Side Projects
as Organic Marketing
Do What You Love
Agustín Jamardo · Anceu Coliving
ECHN Workshop @ Sende"How do you market your creative hub?"
I think it's the wrong question.
Our answer to that question
...accidentally became our best marketing.
Yes, you need to bring people in. That's not optional.
- Word of mouth works
- SEO works
- But side projects do something different
Instead of marketing you hate, you do activities you love—
and they attract people who already share your values.
Anceu Coliving
Rural Galicia, Spain
- 98-person village
- 30 min from Pontevedra
- 1h from the nearest (very small) airport
- Remote workers seeking rural life
- 15-60 day stays
The challenge: attracting people to a tiny village they've never heard of—and most don't even know what coliving is.
Four things we built
Not because we wanted customers.
Because we wanted them to exist.
Story 1
Hacker Days
What: Week-long hackathon. Technologists solve real rural problems.
Hacker Days
Why we did it
"We're tech people. We saw villagers manually reading 100+ counters at least 3 times a year. That's a problem we wanted to solve—hackathon was the format we knew."
2025 edition → Punto de Agua: A CRM for 1,500+ rural water communities—replacing paper and pen with a webapp.
Hacker Days
The marketing effect
- National press coverage
- Participants who return as guests
- Open-source project (puntodeagua.com)
- Anceu's name in water management conversations
We didn't plan any of this. We just wanted to fix the water problem.
Story 2
Fuchiqueiras
What: Monthly maker meetups in the village communal house.
3D printing, sewing, biomaterials, AI basics, traditional cooking. Locals + colivers together.
Fuchiqueiras
Why we did it
"We're always doing too many things. I never had time to explore the maker space tools we had. With Fuchiqueiras, I know we'll spend time on it every month."
"We wanted a maker space. We didn't have money for one. So we started meeting monthly with whatever skills people had."
The name means "the art of curiosity" in Galician.
Fuchiqueiras
The marketing effect
- Blog post ranks for "rural maker community"
- Creates ongoing content
- Shows real integration with locals
- Key trust signal for potential guests
Story 3
Entre Culturas
What: Cultural exchange events. International guests cook dishes from their countries, local musicians play, village and coliving mix.
Entre Culturas
Why we did it
"We love to eat, dance, and listen to music. And we love putting people together. Entre Culturas is the perfect way to do all of that."
Entre Culturas
The marketing effect
- Photos and stories that show the vibe
- Better than any copywriting could
- Colivers share these moments
Story 4
Pegadas do Recordo
What: 5km of forgotten paths reopened. Villagers' stories recorded with NFC markers along the route.
24 people from 11 nationalities worked with locals.
Pegadas do Recordo
Started with Rogelio
I go for walks with Rogelio, an 80-year-old man from Anceu.
He teaches me about the paths, the history, what used to be where.
One day he showed me a path that's now forest—it used to be farmland, but nobody remembers.
That conversation became this project.
Pegadas do Recordo
The marketing effect
- YouTube videos that live forever
- The paths are open
- Ongoing project that keeps evolving
- Born at an ECHN workshop we hosted
Some of you were there when this started.
Four different projects
Different formats. Different scales.
But they share a pattern—
and that pattern is something you can steal.
The Pattern
1. Start from passion, not strategy
Do what you'd do even if nobody came. Your energy is the signal.
Anti-pattern: "Ceramics is trending, let's offer ceramics workshops"
2. Solve real problems
Hacker Days solves water management. Fuchiqueiras fills the maker space gap.
Anti-pattern: Creating content for content's sake
3. Mix your people with locals
Entre Culturas and Fuchiqueiras blend colivers + village. Stories worth telling.
Anti-pattern: Events only for your community
4. Make it open
Open-source code, open events, open documentation. Generosity travels.
Anti-pattern: Gatekeeping your "secret sauce"
The authenticity filter
"If you wouldn't do it for free, with no audience, don't do it for marketing.
People can smell the difference."
Why passion matters more than strategy
- Energy is visible — When you're genuinely excited, it shows. Guests feel the difference.
- Sustainability — Marketing tactics burn you out. Projects you love energize you.
- Attraction vs. promotion — Promotion says "look at us." Attraction says "look at this interesting thing."
Back to Rogelio
He always gives value to the local initiatives we do.
He sees his village coming alive again.
That feeling—that's why we do this.
The marketing is just what happens along the way.
Your turn
- Write down 3 things you'd love to do—not because they'd attract people, but because you want them to exist.
- Pick the one that excites you most—not the one that sounds best as marketing.
- Do it small, do it soon. Fuchiqueiras started with 10 people. Pegadas started with one walk.
- Document it honestly. Not polished promo—just what happened.
"The projects that work aren't the ones designed to attract people.
They're the ones that are worth doing anyway—
and the right people find their way to them."
even if nobody came?
Thank you
Let's talk about what you'd build.
Agustín Jamardo