Thank you, Alex! Yessss omg so *backstory:* this grew out of my marketing consultancy. I was getting requests for marketing help and every time I'd get on the phone with founders, I'd discover that they didn't *really* have marketing problems.
They had self-doubt problems. Most of these people knew what they needed to do to grow, but would get way too in their head about it. I tried giving them marketing advice and services, but it didn't fix the problem. My hypothesis was that they needed businesses owners *like them* to talk to about this stuff. They were spending all day alone or talking to their spouses or "normal" friends - not business owners who understood what they were going through. That's when I realized the thing missing for them was *COWORKERS. * Which is why I built the space. I live just outside of NYC so it's easy to meet like-minded people here, but it's not so easy when you're in other parts of the world. That's why I made the space virtual. I wanted to connect founders with people like them so they could get out of their own way and start getting work done. *Most surprising lesson:* I thought people were going to experience massive business growth. And while businesses DID grow, that's not why people reported staying and loving the space. They said their marriages improved. WHAT?!?! Turns out having a community of people - coworkers - to brainstorm with and talk through stuff *on your level* helped people be better in other parts of their lives because they got the business stuff out of their system. Isn't that nuts? I was blown away. Anyway, happy to share more but this email is getting really long...haha Tell me more about your space and how people are interacting online! Are you facilitating the interaction or is it all them? Slack? Details please! Best, Margo PS: Sorry if this reply-all is annoying...I figured this might be useful so I'd keep us in the group thread. But LMK if it's not...dont' want to be "that person" #sorrynotsorry? haha On Thu, Sep 13, 2018 at 11:09 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected] > wrote: > Hey Margo, welcome! I'm a huge fan of online community building, it's > always been a large component of what we do at Indy Hall and more than 50% > of our members almost *exclusively* interact online. I took a peek ta > your website and it looks like you've created something pretty cool! > > Is there any backstory or lessons you can share about how you got started? > Or interesting surprises/experiences along the way? > > -Alex > > ------------------ > *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* > Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org > Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com > My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten > > > On Wed, Sep 12, 2018 at 11:57 AM <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi! I'm Margo and I just stumbled upon this group and am really excited >> about it. >> >> I run a virtual coworking space for location-independent >> solopreneurs called The Arena The Arena >> <http://www.arenavirtualcoworking.com>. We dont have the benefits of a >> PHYSICAL space, like a desk or mailbox or wifi. But we do have what a lot >> of physical spaces are trying to do a better job of: Community. >> >> If you need any help with building community, HMU and I'd be happy to >> answer any questions you have. Im curious to learn more about you all and >> what you're struggling with as you grow your spaces. >> >> Reach out any time! >> >> - Margo Aaron >> >> -- >> 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. >> > -- > 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. > -- Margo Aaron That Seems Important <http://www.thatseemsimportant.com/> Want smart people to bounce ideas off of? I have some. <https://www.arenavirtualcoworking.com/> -- 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.
