Your Extended Community Is Your Community

• Position your coworking space as a resource for the entire neighborhood, town, or region to generate leads and build a resilient community.
• A welcoming and inclusive approach does not deter membership; instead, it enhances the value of being a member by fostering broader engagement and connections.
• Coworking operators should create a sense of belonging, as well as establish your space as a hub for networking, education, and inspiration to build a strong brand that cannot be easily replicated by competitors.

If your coworking community is limited to the people inside your space, you’re missing a huge opportunity.

As a coworking space operator, the best thing you can do is position your space and community as a resource for your entire neighborhood, town or region. Doing so is not only a great way to generate leads and introduce people to your space, brand and mission, it’s also a genius way to build a resilient community.

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Your members have networks that extend beyond your coworking space. You and your team have networks that extend beyond your coworking space. So why would you limit the coworking magic only to your members?

This may sound counterintuitive — because people pay for access to your space and offerings.

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And you’re right. Coworking is a business. To make the change we want to see in the world, we need to be not just sustainable, but thriving. But to assume that the walls of your community being porous and welcoming means that people won’t become a member is not accurate.

The more you can position your space and community as the place to go for information, networking, education, connection, inspiration and guidance for freelancers, startups, remote workers, small businesses, entrepreneurs and everyone else who thrives through coworking, the stronger your brand and business will be. And the more engaged and active your extended community is in and around your space, the more valuable being a member becomes.

Creating a sense of belonging for your entire community is perhaps the most powerful marketing and brand building you could do. 

Positioning your coworking space as a resource, gathering place and educational hub for your target market (and beyond) is the goal. And if you can nail it, it’s an incredible unfair advantage. People can outspend you on Google ads, and they can out-fabulous you with nicer amenities, but they can’t copy your community.

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So get busy expanding your notion of your coworking community to include your neighborhood, town and region. 

Further together,

Cat.

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