Hi Mike, Well I am currently setting up a coworking space in the Champaign- Urbana area (college town, so slightly different market to yours) and while we haven't opened yet, we have arranged for a Freelancing Meetup to be hosted at our space (we got the keys to the space today and the lease starts on March 1st) in about 1 months time and we have gotten a couple of people emailing us back about it (it was only posted on one site last night).
Also tonight there was the launch of a local graphic designer meetup in town (Champaign), which I went to with my [coworking] partner. My partner is actually a technical graphic designer (AutoCAD, SketchUp, etc.) in the landscape architecture field, so it wasn't totally off- base for us to attend. We talked to a few people about our coworking venture (like Alex said, we didn't want to do a full sales pitch just let them know what we are hoping to create and where it will be, etc.). My next meetups will be technical SIGs that I would be a good fit to attend since I am a software engineer (at least sometimes when I don't decide to start new business up). Our online marketing plans are Twitter (@CUCoworking - not terribly exciting right now but hopefully that will change when we can post some TwitPics of the place and transformation), Flickr (not launched yet, but coming soon), YouTube/Vimeo, finally a real website with blog utilizing some SEO strategies (coming soon) and the usual suspects (listing sites like Craigslist, Facebook events/groups, other local online calendars, etc.). Our offline marketing plans include flyers in various coffeeshops, going to any other meetups where members could be a natural fit for coworking (although so far we don't know of any other than tonight's yet) and telling everyone we know about what we are up to - so far everyone has been supportive (ok, perhaps 1 didn't really get the concept, but that is ok). We are also writing a press release and distributing it to the local daily newspapers and weeklys, but we don't have direct contacts ATM so we will need to think about how to grab their attention somehow. For the last 3 weeks I have been meaning to put together a marketing tips/strategies blog post for startups (very general - for all types of businesses) since I am currently helping three different people get started up (two in freelancing and another one in a niche B2B business). Not all strategies will work for all types of businesses and since I am only just ramping up in my coworking venture I don't know for sure what works for coworking and what doesn't. The blog post I wrote might be helpful for some people here who do not have any marketing background, so I thought I would share the link (Mike you finally inspired me to write it today, but it is a little rough around the edges, hey it is after midnight here:)): http://startup.susanpotter.net/2009/02/starup-marketing-strategies.html Also a podcast that is quite dear to my heart is "Help My Business Sucks!": http://helpmybusinesssucks.com Again it is more general and not specific to coworking, but still a hoot and offers useful advice. I would like to ask space owners who are up and running to let us know what other things worked for them if any? What are we missing? And what doesn't really work in your experiences for this specific type of business? Thanks, Susan On Feb 20, 6:13 pm, HeatherO <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mike, > I can completely empathize! We were exactly where you are a month ago! We > still have a long way to go, but I will offer a few lessons that i have very > recently learned! > > We know that coworking is cool. THEY DON'T! Most of them don't even know how > to spell it! Much less "why should i pay to work there when i can work in my > jammies or the coffee shop for free!" which leads me to... > Packaging is everything...add value! > > We offer at least 1 class/wk, 1 evening social event/mo at present. > > We are getting ready to launch: > > "Get Motivated Mondays" > which will be kind of like the Monday morning sales mtg many had in their > corp life w/o the boring/negative stuff! It will be a 30min "get motivated" > pep rally if you will followed by 30 min of coffee/conversation to jump > start your week! > > Weds. Workshops > Weekly workshops geared toward (but not exclusive to) the new > entrepreneur/those considering entrepreneurship post layoff! Anything > related to what folks need to know to run a biz. > We have a Life Coach, Marketing Coach, and are working on an acct., atty., > and someone who can speak abt how to build a consulting biz > > Free Fridays! Come on down, it's free! (we have had NO ONE come for this > yet! just fyi - ppl don't value what they don't pay for perhaps?) > > Our BIGGEST, BEST group of supporters is a local social networking group > called inside919.com. i have been in mktg and networking grps for 15yrs as a > realtor and this is the BEST group that i have ever been a part of! Pat (the > founder) just launched ALL 268 area codes in the US! So yours should be up. > It'll be new & small, but jump in, reach out and be a promoter! The one here > had 1200 members in 6mos! I would encourage everyone to join the one in > their area code! > *go towww.insideareacodes.com!* > > Marketing is TOTALLY my thing! so, please feel free to email me directly. > I'll be happy to help however I can! I will gladly share whatever we are > doing, etc. > Remember: A strong, consistent brand will greatly reduce the need/cost of a > lot of marketing! (my specialty-marketing on a budget! :) > > Lastly (sorry to be so long winded!) i know we all need "local" folks, but > it can't hurt if you reach out to all of us on twitter. I can't speak for > everyone, but if you will send @heathero and @socostudio (so I'll be sure to > see it!) I will be happy to RT you and I'm sure others will too! In fact, we > could all be doing that for each other! > > good luck, and keep the faith! if it was easy, everybody would be doing it:) > > At your service, > > Heather O' > > Heather O'Sullivan Canney, BA, CSP, CGG ("Chief Goal Getter!") > Heather O' Inc. Coaching and Consulting > > Specializing in Small Business, Real Estate, PR/Marketing/Social Media > Organizational Systems > "Creating the Mindset, Marketing, Systems & Surroundings that support your > goals" > > Soco Studio - A Place for Social Coworking (Seminars, Workshops & group > meetings too!) > > 104-B N. Salem St. > Apex, NC 27502 > 919-387-0408 > 877-GoheatherO > > www.HeatherO.comwww.twitter.com/heathero > > www.socostudio.bizwww.twitter.com/socostudio > > Other Sites & > Blogs:www.apexgoodliving.comwww.westwakeliving.comwww.westwakewomenpreneurs.ning.comwww.livejuiced.blogspot.comwww.Heatheroapex.blogspot.comwww.activerain.com/HeatherO > > On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 11:26 AM, turbo2ltr <[email protected]> wrote: > > > CollabLab is open, we had our grand opening on wednesday. Two people > > showed up, which is fine. It was great to have them and both were > > happy to see a coworking space in the area. I didn't expect to have a > > full house by any means, and one of the reasons I did this was simply > > to see if there was a market in this particular area. I still think > > there is a market, but the word needs to get out. > > > Obviously the biggest draw to a coworking space is the people. But if > > there are no people to start with, the people won't come. It's a > > catch 22. Now I remember someone here saying that "if you build it, > > they will come - in time" so it wasn't completely unexpected. > > > My biggest issue right now is (and, I'll admit, has always been) that > > I suck at marketing. Twitter has been the biggest marketing channel > > I've used so far (Thanks Curtis!), I have a craigslist ad up (which > > isn't doing anything), and I plan to do a flier campaign at the local > > starbucks among other marketing ideas. But I feel what is really > > going to draw the crowds (8 will make me happy, lol) are events. From > > what I can see, a lot of the presentation type events that happen in > > coworking spaces are presented by people in the coworking space > > itself. Well, again, need people to get people. > > > I feel like quite the idiot, but I wouldn't even know where to start > > to try and arrange a presentation by someone. I guess I feel a little > > "out of the loop", which again, even in my other companies, has been a > > problem, and one of the prime reasons I wanted to open a coworking > > space! I've been working in isolation for 8 years..my personal > > network is dismal. > > > So any input or ideas on where to go from here would be much > > appreciated. > > > -Mike > >www.collablab.net --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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