{"id":4082,"date":"2016-03-29T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.risingtidesociety.com\/?p=4082"},"modified":"2016-03-29T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T09:00:00","slug":"creative-shared-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/creative-shared-space","title":{"rendered":"How I Started a Shared Creative Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

by @soireephl<\/a><\/p>\n

As a wedding photographer I learned a lot from collaborating with other professionals. \u00a0I always found that the best ideas came out of conversations with people I loved to work with \u2013 we always shared the same goals of wanting to share and improve, not just our own business, but make things better for the industry as well.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, in January of 2010, I started a shared space for wedding, event & style professionals called\u00a0Soir\u00e9e Philadelphia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A very good friend, Mark Kingsdorf, formerly of Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, suggested I get a small space in the city. \u00a0He was referring clients, but very few were booking consultations, and he suspected it was because we were located in New Jersey. While we were only 35-40 minutes outside the city, it was enough to make busy couples think twice about traveling out to meet with us. \u00a0Mark was right \u2013 our bookings jumped from 14 weddings the previous year to 29 the year we got the studio in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Things were going well for the photography business, but the studio often sat empty.\u00a0 We were only using the space for client meetings and as a sort of home-base for engagement sessions that took place in Old City \u2013 we were only there a few days a month, a couple hours at a time. \u00a0I thought, this studio did so much for me, why not open this up to other professionals?<\/p>\n

So I called Mark and offered him the first opening. \u00a0He was interested, but concerned that people might feel pressured to book both of us if we were sharing a space \u2013 it was time to re-brand\u2026.<\/p>\n

I rented another small space down the street, which is where I created the branding for Soir\u00e9e Philadelphia. \u00a0The shared space needed to have its own identity outside of my studio to provide separation from my business. \u00a0In terms of the space itself, I was careful to make the Soir\u00e9e brand as minimal as possible. \u00a0I wanted members to occupy the space as their own, so the palette is neutral and there is only a small sign on the door. \u00a0Members can use the space however they like during the time they reserve on our shared calendar<\/a>. \u00a0We have planners, photographers, videographers, stylists, designers and more. \u00a0We do limit membership to no more than 5 members in each category, just to keep things balanced.<\/p>\n

In a strange turn of events, we ended up moving (twice!) and wound up back in the original studio space, but as Soir\u00e9e Philadelphia. \u00a0We are now settled into this space, and it couldn\u2019t have worked out better. \u00a0We have a great location with plenty of convenient parking and wonderful members who have stayed the course through some interesting transitions (thank you guys!).<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the future? \u00a0I\u2019m still a photographer (focusing on headshots now), but Soir\u00e9e Philadelphia is now my main focus. \u00a0We are always looking for more members and we love collaborating. \u00a0We have hosted seminars, pop-up shops, trunk shows, networking parties and the space is available for events & workshops.<\/p>\n

5 Things I Learn from running a shared space:<\/h2>\n
\"How
Photo by Lauren Gibson Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Dollars and sense\u2026\u00a0<\/strong>It just makes sense to share. \u00a0If your main focus is weddings, you meet with clients, shoot engagement sessions and weddings on the weekends, but the rest of the time, you are likely working from home. \u00a0Or if you are a makeup artist or other professional, you have one to two appointments with each client, maybe an hour or two each. \u00a0Financially does it make sense to rent an entire space for yourself? \u00a0I\u2019ve seen so many photographers and other service based professionals jump into a retail space or studio, only to find out that they can\u2019t handle the rent, insurance and other expenses. In this region, we have \u201cslow seasons\u201d \u2013 but the rent and utility bills don\u2019t take any breaks.<\/p>\n

2. Location counts\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0Having a physical address where you want to do business can really have an impact. \u00a0Not only are you making yourself convenient & available to your clients, but the SEO is hugely valuable. \u00a0If someone searches \u201cPhiladelphia wedding planner\u201d and you don\u2019t have a Philadelphia street address on your site (nope, PO boxes don\u2019t cut it), you won\u2019t rank nearly as high on Google as those who do (you may not show up at all). \u00a0This doesn\u2019t just apply to cities \u2013 it works regionally too, as long as you find a location is that centrally located and easy to find.\u00a0 The key is to find a group that is centered in your target market. \u00a0Co-working spaces are also a great option if you need a place to maintain a desk space.<\/p>\n

3. Its not a race with a finish line\u2026\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0I was fortunate that my wedding business grew quickly, so I was naively expecting the same for Soir\u00e9e. \u00a0It\u2019s been a slow journey finding the right people, but that was a blessing in disguise. \u00a0The majority of our new members were referred by an existing member, so Soiree\u2019s growth was built on trust and organic connections. \u00a0Soiree is constantly evolving, which allows us to consider new and different ways to grow and connect more professionals with each other and new clients.<\/p>\n

4. Collectives & shared spaces are generally made up of awesome people\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0Soiree Philadelphia works because, by its very nature of being a shared space, it attracts the right people. \u00a0If you aren\u2019t into collaborating, networking and sharing \u2013 you aren\u2019t going to want to join. \u00a0I may have started this collective, but it\u2019s the members who have built this community and have kept us going strong since 2010.<\/p>\n

\"How
Photos by Lauren Gibson Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. You have to have a solid foundation\u2026\u00a0<\/strong>I don\u2019t think I would have ever been able to start a shared space if I had not spent so many years building relationships and friendship in my local industry.\u00a0 People knew my name and I had a good reputation \u2013 so people were willing to trust that this was not something I was \u201ctrying out\u201d or taking lightly.\u00a0 Also remember, landlords mean business. When you sign a lease, you are on the hook for the full amount, regardless if members join, leave, pay late or don\u2019t pay at all.\u00a0 You have to be financially secure enough to make it on your own just in case.<\/p>\n

Moving forward, we are opening up our space to a series of Creatively Connected classes & events to help bring together more people and create more of a sense of community. We have also lowered our rates for half and full day rentals to make the space more accessible to creatives would like to teach workshops.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Soiree Philadelphia<\/a> has been and continues to be a wonderful experience, but there certainly have been some bumps in the road along the way.\u00a0 If you would like to learn more about Soiree, or if you would like guidance on starting your own space, reach out to me at soireephiladelphia@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a wedding photographer I learned a lot from collaborating with other professionals. I always found that the best ideas came out of conversations with people I loved to work with \u2013 we always shared the same goals of wanting to share and improve, not just our own business, but make things better for the industry as well. With this in mind, in January of 2010, I started a shared space for wedding, event & style professionals called Soir\u00e9e Philadelphia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":4088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-collaboration"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002.jpg",1400,932,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002.jpg",1400,932,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-28_0002.jpg",1400,932,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

As a wedding photographer I learned a lot from collaborating with other professionals. I always found that the best ideas came out of conversations with people I loved to work with \u2013 we always shared the same goals of wanting to share and improve, not just our own business, but make things better for the industry as well. With this in mind, in January of 2010, I started a shared space for wedding, event & style professionals called Soir\u00e9e Philadelphia.<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Community & collaboration<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Laura Eaton","url":"https:\/\/hbb.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/author\/lauraeaton"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"\nHow I Started a Shared Creative Space | HoneyBook<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Follow the success story of this talented photographer who collaborated with other professionals and created a shared creative space to save money and network\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/creative-shared-space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How I 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