390. Mail That Makes Money (and Sense): Inside Kim Lee’s Coworking Mail Strategy
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Everything Coworking Featured Resources:
Masterclass: 3 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets to Opening a Coworking Space
TRANSCRIPTION
390. Mail That Makes Money (and Sense): Inside Kim Lee’s Coworking Mail Strategy
00:00:00,"Welcome to the Everything Coworking podcast where every week I keep you updated on the latest trends and how to's in coworking. I owned and operated coworking spaces for eight years and then served as the Executive Director of the Global Workspace association for five years. And today I work with hundreds of operators and community managers every month, allowing me to bring you thought provoking operator case studies and inspirational interviews with industry thought leaders to help you confidently stay on top of what's important and what you can apply to your own role in the coworking industry."
00:00:46,"Welcome to the Everything Coworking podcast. This is your host, Jamie Russo. Thank you for joining me again for this episode you are jumping into a bit of a feature on mail and what virtual mail services can do for your business in terms of creating an awesome recurring revenue stream that doesn't depend on square footage. You just heard from Christine Tosi who had a waiting list for her offices and decided to put some focus against her virtual mail and pretty quickly got 50 new customers from one referral partner and is selling some premium packages from her organic landing page on her website which we helped her to create during the challenge."
00:01:31,"So so today's guest is Kim Lee, who is a coach in our Moneymaker Mailbox challenge. She is also a coach in our Community Manager program and our coworking Startup school. She's kind of everywhere with the Everything Coworking team because she's a really great operator. She's really intentional, she's great at strategy and she's also in the details of her business. She kind of knows it all. She's always thinking about what's working, what's not working, experimenting with things."
00:01:59,"She's really great with numbers. That's one of the reasons she's in our startup School program is because we're so passionate about helping new space operators understand the components of the business model that make this work. And she's all into the spreadsheets just like I am and so I have complete faith that Kim is going to look at performas like I do and really, you know, have the best interest in mind of our coworking startup school members."
00:02:28,"So she's been coaching for a couple of years now and she's an incredible resource. She's also a really great facilitator so she runs our community manager calls when we do our Q&As. She's great at getting pulling nuggets out of everyone and helping people share best practices which is part of what's so valuable about that program. And same for the money maker Mailbox Challenge registration is open. I want to make sure you have the opportunity to join."
00:02:56,"If it's on your to do list, it's a great time to do it. You can register until June 13th. And our kickoff call is June 16th. We've had a bunch of folks register this week. We're so excited to get started on Monday. Kim will be on those calls. She does all of our office hours and Q and A calls, and she's super deep into the details of the mail program, as you'll hear."
00:03:23,"And she's very passionate about folks adding it to their business and how to keep it simple and make it approachable for your team to manage. So Kim also shares some of the learning she's had over her almost eight years in business, some of her ups and downs and trials and tribulations as every operator has had, and some of the things that she's learned. And she's just always a treat to listen to."
00:03:48,"So. And we should have on the podcast more often, I have to say. So we have brainstormed a little series that we're going to have to do with Kim Lee. So without further ado, Kim Lee, CEO and founder of Forge Coworking in Birmingham, Alabama. And real quick, I always forget this part. If you haven't registered for the Mailbox Moneymaker challenge, but you want to, Mailbox Challenge. Com is where you get all the details and sign up."
00:04:14,"Welcome. I have Kim Lee, the founder and CEO of Forge, a coworking space in Birmingham, Alabama. Kim, I keep thinking about your intro because Kim is one of my most favorite operators and she's a coach in our programs. And there are so many wonderful things about Kim. And I cannot believe I looked. You haven't been on the podcast since 2020. Really? Yeah. I was like, what? Yeah."
00:04:39,"Which is nuts. So I think we did a two parter. We did. I mean, we might have talked about your podcast and then we did one with you and Kelsey. Yep. Yeah. Which is nuts. So it's been since 2020. But you opened in what year did you open? 2017. 17. Okay. So Kim's been doing this for a long time. And one of my favorite things about Kim, I'm always like, whenever I meet somebody, I'm like, well, do you know Kim Lee?"
00:05:03,"And they're like, no. And so this is the thing I was. So I told Kim, for today, we're going to do like a Kim Lee series. So a little. So Kim's been open since 2017. And you. When did you join our flight group? I think probably 26. Well, I think it was 2016. It was before we opened and I can remember. So our building is in a live work play, so there's a food hall on the bottom and then we're on the mezzanine, and then it's apartments above us."
00:05:28,"And I was sitting at the bar in the food hall, and the food hall was not open, and I was sitting down there working with construction. And that's when we had our first phone call to check out if I wanted to join the flight group. So it was either. It might have been early 2017 because we opened in September. So it was. It. Yeah. So it was probably the fall or spring of 2017."
00:05:50,"Okay. The flight group. Before it was called flight. It was. It was before the coworking startup school started. Totally. Yeah. We just started with like a mastermind sort of format and we still have that, which we don't talk about very much. So Kim's been in that for ages. So before the startup school, but now Kim is a coach in our startup school. She's very passionate about the numbers, which is why she's a perfect fit for our program because we are very passionate about people starting spaces that are profitable."
00:06:21,"And Kim also facilitates our community manager calls often and sometimes our mastermind calls. And Kim is better at all of this than I am. Yes, totally. It's. Yes. One of those, like, I mean, I have plenty of superpowers, but you are such a good. Well, we just have different styles. I tend to be very like, okay, let's get to it. And Kim is so great at, like, let's share a win."
00:06:44,"What are you working on next? Like, just. You've great facilitation skills and business skills, and Kim is such a great. I'm like talking about you in the third person. You're such a great operator in that you're. I think you're very intentional and thoughtful. You test a lot of things. You try to track things, like anything, like promotions that you run campaigns, like year after year. She did a training for community managers, which was amazing."
00:07:12,"On your BOGO program. Right. Your summer BOGO program, and walked everybody through, like how they set it up and how they track it and how they promote it. Yeah, Just very intentional. I think you're just an excellent operator. Oh, I'm so grateful for you. I'm so. I mean, I also just adore you every time. I like, I. You know, I wish we caught up more often because I love."
00:07:35,"And we're on the opposite sides of the country. I know. And we did discover Lately that Instagram is presenting us similar feeds. We both commented on one. It was something about bread. Yep. I. For my birthday, which was in March, my husband and daughter got me stuff to make sourdough. Because I keep talking about I'm, you know, way delayed on this trend. Okay, yeah, but I. So I can't even remember what the bread thing was because I haven't looked at it yet."
00:08:03,"But I was like, whatever that is. The other person you follow, I think think came up because of you is shie. No. Oh yes. The super fake girl is like, do it, do it. She's hilarious. Oh God, she was funny. Wait, do you have a ninja creamy? No. Me neither. My neighbors have one, but because of her, I think I might have to get one. Yeah, I totally want to make all of her locale desserts."
00:08:33,"Oh gosh, she's so cute. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I started following her because it said like, Kim Lee follows this person. Well, I never got that bread recipe that I commented on that you had commented on and I should check and see if I have it. Maybe you have to follow them first. And anyway, okay, okay. So Kim, for anybody who wasn't around in 2020 when you were on the podcast last."
00:08:53,"Okay, so you're in the Pizzitz building in Birmingham. Okay. We won't revisit your entire coworking story, but live, work, play right downtown how many you give us though your, you know, this journey on the space because you also an event space and. And not event space. So. Exactly. We opening up our location. It was our first location. And so as any like young new business owner, new coworking space owner, entrepreneur, you know, you want to start small and then grow."
00:09:26,"So we were looking around at different spaces, much smaller and had some Lois on spaces and everything just kept falling through. And so we knew this building that we're in, it's called the Pizzitz building. It's a hundred year old building that was a department store downtown. And they totally restored, had been empty I don't know how long, forever. And so they totally restored it. They took out the middle of the building so that it could become apartments and all the apartments would have windows."
00:09:55,"And so they were saying the mezzanine was going to be coworking. And so we happened to be family friends with the. The VP of the company who was in charge of filling the building. And so I talked to him and he was like, yeah, we have an operator. But he connected me with the land with a broker and kind of went on my way. Well, Then when all these Lois started falling through, I had an advisory board, and they were like, just go back to the Posits building."
00:10:22,"Like, let's see what's going on. And so I did, and our friend was like, yeah, the company that was going to come has backed out, so you can have. We want you to do it. I'm like, okay, great. And they were like, and it's 13, 000 square feet, and it'll be. I can't even remember how much. And it was like, you know, we can't do that. Like, this is not gonna work."
00:10:41,"And so we actually were able to be in the building and we were going to take half the floor and somebody else. Well, actually, we were taking less than half. They had the bigger portion. And so it was perfect. It was like, okay, we can start with 5,000 square feet. I wish we had the startup school, because I would have known that was a bad idea. Not just the 5,000 square feet, but how it was laid out anyways."
00:11:05,"And. And so we were working on everything for probably three or four months, and then the company that was going in with us backed out. So. So then we were able. The. The food hall was about to open. The apartments, people were moving in, and they just wanted the space activated. And so we worked a deal where I was able to grow into the space, which was. So I was able to start small and grow all within the space, which was incredible."
00:11:30,"So we started with 5,000 square feet. We quickly expanded and added. So we're like four giant hallways. So we started with two of the hallways and then quickly added the third, which was all offices and dedicated desks. And then 2019, we were ready to take on the final side. And so we redid our lease. We took on the final side, and it was set to open on March 16."
00:11:58,"2020. Oh, my God. Yeah, so. Or March 15. Our lease officially started on March 15, and March 16 is the day that nobody came to work. And we added events space. So. So it. Actually, it. The. The good side is that we were able to, like, kind of open back up pretty early in early June. And so we never officially closed because we had offices and we were male."
00:12:23,"So, yeah, we were essential. But all of our members, we switched to virtual. And so June, we were able to switch everybody back, and we had plenty of room for people to spread out. So that was the good side. But we did a couple years ago, I can't remember now, maybe last January, 2024. Yeah, 2024, we converted that space and added, like, six more offices. So we were getting traction with our event space."
00:12:53,"It was not an easy event space because it wasn't its own, like that's closed off space. It was open to the. Because we're mezzanine. Um, and so it always was having to be redone. And so we were getting. Some months. We're getting a lot of business and some months was just kind of good, but it was just a lot of work on our team. So I was like, if we can get these offices and have them filled and have recurring revenue and it's easier work for our team, like, that's."
00:13:20,"That's the move. So. Yeah. So now we have 27 offices. We have 13,000 square feet. We have four conference rooms. And then we. We do rent out our main coworking space. And then we have another that's. We call it semi private space. But we will rent out our main coworking space during the day as event space. Yeah, it doesn't happen very often, which is. If it happened often, I think our members would get annoyed."
00:13:49,"But we are always open to doing that. And it. I mean, maybe once or twice a month we'll do that. And you just send an email then to your Flex members and say, close. Yeah. Oh, you just put a sign up. Because we have more spaces they can use. Like you divert them. Yeah, so we just put them in other spaces. We would. Okay. So you don't tell them not to come in."
00:14:12,"You can give them an open office or a meeting room or wherever. Yeah, right. And we have like, our lobby has space in it and where we added the offices, there's countertop seating. And so we have other options. But no, we just put a sign out. Yeah, no, people always ask, like, you know, how to handle that and it depends. If you can divert them into like the next best space, then totally fine."
00:14:34,"But I think even if we couldn't divert them, we would still rent it out and. Yeah, probably send out an email. Yep. Yeah. It's all about the bottom line, Kim. No, you do you. But so. Right. I don't. So I mentioned that Kim is very focused on the numbers. And part of that is because your space is not that efficient. So you have 13,000ft, but because it's a mezzanine and."
00:14:56,"Yeah, yeah. That. It is hard to like, be as profitable as one as if you had a. Like a full floor that didn't have the mezzanine or didn't have the. It's the cut. Is it the cutout that's the problem? Well, it's that the. The. The mezzanine hallways are not wide enough to have offices on both sides. Yep. So you've got offices and then a wide walkway that's not monetizable."
00:15:19,"Yeah. So it's really pretty. It's a beautiful space. Totally. And Kim is super involved in the Birmingham community, and we'll have to have a separate podcast. And I think that you had a podcast for a while where you interviewed all local people. You host a lot of events. You do a lot of community events. Wait, did you do, like, a tailgating party recently? I feel like we were talking to Grace about that."
00:15:42,"Maybe. That was a while ago. Possibly. Yeah. Wait, Andy just voted. Wait, go ahead. We kicked off the. The March Madness with a tailgate. Okay, that was a while ago then. Whoops. Doesn't feel like it. And you were just voted best coworking space in Birmingham. Yeah, totally. So Kim, like, really understands the business model and she's passionate about the people in the space, which I love. And you're always featuring people on your."
00:16:10,"It feels very authentic. That's what I love about your. You're. You're a great marketer, even though you don't have a. You don't really have a marketing background. No. But I mean, it's really. I mean, I do like it. Yeah. Yeah, you like it. And you learn a lot and test a lot, and you've had some. I think the other thing about you is, like, you've had some ups and downs."
00:16:29,"You lost a lot of coworking members after the pandemic. You had to convert your event space back to offices. Like, you're just. You like real life. I think of you as like, you know what you're doing. You're. You are excellent at operating a coworking space. Like, you know all the things to do, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. But it's like, that's what being a business owner is entails."
00:16:51,"Right. It's not always just like, oh, we opened and then up into the right, you know, let's do the next one. So. And I actually had a coach for all, which I probably should have one again, but we ended it and it. And it was kind of like, okay, well, I guess we're gonna close. We just kept on going. Kept going. Yep. Totally. Here you are. Yeah. So, yeah."
00:17:17,"So you're. Wait, are you seven years in? Yeah. I mean, this will be eight, right? September, Right? It will be eight. Which is crazy. Crazy. It's totally crazy. Yeah. You've been doing this for a long time. Okay, let's talk about your mail program. Okay. Yeah. Because Kim is also a coach in our Money maker mail challenge and she, to be totally honest, is the only reason this thing happens because she."
00:17:40,"I know she laughs, but it is. She knows all the things. I think I sort of realized that and was like, hey, can you just be the. Can you just do this? And you're like, sure. I think that's what I do. I. Not every operator is going to have this approach, but you're, you're very thoughtful and you try to be very intentional and like be strategic. And you do a lot of programs like the, the Goldman Sachs program, like the working on your business sort of thinking."
00:18:07,"And you also know how everything works in the business, which is. That's not necessarily a good thing. Not. It's not necessarily. It's very useful for me. Yeah. That you're a strategic thinker and you also know how you do the mail and you have a great team and you're. Yeah. That's another thing. You've had a lot of practice hiring. Yeah. Yes. That's a positive. Nicely. No, I have had all great people."
00:18:36,"I do think in our industry as community managers and when you have part time people, the lifetime is just not as long as we would like. So. Which is. I know it is what it is, but it's. Right. It's totally a reality. And you know, I look at it as when our community managers leave and go somewhere else, they are like, have so many more skills. Yeah. And are like such a better employee."
00:19:02,"So I feel like they really learn a lot and it's a great training ground. Yeah. And you're a great manager. Wait, and you've had one of your team members went on to be like, she. What is she studying to be like a sports agent? No, she's an NFL agent. So cool. Yeah, I love that. And Nil, like college. Like now you get agents for nil, which. Yeah. Yeah."
00:19:26,"Crazy. Okay, your mail program, how many mail clients do you have? Ish. See, I got no prep questions. I know. I was like, kim, let's do a podcast. And I, I was like, I'll send you prep questions. And I was like, I'm actually not going to get you any questions. We have about. We probably have about 2:15 to 2:20. Okay. And we. I think everybody. Well, I guess I shouldn't say everybody."
00:19:52,"If you have a staffed location and there's not a lot of mail places around you, I think you should do it. I think it is a, it is a slow. It's a long play. We actually opened with virtual mail. Like, when we opened our space, we had virtual mail. We have changed platform since then, but. And, and it's really good if you get on with a platform that is bringing you business, that is running ads to bring business."
00:20:20,"Yeah. And so, I mean, we've been open now for seven years and we now have. 215. Yeah. Which is. I always say, like, when's the best time to start a virtual mail program? Yesterday. But the next best time, it's right now because. Right. You're just looking at it as like a few. Every month. A few every month. And it's a pretty sticky business because if you get the right clients in the door, so you want to have the right packages, you don't want to be priced too low, and you want people, you know, and then people say, because it's an."
00:20:49,"It's an address and you have a couple of sexy accounts. I don't know if we're allowed to say who you have, but yeah, I mean, we've got some. Some good ones. Yeah. Happen. Because we've been doing it for so long. Totally. Yeah. So a little luck. A little. Yeah. Just being in the game. Because one of them is $3,000 a month. Ish. That's a good. Yeah. Right. So I think when you say everybody should do a mail program, because if you start early or, you know, it's never too late to start and you build it, it can be a significant source of revenue."
00:21:23,"And it is work. It is work. So, like, I mean, it is. You know, it's federal. Like, it's. You said it's scary work. Yeah. It's like you have serious. It's serious. It's federally regulated. Yeah. But. And so you have to. The people who you hire have to love details. Like, they have to love details. And like. Which is probably no one listening, by the way. If you're an entrepreneur, you probably don't."
00:21:49,"Aren't that great at detail. So. Right. Hire someone who has an opposite skill set. Yes. But it's not. So you just. You have to be somebody who. Who likes details, does not mind doing the same thing every day. If there's like a little bit of a problem, they like to figure it out. And. Yeah. So it. It is like we've had a few situations where we've lost a piece of mail or something went wrong."
00:22:15,"And those situations, when they happen, I rethink everything. It's like, yeah, is it worth it? Is it worth. And it is. We can't we cannot wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Let's close this thing down. There haven't been many, but, but. And then I always do every. I don't know, maybe once a year at least. I totally run the numbers. I'm like, are we actually making money on this?"
00:22:37,"Like with time and, and we do. So it is, it is a really good business. And I mean you can convert people to coworking space members. But the great thing about mail is like as a coworking business, you can sell a certain number of offices and a certain number of coworking spaces and then that's it. You can't make more widgets to sell. Like you're sold and with mail you have no limit."
00:23:01,"So it's just. Or you're left with more complicated products that you could create. Like you've been talking about like masterminds or mentorship programs. Like other things that you're thinking about. Those are all like more complex and yeah. Take more effort to sell and you would have to get more involved. That's not something that you can just have your team run. Yeah. And you manage your mail program only with your existing team."
00:23:26,"Like you don't have somebody come in just to do the mail. Like they sort of fit it into the nooks and crannies. Right. Yeah. So you know, we've gone through several staff iterations. How we hire, not how we hire, but how we're going to staff. And right now we have one lady, I always say girl, cuz, but one lady who she is like 8 to 2:30 and then another lady comes in at noon."
00:23:57,"And that's sort of different than the last hire that we had. So. So the person who works in the afternoon, she does the mail and then kind of like takes over community manager roles in the afternoon. So we have a. About one and a half. Like our staff is like one part, you know, shakes out to be a full time and a part time. Okay. But for 13,000 square feet."
00:24:18,"And that's about right, that's about, that's about feel a little lean or about Right. Well, what's been really great is having the first shift is not full like the, the team that we have now and had right before this one, they were able to help cover each other. And so like having some flexibility in your team too. If they can stay a little bit later or come a little bit earlier or cover each other's shifts, like if they have that flexibility, it makes it work."
00:24:54,"Yeah. So yeah, right now it's okay. It Sometimes, you know, when we have a lot of bookings or we have events and other bookings, then it can feel a little lean. But overall it's pretty. Pretty good. Good. Got it. Okay. So they do. They manage the mail at a certain time every day. Like, is there a routine that they have? So, so we've worked on that and what we found out is it's best when our afternoon shift comes in."
00:25:30,"They do the mail right then so that our community manager is still here and they can do the mail without getting interrupted. So we did it the opposite way. Like there was a. The role before it was actually sales and operations. And so it was like, while our community manager's here, you sit in the back, work on sales, then come forward when she leaves, take over the front desk and do the mail like from 2:30 on."
00:25:54,"And he just kept getting interrupted. And so the mail would take like three to four hours. It was like, okay, we gotta, we gotta flip this. You do the mail while the community manager's here so that she's the one who's answering the questions and you can stay focused. And so that. That's made a big difference. So it takes about two. An hour and a half to two and a half hours a day."
00:26:14,"Okay. Yep. Yeah. And those are the kinds of just practical things that you've experimented with that actually make a big difference. Because to your point, like, well, how much time does it take? Well, your team might be reporting it takes four hours to do the math, but. Or sorry to do the mail. But that's because they're getting interrupted every 10 minutes and then like have to get. Get back to it."
00:26:34,"So. Yeah. And then like, we just got a male client that, you know, most of the time they say they're not going to get mail or they're not going to make requests. This male client, super high maintenance. Yeah. Yeah, super high maintenance. Which is great. You know, great. I'm like, listen, we're making more money. But when they were getting interrupted and they had 40 or 50 pieces of mail to scan for the one person, like it just took, you know, two hours to get through one person."
00:27:03,"So it's really having them both here at the same time and the male person not get interrupted has made a big difference. Yeah, I see that. Yeah. Happen or that really work. We used to do the same thing, which was wonderful. Just focus time for the mail and that's all the person was doing for a certain time slot. And so it just didn't feel that stressful. So I was just talking to the new CEO at any time."
00:27:28,"Mailbox. Because Matt is not CEO Morgan. And I was telling him, like, you know, it's actually very. Can be very intimidating or overwhelming for people to start with mail. Which is why we run the challenge. Because, yes, you can figure it out. Yes, you can go online and Google things. Yes, you can sign up with referral partners and they'll give you some training. But there's a lot of moving parts and even things like, right, should I dedicate, you know, a certain time slot to it?"
00:27:53,"How does the team manage it? Like, there's just a lot of things. You want to operationalize and figure out how that works for you. But I'm curious, just, like, what is it? Do you think that's sort of overwhelming for people or feels like a hurdle to, like, get started? And you've seen people go through the challenge, like, what do you think is helpful about the challenge? I mean, besides Kim Lee, small plug for the challenge."
00:28:19,"So the first time you did the challenge, I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this. One, just to see if there's any little tweaks, because we've been doing mail for a long time. And two, I was like, and she might need me on the call, so I should just go through it and see. So literally it was. I went in thinking, okay, what tweaks can I have? And I came out with, like, three new products."
00:28:41,"Like, totally redid our landing page. Had three or four different products that I added. So even if you have done the mail channel, even if you have been doing mail, if there are things that you want to focus on, you know, I went in for small tweaks, which would have been worth it too, but came out with like, do everything. So. But I think people get overwhelmed because there's a lot of moving parks in the co Working business."
00:29:05,"I think a lot of people kind of. Or maybe some people do mail on their own for their. Just their members. And so they think, we've got it covered, so we don't need this. But if they aren't very aware of the revenue opportunity. Yeah. And. And like, the legality of what you can and can't do. Handling people's mails, like, yeah. Intimidating. Yeah. And so I think that. And it's like, well, it's not going to be that much, or there's already other places, or we're already doing so much."
00:29:36,"And so I think a lot of people know they need to do it, but it just kind of gets put off because it. It. You know, it's easier than changing. It's easier to set up than changing your membership software or signing up. You've also done. Yeah, which I've done. It's much easier than that. So don't put it off. Just do it. Because. And. And I mean, the challenge really does."
00:29:58,"I mean, it's amazing what people accomplish in those 10 or 12 weeks. If you go in with the mindset that you're going to finish. Yeah. And it's funny because every time we set it up, I think, is this too long? And then I go through it and think, no, people need time to, you know, implement things and to come with their questions. Like, I'm thinking about Jody, and Jody was going to do a podcast session, and then something came up."
00:30:23,"But Jody's, like, also a great, you know, she's like, super savvy. And she hadn't done a mail program. And she's like, I just don't. You know, she just had lots of, like, mystery. Like, she just couldn't sort of picture like, how's this really gonna work? And so we'd be like, just. You would just do it. Just do this thing and then come back and ask your questions and we'll just tell you what to do."
00:30:45,"And that's what she did. And I think she got a really big client, too. That was like 3K plus. That was Google business address, you know, address related. But it was a good nut for her because she's, you know, in her. She's early. I. We interviewed Christine Tosi. You probably haven't listened to the podcast yet, but she was like one of our gunners. She would show up to all the calls and she won all the points."
00:31:06,"And they just. They're launching their second location with virtual. Virtual mails already. It's the spaces under construction. They already have male clients. Oh, amazing. Right? So they're already making money on that location before they're paying rent or anything. So. Yeah. And she was another one, kind of like you. She had a basic program and she's selling some premium packages, too. Anyway, she's. She. You can listen to that episode."
00:31:30,"Okay. But super fun. Yeah. It's also. Well, I'll ask you this. Instead of just saying what I think, what do you think is the benefit of doing it live, like, with a cohort? Well, I think one. To learn from other people. Other people ask questions that you may not even think to ask. And you're like, oh, I should be thinking about that. And just hearing other people's ideas, their processes of what they're thinking."
00:31:54,"How they're setting it up and then also the accountability to get it done. So, I mean, you can definitely do it on your own, but having other people do it at the same time and then coming together and so seeing what they did, what you did, being able to talk about it. There is a, like, dedicated Q and A call that you don't have to go to, but you can pop in with your questions or you can listen to other people's questions is, you know, I think it's invaluable."
00:32:23,"Yeah, I think that was one of the surprises for me was that people really just like the community aspect of it. We had a great group in the last cohort and people would show up to the calls, which is great. Sometimes they don't. Right. Because, you know, owners are busy and it's usually the owner. Sometimes we'd have a community manager that kind of empowered and. Yeah, and also the accountability because I think as operators, we have a lot of stuff on our list of things we're working on and I know I'm that way."
00:32:52,"Like, sometimes I just need it to be time bound. And I think the other nice thing is people look at it. We sort of like, encourage people. Think about making your money back in the program, right? Like, get it set up so that you're making money and it pays for the fee to go through the investment in the program. And so I think that's a really good mindset for people to have."
00:33:10,"So they don't just like, buy it and let it sit on the shelf and then they don't do it and they don't get, you know, make it. And I think it's broken down in a way that it's not like you're going to come to the call and then have 10 hours of work to do before the next day. Like, it's broken down in a way where I honestly, I can't really remember, but I feel like it's pretty manageable, chunks like an hour of work, you know, like, it's not."
00:33:33,"It's broken down so that the work load is also not a ton and that you'll. You can. You can be fully functioning by the end if. Yeah. The post office cooperates. Which we help with too, though. And that's one of the nice things about the program is like, we're kind of really on your side around helping you make sure you get your CMRA status approved and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, okay."
00:34:00,"If you had one, I don't know, tip words of encouragement to give somebody about their mail program. What would you say? So? Well, I would say you should do it. And I would say for a long time I was one of the operators who we were with just with Anytime Mailbox for a long time. And this is probably some of the hesitation too. And other people would have multiple platforms that they're working with."
00:34:28,"And I was just like, we're doing good. Like, we can't have another one. We can't add the chaos. Like, I don't what would we do with mail coming in and how would we handle it? And so I think it was two summers ago I finally bit the bullet and we signed up with I postal as well. I postal one as well. And it was like, oh, that was so easy."
00:34:48,"Like we just got a good system on how to handle from different. And we are only on two different platforms really. Which for us, you know, I, I do like to make money. I don't want to leave money on the table. So if there was another platform that I thought could bring us more money and it would fit in with our systems, then I would definitely consider it."
00:35:08,"But it is like you should be listed on the. On multiple. Any platform that is paying Google Ads in your area, you should, you should get listed. And when you're building your program, if you can build it around that idea. So like, so how we do it is we have mailboxes, something, you know, 100 through 300 or whatever are anytime mailbox. Mailbox 300 through 500 are ipostal. So when we sort mail, we automatically know where it's going."
00:35:39,"So if you can think of your system in that way, like these are the people who are paying Google Ads and I want to work with them and have, you know, set it up from the beginning. That way it makes it a lot more. Man, it is really not scary. Like, the platforms are different, but you're doing the same type of thing that it's not that hard to figure it out."
00:36:01,"And you know, if, if somebody's paying Google Ads for me, like, I want to take advantage of it. Totally. Yep. I love that I forgot that you. It took you a while to get on another platform. And that's one of the things we go through too in the challenge is helping you. And now I'm like two at the beginning. Like, do nothing sounds like. And so I do, you know, I do think it's good to sign up with one and kind of get used to it and then two weeks later or a month or two later sign up with the other one."
00:36:29,"But it also, it's not, you're not gonna. When you sign up for a platform, it's not like you're going to get 50 people right away. So it is a very slow learning. Totally. It's not like. Right. The male mailman's going to walk in with a, you know, Home Depot bucket of mail for you to sort on day one. Totally. Yeah. It'll be approachable. Yeah. Okay. Well, there's so many things that topics we could talk about."
00:36:55,"We'll wrap that one up. Well, you're also on the GWA advisory board and you've been doing that for a while. You've been involved in, you've been to a number of conferences. It's my favorite thing when I get to see Kim Lee in person. This past year. Phoenix. Oh, I was there the year before. I had to cancel the last minute, but yeah, Phoenix, Chicago. So yeah. You're going to Chicago?"
00:37:19,"Is that what you said? Yeah. It's so close. That's easy for you. Yeah, that's easy. Phoenix was so fun. But yeah, yeah, I'll be in Chicago and I, I, I think it's a great resource for operators. It's a great, the, the conference is a great way to connect. They've started doing the. Oh, gosh. Immersive. Immersive. Yes. I just lost the word. The like one or one and a half day immersive events all around the country, which is really."
00:37:46,"You can find. It's not intended for you to fly across the country to go to the one in San Francisco when you live in Birmingham, but we just had one in Nashville. So like being able to if you can, it's great. You always learn stuff and meet people, but it kind of like gets you connected in your region and allows you to have access to the content without having to fly."
00:38:07,"Yep. And there's. They're doing one in December in Atlanta. Oh, I don't. Yeah. Which is totally in your neck of the woods. And actually, since you're going to be there, maybe I'll go. There's so much good coworking in Atlanta and I haven't been in ages. Yeah, there's a lot. Yeah. So they do space tours. I just went to the one in San Francisco and I really, we talked about it on our operator call, but not on the podcast yet."
00:38:29,"I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I love like the big. Although, I mean, I've been to every conference since 2013. I mean forever. I was actually thinking about taking this year off, but I definitely can't miss, I cannot miss Chicago. But the immersive is such a nice format because it's a small room and you can, you know, chat with everybody. Of course, I couldn't go to day two because Dagny had her knee surgery, but so I miss the space tours."
00:38:55,"And they do space tours, and it's just like if you're an introvert or, like, things to be more chill to your point, like, although people did fly in. The other thing I'll say about conferences, which you've probably started to experience because you've been to a bunch too, is like, when you go. I think it was J. Maybe it was James Crenshaw. He's the. One of the founders of Gather."
00:39:14,"He said, I'm just going because I realize when you go repeatedly, you get to. You get more comfortable, you get to know people. You know, you build relationships versus, like, going once every five years or whatever. So I think that's totally true. Are you still on the board? I don't even know. No, you're not. Okay. Not technically, no. No, you had rolled off, and Gio was probably hoping I'd be a little more helpful on the San Francisco event, but I was like, no, it's all you, dude."
00:39:43,"Gio is such a. He's so good at content. He's very gifted. I mean, I think I'm good at content too, but he is really gifted at putting together content, piecing together speakers, and he knows everybody. The content at Immersive was so good. I was like, gio, what are you gonna do for the big conference? Yeah, just really good topics, great speakers. It's. Yeah. Not that this is a conference pitch, but, yeah, he."
00:40:08,"He did a great job. So Chicago will be a lot of fun. Yep. Yeah. Cool. Okay. Kim Lee, until next time, thank you for talking about Mail with us and giving a little bit of insight into your business. Maybe next time we'll talk about team or marketing. Okay. Yeah, you're in. All right. Yep. Okay. Well, thanks for having me. I always love it. Thank you for listening to today's episode."
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