The (Community) Rules of Engagement

I just finished reading Tara Hunt's article on Vitamin: The Rules of Engagement. In it she listed key principles on how businesses could build strong relationships with their customers by paying special attention to their community. Tara's list of principles is impeccable. I couldn't agree more.

One of my roles at Zaadz is to foster community interaction, which includes "evangelization," personally interacting with new and veteran members, doing site support, as well as being one of the power users (aka. eating a big share of our own dog food :)). So allow me to reflect on how we do our business at Zaadz by using Tara's principles as a checklist.

Principle #1. Become a community evangelist

Check. Zaadz is first and foremost a community of people who want to "change the world," online as well as offline. We even coined the word Zaangha, which is based on the Sanskrit term sangha, which means "association" or "assembly."

Principle #2. Design to delight

Check. One of the things that attracted me to Zaadz was its simple and subtle design. And we're constantly tweaking it.

Principle #3. Embrace the chaos

Zaadz embraced chaos when they embraced me. Just kidding. We've had our share of chaos on the site, and well inevitably have some more. But so far we've managed to respond to it quickly, as compassionately as we can.

Principle #4. Find your higher purpose

Hell yes! If you want to talk about higher purpose, just look at our main page. Our mission and purpose is our splash page. No wonder some people call us "tree hugging, hippy freaks" and "greedy capitalists."

Principle #5. Get focused.

Exactly! We do this everyday by reminding ourselves of our purpose and our ultimate goal.

Principle #6. Inbound rather than outbound communications

Check. Opening up a channel of communication has been there since the early days. From Brian's blog, to the Zaadz Team blog, to the support forums, and to the personal interaction with members. We even have a hotline with a sexy voice waiting at the end of the other line :)

Principle #7. Put community first.

This is one of our mantras. See Brian's Zaadz Summer Update.

Principle #8. Be part of the community you serve

We all are. From our CEOs to our Developers to our Ambassadors. Zaadz has also been hiring from the community since its early inception.

Principle #9. Remember the tripod: Environment, Product & Community

We always remind ourselves of this balance and integration every day. See also Aaron's blog: Towards an Integral Zaadz.

Principle #10. Have patience.

Um, I think this is where Zaadz falls short. See the Nutrition Facts :)