Haha sorry there isn't enough space for the new tattoo Alex! I agree and think that there's actually two ways it could go. Either a race to the bottom as you mention (which includes getting worse deals as vendors 'divide and conquer' different communities to get distribution for even cheaper); or a kind of 'solution utility' emerges who's sole job is to make sure that deals are win-win-win for the operators, members and the vendors themselves.
We're building the latter and, thanks to comments like those from Bernie & Jeannine in this thread, I think we're on the right path. :) *(And Bernie, thanks for recommending us, and... from January 2018 your community now has gym savings too! Pinging you via on-site messenger with details.)* On Tuesday, 12 December 2017 20:32:21 UTC, Alex Hillman wrote: > > *1. No. Perks-based marketing is a zero-sum game. * > > I wish I had another forearm to tattoo this on. Well said - I'd even argue > that once you're at the 100s/1000s of members, perks based marketing is a > race to the bottom. > > > > ------------------ > *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 Tue, Dec 5, 2017 at 6:47 AM, Hector Kolonas <inzt...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Thanks for the glowing recommendation of our service <http://included.co> >> Jeannine! >> >> I hope you all don't mind if I dive right in and answer OP's original >> questions based on my experience over the last 3-4 years of helping >> coworking communities share buying-power. >> >> 1. No. Perks-based marketing is a zero-sum game. Fighting for >> exclusivities will not only be pointless unless you can scale to 100s of >> 1000s of members; but will waste hundreds of hours of your teams time. >> Rather understand that every single space will need to focus on creating >> long-term business value to differentiate themselves in the future. >> >> 2. I believe that if done correctly, 'solutions' will become one of the >> coworking sectors strongest revenue sources. We have designed a thorough >> revenue-share model and technology for our partner coworking communities, >> but they know just as well as we do, that these things take time to build >> and should be seen as a powerful new channel that needs to be cultivated >> without distracting core team members and members away from their actual >> tasks of running their businesses. >> >> 3. If the spaces are paying for the solution, are they not then the >> customers? Every single one of our 250+ communities are our partners and >> not our customers in this sense. We'd rather work together to drive up >> value for members, increase revenue for the space and make coworking even >> more of a no-brainer. Some spaces are willing to pay for such services >> though, and we've instead asked them to give breakfasts to their new >> members with that cash :) >> >> I hope those answers are useful, and I'd be more than happy to elaborate >> on either of them if anyone finds that useful. >> >> *Have an amazing day!* >> >> >> >> On Tuesday, 5 December 2017 10:58:19 UTC, Jeannine van der Linden wrote: >>> >>> We do, though ours are tightly focused on what the coworkers have >>> expressed a need for. We have for example a shipping account with >>> FedEx/DHL/GLS for the space, which a number of our members use to send >>> their products. This is then invoiced through to each. We have a couple >>> of these kinds of shared accounts for business inteligence, that kind of >>> stuff that can be used by multiple companies on a shared basis. It is not >>> really that different from a shared desk. >>> >>> We arrive at these by the extremely scientific method of regularly >>> bringing the subject up every sevral months and then going lookng when >>> enough coworkers chime in that they would like that also. :-) >>> >>> We have another class of perks which are offered by the coworkers to the >>> cowowrkers. These are mostly B2B but also include yoga lessons and >>> Mindfulness and coaching. >>> >>> For third party perks though, we use included.co. They have a lot more >>> clout and reach than we have, and they do a better job at it than we ever >>> did. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 6:25:01 PM UTC+1, mic...@portalsoft.io >>> wrote: >>>> >>>> This question boils down to a few key insights I'm trying to take away: >>>> >>>> 1. Is this an effective marketing tactic to both reduce member >>>> attrition and increase marketability/differentiation? >>>> 2. Do members use these perks enough that any referral fees might be a >>>> substantial second/third rev stream? >>>> 3. Is it worth it to pay for a service that provides a pre-negotiated >>>> group of business and lifestyle perks? >>>> >>>> Cheers! >>>> >>> -- >> 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 coworking+...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
