Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Marketing question for the men on the list

[Mariana Almeida (missmgrrl]

My observation is that the men who want to live in cohousing on their own are 
few and far between. They generally come to it as the partner of a woman who 
wants it. 
So the problem may not be the marketing of the product, but the product itself. 
I think it appeals to more women than it does to men period. (This is an 
observational statement, and not so much about gender stereotypes, I hope.)

I have noticed that the men who are "naturally" drawn to it have a 
community-building bent. 
These are men who already work and invest in community-related activities 
like... working in non-profits, in faith groups, as social workers or teachers. 
Community activists in LGBTQ or political topics. Sometimes there's overlap 
with urban farmers, "makers", and Burning Man people. 
My suggestion is related to networking so you reach these men, and in targeting 
your marketing to those types of publications related to the activities above.
I personally prefer more gender diversity. We have about 80% women at this 
point in our coho community, and I'd rather have more men around. I also think 
that the more you have one type of person -- men, children, etc. -- the more 
you're likely to get of that type of person. People have a need to see that 
there's "people like them" when thinking about  moving in.
Mariana
PS -- totally hear you all on diversity, feeling weird about gender-based 
marketing, feeling caged in by gender, inclusivity, and so forth. Yet, the fact 
remains that community wants to attract men.


On Tuesday, July 11, 2017, 9:04:38 PM PDT, Katie Henry <katie-henry [at] 
att.net> wrote:


Back when I was running the outreach team for my former community, someone told 
me that single women are more likely to buy property than single men. Not just 
cohousing, but any type of property. Single men tend to rent until they're 
partnered up with someone, whereas women want to settle down and nest 
regardless of their circumstances. I can't cite any statistics, but I've found 
it to be true in my experience both in cohousing and in the real world.
Katie
_________________________________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/