While we’re all locked down and working from home has become the norm for many, coworking and flexible workspaces can still provide a valuable service to their customers. What’s more, by offering virtual coworking office services, operators can generate more revenue and attract new leads. 

In our previous post, we outlined what a virtual office is. Now, we’ll talk about how to promote and sell this service online through marketplaces and through your own website.

How to Sell Your Virtual Coworking Office On Marketplaces

Online marketplaces are web platforms that connect providers and users. Vendors can list their offerings and reach out to a huge number of potential buyers. Also, it’s very convenient for users because it allows them to filter, compare, and choose from a variety of options for what they are looking for. 

In terms of selling your virtual office service, online marketplaces are one of the most valuable channels for lead generation. These websites generate tons of traffic on a daily basis. This makes them a great option for you to bring more exposure to your virtual office service and reach potential customers.

Below are some of the most popular virtual office marketplaces.

DaVinci

DaVinci is one of the popular marketplaces for virtual office services, on-demand meeting space, and live answering services. The platform helps operators generate revenue by bringing new customers to workspaces thanks to their huge network of users. 

CloudVO

CloudVO is a global network of workspace operators who provide Virtual Office services. These might be serviced offices, business centers, and flexible and coworking spaces. 

Hourly meeting room rentals, shared open workspaces and use of a prime business address are among the key services they offer.

Alliance Virtual Offices

Alliance Virtual Offices support 1100+ global locations. Part of their offer includes selling a business address, hourly or daily office rental, meeting space. Additional services include professional live receptionist services, and a market-leading VoIP phone system, all on a flexible service agreement.

Instant Offices

Instant Offices is one of the largest office broking service dedicated to connecting workspace vendors and workspace users. They help workspaces generate leads but they can also provide market-leading data and research. 

Same Day Virtual Offices

Same Day Virtual Offices provides well-priced mail and answering services mainly to small businesses and individuals. Their packages include a virtual office and live answering plans with a business phone number included.

The company is in the active process of developing its current product. Also, it’s working on introducing new add-ons like a softphone that clients can access to dial their business calls. So, expect a lot more to come. 

Also, Same Day Virtual Offices is working on direct integration with the OfficeRnD platform for flex and coworking spaces. We’re looking forward to expanding our integration and developing it even more. 

In this context, we’d appreciate it if you share with us your thoughts. What do you expect from this integration? What functionality would you like to see, and anything else that comes to your mind? Feel free to drop a line to [email protected] in case you want to sign up for the service, share your thoughts, or if you have any questions.

Promoting Your Virtual Office Service On Your Website

Besides partnering with marketplaces, you can also boost your marketing effort to promote your virtual office service online and generate more leads. This effort can be very expensive, time-consuming but also, very rewarding if you got all of these right! You can also check our post for 20 marketing ideas to promote your coworking space here.

Paid advertising

Paid advertising allows you to reach a much bigger audience and it brings results fast, but it’s also expensive. Usually, it works well for established workspaces with multiple locations that are financially stable. Otherwise, it may not be worth investing money in advertising because the return on investment won’t be good enough.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is great for brand awareness, SEO, and lead generation. It might be much less expensive than paid advertising (or at no cost) and much more effective, but it takes a lot of time to see the results. If done well, content marketing can build long-lasting relationships with prospects and customers, but it requires more time to be produced.

OfficeRnD platform for coworking and flex spaces

For OfficeRnD users, the workspace management platform can have an additional benefit on top of automating administrative processes and providing an amazing digital experience to existing customers. 

The platform allows you to sell your virtual coworking office service to the public and to existing members and facilitates the checkout process. Here are more details about the possible options:

Sell your virtual coworking office service to the public:

OfficeRnD allows you to create e-commerce check out experience on your marketing website. With the platform, you can create a branded public page, list the services you chose (like virtual offices, but also other low commitment services such as day passes, etc) and link to that page from your marketing website. This way, you provide visitors with an easy, fast, and convenient way to buy from you.

Offer your virtual coworking office service to members via the Members Portal:

OfficeRnD’s Members Portal allows you to easily upsell existing customers with additional services (like the virtual office). Basically, there are 2 options for that:

sell virtual office with OfficeRnD1) List it in the Services section:

In the Members Portal, members can see the services you choose to list. Then they can add them to their existing plan with a couple of clicks and automatically get those services included in their current/next invoice. 

2) Expose the virtual office registration process on a dedicated page in the Members Portal:

You can embed an external page in OfficeRnD’s member apps (e.g. registration page of a virtual office provider). Then you can make it look like it’s a native part of the web platform or the mobile app. This will allow members to easily register for the Virtual office service if you choose to automate the process. If you are curious to learn more about this option, you can find detailed information here (scroll to the last paragraph of the post)

Michaela Ivanova
Content Marketing Manager at OfficeRnD
Michaela got involved in the flexible workspace industry in 2015 when she joined a boutique coworking space as a Community & Marketing Manager. Later on, she moved to the technology industry but she continued working from shared spaces. Her passion for coworking and her experience in the technology sector eventually led her to join OfficeRnD, the world's leading coworking management software, where she's dedicated to creating content that empowers workspace operators to scale their business.