I guess I disagree.. I really think that free daily rates is part of a successful business model for most spaces. If you have extra capacity, there is zero cost to giving away usage of desks to free drop ins, and lots of benefit in free advertising and community. As you mature and fill the space with paying tenants, you simply reduce the supply of free dropins.
As Alex said, think of this 'free' as a marketing tool. D --------------------------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] (917) 841-4079 New York, NY On Oct 3, 2008, at 11:47 AM, Stephanie Frasco wrote: > Hey everyone, > Sorry if that last email came off too sales-y...I forgot to turn > off biz mode. With regard to free access, there is no such thing > as a free lunch. If you want to survive you have to get paid. I > think Membership is the best way to go or ZipOffices which is > something I want to develop the technology on. Rent it by the > hour, sign up online. Done and Done. any thoughts on that? > > > > On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 11:29 AM, Stephanie Frasco > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The E.Factor offers access to co-working spaces around the world > when they sign up for Premium Membership. http://www.efactor.com - > http://www.efactor.com/p/premium > > We are currently looking for more spaces, if you are interested in > a joint profitable deal please contact me. I am looking forward to > meeting all of you one day. > > Stephanie Frasco > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.twitter.com/askfrasco > > > On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 11:25 AM, Julie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We offer "one free trial day" cards. We also have daily drop in rates > of $25 (used to be $10/hr, but walk/drop-in was, and has been since > the rate reduction, an EXTREMELY negligible part of our business). > One needs to run the numbers as to whether or not it makes sense, > particularly because some kind of "staffing" is required for drop- > ins. I think it's great when you first open to have bodies around > (for free - friends are good), but really, monthly memberships will be > what sustain you. > > Do keep in mind that location will make a difference to your drop-in > traffic. Busy part of town with lots of professionals vs. being > tucked further away, esp. from public transportation. > > Wish you the best of luck. > > Julie Duryea > owner, souk > 322 nw 6th avenue, suite 200 > portland, oregon 97209 > p | 503.517.6900 > f | 503.517.6901 > skype julieduryea > http://www.soukllc.com > tweet soukportland > > On Oct 3, 7:58 am, Darrell Silver <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Alex is exactly on target with how dropins fit into the business > > model. We have seen many times that spaces need a few months to > grow > > into full capacity. During this crucial phase, free dropins provide > > excellent advertising for people who are new to the concept. > > > > The same applies to holding Jelly events. They are a great way to > > get the word out, especially early on. > > > > As an aside, have you thought of calling the non-full time > > memberships 'part-time' instead of 'floaters'? > > > > D > > > > --------------------------------------- > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > (917) 841-4079 > > New York, NY > > > > On Oct 2, 2008, at 4:09 PM, Alex Hillman wrote: > > > > > Think of "free use" as a marketing tool. It varies space to space. > > > > > For instance, we don't have a "free dropin" policy like some, but > > > some of our signup rates include free days. Also, consider Jelly > > > (http://workatjelly.com/) as a market growing technique. I know > > > there are already multiple Atlanta Jelly groups. > > > > > Bottom line, though, is if you want to be a sustainable business, > > > include memberships that a) work for your members and b) work > for you. > > > > > -Alex > > > > > -- > > > ----- > > > -- > > > ----- > > > Alex Hillman > > > im always developing something > > > digital: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > visual:www.dangerouslyawesome.com > > > local:www.indyhall.org > > > > > On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 2:35 PM, Mike Schinkel > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Hi all: > > > > > I'm hearing that a lot of you are allowing people to use the > coworking > > > spaces for free. In trying to plan a facility I've run the numbers > > > and I > > > don't see how that is possible. First I don't see how you can get > > > people to > > > pay for what you are giving for free and second I don't see how > you > > > can make > > > the density work. > > > > > I understand that coworking is all about providing an open > > > environment and > > > letting people use it w/o signing up is in the spirit of things > but > > > in order > > > for us to pull this off it needs to be profitable, i.e. not > > > operating at a > > > loss. > > > > > Could anyone speak to this please? Thanks in advance. > > > > > -Mike Schinkel > > > President; NewClarity LLC > > > Organizer: Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs > > >http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeschinkel > > >http://mikeschinkel.com > > >http://atlanta-web.org > > > > > -- > Stephanie Frasco > Special Operations > > http://www.efactor.com > > > > -- > Stephanie Frasco > Special Operations > > http://www.efactor.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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
