15 Steps to Build a Religion (Or  at least a cult-like following)  JOIN THE CULT {}

→ Have you ever wondered what it would take to build your own religion or a cult-like following?  

.We know we have! Earlier this week we had a  meeting with one of the tech companies discussed what it takes  to build a community. This is something everyone is looking to  do around their business so pay attention. Here are 15 things you take into account when  building a community around your business   or in catchier terms:

15 steps to build a religion!

Number 1: Values & Culture

F**undamentally Every religion & every  community is composed of people sharing the same values, the same culture, who are moving together. They say if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together! The moment you find people who share the same  values as you, the journey to going far can begin.

Number 2: Colors, Symbols & Rituals 

E**very community has simple ways to  identify themselves amongst the crowds.We all like to communicate  what communities we belong to. It helps us recognize others who  are in the same community as us. Through colors, symbols, and rituals, we provide those who are able to recognize them with a patch of trust. In order to build a community around your product,  brand or even your cult, you will need to:  Educate them on what it means  to be part of the community Every group has a set of rituals that they abide by. Religious people meet regularly at the church,   football fans meet at the stadium and hence we got discord {join the community}

Number 3: Make me feel special

E**very community makes you feel lucky and special to be part of the group.  There’s this feeling that you guys know   something that everyone else isn’t yet familiar  with and it feels good to be this privileged. Most people gravitate towards  different communities in times of need. This is usually the first point of  contact between someone new and the group. The second most common reason is:  They accepted me without judgement. And we both know that acceptance  is just another form of help.

Number 4: Build trust

T**rust is the underlying bond  of every social contract!  And they say being trusted is even a  higher compliment than being loved. The goal of every community is to build trust and they do this by delivering what is perceived as value. Those who understand how to build  trust win at social interactions.   This is such an interesting topic that we’re considering doing a full piece on how to build trust next Sunday.  If you want to see it.LET US KNOW HERE IN THE COMMENTS

Number 5: Consistency

“A**gain and again the community is there for me!” Every year religious people celebrate holidays... Every year team plays in the national championship.    As for ourselves, every day we post a new STORY. Consistency is key! consistency is probably the most  valuable thing one has to master.   Building the routine, building the daily practice,   building those consistent behaviors  tightly-knit down the community. That’s why the ask you to pray every day, that’s why you go to church consistently, every week. Figure out what are some of the consistent  rituals you can install in your community   and you’re good to go.

Number 6: Promise

O**f a positive personal outcome  By nature, we are selfish creatures. For a community to flourish, there needs to be a  promise of a positive outcome for the individual. Let’s take Tesla as an example. Those who are invested in the project,  put their money where their mouth is.   There is a direct financial benefit  to them if things go the right way. If Tesla becomes the biggest car manufacturer  in the world, I will get rich because of it. If I go to church and confess my sins,   they will weigh less on my soul and I  can go about my day in a happier fashion. Every group needs to have a positive personal   outcome on the individual level  in order to entice the members to join.

Number 7: Vulnerability & a  Charismatic authority

E**very good religion has some  sort of charismatic leader.   This is the persona the members  of the community look up to. Jesus, Mohammed, Budha for religions,  Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela,   even businesses have figured this out. Look at the impact Steve Jobs has had for Apple,LOOK AT WHAT GARRY DID AT VECON OR HOW FULLSEND CAME THROUGH WITH THERE GAME OF PODCAST   pay attention to what Elon is doing  for Tesla and his other projects. These charismatic authority figures have the  power to speak to what the community is FEELING. They stand for something and it’s usually  someone bigger who is oppressing them. but for some reason the business  environment didn’t put it together. Both Steve Jobs and Elon Musk  plaid the card of the underdog. They are both fighting the system. The feeling is:  “We are vulnerable unless we stand together.” Watch the old apple commercials and this  fight against authority becomes apparent.   Elon Musk is currently the  second richest man in the world,   yet he still acts as if he’s the underdog. He fights the SEC, he built a company to outperform   NASA in terms of innovation and overall  he’s fighting the oil and gas industry. This draws people in. Everyone wants to be at the cool kids table.

Number 8: Skin in the game

A lot of people can voice their opinions about anything, but unless you have  skin in the game those opinions don’t matter,   for you are not affected in anyway by the outcome.   In order to make an opinion valid, you need to  factor in risk. Without it, an opinion is nothing. The concept of skin in the game fixes this. Building a religion, cult or community  requires the people involved to get some   skin in the game. If I don’t follow  the religion. The moment you invest in tesla, your life  is connected to the success of the company.   If the company fails, you fail. If the company does well, you do well. This is why the bitcoin & crypto communities are so phanatical. They have skin in the game.   People put a lot of money into these projects and are sharing the risk of losing it all. But if Bitcoin   does become the prefered store of value for  countries and institutions, then you become rich. The more skin in the game you  have the more you become an   advocate for the thing you are involved with. As a rule of thumb: Get the members of the  community to be participants, not just spectators! Once they are involved and  have acquired skin in the game,   they need to be able to have their voices heard.  Sharing the risks gets you a seat at the table. There’s a phenomenal book by Nassim Taleb titled  Skin in the Game that expands beautifully on the topic.   If you go to aluxfreebook.com right now and this   is the first time you sign up you can get the  audiobook version of Skin in the Game for free,   thanks to the great folks at Audible  who chose to support our own community.

Number 9: Knowing one-another

T**ouchpoints Communities are personal. As humans we need   the human connection in order to build bonds.  There are very few things that come close   to recognising someone you know in a crowded  environment where you don’t know anyone else. This is why communities get together regularly. They schedule events,  they speak and get to know one another.  They create touch points and memories. These moments in time build bonds  and bring the community together. By the way, we’d like to take this opportunity  to thank Casey, Becca, Michael Jay,   Rashid & Trusno for always being in the comment  section helping out the community. We see you!

Number 10: Entice Recruitment 

I**n order for any religion to keep growing it  needs to constantly bring in more and more people. The fundamental thesis is this: If this benefits  me, why wouldn’t I go tell others like me! Once a group achieves a critical point in scale   it evolves into something else as  network effects begin to take place.   You get bargaining power, your interaction  with other groups starts to change. So there are multiple incentives to  having as large of a community as possible. Every community needs to pay close  attention to the first members it draws in,   for they are the avatars of all the  future members. You don’t want to accept just  anyone in your community, for in  time smaller groups might take rise   that have conflicting opinions about  the long term vision of the project. Pay attention to the values these people  have and allow in only those who match yours.

Number 11: Is everywhere in different forms

 Apple is a religion. Starbucks is a religion. LGBTQ community is a religion,   same with the feminist movement or  people who play Dungeons & Dragons. These may not fit the literal definition, but  the communities are organised in the same way. The fact that you can travel to the otherside  of the world and connect with someone over the   fact that “Joey doesn’t share food” translates   to a universal understanding  of values and common beliefs. There are regional communities, but the most successful ones are borderless. Anyone who is driven by the same  set of values can join the community   and we have the internet to thank  for the democratization of access.

Number 12: Insider Behavior 

E**very good community has their  Inner jokes, memes & lingo. People who are into crypto use certain words,   people who are into gaming also  have their own terminology. This might sound ridiculous to some of  you, but memes are the latest evolution   in the language of communication. The fact that you have laser eyes on   twitter means something to a specific community  of people. The fact that people who are writing   legislation do it as well… transpires  from the internet into the real world. This is why Elon keeps tweeting memes. We are now communicating differently. Members of each community have their own inner jokes   that other people don’t get. It’s building a  sort of inner circle of those who do get it. If you’re looking to build a  religion or a cult-like following,   harness the power of memes, inner  jokes and build your own lingo.

Number 13: Make it fun

N**obody wants to hang out with   boring people for extended periods of time. The Thanksgiving dinner is   more than enough time to spend with your - let’s call it outdated style of thinking - grandpa. This is the reason why most actual religions have  some sort of singing involved. Nobody would come   to church if every time they told you how much  of a sinner you are.. You gotta make it fun somehow.  The strongest bonds you’ve built  in your life are with your friends growing up.   You might not remember every  time you met, but you know you had fun. Outside of the direct value you’re  getting from being part of the community,   there needs to be an entertainment aspect to it.

Number 14: Go towards  something greater

A**lL outcome as othan everyone  Earlier we mentioned the promise of a better  individune of the most appealing   elements of joining a community, but there’s the  individual and then there’s the bigger picture. Let’s keep using Tesla as an  example for consistency reasons. If you’ve got skin in the game and you’re an  investor in Tesla, on an individual level,   you might get rich from your investment and get  yourself a cool electric car with the money. Nice! On a macroscale things are quite different.   If everything works out for  Elon the way he’s planning it,   this guy will take humanity to Mars. Bitcoin wants to shift power from banks to individuals. Notice the duality here? On an  individual level you reap an individual reward.    On a macro level, there’s something  greater than the individual at play here. The best of the best communities have this  overarching bigger-than-ourselves type of promise.

Number 15: Show appreciation

To your community  They need to know that you care for them.  That you have their best interests at heart   and that you don't take the community for granted.  That’s when your numbers start to dwindle. Let them know how much you  appreciate their involvement   and even reward those who  are helping with the mission. Every person in your community has the potential  to become an ambassador for your cause or brand.   Give back to those who’ve  been with you for a while,   for they are the ones most likely to  stick with you until the very end. It is your responsibility to care for them,  in return they will walk alongside you! Which is why we want to take this  opportunity to say thank you to   those of you who are here READING THIS walking alongside us towards   our mission of making the lives of  1 billion people slightly better! We wouldn’t be here without you and we can’t  get to where we’re going without you either.