Plan your communication with your virtual shareholders

At koos.io, we work to bring more virtual shareholders to the world and have them compensated like shareholders. However, this virtual ownership contains more than being compensated like an owner - it also consists of having the right to receive information and have a say in some aspects of the company’s undertakings.

This guide is aimed at issuers of virtual shares and guides them on the two latter aspects - giving virtual shareholders information and giving them a say.

1. Keep your virtual shareholders informed

Being informed is all about showing that the virtual shareholder - a person who is devoting his or her valuable time to your benefit - belongs to a selected group of people who get to know more than outsiders. This is giving them recognition. This is actually important for people (see Maslow’s pyramid, if you do not take our word). Thus, the right to be informed should not be shrugged off as being irrelevant. It is more important than you think and is a way to keep virtual shareholders involved.

How to keep virtual shareholders informed?

Things to note are:

• the medium for exercising this (e-mail, Facebook group, Slack, etc.); and
• the regularity.

You should use the medium that is most suitable for your community. You know it better than us, most likely. However, on the second point, we suggest you give them important updates at least once a quarter.

On the content side, the more virtual shareholders feel like real owners, the better. However, keep in mind that although you have made these people a promise to reward them as you and other shareholders are rewarded, they are not only interested in your quarterly earnings but also are looking to see if yours values align with theirs. This means that the language should be appropriated to them and it could be spiced up with some information about the product(s) or service(s) the virtual shareholder could be interested in.

You can always ask for our advice here if you want, but the basics are rather straightforward.

2. Keep your virtual shareholders involved

As we already started with the Maslow pyramid, having a say is also about a sense of connection and belonging.

Although virtual shareholders will not be at your board meeting, there are many aspects where they could provide valuable information to you, help you decide between options (e.g. via a poll), or more.

How to give virtual shareholders a say?

Think through the prism of actual shareholders again. But make it fun and engaging. As Brewdog does it, for example🙂.

This could take the form of creating a poll and having virtual shareholders vote between options or take the form of a physical event where some (your true fans) or all virtual shareholders get to gather and voice their concerns and ideas. If they took the time to come, they probably mean it and you should take the time to listen.

Want to know more?

Do not reinvent the wheel and fall back on things that already exist. If you get stuck experimenting, reach out to more professional help. A good place to start is Talkbase’s Community Playbook for Newbies.