Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
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
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net, (continued)
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net R Philip Dowds, June 18 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Ann Zabaldo, June 18 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Mary Baker, Solid Communications, June 17 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Sharon Villines, June 17 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Mary Baker, Solid Communications, June 17 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Tiffany Lee Brown, June 16 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Ann Zabaldo, June 16 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Corey, June 16 2016
- Re: Launching June 15: CohousingMap.net Sharon Villines, June 17 2016
Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.