My name is Wendy Acosta. In January of 2018 I opened The Desk & Easel on Main Street in the town of Denison, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas. Coworking is a new concept here with very few people having heard of “coworking”. We have a lot of small business owners, entrepreneurs, road warriors and what I call Kitchen Table Artists who do not have access to a designated studio/creative space. At The Desk & Easel we have usesd all 2500 sq ft to house traditional open work space in the front, creative open work space in the back and 3 private spaces and conference room in the middle. We offer our conference room for lease to other offices/companies that require an off site meeting space and our open work spaces are for lease after hours for special events. Multi-Level Marketers have also found the space useful.
My biggest hurdle has been in educating people on what “coworking” is and effectively advertising to my community and beyond that I am here. I welcome input from the group.
Realtalk: most people don’t want to be educated about a new concept. They have a busy day, full of annoying problems. Your job is to figure out which ones you’re best suited to solve, and which groups of people you’re best suited to solve them for.
So rather than trying to educate people on this abstract concept called “coworking” I take the strategy of figuring out the person I’m talking to:
Do they/have they ever worked remotely, or on their own?
Where and how do they currently work? What do they like about doing their own thing? What sucks?
What are their aspirations or goals?
This isn’t a survey or an interview - it’s a conversation. It isn’t me drilling them with questions, it’s me sparking a discussion.
Then, based on what I learn about them and their situation, I can tailor the next part of the conversation to them.
Going crazy at home alone? We talk about the various ways we make it easy to spark a conversation.
Feeling unproductive? We talk about the different ways our members organize their days to get more done.
New to town? Just started a new job? We talk about how much easier it is to get a head start when you know a few people.
If you pay attention, you’ll notice patterns in the ways people answer and which examples resonate the most.
Most coworking pitches are all about coworking. That’s the mistake.
The best coworking pitches are about the coworker.
-Alex
···
On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:29 PM Wendy Acosta [email protected] wrote:
Hello All,
My name is Wendy Acosta. In January of 2018 I opened The Desk & Easel on Main Street in the town of Denison, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas. Coworking is a new concept here with very few people having heard of “coworking”. We have a lot of small business owners, entrepreneurs, road warriors and what I call Kitchen Table Artists who do not have access to a designated studio/creative space. At The Desk & Easel we have usesd all 2500 sq ft to house traditional open work space in the front, creative open work space in the back and 3 private spaces and conference room in the middle. We offer our conference room for lease to other offices/companies that require an off site meeting space and our open work spaces are for lease after hours for special events. Multi-Level Marketers have also found the space useful.
My biggest hurdle has been in educating people on what “coworking” is and effectively advertising to my community and beyond that I am here. I welcome input from the group.
Does anyone have experience with 1 Million Cups?
Wendy
–
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From: Alex Hillman Sent: Monday, June 4, 2018 4:52 PM To: Coworking Subject: Re: [Coworking] A Newly Opened Creative Coworking Space
Realtalk: most people don’t want to be educated about a new concept. They have a busy day, full of annoying problems. Your job is to figure out which ones you’re best suited to solve, and which groups of people you’re best suited to solve them for.
So rather than trying to educate people on this abstract concept called “coworking” I take the strategy of figuring out the person I’m talking to:
Do they/have they ever worked remotely, or on their own?
Where and how do they currently work? What do they like about doing their own thing? What sucks?
What are their aspirations or goals?
This isn’t a survey or an interview - it’s a conversation. It isn’t me drilling them with questions, it’s me sparking a discussion.
Then, based on what I learn about them and their situation, I can tailor the next part of the conversation to them.
Going crazy at home alone? We talk about the various ways we make it easy to spark a conversation.
Feeling unproductive? We talk about the different ways our members organize their days to get more done.
New to town? Just started a new job? We talk about how much easier it is to get a head start when you know a few people.
If you pay attention, you’ll notice patterns in the ways people answer and which examples resonate the most.
Most coworking pitches are all about coworking. That’s the mistake.
The best coworking pitches are about the coworker.
-Alex
On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:29 PM Wendy Acosta [email protected] wrote:
Hello All,
My name is Wendy Acosta. In January of 2018 I opened The Desk & Easel on Main Street in the town of Denison, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas. Coworking is a new concept here with very few people having heard of “coworking”. We have a lot of small business owners, entrepreneurs, road warriors and what I call Kitchen Table Artists who do not have access to a designated studio/creative space. At The Desk & Easel we have usesd all 2500 sq ft to house traditional open work space in the front, creative open work space in the back and 3 private spaces and conference room in the middle. We offer our conference room for lease to other offices/companies that require an off site meeting space and our open work spaces are for lease after hours for special events. Multi-Level Marketers have also found the space useful.
My biggest hurdle has been in educating people on what “coworking” is and effectively advertising to my community and beyond that I am here. I welcome input from the group.
Does anyone have experience with 1 Million Cups?
Wendy
–
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To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
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There’s an exercise in my latest book on how to launch a coworking space that has you work from a coffee shop for hours. Make note of the costs and pain points you experience during that 6 hours. It’ll give you plenty of fodder for creating problem solving blog posts. If you want a link to that book you can simply google for Ultimate Coworking Launch Sequence.
Get plugged into the Coworking Content Alliance on Facebook as well and the Women Who Coworking Facebook group.
Angel
···
On Friday, April 27, 2018 at 4:29:33 PM UTC-6, Wendy Acosta wrote:
Hello All,
My name is Wendy Acosta. In January of 2018 I opened The Desk & Easel on Main Street in the town of Denison, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas. Coworking is a new concept here with very few people having heard of “coworking”. We have a lot of small business owners, entrepreneurs, road warriors and what I call Kitchen Table Artists who do not have access to a designated studio/creative space. At The Desk & Easel we have usesd all 2500 sq ft to house traditional open work space in the front, creative open work space in the back and 3 private spaces and conference room in the middle. We offer our conference room for lease to other offices/companies that require an off site meeting space and our open work spaces are for lease after hours for special events. Multi-Level Marketers have also found the space useful.
My biggest hurdle has been in educating people on what “coworking” is and effectively advertising to my community and beyond that I am here. I welcome input from the group.