So, like everyone else in 2018, you’ve decided to hold a token sale. You have triple checked the white paper, set up your Telegram group, and convinced the best and brightest minds in the field to join your advisory board. You’re all set and ready to completely revolutionize the finance, travel, real estate, ( fill in the blank) industry. The decentralized nature of the blockchain will enable transparent peer-to-peer transaction on a scale never before seen. All that’s left is to start your ICO and sell your tokens to eager investors, right? Wrong.

One of the most important, if not the most important, factors of having a successful token sale is having a happy Telegram community. It may sound cliche, but in the world of ICOs and token sales, a happy community can make or break the success of your token. It’s like the happy wife, happy life of ICOs. The members of your Telegram channel, especially those that have been passionate and supported your project since day one, will inevitably play a role in if the price of your token will rise or fall once the sale ends. Now, it’s not to say the success of an ICO relies solely on a happy community, as other things like good technology, a product people believe in, and honest founders are integral factors. But, we’ve seen these past few months that a content community coupled with the aforementioned factors, will keep a token price steady and stable, take FUSION for example.

What is FUSION?

The FUSION Foundation aims to make smart contracts, smarter and actually usher in an era of cryptofinance. By creating a new public blockchain, FUSION provides a tangible solution for all the digital currencies popping up, constructing a truly connected financial ecosystem, giving these tokens an easy way to connect and interact with one another, as the FUSION blockchain will support both tokens that already exist, and those that will be issued in the future. The FUSION blockchain will support a multicoin wallet, which can store all different values of tokens and promote trade between them.

So, what’s going on with FUSION right now?

Whereas other tokens in the crypto space are fluctuating up and down based on the mood of the market that day, the FUSION token has remained stable in the past few months since its token sale in February. FUSION had overwhelming success during its ICO, raising over 126,000 ETH (worth 104M USD on that day) committed by participants, and concluding its crowdsale with an oversubscription of 2.5 times its hard cap. And that success has continued and grown since.

And while many token values are crashing because of the current volatile state of the market, the FUSION token has actually quadrupled since the ICO, growing from 0.0025 to 0.01 Ether, with a current market value of over $8 (*the token actually reached a peak value of $9.3). So how has FUSION achieved such a steady and healthy growth, without any pump and dump schemes in this harsh market? The community members recognize the value of the token, and know it’s better to hold their FSN tokens than sell. (*This amount was calculated at the time the article was written)

It’s all about the Telegram Channel

The FUSION Telegram community keeps growing, expanding from basically nothing to 10,000 followers in the past three months. In 20 days the community grew by 7,000 people, meaning that at this rate, FUSION could surpass even the biggest Telegram channels in months. Whereas some communities relies on pulling, or “stealing,” backers from other channels, FUSION’s growth is all organic with users joining on their own accord. Scroll through the FUSION Telegram channel and you’ll see it’s filled with real backers who analyze and want to understand the fundamentals of the project, not bots.

So how was FUSION able to achieve this sort of support from the community? The entire FUSION team, including DJ Qian, the Founder and also creator of QTUM/VeChain and BitSE, communicate directly with the community members, so that the token holders are constantly aware of what the company is working on. Giving the backers the full picture of what’s happening with FUSION reassures them that they didn’t just invest in the next scam.

But it’s more than talking with your community. FUSION actively engages its community members, involving them in the development of the project. Community members are welcome to give feedback and suggestions, and organize different discussion threads. FUSION also hosts a variety of activities to involve community members, such as AMAs (ask me anything) or Q&A sessions. There was even a t-shirt design competition (!) which allowed members to submit their ideas for the perfect FUSION tee.

Keeping Telegram community members involved is also a good way to reach other crypto communities that might be supporting your token. Many FUSION Telegram members, for example, actively write posts about the company on Medium, as well as start Reddit threads. It’s “grassroot marketing” at its finest.

While there are many important factors that go into having a successful token sale, the success of FUSION’s token proves that one cannot forget about the community. Having a community that believes in the vitality of your project, will in effect, contribute to that vitality and success. Keep your Telegram members involved in the development of the product, incentivize them with rewards or even t-shirt competitions, and your token value will be rewarded.