Members of Tin Shingle belong to a private email group, powered by Google. It is a sacred space where we share resources, insights, achievements, sales, requests for work, recommendations, etc. To keep this space happy and fluent, we do have a few rules that members need to follow.
UPDATED: July 22, 2011
BE NICE :)
It's a simple request, but sometimes people can be a little too...honest or daring in online spaces. We are supportive of each other through our ups and downs. So let's help everyone continue to have a great day.
GOOD TYPES OF MESSAGES TO EMAIL
The email group serves different purposes for everyone. Use it to:
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Inquire about the best place to (fill in the blank here). Examples include everything from finding business cards to getting a great virtual assistant.
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Brand yourself as an expert in your field by helping others who ask questions that you know the answers to.
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Throw your hat into the ring on a job if a request for work comes in.
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Ask a question about others' experiences with something you are considering. In the past, this has included working with sales reps, embarking on affiliate programs, etc.
- Speaking of sales reps, the group often asks for recommendations of professionals, such as sales reps, graphic designers, lawyers, etc.
TRY NOT TO HIT "REPLY ALL" OFTEN
It's really easy to do, we know. If you are serving up an answer and think that everyone would benefit from it, you may be right, and can hit Reply All for it. But we ask that you use your discretion. Everyone receives a lot of emails during the course of the day.
If you do hit "Reply All", fear not, it's not the end of the world. We all do it from time to time, and usually don't even realize we hit it. And there may be a time that you really do want to Reply All on purpose because you want everyone to hear something. Hitting "Reply All" won't get you a strike unless you do it after every email, even after reminders.
NO BASHING
If you're having a bad day, or feeling particularly snarky towards another business owner, we ask that you keep it to yourself, or if you are dying to share a word of caution or frustration about someone, please do so directly to one of your contacts. While we all want to live in reality, and do appreciate honest feedback, blasting it en mass is not an approach we adhere to.
NO SWEARING
We know, how prude. We have this policy for a few reasons:
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Our mothers read these group emails, and they don't like swearing. Or tattoos, but we don't mind your tattoos, especially if you're a tattoo artist.
- Swearing trips spam filters, so it's possible that your email will get flagged and held by Google, since it identifies it as possible spam. And we don't want that to happen.
BE MINDFUL OF HOW OFTEN YOU SEND A SALES PITCH
We know you're eager to sell your product or service. And we do encourage you to share it with the group. However, please only do this no more than 3x per month. You can email the group for other purposes, but if you're going in for the hard sell, please limit it. This is as much for your own sake as it is your fellow members. People turn off your sales pitch if they see it too many times.
That said, get creative! If you're answering someone, make sure your service or product is linked to from your email signature. Write a great blog post, and mention it there. If it's for an event or class, make sure you've listed it in our Events calendar for the world to see. This is the art of marketing!
TYPES OF EMAILS TO FORWARD
You may subscribe to a lot of newsletters, and those newsletters may inform you of neat things that you want to spread around to others. Such a newsletter may have an important message that inspired you, it may have an event that you'd love others to attend with you, etc. Please only do this 2x per month. Otherwise, people should just sign up to those newsletters you do.
THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT
We may email you with a gentle reminder to not do something, like to not hit Reply All. The first time may be a warning. Maybe you didn't know. If it happens again, we'll give you an official strike, and we will say "You have a strike". After three strikes, your email privileges will be suspended until such time as we think you are ready to communicate with the group again. If we've emailed you gentle reminders, fear not, you're fine. We always like to communicate with you first so that we can all be on the same page before taking any bold action. If you ever have any questions, email us at info@tinshingle.com.
To learn more about joining this email group, click here.
If you have not joined Tin Shingle yet, maybe today is your day to learn more and join.
