Those running or working on blockchain and crypto projects know better than anyone else the importance of community. Well, those working on successful projects do. In one of our previous blog posts, we established that the crypto and blockchain space’s community is a really big deal for quite a few reasons.
Dependence on community is vital for blockchain and crypto. This is because in an environment that is unregulated and spread across the globe, effective communication and relationships is an absolute necessity. That, coupled with the fact that the industry is quite specialized as most projects, their initiators and developers, have known one another for a long time and mix within different online subsectors and subcultures.
Community has been further reinforced by the sense that in order to make a difference and realize the full potential of blockchain, crypto and DeFi, pulling together and strength in numbers is necessary. Also, the mainstream only sees certain projects like crypto as being marred with scams so standing together to defend our projects has also become a knee jerk reaction after some idiot has acted maliciously in our industry.
Probably the biggest and most important reason for needing a strong community is because blockchain, apart from having roleplayers geographically spread across the world in the majority of cases, also relies on decentralization. The blockchain movement is the antithesis of centralization -- it is a reaction to the traditional ways of doing things and the tech supports/allows this. Thus, community involvement is essential!
So any project wanting to make a success of themselves owes it to themselves to listen to, support and grow their community as the benefits are exponential. All the reasons that communities make a project are the exact reasons that they can break your project.
If you're not as invested in them as they are in you, getting things off the ground will be futile no matter how brilliant your project is.
If you don't know what FUD is then you haven't been actively involved in community management or you are very lucky! FUD is the acronym for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Just as in traditional business and financial models false market speculation occurs in blockchain, Crypto and DeFi communities and can leave a project reeling with the impact on a listed coin’s price negatively affected. In smaller scale projects with communities that have a manageable size and where those in charge of the project can still be actively involved, it is easier to get a handle on activity that could cause FUD especially when it is unfounded. As the project grows and the project founders become involved with executing and growing the project it takes more effort to weed out any bad actors in a community that may want to sabotage your progress.
Don't let the FUD get you down!
Sabotage is not the only FUD inducing factor -- management of the project itself needs to be taken into account as this builds credibility with the people vested in the project. Missing targets or deadlines or delays in listing/unlocking of tokens does not bode well in a community especially if you are not proactively keeping members up to date.
Transparency is of the utmost importance so communicating about which partnerships are in play and which have been terminated or being open about your lack of experience in some instances while playing to your strength is important. Everyone is human and as project owners you need to act that way, be consultative, apologize when there is a delay and congratulate the community on their wins.
Things can easily spiral out of control and leave you trying to whack out a massive fire with a straw broom, watching your token price tank after listing.
Engagement is non-negotiable, otherwise what is the point of having a community. To milk them of their time, expertise, resources? If that is your angle then you don't belong or understand the blockchain and crypto premise or existence. You need to be an active part of the community and be able to easily slot into their shoes.
It is not, as we said, always possible as the project grows. Engagement is generally much easier at inception of the project. That is why having hands-on, helpful moderators, sensitive to your projects objectives and your communities needs can be so helpful. Flagging potential FUD early is so important.
The wrong approach to your community engagement and FUD means you may as well be the one striking a match in a drought-stricken field.
Having a presence in your absence is almost as important as how FUD is handled because sometimes things may be better left to simmer down. Community management is not for the faint of heart and takes a very measured approach. The wrong approach means things will swiftly go up in flames sucking what is left of the oxygen/hope out of the room/project. It takes training and a steady, diplomatic manner to handle FUD in a community. AmaZix takes pride in this ability.
In fact, AmaZix was founded by 6 community managers and moderators who have moved on to establish a team that does this expertly over the last few years. AmaZix is the oldest and longest serving company and team of community moderators. We have been around the block and then some!
We know what needs to be done to build, monitor, manage and maintain a healthy community so that your project sees the light of day.
“Sometimes it's a dog-eat-dog world and the rest of the time it's the other way around.”
-- Lawrence Block, A Dance At The Slaughterhouse
Our Community Management team is made up of blockchain experts that are trained on the details of your project and community etiquette. They provide, when necessary quick, quality responses with unparalleled professionalism. The AmaZix team do live chat support and 24/7 moderation of any community engagement and social media channels at your disposal along with your website. Your project will be moderated around the clock with a minimum of two moderators available at any time.
FUD is the AmaZix team’s biggest enemy and they are there to set the record straight. So, make contact with us and then you can get a good night’s rest! And in case you don't believe us this is first hand experience:
"Bankex team has been working with Amazix for over three years now. We've worked together during the highs and lows of the crypto market - and the quality of AmaZix's community service has always been excellent. That's amazing. In 2018, we stopped working with in-house community managers - because the Amazix team does it more professionally. It's the best solution on the market.”
-- Igor Khmel, CEO, Bankex