Creating Websites & Mailing Lists

Website

• Websites are fundamental, you don't want to be renting space from a social media platform, you’ll want to have your own website at some point.

• You want your website to match what's on your social media

Registration/Domain Setup

• Your first step is to lock in a domain...

  • You can go to godaddy.com / hover.com to see if your society’s name is available either as a .org or .com or other

  • You can also get domains through website builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Google as well

  • Domain registration usually costs somewhere between $5-20/year to own a domain

• You will also need to find a place to host the website. These days, most domain registration companies like GoDaddy also offer hosting but we recommend using a purpose built platform for this such as...

  • Squarespace

  • Wordpress

  • Siteground is our recommended hosting provider due to it’s ease of use, security, speed, and independent ownership.

  • Wix

  • Shopify

• You could get a free version of some of these but to have a personalized domain you’ll have to pay close to $200/year

Building Your Site

• Make sure to include your organization’s Mission, Vision and Values. In Section 1, we suggested creating a clear description of the organization's goals, this information will help lead to a clear Mission, Vision, and set of values.

  • Be clear about what your psychedelic society is doing and who it is for.

    • You’ll have many people that hold very divergent interests under the larger umbrella of psychedelic work

      • Social/therapy work

      • Sacred ceremony work

      • Growing/manufacturing

      • Politics

      • Recreational use

      • Spiritual exploration

• You could highlight the members of your team on your website

• You’ll want to connect your social media links to the website and vice versa.

• If you’re already creating events, it’s valuable to advertise your events on the website

• Make sure you have an option for people to join your newsletter

• Understand that as this movement is expanding, different people will be at different comfort levels in regards to speaking about their involvement with the society. Be the bridge and meet people where they are at.

  • i.e dont always publically name the new member in public forums

  • Be sensitive about those who are curious, one-time or first-time users versus long-term users or people who can lose their job for dabbling in this community

  • There are many new audiences coming into the movement: business interests, facilitators and manufacturers going above ground, networking events, political conversations

  • The education phase still exists and is super valuable

    • There are many desperate and uneducated folks coming to meetings with stars in their eyes looking for answers - it’s helpful to manage their expectations around what they can get out of this society.

Creating a Mailing List

• Gathering emails is a valuable way to stay in touch with your society's members and keep them informed.

• Consider gathering phone numbers for a signal group as well.

• A monthly newsletter is a popular way for members to stay informed.

• You can also use mailing lists to send out surveys to find out what your community needs.

• Psychedelic Societies can get shadow banned on social media, so having a mailing list allows you to reach your audience directly.

  • Learn more about what to do in the case of getting banned on social media here

• Ways to gather emails include setting up a Mailchimp or Mailerlite account or using your website host's service.

  • Mailchimp is free for up to 1,000 contacts and costs $10-$30/month for more.

  • Some email marketing platforms like Active Campaign have acceptable use policies which you will need to be mindful of.

• Set up a section on your website to collect emails and first names.

• Add a subscription form or email list form to your website.

• Consider adding a linktree in your social media description to direct people to your mailing list.

• Have people sign up for your mailing list when they purchase event tickets or register for events.