SMBOS works because members show up honestly and treat each other like professionals. These guidelines aren’t a legal document — they’re the minimum standard for being a useful member of this community. Read them once and use them as a reference if something feels off.

Be Respectful and Generous

Treat every member the way you’d want to be treated in a room full of sharp operators. Disagree when you have a reason to — and say why. Tone matters. Written criticism lands harder than face-to-face criticism, so be direct without being dismissive. If someone shares something half-baked, help them improve it rather than calling it out.

Share Real Wins and Real Failures

The most useful posts in SMBOS are specific: here’s what I tried, here’s what happened, here’s what I learned. Share the wins — they show people what’s possible. Share the failures too — they’re often more useful because they save everyone else from the same mistake. Polished success stories without any texture don’t teach much. Honest field reports do.

No Spam or Self-Promotion

SMBOS is a learning community, not a lead generation channel. Do not post unsolicited promotions, affiliate links, product pitches, or recruitment messages in any group or thread. If you’ve built something genuinely relevant and want to share it, ask Carlos first. One-off violations get a warning. Repeat violations result in removal.

Protect Each Other’s Confidential Information

Members often share real business details — revenue figures, client situations, internal processes, team challenges — to get specific help. That information stays inside SMBOS. Do not screenshot, quote, or share what other members post in private groups outside of those groups. Treat it the way you’d want your own business information treated.

Give Specific Help

Vague answers waste everyone’s time. When someone asks a question, give the most specific response you can: what you’d actually do, what tool you’d use, what the prompt looked like, what the result was. “It depends” is only acceptable if you then explain what it depends on and walk through the logic. The goal is a useful answer, not a disclaimer.

Keep It Focused on Using AI in Real Business

SMBOS is specifically about using AI inside existing businesses and jobs — not building AI products, not launching AI side hustles, not theoretical discussion about where AI is headed. Stay in scope. If you’re not sure whether a post fits, ask yourself: does this help someone use AI to do their actual work better? If yes, it belongs here.