Brave Ideas Why A Community Manager Is CRE's Most Important Hire
Cat Johnson shares what community really means
Quote from Guest:
“Community becomes the engine that powers your business” - Cat
Summary: Join us in episode 5 of season 8 of the #WorkBold podcast to hear Bold founder Caleb Parker interview Cat Johnson from Cat Johnson Co, a marketing hub and community that brings coworking space operators together to learn, share and connect.
Cat shares her advice on curating a community in a workspace and using content as a key marketing tool.
She talks about why it is important to have community in a workspace and how the community manager role plays a key part in this. In this episode Caleb and Cat delve into how community and content reinforce your brand and how this can affect customer’s buying decisions.
Connect with Caleb on LinkedIn
If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email podcast@workbold.co
Value Bombs:
People have the sense that they can just open a flex space and that it's going to be an activated community, nothing could be further from the truth, it takes intention, it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of emotional labour - Cat
I want to be around people that inspire me, that give me some energy, I want to feed off that energy, I don't necessarily need to be around it every day, but I do want to plug into it - Caleb
The community manager role is the best friend of our members - Caleb
It's a bit intimidating to join a new space so facilitating that and accelerating not just the onboarding, but the community integration piece is so important - Cat
I think that with communities themselves, there's a little bit of science and a little bit of art to it, but they don't just happen to pop up. You have to intentionally curate them - Caleb
We're not playing all the musical instruments, we're just conducting the orchestra, putting the right people together, getting the right partners in the ecosystem that will bring in the right content or events, and then sort of let it happen organically - Caleb
There are so many different flavours of co-working - Cat
If your vision of community only includes certain people, you've lost the thread completely, every single human wants to feel a sense of belonging, so creating a space where people can have that is gold - Cat
Good content is unique and specific to you and your community and your culture and your vibe - Cat
Social media is an opportunity to position, differentiate and attract your people - Cat
Community becomes the engine that powers your business - Cat
Trying to establish a coworking community and a coworking brand requires a lot of clarity around vision, values, people, service and mindset - Cat
Ultimately, the brand itself is not what you say it's what other people say and how they feel about you - Caleb
Timestamps:
[7:22] The importance of community in a workspace.
[9:00] The activation of a community in a workspace.
[10:55] Advice on hiring for a community manager role.
[15:50] Advice on curating a community in a co-working space.
[20:08] Community can’t be built on BS.
[24:44] How does an entrepreneur stay part of a community as they scale?
[26:09] Content as a marketing tool.
[36:07] Advice on measuring ROI on social media.
[39:05] The importance of brand to a customer’s buying decision.
[42:4] How does content and community reinforce your brand?
Resources:
Build Community in a Coworking Space: 22 Tips for Operators
The 22 Immutable Rules of Branding
Shoutouts:
Cat Johnson Co, Coworking and Marketing Shop
About Cat Johnson:
Cat Johnson is the founder of Cat Johnson Co, they bring coworking space operators together to learn, share and connect.
Cat Johnson Co is the marketing hub and community for the coworking world. Their team supports workspace operators around the world with marketing education, resources, tools, events, courses and more.
Cat helps community builders leverage the power of content to grow their brand and business. She runs Coworking Convos, a virtual event series for workspace operators and is the founder of The Lab, a private marketing club for coworking space operators. She has worked with hundreds of coworking space operators, forward thinking entrepreneurs, service providers, organisations and community builders.
Sponsors:
Headline Sponsor: TSK
TSK creates inspiring workplaces for some of the world’s biggest brands across the UK and Ireland. They've been working for 25 years to deliver the best employee experiences and the vision of their clients. Not only do they create great places to work, TSK share workplace content every week from the latest data to inspiring spaces they’ve designed and built. You can read their latest insights at www.tskgroup.co.uk or check out their LinkedIn and Instagram pages to become a follower, fan and friend.
TSK publish weekly thought leadership, research and content featuring their team, clients and partners about workplace, commercial interiors, hybrid working and how others have prospered from investing in workplace. You can check their latest publications and video content in the show notes by signing up to their weekly ‘work made better’ newsletter or visit tskgroup.co.uk.
Fortune Favours the Bold
Bold merges property management & Space-as-a-Service to help office customers grow faster and drive asset value. Bold is a real estate brand owned and operated by NewFlex (www.workbold.co)
Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex
NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)
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