Craig, thanks for this, it's helpful to read to hear how you do it. I'm only seeing it for the first time now (did a search in this group for "marketing")!
On Friday, January 27, 2017 at 9:36:31 AM UTC-8, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote: > > This is a good question Alex and at Creative Density in Denver I have > shifted to taking a vote on a semi-annual basis combined with a little bit > of experimenting. > > Vote with a budget for improvements - this just eases a lot of the > pressure for new amenities and creates conversations > Twice a year I tell the community we have a budget of $500 to $1000, > depending on business, and people can submit ideas on what they would like > the money spent on. We then vote but I reserve the final say. It brings > some up good ideas that I would not of thought of and brought to light some > problems that I didn't recongize. For example, some people wanted a > dishwasher, others wanted a heating lamp on the patio, a new router, > increased professional cleanings, while others wanted a sofa and TV for the > winter time since we can't use the yard that often. This creates a > conversation between the members and me and it shows constant improvement. > > So far we got the sofa and TV, better Wifi routers, and increased > cleanings. In the conversations though I explained how I address the issue > on solving the problem without the more costly element. For example, I > bought a new drying rack, cleaning sponges, and bought some additional > silverware. I also heard that people wanted the place cleaned more often so > I noted that and although it didn't win the vote it brought forward a wish > and I ended up doing it a few months later. > > Experiment with food and amenities - Potlucks works > We do 'We Top a Salad' or We Top a Burger' or' We Top Nachos'. The basic > idea is where the space provides the base of the meal and then everyone > brings in a topping or add on. It's a fun pot-luck that people often think > is the best event we do each month. > > Bake Goods sign ups. We have a weekly sign up where someone will bring in > something someday that week. It's a random day so it could happen at > moment. People will bring in baked goods or a shareable item like guac. > > My basic evaluation outside of the thoughts written above is that will it > benefit the community in a meaningful way or is it like a kid that just > wants something at this moment. It's easy to ask for a lot of stuff but the > question is it a need, a helpful benefit that will be used and benefit > many, or just a feature to check a marketing box that is wasted money. If > the request lingers around for a few months then it is probably something > that should be addressed. Here are a few more examples: > > I think free a keg of beer for my community is something people ask for > but really just having a few beers in the fridge is good enough. Plus, > people bring in beer to share and leave it behind so it creates a community > from it. > > Some people asked for extra monitors so I bought one and noticed people > always used it. I bought a few more they also get used. The monitors are a > real nice benefit to people and makes business sense because I have limited > permanent desks. A monitor is the main reason people get permanent desk so > by buying them I am convincing more people to join that usually want a desk > but are now OK with a floating membership. This increases my utilization > and allows me to have more members. Win-Win. > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
