for the group’s code of practice to better aid us in achieving our desired result from being members of this movement.

Now, a lot of people say and believe that putting any restrictions or rules on a group destroys its basic nature to evolve and grow. We don’t want to put restrictions - we just want to channelize this traction in the right direction – the direction of mutual collaboration, learning and helping each other with a core focus on elevating our level of intent towards one and other, to add more value than we take away from every interaction. So, in essence, we want to define certain boundaries that will help us collaborate and work together in the healthy, productive and pro-active environment we are all attracted to, without getting side-tracked by people with the old-marketing-mindset of sell a widget, receive a dollar then look to the next sale.

If we don’t define certain rules, chances are that we can go off on unwanted tangents. That may be OK for random FB groups, but not for targeted groups such as this one.

Having said that, let’s get straight to our socializing ethics. At the Social Traffic group, I would like to put forward suggestions for a group Code of Practice and ask for a collaborative effort in building on this beginning to define a code of practice that defines us:

1- Don’t friend people just to spam them

Spamming kills the very purpose of a conversation and takes it down to a low and closed-mind level. Up until today, we have been tolerating some messages, but we can’t afford to anymore. We are here to build a community and movement, not spam each other with interest-driven messages. If you have something very important to say, be prepared to listen first.  Earn the interest of the group and wait until asked. Then promote yourself, or better still wait for someone to do it for you. The effect is 1000 times more powerful this way.

Note: If you are not confident of anyone ever showing enough interest in you to listen to or promote you; ask yourself one thign, should “you” be promoting yourself either?

2- Building strong relationships

Strong relationships play a key role in the success of any venture. The relationship gets stronger when there is a trust between the parties. This trust comes through mutual respect and confidence. We need a powerful social network within our group. If we can achieve this target then our group will see an active growth both in terms of membership as well as popularity. We want to get as many people who you think can in any way benefit from being here. If they are on other networks, bring them in. If they are offline, send them invites.

Everyone should take ownership of it as if this is their own space. Most of the strategies and discussions we have had so far revolve around building quality relationships rather than running after numbers - Social Traffic members understand this concept and are here for the long-run and not for short-sighted narrow-minded benefits.

3- Proactive approach

We have to adopt a proactive approach in reaching out to other people. That’s not a big task to accomplish, only if we can shed our differences and interact actively with other group members. The group thrives on commenting, discussions over notes, asking questions, answering other’s questions and building a knowledge base. For this, everyone needs to be proactive in participating. Here’s the hard part: Those members who do not actively engage with the group for more than 15 days should be removed from it.

We want to maintain this into an active discussion board, not just a place to watch others and stay quiet. I see no point in a member remaining inactive if they do not intend to contribute to the groups growth. Nor do I see benefit in the group having these members sit in the wings to take all that is positive away from the group without investing anything back into it. It’s this contribution defecit that will bankrupt our inspiration if we allow it to happen. In saying that, lets encourage others to participate and show them how they will profit from adopting this mind set before expelling them.

4- Frequent Surveys and polls

Surveys and online polls are the heart and soul of a social networking group. We can only judge the trends and practices of our members if we know what they are actually thinking and ‘doing’. A monthly survey or poll is necessary to keep the members active. The only difference is that we want the members to come up with the questions themselves collaboratively. These questions can evolve out of a questions discussion group that has been started.

5- Effective Collaboration

We are here to share our thoughts, ideas and strategies, so having an honest approach to networking is necessary. We encourage shout outs and heads up calls that are aimed at enriching the collaborative efforts of all members. Through such collaboration, we need to eventually expand our footprint to other platforms and applications. When sharing notes and ideas, we need to discuss them and take them a step higher - so that we can all grow and learn from each other.

6- Tapping those who matter

It doesn’t matter how many friends you have made but it does matter how influential or passionate they are. We have to bring in passionate people to increase the net worth of our group. Group members must actively promote the group to bring in more people to the group so that we all can benefit from the collective  expertise and social marketing strategies. Having more thought leaders on board raises the level and value of our discussions.

7- Contributing to each others stock worth

Our net worth is an augmentation of the stock worth of each and every group member. When you add to the value of others by helping them or sharing, you are in effect increasing your own value. We want to drive this point in, because it is the core essence and fundamental concept on which this group stands. Break this and the whole system can break. Broaden your thinking, increase your level of intent to add value to those around you, invest time in widening your net worth and you will elevate the value you represent to others. The more successful the Social Traffic group becomes the better caliber of each smaller network within the group becomes leading to each individuals stock value rising. The groups stock price will not rise as a start up without a considerable investment that can only come through the mind set of it’s members.

8 - Revolving conversations

Although we want to encourage democratic conversations for the sake of transparency we need to center our conversations through a blue print that ensures conversations are always moving us forward. This blue print is also one that invites collaboration but let me start giving us something to work off.

I think that all conversations should start in the group discussion boards. The individual who starts the conversation must administer it. These discussions should be viewed as targeted and real time content from the cutting edge and therefore be a source for posts that should be pulled into notes written by anyone just like this one. The note should reflect the conversation that inspired it and be a place where the conversation lifts to another level.

If a conversation warrants through a successful knot, it should be turned onto its own Facebook page. The conversation can lift to another level on the page where participants can break away into a group within the group, anchored by the page that was initially inspired by a discussion within the group. The growth of “Social Traffic” can spawn out to as many smaller groups around many pages whilst the core philosophies that hold the extended network together will be discussed and communicated within the “Social Traffic” group.

If a smaller group outgrows it’s page, a break away group will no doubt emerge that will have a strong relationship with the Social Traffic group through a shared mindset and level of understanding we can depend on. “We all get it!”

Why Social Traffic?


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