Use your well-crafted logo on all collateral. You’ve developed an excellent tag line, "It takes a village. We’re building one." Use it in conjunction with the logo on all pieces. The tag line is so powerful, that it will enhance the logo and help people quickly understand who you are and what you stand for. Look at print advertising in magazines, on brochures or in annual reports to determine the placement of the tag line in connection with the logo. If you need help, Prater can easily collect some examples for you.

Some Eastside cities have neighborhood associations. Kirkland, for example has 12 such associations and all have websites. Some of the websites allow you to post messages and place ads. People who belong to neighborhood associations understand the value of working and living collaboratively with their neighbors. These might be good places to "get the word out" about Rose Hill Cohousing. Following are the city website addresses, which are good places to begin searching for neighborhood associations.

www.ci.kirkland.wa.us

www.ci.redmond.wa.us

www.ci.woodinville.wa.us

www.ci.bellevue.wa.us

www.ci.bothell.wa.us

www.cityofduvall.com

Getting permission to place a display at a mall will take some finesse. Generally, mall marketing is limited to stores in the mall and nonprofit organizations. Because Rose Hill Cohousing is not a money-making proposition for you, you might be able to get information displays in some of the malls.

Consider whether you want a staffed booth or table (preferred) or a stand-alone display. Whatever you choose should be visually interesting and encourage people to stop. Colorful photos from cohousing developments in Washington, descriptions, quotes, etc. mounted on foam core are all interesting and will attract visitors. Have plenty of brochures to distribute and be prepared with additional printed information for people who are very interested in what you’re doing.

Use the attached 11-page list (found at www.eastkingcounty.org/visit/default.html) to identify community events where you can be present. Fun activities where people are in an open, receptive mood are best. Consider being part of a parade, having a booth at a fair or simply moving among the crowd handing out flyers and balloons with "Rose Hill Cohousing" imprinted on them. Be fun and upbeat to attract people to you. This will encourage them to accept your materials and read them.

Use some of the creative design skills of your members to create flyers and posters of various sizes. 18" x 24" and 24" x 36" are standard poster sizes, although larger sizes can also be made if needed. Flyers are normally 8.5" x 11" or 8.5" x 14". As outlined under "Information Meetings," fix a set time and place for meetings. This has two primary benefits: it saves the time and expense of preparing and distributing posters and flyers for each event, and makes it easy for people to find a meeting if they are not able to attend the one you advertise.

Use carefully crafted wording to attract people to the meetings. Don’t just say, "Come and learn about cohousing." Too many people won’t know what you mean and won’t care. Remember to sell the benefits – not the features – of cohousing.

Get permission to hang your posters everywhere: delis, bookstores, senior centers, malls, and restaurants, anywhere that your target market is likely to congregate. Some places of business might also allow you to hang your posters, but it would be unrealistic to get very much cooperation in this area. Your best opportunity to get a poster hung in the workplace is to ask an employee of the business to make the pitch.

Use the posters in mall displays and at your information meetings. Distribute the flyers at meetings, fairs, community meetings, workplaces. Ideally, every equity and associate member will have a supply of flyers with him/her at all times to hand out whenever and wherever it seems appropriate.

By establishing a standard meeting time, such as the first Friday evening and third Saturday afternoon of every month, and printing all the dates at once, you increase the number of poster and flyers in circulation, because you aren’t going back to the same places over and over again. Rather, you can widen your distribution network when time permits. Keep track of where the posters are hung to eliminate duplicate efforts.

John Dietz is doing a fabulous job in generating media attention for the project. He and Katherine Fugitt are excellent spokespeople for the community. Both the Seattle Times and Eastside Journal are likely to publish articles about the project.

Now that media interest has been generated, it is important to issue press releases whenever the community hits a milestone. Milestones include everything from large attendance at an information meeting, displays at malls, participation in a community event (especially if you do something interesting or unusual), planning approval, ground breaking, etc. The press kits that accompany the release should include copies of newspaper articles about the community.

Be realistic. The media will not use everything you offer. Don’t release too many announcements. To do so will dilute your efforts.

In the near future we’ll pursue an op-ed piece in the Eastside Journal, which will broaden community understanding of chousing and, hopefully, generate interest in your community.

Other targeted magazines and newsletters include PCC newsletter, Eastside Parent, Parents Without Partners, etc.

This popular show on KING TV is watched by thousands and has successfully launched other enterprises. Find a local cohousing village that would agree to be the site for the show. While your vacant land is great, TV needs more activity and visual excitement. Find a location that most closely resembles what you are going to create and in cooperation with the membership of that community suggest it to the producers of Evening Magazine. Ask them to talk about your community and to put information about Rose Hill Cohousing on their call-in recording and/or website.

Continue publishing your high quality newsletter on an as-needed basis to everyone on your mailing list. I’ve made a few style suggestions on your inaugural issue, which is attached to this plan.

Continue with your outstanding website. Be cautious of consistency of style, word choices and so forth. I made some edits on the existing site to make it as "perfect" as possible. Many people are turned off on whole projects if they perceive that the marketing materials are sloppy, inarticulate or inaccurate. Every writer needs a proofreader; be sure to use one or more.

The web address should be listed on every written piece.

Rewrite the introductory brochure so that it has more of a benefit – and less of a feature – slant. People buy based on what they want or need. Help them understand how cohousing will help fulfill their needs. Don’t tell simply tell them what you offer; help them picture themselves and their families living in your community.

There is a comment on the introductory brochure that Prater found jarring, so she asked approximately 20 people what they thought. "For most of us, our only social outlets are our workplaces and our nuclear families…" While understanding the sentiment for others, none of the people Sandy asked shared it. All of them had a somewhat to much broader social life. Be cautious of assuming that everyone feels as you do.

The FCC requires radio stations to devote some of their airtime to PSAs. They normally play them late at night and their value is unclear. However, it might be worthwhile to write, record and place PSAs.

Since the public cannot demand what they don’t yet understand, introductory presentations about cohousing are vitally important to the success of Rose Hill Cohousing. The work done with the media, at the malls, with neighborhood associations and at community events are all done with a focus on getting people to the information meetings. It is at the meetings that you will sell cohousing as a concept and help the guests picture themselves living in your village community.

Set a fixed time and place for meetings. By doing so, you are always ready to tell interested parties where and when the next meeting will be held. As explained above, you will also save money and time with posers and flyers. Suggested venues include Redmond Public Library, Redmond Senior Center and the Old Redmond Schoolhouse. All have excellent facilities in rooms of various sizes. Special meetings can be held occasionally at unique venues, such as churches, businesses, etc. While the suggestion to hold information meetings at businesses seems unlikely and not worth spending very much time pursuing, be prepared to respond to any request to talk to people who are interested in your community, but unable to attend a regularly scheduled meeting.

The room should be visually interesting in order to get people’s attention as they first enter the room. Something as simple as two or three easels with displays of large colored photos of active cohousing communities, photos of the site and early site designs (when available) are easily and cheaply produced on foam core at Kinko’s. Posters (discussed earlier) should also be on display on or near the door of the meeting room.

Welcome each guest with a smile and a handshake and give them a brochure. Have sales packets ready for people who are ready to move to the next level of interest.

Remember that the people coming to your meetings have a need they are trying to satisfy. This is your best chance to help satisfy that need. Don’t assume that you understand what the needs are. Instead, spend a part of the meeting talking about what your guests visualize as their ideal community. Probe by asking gentle, but pointed questions. A few might be "What is your vision of an ideal community? If you had more time, how would you like to spend your off-work hours? What do you know about chousing? Is there a need in your life that living in a different community style might help satisfy?" Ask gently probing questions and listen to their comments carefully. Ask people about their expectations, their assumptions, their feelings, and their everyday life. Then listen carefully.

Be sure that the meeting room you choose has a whiteboard where you can record your guests’ needs, wants, community visions and lifestyles. After the formal presentation, go back to the whiteboard to see if you have addressed every need with Rose Hill Cohousing. If not, explain why.

Use a 10-12 minute Power Point presentation to talk about cohousing and the village you want to create with other community members. The key presenter should have a warm, outgoing personality in order to make guests feel welcomed in such a way that they can imagine living happily in your community. A skilled presenter will tie his or her remarks to the needs expressed earlier by the guests. Don’t oversell. Just explain and listen.

A site visit after the presentation is an excellent way to complete the meeting. By this time, your guests will be better able to understand your vision for the site. Give your guests a small gift at the site. Something as simple and inexpensive as a Tootsie Roll Pop is a symbol of simpler times, sharing, generosity and hospitality. If it’s a hot day, you might want to have cups of ice-cold water available.

Take a proactive position with affordable housing by having information readily available. Art Sullivan, executive director of ARCH, a nonprofit agency working on affordable housing efforts is a great resource. For a future report, Prater will get specific information from him and other sources he recommends.