Hey Mike,
Congrats on the impending 1 year anniversary! It's such exciting
stuff - I hope you feel very proud of how far you've come in your
first year. I remember the first year mark being a time for much
reflection, and (I believe I'm remembering this right) many
celebratory beers. ;)
As for some top ways we've reached out to new members at Office
Nomads, my mind is coming up with the following today (because if you
ask me another day, there's a good chance I'll say something
different!):
1. Adjusted our membership rates. When we switched up our price points
to include more part-time memberships, we saw a significant jump in
membership at Office Nomads. We had resisted any type of part-time
membership for almost the first two years we were open as we wanted to
remain staunchly focused on finding Resident (full-time) members at
our space. What we have now come to learn is that the part-time
memberships enable new folks to get a better sense of what our space
is like without the huge barrier to entry that could be seen as coming
with the full-time membership. Before we changed, we'd encourage new
members to "create their own plans" with the drop-in rates ("want to
come in twice per week? That's $50/week - simple!"). But it has been
clear that members have reacted better to having actual membership
levels associated with how often they come in. Variety, as it turns
out, was a key to our growing success.
2. Invite your members to host their own events at your space. For a
long time we were only holding events at Office Nomads that we (myself
or Jacob) were able to attend and host. This did give us a lot of
opportunity to bring in new folks, but it came with a price to Jacob
and my free time. Instead, we now continue to host events that we
love and participate in as part of those communities (Sustainable
Capitol Hill, BarCamp Seattle, etc.), but also hold the door open for
members to take on the role of event host. We train them how to open
& close the space, they know they are responsible for their guests
when they are here, and they have to clear events with us first before
hosting them. Simple as pie and has not only brought in new faces to
the space, but has emboldened our members with a newfound sense of
ownership over Office Nomads. They are very proud, and usually do a
great job talking us up to the groups they invite in. It's pretty
awesome to see.
Those are the best examples I can think of at the moment! Hope that
is helpful as you proceed with your space!
All the best,
Susan
On 4/13/10, Mike Pihlman <m...@telbitconsulting.com> wrote:
> As we enter our first full year in business (May 1st is our 1 year
> anniversary), I am still struggling to find the people who could benefit
> from coworking.
>
> The latest things we are trying (in addition to our normal online stuff)
> are:
>
> 1. Each member (we now have 6) is giving out Free Day passes (10 each,
> with the members name on them) to people they meet who they think would
> most benefit.
> 2. We will soon be going around town with door hangers (member Tracy
> Island Island and AltamontCowork teamed up).
> 3. Now, in the larger space, members (including me) are firing up
> Seminars after hours....one member has already have several.
> 4. We fired up the free DonutUP days again....once or twice a month.
>
>
> Question: What are the one or two things that you did that
> (successfully) attracted more people to your location?
>
>
>
> Thanks, Mike
>
> --
> Mike Pihlman
> AltamontCowork
> 95 W. 11th Street, Suite 205
> Tracy, CA 95376
> Phone: 209-757-8862
> Web: AltamontCowork.com
> Twitter: @AltamontCowork
>
>
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