Thomas R. Koll  wrote:
> Easy to win. Just ask them: "How did you get here?" Unless they founded it,
> they came here thanks to marketing. Even word-to-mouth is marketing.
> Bigger mouth, shout louder and you have more success :)

Shouting makes people cover their ears. Whispering makes them curious. Choose wisely.

But yes, this is the fundamental truth: You are surrounded in your city by thousands of potential members, who don't know you exist. Fix that. Marketing is the act of fixing that.

Make a simple flyer, not too many words. Lots of whitespace. Just a few concepts, a few "teaser" questions, and a URL to learn more. But don't even say "learn more". They'll figure it out. But, consider including a note at the bottom: "Save paper - take a photo of this flyer instead". Many people will, and the action of taking the photo will give you a foothold in their mind, which you wouldn't get if they simply shoved the paper in their pocket. 

Then, go do something else.

for instance: Do you enjoy geocaching? Go to a CITO event or cachers' meetup. Slip a few copies of the flyer to a few cool people. Don't just shove them into everyone's hand -- let people get curious and come ask, instead. But make sure you're there primarily to help with the task at hand, and answering questions about your other hobby is just incidental.

Basically, look at all the hobbies enjoyed by your current members, and assume that there might be more people who do those things, who would also enjoy a hackerspace. 

That should bring some people through the door. Keeping the interesting ones is a separate question, and it largely hinges on whether people feel useful. But that's for you to work out. :)

-Nate-
