Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Marketing efforts that worked well?

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Hi Jerry,

Good to hear from you via your two cohousing-L posts:

June 28 2014
    Marketing efforts that worked well? Jerry McIntire
    Re: Seeking Rural/Ag Cohousing Communities Jerry McIntire

Congratulations on having a great sounding site - I dont think you had
that when we last had contact tho I am unsure.

I am writing this as a reply to your "Marketing" post but it seems to
me that your marketing efforts should be closely related to your rural
setting.  (Tho much of what follows may be applicable to all sites.)

It seems to me that there should be two different efforts:
1) aimed at people who already live in the area
   The nature of the area and the types of people who have or will move to
   the area soon may have a higher than average number of people interested in
   cohousing.

2) aimed at people who dont live in the area (outside the "media market" ?)
   who might consider moving.

   It seems to me that the chances of finding enough members who already
   live in the area are not great (but I could be wrong).  This would
   suggest looking for people willing to move.

Media vs more personal contacts

   It seems to me there are two different approaches to "marketing"
   (recruiting).  You can try to get publicity
   that will result in interested people contacting you.  The alternative
   is to contact lots of people more individually and ask those with interest
   to consider joining.  In some senses the latter is more effective tho takes
   more effort. In an area with a small population the latter seems more
   feasible.

Why cohousing in your location.
   I would suggest your pr for these folks should play up the desireable
   features of your area.  Tho I have not been there for a very long time,
   it is close enough that I have heard about the area and have an image
   of it.  Our impression (I asked my wife and she shared mine) is
   that Viroqua has undergone a revival related to artists moving there
   ect.  In turn the arts attract other development (cohousing
   community?).  I did not see anything on your site
   ( http://stonesthrowcommunity.wordpress.com ) describing this.

   I think a communities "location page" should describe the broader
   community, not just the piece of land where you will build.  I did not
   see anything on your links page that described the community (tho I did
   not look to hard).  There are some links that suggest it ( folk
   school, food co-op, community radio )

One more dimension is employment possibilities.
   Some people who move might be retired but others and even some "retired"
   people will need a way to make a living.

   Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage ( http://mainecohousing.org/ )
   which is nearing completion of construction on a site in a community
   that resembles yours has a "Living in Maine" section on their web site that
   includes "Looking for Work?" subsection with a link to a Maine
   Career Transition Guide.  ( As I recall their members were a mix of people
   who already lived in the area and some who moved.  Those who moved may have
   had personal connections to the area already.

Fred

--
Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north Mpls)
     Email:        fholson at cohousing.org      612-588-9532
My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org         My org:
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