How to stay sane using Discord for business

Discord has over 150 million monthly active users and over 960 million messages are sent on the platform every day.

The company reported a revenue of $130 million in 2020 and turned DOWN an acquisition offer of $12 billion from Microsoft in 2021!

Discord’s main drawbacks come from its roots in gaming. While the user base is diversifying, the fact remains: Discord is made for nerds. As a nerd, I feel obligated to share some of the tricks and tips I’ve picked up to help you reduce the noise, distractions, and simplify the experience of using Discord for your business needs.

Now, creatives and business minds are seeing benefits to setting up Discord servers, creating various communities around shared values, and networking on this platform. Discord offers unique, web3 interaction between team members and partners, breaking up conversations into categories, sub-channels, and specialized voice/video hangouts. Most recently, Discord has added threads as an additional way to separate conversations.

For business applications, Discord offers both private and public server capabilities. Private servers require an invitation to join, but you can open up sections for the public to participate and support your growth.

For networking, there are hundreds of business and topical discords, where experts are eager to collaborate and help you solve problems. You can make friends, connect with partners, and even close deals on Discord! I’ve built my entire business around helping business leaders connect with their target audience on Discord, increasing revenue and reach through the community.

But, doing business on Discord comes with a cost. A cost many of us feel dearly, in our endeavor to cultivate our digital network. Sanity.

It takes a little optimization and tweaking to get it perfect… But I can help!

Turn off the distractions, tune into the right channels, and buckle up for some serious business.

Tip 1: Turn Off ALL Notifications

No one wants to hear 100 notifications a day. It will drive you insane! Sometimes, Discords are set to mention everyone whenever there is a new message. This can be overwhelming to new members and should be avoided when creating new servers.

Individual: you can mute entire Discords, categories of channels, and even individual chats by simply right-clicking and going to Notification Settings > Nothing or Mute Category for a time (or forever). Every time I join a new server, I set it to “Only Mentions” or mute the entire Discord. You should check the Discords which you get value from regularly. There is no home feed on Discord and you have to find the information pipelines you need.

Global: In your User Settings (bottom left gear)> App Notifications you can change settings across your desktop app and mobile device. I recommend leaving the Unread Message Badge enabled — as well as Desktop notifications for private messages.

Tip 2: Adjust The Display Settings

You can change how the Discord interface looks and make things a little easier on yourself in User Settings > Appearance. You can change the “Theme” to Dark or Light mode, although I recommend the default Dark because it is definitely easier on the eyes.

If you want to reduce the excess space in chat you can set Message Display to “Compact” but I set it to “Cozy” because I like to see the profile pictures of whoever is talking!

Additionally, you can adjust the size of fonts and spacing between lines! I’ve changed my font to 16px and left the spacing at 0px.

Tip 3: Update Your Profile

If you’re networking or just want to look like a Discord Pro, go to User Settings > User Profile and change your Avatar! Add a description and your website or Linktree. I recommend using your real name too, especially if you’re interacting with other businesses and a team. It increases authenticity and trust in a community to see your face and name.

Tip 4: Use Folders to Stay Organized

If you’re joining different servers, you’re going to quickly fill up the right sidebar with interesting places to revisit! The immense network of communities is a vital, core functionality of Discord that makes it an excellent web3 business environment. However, this can get overwhelming pretty quickly, especially if you’re like me and enjoy meeting new groups.

I highly recommend right-clicking on the left sidebar and creating a few folders such as “Networking” or “Investing,” and maybe a “Fun” category for any off-topic servers you end up joining. Folders work the same way they do on your phone for apps. You can also right-click to change the name and color.

Tip 5: Voice and Video Settings

Discord’s power is communication. With permanent voice and video channels, you can hop into a discussion, team meeting, or event stage with one click. But you want to make sure you’re optimized first! No one likes to fiddle with tech mid-meeting.
Go to User Settings > Voice and Video and enable the app’s powerful Echo Cancelation, Noise Reduction, and Automatic Gain Control. Optionally, you can turn on their Noise Suppression if you’re experiencing feedback in calls.

NOTE: Your user icon will flash a green circle when picking up noise during a call.

If people are struggling to hear you try turning off Automatic Gain Control and fiddle with these settings.

NOTE: Make sure you have your correct microphone and speaker output selected!

PSA — please mute when you’re not talking!

These are just a few of the tricks you can use to simplify your experience and stay sane working on Discord! It’s a powerful tool and increasing in popularity — if you want to participate in a business community for entrepreneurs, investors, and creatives check out the premier web3 server called Triba. Triba is your place to find belonging and collaborate with other highly motivated individuals. Go to www.wr.community/triba to sign up FREE today.