I expect the conversation to be mostly brainstorming and talking about things like working from home, productivity and marketing. Possibly it will mostly be about that bane of the home office, the leaf blower. I think we can trade off on things like proofreading.

Sharing information about selling things on eBay and making money from crafts could be part of this thread, and someone may occasionally post "I just put some new things up on my Etsy store."

Ginger has articulated exactly what I am hoping for.

As for pimping...such an ugly word...except for one actual spam message in my 7 years here, I've never seen anyone be ugly with trying to exploit the community. I trust us to be too smart for that.

It would be a gift to me to have a place to support and be supported by folks who know more than I do about the things that vex me the most.

I think that we should trust our members and our established community standards and practices. I wouldn't want someone to be afraid to offer help to a fellow Buffista because they're afraid that they'll be viewed as a spammer.

Couldn't the wording be phrased to say something like: "This is a board where promoting projects is fine, but spamming is not." Then it could be handled mostly in thread. But I think spamming is pretty obvious, because it's not coming from a community member who is actively discussing something in the business thread, or known elsewhere on the board.

Then what's the difference between spam and pimping?

That kind of sums up my thought; I mean, I would NEVER link to Buffistas from my site and no other Buffista would either.

We're pretty self-policing, and people tend to be diffident, IMO.

I'm thinking of any self-promo would be along the lines of "Hey, all, my site is live at Me.com, feel free to pass this info on or link to my biz on your site" or "Ive added X service to my biz at Me.com, if anyone knows someone who might be interested."

And if someone would go beyond bounds peeps are likely to do what we always do -- politely say "Hmmm, this isn't really what this thread is for. What do you think, all?"

But I see it more as a "How they heck do I track this/claim this/promote this/HELP!" thread.

ita, am I understanding you correctly that pimping would be offering a product or service to someone else in the community with a price attached...without having previously been asked for that offering?

I'm asking so that I can be clear about the difference between pimping and spamming.

ita, I honestly see spam as non-participatory in the conversation people just falling in and linking to their biz: Buy my stuff!

I really think active Buffistas would use it as a thread to ask questions that might get lost in Natter or Bitches, et. al.

And if say, bonny (using bonny as random example) posted "Hey, I need some copy for my business" then someone could either email her, or post "Check out my site at Me.com and see if you think we would be a good fit" or such.

Oh god, Erin. The very idea of linking to b.org gives me the shivers. I'm so paranoidprotective of this place that I think I've mentioned the actual name to anyone 'out there' twice in the whole time I've been here.

Then what's the difference between spam and pimping?

Who's doing it and how often.

Who: People we know.

How often: Offering a new service or periodically mentioning your services would be fine. Spamming, or repeatedly, hitting the thread with offers and announcements is different.

Do we need to put a number on the difference between occasionally and repeatedly? I don't think it will be that hard to parse. As a matter of board etiquette I expect people will not want to compromise their standing by being seen as spamming the thread.

If it was an issue it could be addressed in thread. Like, "That's the fifth time this month you've posted your services. That's a mis-use of this thread."

And if say, bonny (using bonny as random example) posted "Hey, I need some copy for my business" then someone could either email her, or post "Check out my site at Me.com and see if you think we would be a good fit"

Funny you should say this Erin, as it is a strong likelihood that I will be doing this in the very near future (are you reading my mail? Is there a camera in here?).

I would LOVE to have a list of all the stuff Buffistas offer so that I might take advantage of those offerings. I'd much rather see 'us' succeed than google some stranger.