Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Advertising advice

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> I can tell you that our website, when it was up and running, generated a
> phenomenal amount of interest in buying. People get very excited about it
> when they can see actual pictures of people living in cohousing.

And if you aren't built yet, put up pictures (with permission) from other
sites. Referring people to the Coho site is good but many won't make it
there until they are really interested in what they see at your site.

>> Once again, Chris nails it right on the money.  Advertising is a waste of
>> money, in conventional, print ad formats.

The frustration is that advertising in conventional places will get you lots
of attention and lots of calls but _no_ buyers. At a previous project in
Florida, Synergy, we had tons of publicity -- lots of press and television
coverage. The TV stations actually had us on their revisit list and kept
calling to see if we were built yet.

We spent thousands on a professional PR firm that specialized in real estate
promotion. Not even a query came from that. We also did direct mail to the
subscribers of Utne Reader. We got responses and interest but no one stayed
around to work or to buy in. We also did monthly mailings to the list from
the Chamber of Commerce of people who asked for information about housing in
the area. Nothing.

We also did open houses every Sunday (there was a house on the property we
were going to use) and that produced nothing. People stopped by but only to
find out what was up.

Health food stores and coops and chiropractors offices as well as friends of
members were our best sources. The Unitarian Church was good also but I
think that was because we already had a member who attended and pulled in
her friends. Flyers at alternative stores and events work best.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org


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