Recently I started selling complete website packages especially for Virtual Assistants.  It is a website package that grows with their business and offers a ton of add-ons that do not require them to pay an additional fee for those services, such as a newsletter manager.  This is a great service for virtual assistants.

Anyway, I belong to a forum that is specifically for virtual assistants and they allow signature lines. Well a signature line is a highly regarded way of marketing your services without advertising.  I changed my signature line about a week ago to link to my VA websites and I got banned last night for three months from that forum. In their defense, I will say that it was my fault because I forgot about this being a no-no according to their terms of service. We are required to read the terms of service and agree to them before we can even post, which I did.

I’m taking full responsibility for my actions because it was my fault but here is what went wrong.  I was not notified at all before my ban. Had I been notified of my misdeed, I would’ve apologized immediately and changed my signature line back to my VA website, as would most people.

When you own a membership site, you expect all the members to respect you and your terms of service and polices. However, owning a membership site also means that you need to show your members the same courtesy by respecting them and their business.

If there comes a time where a member needs to be reprimanded for something, do not do it publicly.  That is extremely disrespectful and rude. Handle it as a private message or email.  If you feel they are violating terms of service or any other policy that you may have in place, sending a friendly reminder to them is just common courtesy. We are all human and with all the information that is available and all the things that we see on a daily basis, it may be difficult for us to remember EVERYTHING that we read and see.  If you reprimand them or remind them about what they are doing wrong and they still do not fix it within 24 hours or if your terms of use state that certain offenses will be banned without notice – things like profanity, abuse, overt spam, etc., then and only then is it appropriate to ban them from your site.

A membership site can be extremely rewarding, because not only are you getting to meet new people, but you are also learning from their experiences.  The secret to a successful membership site is having great information and extending common courtesy to your members.

Somebody once said that having a membership site is like inviting people into your living room.  When you invite people into your living room you expect a degree of respect but those who are in your living room also have the right to expect that same degree of respect from you.

Bookmarks

Tweet This Post