I know that everyone has already provided enough information about effective promotion methods but I'd like to revisit the discussion of advertising as a promotion method: Advertising is required to maintain brand identity when PR is no longer effective to promote it. Coworking is a galvanizing idea, one that a community can easily get behind and whip into a frothy sea of excitement. Early in the inception of a space, PR should be easy to come by and can be the best thing that you need to promote the space in traditional media and other's online sources. In order to obtain that PR you could either hire a firm, or have existing community relationships that will provide that publicity alongside your own methods. Building these community relationships through holding events at your space where you get to talk to people face to face could ultimately be a better usage of your money than paying for advertising where you do not have the chance to talk about the idea of coworking with people.
Susan mentions that building and maintaining strong community connections is an effective method to promote your space. This has been the single most effective way that we've promoted Caroline and I know that it was very successful for others on this group, notably Alex and crew who attended events regularly to promote Indy Hall. I would go so far as to say that these community relationships are the first and the last thing to keep in mind when opening a space or thinking about opening a space. Opening a coworking space can be an overwhelming task, both emotionally and possibly financially. Having the support of your community will ease that burden in many ways be it financially (donations, donated equipment) or with volunteer hands (painting days, rehab projects). Without the support or ear or voice of your community, your space will be built in a vacuum, which if you know anything about physics, is not an ideal situation for humans to live in. This coworking group exists as a resource to share collective intelligence and check each other's steps along the way to ensure that correct actions are taken to make each space both unique and sustainable. Because of the immense investment of time (or money) to start a space, we are all here to make sure that you won't misstep. More importantly though, your community relationships are important as a gauge for the upfront interest in a space and a measure of the future usage and possibly an indication of future success. Matthew On Jun 20, 12:37 pm, BrianR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've read some discussion here and there on the list about promotion. > But would like to kick off a thread that puts the communities thoughts > in one place. > > How do you promote your coworking space? How do you get the word out > that you exist? Which methods result in people using your space? > > I'm interested in hearing from the folks who run community not for > profit spaces and for profit spaces. > > Cheers! > -BrianR > > carrborocoworking.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
