Hello Community You were called, you responded  and now, youre needed. The time has come, and the marketplace is going live tomorrow. The link will be announced the moment its live, so now its time for us to prepare to put our plan into action. 1. Ideas for Distributing the Message 2. Approaches to Avoid 3. Reinforcing Why We Exist This will be the key to both pulling back the old members who are still astray, as well as pulling in new members who are already using other markets but who never used Silk Road. Remember the importance of avoiding spam. Spamming message boards makes us look desperate. It makes us look like the many tried-and-failed attempts. It makes us look needy. With that in mind, it is time for you to log into any other forums you are a member of, and to let the members know that Silk Road has once more risen. If youre starting a thread about it, dont start more than one. Try to drop it into conversation naturally  were not pyramid scheme salesmen, were Silk Roaders. Do not start unnecessary new threads and do not purposefully tread on the toes of loyal followers of competitor sites. We are not here to take over. We are here to be what we are and open our arms to anybody who wants to be a part of that. Many of you will have contacts from before the arrest of Ross Ulbricht who are not yet here. Using whatever secure means of communication you have at your disposal, reach out to each and let them know that were ready to go. Remember that many members will still be hiding, and you might just be their only contact in terms of news  its better that they hear it twice than dont hear it at all. If you dont feel you can discuss Silk Road on the clearnet securely, then you shouldnt. But that doesnt mean you cant use the clearnet to help spread the word. [/i] As many of you now know, Dread Pirate Roberts is on Twitter. There will also be a number of other social media campaigns launched in the coming weeks  so, although you dont need to identify yourself or even leave comments, it will be of great help if you can at least offer a like or a follow, to get Silk Road the exposure it needs to rise bigger and better than before. I am also going to mention OzFreelancers news site (clearnet) allthingsvice.com. OzFreelancer is on the forums  find her, support her  but more importantly, bookmark her website and link to it wherever you can. She provides a balanced and fair opinion on what happens here, and is one of our few ways of telling the world what we really do and what we stand for. (Not sure why youre bookmarking or linking to her site? It is a simple, fairly anonymous gesture that will help her website increase in page rank on Google, so that any interested party looking up Silk Road will be more likely to land there than the bigoted major media outlets. Dont ask why bookmarking or linking works, Im not a Search Engine Optimization expert - it just does). If you own a website or a blog, then where possible, mention Silk Roads rise. If it is inappropriate, avoid it  but if you have the means, the more 'inside info' about Silk Road the public gets, the less like demons. *Please Note: I am not suggesting you start posting adverts to your vendor profile on the clearnet - avoid anything other than non-incriminating reference at all costs. Most people who use the old forums are already aware of this new venture, but that doesnt matter  if you were involved in a sub-community; if you had a review thread; if you had on-going relationships in threads you controlled that other members were a part of - then make an announcement so that any stragglers turning up to the empty room will know where to go. This will also help you get your reviewers and favorite vendors back on board. I want to highlight 3 key points we will all need to keep in mind when spreading the news: 1. Nobody likes a spammer or a network marketer (you know, the brain-washed idiots selling Ambit Energy and such), so lets not sound like that. This process will need to be executed naturally. 2. Be respectful of other marketplaces. Black Market Reloaded in particular has been good to us as a community, and offered us shelter when they didnt have to. No matter what your opinion on their forum, their community, their marketplace or their goals, do not criticize or lambast  be respectful. 3. How you tell others about the marketplace is essentially down to you, and the steps I have highlighted are purely guidelines that will help us work as one community and keep the message strong. Its VERY important that you remember why this marketplace exists, why its different to the others, and why we want to rebuild it. When spreading the word, take the following ideas into account as well as your own: 1. Silk Road is not all about the drugs. Drugs can be bought on countless marketplaces. Silk Road just happens to be the best. 2. Unlike other attempts, this new marketplace has been built by original members of staff from the original marketplace. Theres evidence everywhere, if you want pointing in the right direction please PM me (my hat is not made of tin foil, so please do not flood my inbox with conspiracy theories  Im simply offering to help anyone whos unsure on how to find their footing). 3. Silk Road has the closest community of any other marketplace. There are families, clubs and groups that know and love each other. I dont say love lightly  there is love within these sub-communities that is stronger than many real world relationships. 4. Silk Road has a moral code, and the community works to protect each other  we can see this everywhere. From DoctorX's medical advice thread, to the fact that items such as weapons, credit card lists and child pornography are not permitted. 5. Insert your own. Only you know why you love Silk Road and why you help it to continue existing  and by being here right now, youve proven that whatever makes Silk Road special for you, its something NOT offered by Sheep Marketplace, BMR or any other alternative. Make your own judgements, your own decisions, and spread the word naturally. Take on-board whatever advice you wish to from this post, and above all else, remember why YOU are here on Silk Road. Because everybody is here for different reasons, united under the common goal of freedom. That freedom was briefly taken. We lost a few along the way. But it has been reclaimed, and if they shut us down well rise again. Ideas are bulletproof. Now go out there and tell that to the world. V EDIT: I, Dread Pirate Roberts, have signed the below message as an endorsement to the support V and all others have offered support to our cause. I would like to thank you all for your contributions for helping the new Silk Road launch successfully and I hope you enjoy the new market when it goes live! [Signed 11/03/2013] Hello Community You were called, you responded  and now, youre needed. The time has come, and the marketplace is going live tomorrow. The link will be announced the moment its live, so now its time for us to prepare to put our plan into action. 1. Ideas for Distributing the Message 2. Approaches to Avoid 3. Reinforcing Why We Exist This will be the key to both pulling back the old members who are still astray, as well as pulling in new members who are already using other markets but who never used Silk Road. Remember the importance of avoiding spam. Spamming message boards makes us look desperate. It makes us look like the many tried-and-failed attempts. It makes us look needy. With that in mind, it is time for you to log into any other forums you are a member of, and to let the members know that Silk Road has once more risen. If youre starting a thread about it, dont start more than one. Try to drop it into conversation naturally  were not pyramid scheme salesmen, were Silk Roaders. Do not start unnecessary new threads and do not purposefully tread on the toes of loyal followers of competitor sites. We are not here to take over. We are here to be what we are and open our arms to anybody who wants to be a part of that. Many of you will have contacts from before the arrest of Ross Ulbricht who are not yet here. Using whatever secure means of communication you have at your disposal, reach out to each and let them know that were ready to go. Remember that many members will still be hiding, and you might just be their only contact in terms of news  its better that they hear it twice than dont hear it at all. If you dont feel you can discuss Silk Road on the clearnet securely, then you shouldnt. But that doesnt mean you cant use the clearnet to help spread the word. [/i] As many of you now know, Dread Pirate Roberts is on Twitter. There will also be a number of other social media campaigns launched in the coming weeks  so, although you dont need to identify yourself or even leave comments, it will be of great help if you can at least offer a like or a follow, to get Silk Road the exposure it needs to rise bigger and better than before. I am also going to mention OzFreelancers news site (clearnet) allthingsvice.com. OzFreelancer is on the forums  find her, support her  but more importantly, bookmark her website and link to it wherever you can. She provides a balanced and fair opinion on what happens here, and is one of our few ways of telling the world what we really do and what we stand for. (Not sure why youre bookmarking or linking to her site? It is a simple, fairly anonymous gesture that will help her website increase in page rank on Google, so that any interested party looking up Silk Road will be more likely to land there than the bigoted major media outlets. Dont ask why bookmarking or linking works, Im not a Search Engine Optimization expert - it just does). If you own a website or a blog, then where possible, mention Silk Roads rise. If it is inappropriate, avoid it  but if you have the means, the more 'inside info' about Silk Road the public gets, the less like demons. *Please Note: I am not suggesting you start posting adverts to your vendor profile on the clearnet - avoid anything other than non-incriminating reference at all costs. Most people who use the old forums are already aware of this new venture, but that doesnt matter  if you were involved in a sub-community; if you had a review thread; if you had on-going relationships in threads you controlled that other members were a part of - then make an announcement so that any stragglers turning up to the empty room will know where to go. This will also help you get your reviewers and favorite vendors back on board. I want to highlight 3 key points we will all need to keep in mind when spreading the news: 1. Nobody likes a spammer or a network marketer (you know, the brain-washed idiots selling Ambit Energy and such), so lets not sound like that. This process will need to be executed naturally. 2. Be respectful of other marketplaces. Black Market Reloaded in particular has been good to us as a community, and offered us shelter when they didnt have to. No matter what your opinion on their forum, their community, their marketplace or their goals, do not criticize or lambast  be respectful. 3. How you tell others about the marketplace is essentially down to you, and the steps I have highlighted are purely guidelines that will help us work as one community and keep the message strong. Its VERY important that you remember why this marketplace exists, why its different to the others, and why we want to rebuild it. When spreading the word, take the following ideas into account as well as your own: 1. Silk Road is not all about the drugs. Drugs can be bought on countless marketplaces. Silk Road just happens to be the best. 2. Unlike other attempts, this new marketplace has been built by original members of staff from the original marketplace. Theres evidence everywhere, if you want pointing in the right direction please PM me (my hat is not made of tin foil, so please do not flood my inbox with conspiracy theories  Im simply offering to help anyone whos unsure on how to find their footing). 3. Silk Road has the closest community of any other marketplace. There are families, clubs and groups that know and love each other. I dont say love lightly  there is love within these sub-communities that is stronger than many real world relationships. 4. Silk Road has a moral code, and the community works to protect each other  we can see this everywhere. From DoctorX's medical advice thread, to the fact that items such as weapons, credit card lists and child pornography are not permitted. 5. Insert your own. Only you know why you love Silk Road and why you help it to continue existing  and by being here right now, youve proven that whatever makes Silk Road special for you, its something NOT offered by Sheep Marketplace, BMR or any other alternative. Make your own judgements, your own decisions, and spread the word naturally. Take on-board whatever advice you wish to from this post, and above all else, remember why YOU are here on Silk Road. Because everybody is here for different reasons, united under the common goal of freedom. That freedom was briefly taken. We lost a few along the way. But it has been reclaimed, and if they shut us down well rise again. Ideas are bulletproof. Now go out there and tell that to the world. V  (All of the above is new - below is the original OP) Hello again all You may remember this thread from the temporary forum that was setup. As you're all probably now aware, this new forum will be taking place of the old one, and the new DPR has taken control of the Silk Road ship and will be sailing it soon. Once again, everybody with an interest in helping fight the good fight and spreading the news in other forums once the site is ready, should register their interest here. By doing so, you will be notified of new replies in this thread, and therefore ready to receive instruction when the time is right. I'll repeat again what I said in the last forum: We are not BMR. We are not Sheep. We are the still-burning embers of freedom that Silk Road left behind. And when this new marketplace is up and running, the only way the rest of the community will know to trust it is if we have an effective dissemination strategy* in place. Those willing to join me in the cause, subscribe here. V *A dissemination strategy is basically "A strategy to spread the message". If we all follow the same principles and guidelines, this community will become very strong faster than anybody here could imagine. Await for my instructions, and once Silk Road is back in action, together we will flood it with the loyal community we once knew and loved. -0--0- Edit: When the "big" announcement is made, I will also update the title of this thread so you all know when to check in and take action. -0--0-