This is not an advertisement for a smoke filled room playing jazz and offering whisky neat. Nor is it Jessica Rabbit ambling around singing “It had to be you” like a Looney Tunes version of Marilyn Monroe.

This is a blog about the Open Shed wanted feature and how it can work for you.

The Wanted List has the potential to be a magical place. Here you can dream of things you might need that don’t exist on Open Shed currently. It is the place for other members to don their Super Hero under-dacks and dive through cyberspace saying “Yes, I can help you! Look!”

And whilst we’ve connected people up for tennis and music and a few other things, we’re yet to crack the magic formula of getting the majority of our Wanteds filled by the time they expire. We’d dearly love to change that.

First of all, we’re going to institute ourselves a little plan of connecting up with small businesses, musicians, tradies, collectors and anyone else we can think of to see if we can’t increase our chances. So if you know anyone (including you) who has great stuff that lies idle a lot of the time who could benefit from making use of Open Shed to turn that down time into a happy piggy bank, by all means let us know.

Secondly, you may have noticed we’re getting a little more into a routine with promoting our Wanted List on Facebook and Twitter.

On our Facebook page Wednesday is the day where you can pop up like a Meer cat and check who needs what. (Admittedly, we’re sometimes posting it when it’s Wednesday in Denver Colorado as opposed to the Eastern seaboard of Australia but we are getting there!)

On Twitter, we’re promoting these Wanted Items on a regular basis. Please, if you see them flying past, RT them for us. The more people who see it, the better the chance of getting that Wanted fulfilled. Even if you aren’t local, you may have a follower who is and getting the message to them would be super, dooper.

Finally, please keep listing your heart’s desires in the Wanted List and/or keep checking what other people list. The Open Shed HQ is setting ourselves a little challenge to reach a 50% clearance rate by Halloween and 80% by New Year- so feel free to treat it as a way of you throwing down the gauntlet to us too! Just be prepared, if you do order a giant panda to make sure you have enough bamboo to keep that guy well fed, alright?

Seriously though- have a think and post us something you do want and we will do our very best to get it for you. We need to test ourselves in this area so every time you send us through a Wanted, consider it your way of sending Open Shed to Bootcamp to get fitter and better at getting you the stuff you need.

If you do post a Wanted, remember to:

• Promote it on Facebook to your friends. You’ll be surprised how many people will jump in to help if you do that!
• Tweet it out on Twitter.
• Include a suggested visual with your listing so people can spot it easily.

Small things, but they have increased the chance of finding the right item for other members in the past.

As someone once said “It’s OK to be a wantie!” – So why not be a wantie on Open Shed? What would you love to experience for a day if you got the chance?

This blog was brought to you by Unashamedly Creative. Unashamedly Creative is the nom de plume for creative Sydney copywriter and strategic freelance marketer, Rebekah Lambert. Rebekah is passionate about Open Shed- check out her listings!

1. Studio apartments and kayaks don’t mix.
2. A drill is useful when you first move in to put up paintings and shelves, not so useful if you keep stubbing your toe on it every time you go to the laundry.
3. Paying for storage sucks.
4. It’s really nice to help your neighbours out.
5. Because every married couple has at least 3 wedding presents they didn’t want but can’t get rid of in case they offend a relative.
6. Beer tastes better when you brew it yourself.
7. The planet will thank you for it.
8. Having an arm like an Orang-utan from carting porta-cots to the airport for family holidays isn’t a great look.
9. Moving is so much better when you have a trolley that likes stairs.
10. You don’t really know if you really would get a lot of use out of a gadget until you spend some time with it.
11. Having a BBQ is great fun. Having it instead of space under your clothesline, not so much.
12. Wearing your ski suit to work to justify owning it is just plain weird.
13. Holding a local street party is great entertainment for the kids.
14. Open Shed is like a magic genie. You can turn the dream list of things you want into reality for a weekend.
15. You could meet someone who shares the same passion for sports, music, arts or home improvement you do through their things.
16. Whilst recycling and re-use are great, reducing what we use is much better for the environment.
17. Kids grow out of toys far too quickly.
18. Other people’s camping gear can turn “Camping- yuck!” into “Camping- fun!”
19. Man is yet to convincingly fit a bicycle in their overhead luggage when travelling on business.
20. The local library usually doesn’t have a lot of books on astrology, startup culture or alternative perspectives in psychology.
21. You can never have enough cowbell.
22. Australians send over 690 kilograms of waste each to landfill every year (source: Clean Up Australia). Sharing stuff can help reduce that.
23. Put your hand up if you’ve ever bought something you thought you might use but didn’t.
24. Jukeboxes are great to have at parties but look a little funny when hanging out in your kitchen.
25. Saving and making sweet, sweet dinero.
26. It’s a really nice feeling to know you are helping another person out.
27. You’ve never made pasta before but you’d love to try.
28. Tap dancing is awesome! With the shoes, not in the sink.
29. Just because you don’t use it that often doesn’t mean it shouldn’t get used.
30. ABBA costume. No explanation required.
31. It’s nice to think your surfboard is off on another adventure even if you are stuck in the office.
32. Rainy days and indoor cubby houses are excellent for preserving parental sanity.
33. Playing poker on a Friday night in the garage with the boys makes you feel like a super cool bad arse, even if you’re learning.
34. There are too many bread-makers in this country staring hopefully at sunlight streaming through the pantry door.
35. Setting up a balcony veggie garden to save money is a lot easier when you don’t have to buy a lot of tools.
36. Life is much sweeter when you’re riding on a bicycle built for two.
37. Teaching kids the value of sharing is much easier when you do it too.
38. You don’t have to own something to experience the fun it can bring.
39. Seeing if your love of photography extends past Instagram.
40. You let the dog out for a wee and that’s the last time you saw him in the jungle you jokingly refer to as your backyard.
41. You’d secretly like to try an iPad out but don’t want to admit you bought an Apple product.
42. Finding the seemingly unfindable hire item through people power.
43. Beer keg dispenser = instant popularity.
44. Its crap the wife will let you keep if its crap that makes money.
45. Saying “yeah, I’ve been known to paddle board” is not something everyone can do.
46. You like to try new things.
47. You’re a serial hobbyist, dedicated pack rat or shop-a-holic that really, really needs an excuse.
48. There’s something really nice about knowing your stuff is off making other people’s lives easier.
49. Sharing with your neighbours gives you a reason to say hello.
50. Why buy when you can share?

We’ve held a wee bit of a working bee and spruced up some of the Open Shed features recently. Our aim is to make your Open Shed experience a member friendly and community orientated one, so we’ve done a lot of work around making things easier to use and more flexible for your needs. Here are the major changes in no particular order.

Makeover Time

Whilst Open Shed is still the collaborative consumption site you know and love, we thought it was a great idea to give her a little bit of a Winter Makeover. As part of her fashionable new look, you can now enjoy:

• No more “choose your own” categories: Open Shed now has a set list of categories you can choose to post a Rental and/or Wanted item in.
• Search Listings is the way to go: Whether you want to check what is listed to rent on Open Shed or are checking out to see if you can help with a Wanted Listing, you choose “Search Listings”. We’ve also given the look a bit of a refresh too to make what you are looking for easier to find and nicer to look at.
• Say bye, bye the “$$$” motif: You still rent your items for cash, however your feedback has told us you would like to see more about community, helping each other out, the environment and sharing so we want to reflect your values in how Open Shed looks. We’ve done some light changes to reflect this, and will have some very spunky new messaging appearing soon so stay tuned!

Wanted: Alive and Revamped

Wanted Listings have undergone a few significant changes, all of which is designed to make it easier for people who want an item connect with someone who can help in the simplest way.

• Wanted Listings are no longer on their own page: We found that a lot of people would list Wanted items that were already on the site or that members who may have something listed in the Wanted area don’t necessarily check what is listed. So we have combined Wanted Listings as part of general listings so you can find them easier. You can spot the difference by seeing a green WANTED next to the items that are Wanted Listings.
• Posting photos is now part of Wanted Listings: We understand with some items a picture really does help someone visualise what you are looking for, so now you can post a photo as a guide to what you are looking for as part of your Wanted Listing.
• Other people’s suggestions are now visible: You can now see any suggestions other members have made in response to a Wanted Listing. This helps avoid doubling up suggestions and to help give further insight into what you might be able to offer in their quest to find the right item.

FAQ is always there for you

In addition to the current FAQ page, when you use a particular feature you will get help about that feature on the same page. For example, if you are Listing an Item, you will see FAQ’s like “What kinds of things can you share on Open Shed?” and “What should I include in my item’s description?” on the right hand side. If you click on the blue question, the info you need will expand out so you can read it and work out what to do next without leaving the page you are on. Nifty, huh?

In this for the long haul

Open Shed is all about making a site that works the best for you- so when we had a member/someone ask about hiring a camera for 7 weeks and the owner keen and looking to offer a discount, we knew we’d found two new features that would really help our members.

• Long Rentals: You can now have a standard rental - which is a maximum of 25 days, and a long term rental- which can be as long as you want! This is ideal for anyone who might be looking to have an item for an extended period of time such as travelling looking for a camera/camping or backpacking gear, training for a specific sporting milestone like a marathon or even owner/builders who might need tools for an extended period of time to get the job done.
• Make an Offer: As an owner, you can also Make an Offer on your items. This feature is super simple to use and is a part of Conversations. You can offer a special rental price for a member in private to encourage long rentals, to offer your item to a friend for a reduced rate or a variety of different reasons. This feature always keeps you in control of setting the rental price, it simply offers more flexibility for different circumstances.

Feel free to let us know what you think of the new changes- this is your community after all! We really learn a lot from your use of Open Shed and your ideas and would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Happy shedding!

This blog was brought to you by Unashamedly Creative Unashamedly Creative is the nom de plume for creative Sydney copywriter and strategic freelance marketer, Rebekah Lambert. Rebekah is passionate about Open Shed- check out her listings!

We recently conducted a survey to find out what you loved, liked and weren’t so warm and fuzzy during your Open Shed experience. We were surprised and very grateful for the responses! The passion you showed for collaborative consumption and also how genuinely interested in Open Shed people are was very heart warming- so thank you very much!

We have taken some time to distil all your awesome feedback- and here it is in overview.

How did you first hear about Open Shed?

Friend power is driving the Open Shed word about town with 26% of respondents being friends of co-founders Duncan and Lisa and just over 18% found out through a friend due to the survey, or through general conversation. Couple this with social media like Facebook and Twitter accounting for almost 20% and we can see word of mouth certainly is certainly our ally! Thanks for being so vocal about Open Shed- we really appreciate it! If at any time we can help you spread the word further, just give us a shout!

What sorts of Open Shed services have you made use of over time?

Considering quite a few of you have discovered us via social media, it comes at no surprise that just over 39% of respondents track us through social media. From our sample, 26% of you have taken the plunge and already listing your items- Yay! Interestingly, 26% of people have checked out the Open Shed site but haven’t popped their hand up to join, list or even follow the journey on social media or the blog. Don’t be shy- we’re a pretty friendly bunch! The more the merrier and we’d dearly love to have you join in on our journey in some way!

Have you used any of the following collaborative consumption businesses?

55% of you have not used a collaborative consumption business- whoa Nelly do we feel privileged that you are popping by to check us out! If we have whetted your appetite for collaborative consumption and you haven’t checked them out, please see Lisa’s blog posts on her picks here.

It’s great to see the original re-use artists Reverse Garbage have seen over almost 23% of you finding something to re-use and 18% have been riding the couch surfing travel wave through AirBnB - and that the collaborative consumption message is catching on with car share, LETS and all kinds of great ideas.

Why are you interested in Open Shed? (What is it that interests you about Open Shed?)

We asked you to give us all the reasons you might be interested in Open Shed here. Just under 83% of you like the idea of sharing with other people! This is great news because this is the true heart of collaborative consumption- bringing people together to share what we all have so everyone can benefit!

52% of you want to lessen your environmental impact and 40% are truly passionate about your being active and supportive in your local community.

Contrary to what we had been lead to believe (sometimes by naysayers admittedly), we found 29% of you were interested in the cash side of things, but helping others, not being wasteful, sharing and community were much more important than cold, hard, folding notes. It’s moments like this that make Open Shed even more awesome- because we can now say our members and our Open Shed friends choose us because they care about people, the planet and making their community a positive one in which to exist!

What kinds of items interest you the most?

Attracting the handy, well travelled, rugged outdoorsy type is an Open Shed speciality - or so says our survey results with 65% of you being interested in DIY, a further 40% being interested in gardening, 36% interested in sharing travel and holiday equipment and 33% wanting to pump up the exercise regime. However everyone is willing to share loads and loads- books, cooking stuff, the latest IT, kid’s toys- hell, we even had a request for power boats and sheds! Again, we asked you to give us all the reasons you might be interested in Open Shed here.

What kinds of situations would prompt you to rent an item?

Once again, we asked you to give us all the reasons you might be interested in Open Shed here. Short life tasks around the home and a bit of the old fashioned DIY is what 70% and 69% respectively say interest you the most.

53% closely follow on the heels with their party hats on for those one day hires for one off special events.

You also want to try new things, have cool stuff for your holidays, use things for creative endeavours and try before you buy. Is it safe to say almost anything goes?

Why would you list an item?

We’ve heard a lot of theories about why you might want to list an item, so we wanted to make sure we also captured each motivation for listing in this question too. Getting a bit of extra pocket money tickles 55% of you when it comes to listing an item, 49% of you just want to help other people out and 32% just want to share the joy their things give them with others (you sweet little things), and 42% would just like to feel a little less guilty about how much stuff you have accumulated. All things that are extremely valid and all things we can relate to 100% of the time.

Why haven’t you listed an item/more items?

Topping the list of reasons why you haven’t listed are being unsure what people would rent from you, you haven’t got the time to tackle the task of listing, you don’t know the value of your items in terms of bond and rental and you’ve only just discovered Open Shed and need a little more time. We get it and we are here to help!

Couple of tips for you-

• If you are worried about what you should and shouldn’t rent, check out what other people have listed, check what sorts of things people are looking for in these survey results, share things your friends often borrow from you already, and ask us for help and advice!

• Time is a big thing for most people, but your commitment to Open Shed can be as big or as small as you want it to be. Just try listing one item and see how you go. Or you can get ideas from Bek’s quick and dirty guide to renting.

When working out the value equation behind a listing, follow the calculator on this page. Keep in mind when you are renting from someone else, whilst a price may look expensive compared to retail, you are gaining easy access, not having to worry about extra space for a new item, the ability to find something near you for a short usage and check both the daily and weekly prices as quite a few items are much cheaper for a longer rental period to discourage one day borrowing.

For those of you who have just discovered Open Shed, you take all the time you need- we’re glad to have you! Welcome aboard! Make sure you check out our blog to get the full picture!

Would you travel for a rental?

Admittedly, the Open Shed team have puzzled over this one privately for a while. However thanks to your honesty, we now have an answer. 30% of you want your Open Shed experience to be local, 26% of you would only travel if it was a rare or special item and a further 25% would as long as it wasn’t longer than half an hour.

What could we do to make Open Shed more your kind of thing?

Topping the pops for making Open Shed your kind of thing are having more stuff in your local area, having more variety of items available and concerns about not getting your items back in one piece. We get it, which is why we will be choosing some target areas to focus on to draw more people to Open Shed and looking at partners who may be able to allay those fears about items being returned in not so good condition.

We do want to remind you all though that Open Shed is run on people power. So if you want more items to rent in your local area, help us by promoting us in your community! And if you want more variety, why not lead the charge by listing things you have? Or if you are worried about people not taking care of your items, remember to set an appropriate bond to deter breakage, remember you have the right to decline a rental if you don’t feel right about the person AND if you have insurance, most of the time this will be covered.

Where do we find you and where to next?

Most of our responses came from Sydney and Melbourne - however we crossed the Nullarbor and got a holler or two from WA, ducked into Adelaide, did a small regional tour from QLD before hitting Brisbane, the Riverina and on to regional Victoria. Heck we even gained interest from Germany, Norway and South America from ex-pat Aussies who think the idea is so damn cool!

Please note: We are a national service and we certainly don’t stop people from joining or listing and sometimes there might not be other Open Shed members for you to rent from in your area. YOU can help bring Open Shed to your town or area through spreading the word amongst your friends, social groups, work places, schools and community! Not sure how? Check out here and here

We had some really clever, thoughtful and eye opening suggestions that came through from the survey on where we should advertise - so thank you ever so much! We had over 90 individual suggestions from big scale to small grass roots campaigns and are just amazed at how clever a bunch of people you are! From here, we will be tackling partnerships, editorial opportunities, checking out online directories, looking at the website and our social media and even hitting the pavement as our first ports of call! Watch this space for more details!

One more thing before we go. We want to open the Open Shed door to you if you wish to give us any further feedback, or if you need help with anything from your listing to promoting Open Shed in your local area, please feel free to contact us! You can call on 1300 953 534 or email – thank you for being so much a part of what makes Open Shed great - we appreciate your support so very much!

About the author The fabulous Bek from Unashamedly Creative is working with Duncan and I to make Open Shed the best it can be! Bek took the survey in hand and has helped us distill the results into some exciting practical actions. You can get to know Bek via twitter and Facebook.