How can we legally find members without breaking any rules?

I own a team and I have a few friends who also own teams.

New members seem so hard to find.

Lichess has stated that no spamming or advertising team links or names is allowed.

So how would team leaders or creators start finding members or have members find them while staying true to the Lichess terms and conditions?

Any ideas?

Thanks,
@Gedaliah.

Did you search the forums first? There are several discussions on this and pretty sure all angles are covered in those. Mostly you team succeeds if there is a reason for it existence. Like team for players from some country or real chess club. Or you are a well know chess player writing interesting blogs and therefore gathering following.

Another option are teams that focus on some niche that is not well covered otherwise. There are e.g. teams running tournaments in long time controls or less popular variants.

@Gedaliah, I have some ideas to help you out.

*Invite friends, family members, etc..
*I have seen random people who message me to join their team. You could do it also.
*If you are a member of a chess club, you could invite your friends in the club.
*Talk to the creators of some teams. They may help you find members.
*You can talk to experts or even your parents. They can also help you out.

Don't steal other players from different teams. Just invite them, and they will join the team by their own choice. If you force them to join a team, they might be mad at you and even report you. You can show excellent performances by your team if your team has enough members. Excellent performances can sometimes lure a player into your own team.

@Gedaliah, I remember a time when you created a team and you said that your friend was accused of "Player Stealing". If you are reading this, then please DM me.

This are my ideas, I hope it can help you a lot.

I also ned to find members for a team, and this discussion is very helpful for me, Any other ideas?

@Gedaliah

Creating a blog describing your team is allowed.

Example: lichess.org/@/Rankrotten/blog/think-chess/M3hZgCA9

@Gedaliah first off, thanks for not linking the team in your post.
My reactions and thoughts:
@a-scorpiiA said in #5:
> *I have seen random people who message me to join their team. You could do it also.
Do NOT do this. Messaging people you know is fine, but messaging strangers is not. This is against lichess ToS and could get you chat banned.

One very consistent way of getting members is creating tournaments, especially blitz swiss tournaments, but make sure you have enough players or you will be embarrassed!
Like @Rankrotten mentioned, you can write a blog about it, but be truthful! Notice @Rankrotten did not say anything like “one of the biggest teams in lichess!” “Pleeeeez join it is the best team on lichess” since you don’t want to exaggerate or spam. Just be transparent about very good reasons people should join your team. If you are not willing to put in an hour or more aweek into your team, and if there are no good reasons to join the team, close it.
Hope this was helpful!

@Gedaliah said in #1:
> I own a team and I have a few friends who also own teams.
>
> New members seem so hard to find.
>
> Lichess has stated that no spamming or advertising team links or names is allowed.
>
> So how would team leaders or creators start finding members or have members find them while staying true to the Lichess terms and conditions?
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> @Gedaliah.

Why do you want to create a team in the first place?
It depends on that...

- team link in your profile

- clear team description, with one or a few images for the visual identity to arouse the curiosity of those who click on your link

- help other small or medium teams by playing tournaments, that way, sometimes someone will return the favor.

- invest in the creation of tournaments with prizes to attract players, (even if I do not recommend this option for reasons of fair play and organizational risks)