Alex Hillman: "One Business That's Thriving and One That's Dying"

Alex Hillman is always thinking about the intersection of people, relationships, trust, and business. These days, he splits his time between running Indy Hall (Philly’s oldest coworking space), teaching creative people how to bootstrap their own business, and collaborating with people and organizations towards the goal of helping 10,000 people become sustainably independent by 2029. He’s worked globally with hundreds of coworking operators and thousands of business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to deploy his lessons in the intersection of business and community building. Alex’s expertise has contributed to everything from academic research to mainstream media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, WIRED magazine, and many more.” In this episode, Alex and I delve deep into the reality of running two dramatically different businesses before and during a pandemic. He explains the importance of understanding your community, how to be directly involved in their progress, and why he and his business partner choose to focus on being great teachers instead of being all about the profit. We also talk about life when Alex was broke, profit margins, and how he’s working to sustain a coworking space business during a pandemic despite the challenges that come with it.                  “Don’t just have all the money, have the control.” -Alex Hillman Connect with Alex Hillman : Indy Hall Community Stacking the Bricks Twitter Mastodon Instagram 240+ Precise Interests You Can Use In Your Targeting   Today's episode is brought to you by a Google spreadsheet. People tell me all the time that choosing Facebook and Instagram ad targeting makes them want to throw their computer out the window and I don't blame them. There are a ton of options and that makes it easy for you to flush money down the Zuckerberg drain. So, I put together a big old list of what Facebook calls ‘Interests’ for you and a totally free spreadsheet separated out by niche. I also created a short PDF that explains how to go about using those interests so you don't waste a ton of time putting together your audience.    Take the guessing out of Facebook and Instagram ad targeting.  Get my glorious spreadsheet and explainer PDF here.    Now it’s time to GET PAID   Thanks for tuning into the Get Paid Podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe, rate, and leave your honest review. Connect with me on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, visit my website for even more detailed strategies, and be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media.   Now, it’s time to go get yourself paid.