Since moving out of our Farnham office (the owners were selling the building, and I had planned to keep a small office), I have experimented with various places to work remotely. As I have got involved with more projects and businesses, the idea of a static location seems frankly obsolete. So too is the idea of traditional business networking (in most cases).
For the past six months, one of the places I have been working from on a weekly basis is Studio Simple in Haslemere. Run by Emma Stokes (who is an exceptional graphic designer), the studio is an excellent way of networking and meeting people who run businesses while getting work done. In my opinion, the biggest drawback of traditional networking is that it is unproductive time. You can’t be productive and network in that setting. Things like golf or fishing (more on that in a later post) are better for networking but just as bad for productivity. A well-run coworking space is the best solution I have found. You can be productive, meet new people and share problems and successes.
I think one of the most important elements of any organisation, club or, in this case, networking space, is the person at the top. The person running it sets the tone, ethos and character… the experience. I have been to coworking spaces that are trying so hard to be corporate or exclusive or luxury, or “for founders” (yuck), but what I have found with Studio Simple is a productive space with a collaborative and supportive ethos.
As a result of working there, I have now worked with Emma on a few projects. So I was very keen on the idea of collaborating with her on a marketing outreach. Yazaroo is no longer doing graphic and brand design work for money, and Studio Simple does not offer WordPress dev or hosting, so it’s a perfect complementary working arrangement.
To that end we are going to be running Fix-it Fridays, a drop-in clinic at Studio Simple on the first Friday of each month, 10:00 to 12:00, where business owners and marketing managers with website issues can get free advice. I hope I can get some work out of it (otherwise what’s the point). What I have found over the years is people cannot always identify a perception problem, but they sure as hell notice a technical problem. People’s website issues are a great way of starting a conversation which ends with a technical solution, but also sometimes presents an opportunity for a rebrand with Emma, UX improvements or a whole range of “touchy-feely” services that the average business owner overlooks.
I know this sounds like an ad, which obviously it’s not (no one would pay for the pitiful number of people who read my blog), but if you are creative, or even if you’re not, get yourself booked in for a coworking day. It’s only £20 for fuck’s sake.