Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net
From: Mary Baker, Solid Communications (marysolid-communications.com)
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2016 11:40:30 -0700 (PDT)
Sharon,
GleanWeb does not expect payment after the first year for anything but hosting 
($9/yr) or you can move to your own server. The software continues to be free.
GleanWeb was not held up as an example of “what cohousing communities are 
interested in”—it is an example of a complex software for a very small niche. 
There are fewer GleanWeb sites in the US than there are cohousings. It 
certainly does not have “broad agricultural applications” any more than 
cohousing apps need to have “broad residential applications”.
Granted, there is a lot of money that needs to be raised to build a cohousing, 
but not every application out there needs to be about getting mortgages and 
investors, or deciding on governance. And not every aspect of cohousing life 
revolves only around the startup phase. There is plenty of room out there for 
applications to help with basic communication, networking, socializing, 
marketing, planning, and conflict management. 

“But the need it filled was for a non-profit cause. Cohousing communities are 
not charitable or educational organizations.”
I don’t see your point. If someone wants to build a free app, for whatever 
purpose, and it happens to take off, and the creator then thinks about 
monetizing it fairly ... that happens all the time! Or maybe it will just 
remain free.
I agree that 200 members is about right in a forum (or L-list, or so on) before 
conversation starts taking off. It takes time, but is pretty easy to do (I’ve 
done it before with a niche site for winemakers), and with growing interest and 
curiosity in cohousing, and a worldwide audience, what’s to stop that from 
happening? I don’t know how Carles and Corey have set theirs up, but my forum 
is open worldwide, and to eco-villages and tiny house associations as well. I 
receive daily Google alerts about cohousing, and there are 2-3 news articles or 
press releases every day, so there’s plenty of potential for chatter out there. 
But I’m not looking for a “market” to serve my financial needs—I’m providing a 
free service for friends in a particular niche. 

“The minute you start charging, you will see the interest drop.” 

That’s kind of an obvious statement. But charging hasn’t been an issue that’s 
been brought up by any of the creators, so I don’t understand why it’s such a 
big issue for readers here. 

Cheers,
Mary

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