Archie App vs andcards vs Cobot vs Nexudus vs Office RND vs Zapfloor

A year ago I made the statement that: “Coworking is becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason.” Which, based on the data from this Allwork article proves that I was right. 

In 2021 coworking has a forecast growth of 21% and in the second quarter of 2020, the total amount of square footage of coworking spaces has doubled. 

The “new normal” as we used to call it, seems to just be normal now. We have all gotten used to wearing our face masks and some of us even wear them in our dreams. 

Though, things have been changing since the last time I spoke to you about coworking software. Vaccines are being administered all over the world and seem to be changing many things. Hybrid working is in the mix and some companies are even thinking about letting employees come back. 

Choosing the best software for your coworking space can be a bit of a challenge if you don’t know what you are looking for or what you need. So to start, you need to answer these questions: 

1. Do I want door access control?
2. Should the software offer white labeling?
3. Does it need to support multi-location?
4. Do I want my users to easily pay me?
5. Do I want a social platform for my users? 
6. Am I considered a small coworking space or an enterprise? 

Now that you have answered these questions, let’s dive into the blog and see what these coworking spaces have to offer. Then, based on the information you have gathered, you can go ahead and pick one that suits your needs the best!

We have decided to add more competitors to our blog, and keep some of the ones we already have discussed. In this blog we have: andcards, Archie App, Cobot, Nexudus, Office RND, Zapfloor 

I spoke to these experts and asked them to tell us all about what the software they work with is capable of doing:  

Iryna Kovalova, Marketing Director at andcards. 

Maxime Bouillon, Account Executive at Archie App. 

Sam Bender, Senior Communication Specialist at Cobot.

Fiona Ross, Founder of Pink Scottie, who is considered our Nexudus expert.

Michael Everts, Product Marketer at Office RND.

Maarten Claes, International Business Development Manager at Zapfloor. 

Just like the last one, I will not be comparing these software companies to each other. My main goal here is to help you as a coworking space owner or founder to better understand what this software has to offer you. The opinions and information gathered here are from the experts themselves. 

Why coworking software is good for your space

In the last blog I mentioned that having a gazillion spreadsheets is not the way to go, and I still stand by that statement. Implementing a software to help you with admin will give you time to focus on the important things. 

That’s why the update was needed. New technologies are in the foreground and your needs might be different since a year ago!

Some more questions you need to ask yourself is do you want to: 

1. Save money?
2. Save time? 
3. Do less accounting? 
4. Grow your space?
5. See analytics?

Answering these questions will help guide you to understand better what you want from the software, thus making it easier for you to choose. It also helps to know that these softwares will change your life for the better no matter who you choose. 

What to consider before choosing coworking space management software

In my last blog I went into detail about what you should consider when choosing the right software for your coworking space. I mentioned that the two vital things you need to consider before choosing the right software is: 

• Understand what features your coworking space needs

• Understand what integrations you need for your coworking space

To understand this better, go back and read there why these two factors are important and why you should consider it. 

Now, without further ado let’s jump into the overview of each!

An overview of the software

Before we dive into each software individually, I want you to remember that this is not a comparison of who has the best software. I think they are all amazing and you should choose the one that suits your coworking space the best. 

Thus, the order in which these softwares are named, has nothing to do with the hierarchy. It is simply structured like this for no reason. 

1. Archie App

Archie App is dedicated to the end-user experience for flexible coworking spaces. They believe that if their functionalities are easy to use and all in one place, then the user will be more inclined to make use of their systems. 

For instance, they make sure that users can easily edit their content with the click of a button. 

They also ensure that the coworking space owner can easily see both the admin side of the software and what it looks like to the user. 

“No more flip flopping between the backend and frontend,” says Maxime. 

In fact, they are so proud of their product, that they even have a demo link for users to try out to see if they are interested in making use of their application. 

For them it is all about the user experience and having a good looking design is part of it, but functionality should come first. Their software is also versatile and can be customised for those who would like to have customised features. 

The best part is that they also have white labeling that allows users to have their own personalised application. They also integrate with a multitude of applications to ensure seamless integration and quick set up. 

Go take a look at their full list of features and see the integrations that they offer. 

2. Cobot

They were in my last blog as well! So, instead of going into more detail, we will just tell you what has been updated! 

The founders of Cobot are dedicated to creating community. They strive to offer coworking spaces the best possible integration to ensure that building a community is easy and stress free. 

“Our belief is that we do a few things well and then provide you with what you need,” Sam said “we don’t want to do anything mediocre, we want to do everything excellently.” 

One thing that Cobot does is that they offer one price to coworking spaces, based on the amount of members that you have. And this only includes recurring, paying members. Not those who just drop by once in a while. 

Cobot is flexible and offers you the peace of mind that things will run smoothly. They have multiple integrations and which are designed to automate your life. Just take a look at what they did here!

If you were to be interested in using your own developers, Cobot will offer all of their documentation to them so that you can customise these solutions to exactly fit your needs. 

Updated features 

Check out a full list of their features here and explore the integrations available for Cobot. 

3. Nexudus

When I spoke to Fiona, she explained to me what Pink Scottie is all about. They work as product consultancy and integrate coworking spaces with Nexudus software. 

Go back to my previous blog and read about the features they have there, and then see what they have updated. 

“We built Nexudus with a range of tools to help automate workflows, streamline operations, support members and help to scale up coworking and flex workspaces.”

According to Fiona, overall the services that Nexudus offers ensure that coworking space owners and managers can focus on building a relationship with their members rather than being focussed on processing documents. 

Because of the easy integration, Nexudus offers room for customisation and can easily fit the needs of any coworking space. They offer everything from white labeling to door access control. 

They offer fully white labeled applications and each coworking space can have their customised application on the app stores. 

Updated features

Here is a more extensive list of the features they can offer. The best part about Nexudus is their multiple integrations that they offer, making your life just a tad easier. 

4. Office RND

I also spoke to Office RnD in my last blog. So, I won’t bore you with the same details and explain what they have to offer. Instead I will only focus on the updates that they have made over the past year. 

Office RnD has been around the block. They know how to improve the lives of coworking spaces, whether you are a flex workspace or hybrid. They know what you need before you! 

Because of their background in coworking, they can offer many services to their clients, customizable or standard, and they allow for multi-location management. All from one dashboard. 

They allow members to make use of floor plans that have been set out exactly like the office space. And, when desks get shifted, or new ones get added, the manager can simply make use of the portal to shift the office around. 

Updated features

Go try a 30-day free trial to see what they can offer you! Also take a look at their features for flex workspaces. 

5. andcards

So, I have not spoken about andcards before. Which means that I will explain all of their features here. 

One thing that ancards does differently is that they are member orientated. They want to make the lives of members easier to create a greater sense of community. This allows for members to make use of their social media-like apps that grow the community. 

Members can share posts, like, and share them. They can also communicate with other members through use of the app to grow their connections. 

“We are community orientated and we strive to facilitate the process for our clients and their members,” Iryna says. 

They have 100+ spaces that make use of their software to operate with ease. All of their applications are white-labeled which allows spaces to have their own applications. 

Iryna also mentions that owners or administrators are completely in control of their applications. They choose if members should be able to comment on other’s posts, or if members are allowed to post on the platform. 

Features

Take a look at all of the features they have to offer, and see if your favourite application can be integrated with their API. 

6. Zapfloor 

Zapfloor is also a new addition to my blog. They are focused on larger corporations and coworking spaces that have large offices and a lot of members. 

Marteen speaks about how the future of work will be hybrid working. He mentions that the vaccine has accelerated that people return to work, but some would like to stay home. 

Some offices have the floor space but their employees aren’t making use of it. Therefore, these companies have decided to turn their real estate into coworking spaces that allow for hybrid work. 

Zapfloor can be used to easily control these arrangements, from door access to member communication. The software also allows for floor plan lay-outs so that members can easily see and book desks that they are interested in. 

The software can be used for billing, client integration, door access, hot desk bookings, and also assets and contracts. “It makes running a coworking space easier as all that you need is on one platform.” 

Features

Go take a look at the full list of their features and find out which integrations they offer. 

How do I know which one will work best for me? 

It all boils down to the answers that you gave in the questions that we asked you in this blog. One way to find out how these software options can satisfy your needs is by contacting them and seeing what they have to offer. 

You can easily decide based on your budget and the size of your space. Zapfloor and Office RnD are more catered towards larger coworking spaces with multiple locations. Nexudus is fully customizable which allows you to change it to what you need. And, andcards is dedicated to your members and creates a sense of community. So is Cobot, they are focused on community but have the option to upscale should you need it. 

Like I mentioned before, speak to the experts. 

I have them listed here for you: 

Iryna Kovalova, Marketing Director at andcards. 

Sam Bender, Senior Communication Specialist at Cobot.

Fiona Ross, Founder of Pink Scottie, who is considered our Nexudus expert.

Michael Everts, Product Marketer at Office RND.

Maarten Claes, International Business Development Manager at Zapfloor. 

I wonder what to write here like I’m stuck and need to get going.

I’m staring at my computer in my kitchen, thinking I need to post something, and I don’t know what to write.

The next 90-Day Challenge is up today in the Make Your Mark Community, and my mind is blank.

Again.

Well, of course, it is not blank, it is overflowing.

Because I have not planned, I want to write everything at once, which is harder than one thing.

Let’s go back to the beginning, and then I can show how easy it is to plan.

The hard part of any blog in life and in this challenge is getting started, which is why I am opening up with this post.

I have to find a jumping-off point, and saying exactly where I have always worked for me in the past when blogging.

My first blog post

Back in 2006, I posted my first blog on the internet on Blogger, I keep going back to find it, but it has gone.

Also in 2006, I’d started to listen to books by this person called Seth Godin, like Purple Cow, Small is the new big and Free Prize Inside!

The idea of writing on the internet got me hooked after reading a wild and crazy text called — ‘The Clue-train Manifesto.’

Plus, the idea of not having to ‘submit work to an editor’ — was particularly enchanting.

People talked about posting on the internet, where millions of people would have access to it.

But what did not work for me was millions of people having access to it.

Everyone will judge me.

Everyone will laugh at me.

They will drag me into the town square and stone me.

On Blogger, I got all brave and posted something about education.

I’d finished University the year before, where I’d studied English Literature and Education.

Now I was stumbling through the first year of a Masters in Religion and Literature.

But the Masters reading was killing me.

A few years before, the University discovered I was dyslexic and given me a lot of support.

I’d made it through my BA degree by using audiobooks, which became a game-changer for me.

But books on the relationship between religion and the economy were not hanging around audible in 2006, so I had to tap out of the Master’s degree.

Back on Blogger I wrote something, hit publish and waited.

Nothing.

I came back a day later, and still nothing.

I am sure no one ever read it, I did not have any social media accounts and was too scared to email it to anyone I knew.

All this opened the door for investigating how to start a blog and become an internet publisher, the Master’s Degree had more than awakened the researcher and writer in me.

It would be a few more years and a lot of fear before I did get going, and I knew I needed a lot of help.

Getting unstuck using tools and a framework

I’ve read hundreds of books about marketing, writing and the internet, discovering audible in 2006.

Here in London, I’m part of a group of people who run meet-ups on writing and blogging, we’ve run well over 500 of on and off-line events.

In this way, I’m like an addict who has set up a rehab clinic.

But I get stuck, and I am gripped by fear all the time.

I am fantastic at unsticking other people and their work.

Some of my blocks are because of A.D.H.D. and dyslexia, some of it is impostor syndrome, but mostly it is reasonable old-fashion fear of criticism.

But my fear is out of whack because only one person has ‘taken me out on the internet in twenty years online.’

At the time, so many people jumped to my defence without prompting, it ended up being a huge confidence boost.

Back to my kitchen and wondering what to write.

My mind goes blank, and the writing I am doing is about the world I have constructed and live in every day.

One of the gifts of dyslexia and what got me interested in productivity is that I’d have to outrun that dyslexia.

Early on, I made a point of always looking up apps and gadgets to help me.

For example, as I am typing this:

Text Expander is auto-correcting the words I know I get wrong.

Grammarly is highlighting ‘theirs’ and ‘there’s which I never see, even if I read it out loud.

I’ve tracked down so much equipment to capture ideas and get my words done.

And I’ve tried many content systems, the one that I find the fastest and the best is the Big Five by Marcus Sheridan.

You can get the whole thing in his book here.

And go further on it with Jammy Digital in Content Fortress here.

A whole group of us in Make Your Mark and other communities have made this work for them in content creation.

The “Big 5” blog topics to increase your traffic leads and sales are:

1. Cost / Price
2. Problems.
3. Comparisons.
4. “Best of” lists.
5. Reviews.
   

Make a list of your most profitable products and write one article about each one and post it.

Is that it?

The last challenge passed me by, and I know where I messed up.

At the very beginning, I did not do the work to plan out what to write, it does not take me long to write.

And when I know what I am writing about, it flows out and is a fun crafting and editing at the other end.

What stops me is choosing to allow confusion to set in, which leads to a good bit of self-loathing.

Then I hate myself, and then I don’t open the Slack channel, then I put the blog planning workbook back on the shelf.

Fear and loathing on WordPress

After a while, it came down to having layers and layers of resistance and fear.

Not like fear of standing on the side of an aeroplane or being on stage in front of 20K people.

Fear of oh, I’m here, and I’ve been fighting like crazy for years to get to a point in my career like this, let’s go for a nap.

I have the fear that I do not know what I’m doing, and everyone will find out.

And then I look at WordPress and hate myself for not getting it done sooner, today or in life.

Which is total bollox, I do know what I’m doing, and I love it.

In 2020, I did one of those Clifton Strengths tests and came out as a learner and something else I like.

There are things every day I can’t do, like to set realistic timelines or send invoices.

For all those things I lack in, there is someone in our team who knows where to go and do it faster than me.

The first 90-Day Challenge

You see, the first challenge we did was back in 2015, or 2016 so for five years, I’ve been thrashing to get through this.

I’ve seen so many people start by tripping over their shoelaces and then build strong podcasts, YouTube channels and blogs.

Every time I come out to play, I build confidence and skill, but I’m missing discipline and consistency.

One of the biggest life challenges I have is inconsistency in content production.

Content production is also my greatest professional love.

So in this next 90-Day Challenge, I’m going to work out my content production with you here on my website.

Looking back, I’ve posted a blog or podcast every week for over a decade, but always for other websites.

The eats me all the time; it is like post-traumatic stress for blogging.

This 90-Day Challenge

As we go through this next challenge, it also coincides with me putting myself through a round of therapy.

The last time I started therapy in 2012, I was having a full-blown mental breakdown.

For a few years, I was drowning in self-loathing and contemplating suicide sporadically.

As lockdown hit us and the mental overload that went to it, I knew what to do.

I now had coping mechanisms and self-awareness from years of mental trauma.

Even better, I’d been working on remote teams since 2010, so I was already ready for a lockdown.

Lockdown? Born ready

So, after years of slogging my guts out making it up as I went along, my work life took a turn for the amazing.

I ended up becoming part of a fin-tech startup that grew out of our coworking community.

While this is one of the best opportunities in my career, I was a bit pissed at first.

I’d worked hard on my freelance act, became a StoryBrand Guide in February 2020 then lockdown hit in March.

In our company there followed six months of thrashing and in the business and thrashing in my head.

Between global pandemics, not leaving my postcode for months and my new role, my brain cells shot to bits.

90 Days of massive action

In the next 90 Days, I need to re-establish my voice.

In November 2010 in the lobby of the Soho Theatre, my mate Julie Hall made me watch a T.E.D. Talk.

Julie started beating me up about my ‘why’ — the TED talk was by someone named Simon Sinek.

I’d end up meeting Simon at a small dinner hosted by Rackspace a few years later, he was generous and told me to ‘keep going!’

We did not talk about my ‘Why’ even though I wanted to shout it at him.

I did get to tell Julie, and it came from the 8th Habit book by Stephen Covey.

It is ‘Find your voice and help other people find theirs’ — that has been consistent and part of me since 2006.

Now I am out to find my voice again, I have not lost it, but this new world of 2012 requires a new blend of Bernie.

I need to find my voice and this time, I’m calling in a bit for help.

Last year, I joined the youth charity UrbanMBA as a trustee and Bea from there is helping me put it together.

Bea designed the look and feel for Urban MBA with Mahdi.

Where to connect?

We have the Meet Up’s coming up — we are about to publish 12 weeks worth of online events — here.

Folks from the UrbanMBA team are going to run our podcast meet-up with me — here.

And we’re hosting the techLondon podcast together here.

We’ll open the writing club again — also here.

We have European Freelancers Week coming up for the sixth year.

For so long, when I’ve said we, I’ve meant one other person and me if I am lucky.

This time it is a whole crew, our comms team for the company, we were freelancers before, and now we are here.

We’re about to launch a European Coworking Assembly handbook on inclusion in December 2021.

So looking back, that is why I skipped the last challenge.

I’m not saying that to make excuses or enquire about forgiveness.

I’m pointing out how I beat myself up for not doing things and the energy I waste.

In the last week, I’ve been listening to a Brene Browns work, AGAIN.

Brene is someone I’ve taken a lot of lead from around parenting, self-care and gratitude.

Brene said the best bit of writing advice she ever got was ‘write what you need to read’, and that is where I am going.

I have the workbook, and I have a shit ton of ideas, I have a framework — the big five.

I have videos and people to talk to, I’ve even got my meet-ups, and I know how to get unstuck.

But I always get a bit stuck, and I know I am not the only one.

Join the ride here on London Bloggers Meet-up and get the other thoughts on my newsletter, which I’ve been sending for over a decade now. It is about to get even better.

We’ve been kicking ass with the Podcast and London Bloggers Meet Up‘s online and in London over the last few months. 

I’ve been on Meetup.com since 2008 and I love our podcast meet up and bloggers meet up, but we do need to think of another title!

These days, we’re helping people find their online voice and to ‘demystify websites’ for them!

We’ve had sessions from my European StoryBrand Guide friends, Kenda from Automation Ninja‘s, Lena from FTSQ, Martin and Lyndsay from Jammy Digital! 

We went for small online meetups where people can connect, and the results have been great. 

In the last session, there was a flood of confidence from people at all stages of their website journey who said they’ve things like:

I realised my website was all about me, not the people I wanted to reach.

Sangeeta

And

I did not know SEO was about blogging; I thought it was all technical wizardry. 

Andy

Questions I get asked a lot at these Meetups.

Many questions come up all the time, and these Meet Ups have always been about connecting and helping people find their voice.

Then my mate Mervin from the podcast meetup sent me a list for a podcast we’re doing this week. 

So in the spirit of they ask you to answer, here is what I think, well for this week anyway!

What is the value of networking?

I’m not too fond of networking. 

For five years solid, I ran two paid networking groups in London, and as soon as we stopped calling them networking groups, it all worked. 

The main reason I love Meet Up so much when you gather a group of people around a topic of interest, there is more connection and soul. 

Everything I’ve got now is from meeting people, and most of it is from twelve years of Twitter and Meetup.com. 

I watched who was doing what with who; I’ve met people like Seth Godin and Simon Sinek in person. 

And over a decade ago, I discovered coworking, remote working and podcasting. 

What is the value of coworking spaces, and how do you create a community?

As I was getting out of networking back in 2010, I discovered coworking, the first real coworking space I set foot in was Cental Working in 2009. 

Back then, I met Cental Working co-founder Steve, and these days we work on things in the London Coworking Assembly together. 

Coworking gave me what I was looking for in networking, people working together. 

There are freelancers, micro and small businesses driving towards different goals, and their combined energy creates magic.

How do you create a community? 

People need to create it themselves; people like someone to lead, but they don’t like being told what to do. 

So getting everyone around a table to meet is good, then leave it up to them.

Also, people only have the headspace and energy for about an hours worth of ‘community’ stuff a week. 

How do you balance working in digital marketing, podcasting and marketing coworking spaces? 

I am part of a team of freelancers who all met via coworking and networking. 

We’re like the Suicide Squad or Guardians of the Galaxy. 

I’m in London, and Peri is in Bristol; the rest are in South Africa, the Philippines, Serbia and the Netherlands. 

When I started to connect with other people to work with them, life took off; I am crap at editing and WordPress. 

Željko is a machine when it comes to audio, video and webinar production. 

Venice builds and runs all our WordPress websites, so I don’t waste time breaking them. 

When we built this team, we became more confident about working because we could deliver on more complicated projects. 

How do you get famous people on your podcast? 

I ask them. 

I stalk them and then ask them, I look for something other than they are famous. 

Everything is about relationships, and when you are interested in people, rather than star-struck, it is way more exciting.  

How do you promote your podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube? What do you think is the right strategy?

We post everywhere, and when we are outstanding, we make an audiogram. 

There are so many small and easy wins for connecting with people via social media. 

It depends on your audience; most of our connection is via email newsletters rather than social media. 

But years ago, everyone was on Twitter, and when you went to a conference, more happened on Twitter than at the event. 

How do you get the remote recording of the podcast done correctly? 

I use both Zencastr and Zoom and then send it to Željko. 

That is a lot of Z’s!

When I began podcasting in 2010, I quickly found out I could not edit. 

So I started a never-ending journey of getting good at interviewing to avoid the need to edit. 

I am always watching courses like Alex Blumbergs one on Creative Live.

You can learn from movies like Frost/Nixon by Brian Grazier. he also wrote a great book on questions and curiosity.  

How do you check the progress of your podcast? 

Unless it is for a client, I don’t check. 

As I write this, we will get more serious about our Coworking Values Podcast; we’re nearly at episode one hundred, making us one of the longest-running coworking podcasts. 

People are approaching us offering sponsorship and asking us about data and listeners, so Željko and Zara are sorting it out. 

How do you avoid pod fade? 

You have to pick something you care about and can do for a long time.

Before you record anything, write down twenty topics, people, or stories you can make into an episode.

Then ask yourself, honestly, can you keep this up for five years? 

I’ll be podcasting about something to do with coworking in five years, and I never get tired of stuff on communications. 

I constantly daydream about something to do with these subjects, but ask me about podcast equipment or WordPress themes; I dry up.

What is your process for building a podcast idea?

I love this question!

As I said, find something you are crazy about and see if you can commit to it. 

As you are researching or looking around, do you get excited and enchanted?

Or do you get bored and distracted?  

Know that the first few episodes will be horrific; we all try way too hard in those first ones. 

Also, it would be best if you worked out what your style is; this may take a few goes.

I’m great at a conversation with one to three people, but I sound like a weirdo on my own. 

Most of all, connect with other people in groups like our podcast meet up. 

If you want to kickstart your podcast for your business, check out our podcast workshop here.

We also have a podcast production service; find out all about that here. 

Love it or loathe it, Google is still the primary search engine in the world, pulling in over 90% of the search engine traffic. 

Every day there are approximately 3.5 billion searches per day on Google. 

That’s a lot of chances for you to get your coworking space in front of your future community members. 

But how do you utilise this search capacity, and turn it into leads for your coworking space?

If you’ve read any of my other blogs, then you’ll know that I think that one of the simplest, cheapest and most effective ways to increase traffic and customers for your coworking space is to claim and optimise your Google My Business (GMB) listing. 

Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated And this is one of those really effective, but really simple steps that you can take to improve your business. 

So, in this blog I’ll look at what Google My Business is, plus six ways to optimise it in order to get more leads for your coworking space. 

What exactly is Google My Business (and what are the advantages)?

Google My Business (GMB), is a free listing of your business operating information that has the ability to display reviews, posts and more. 

You’ll see it when you Google a business, it pops up on the right-hand side of your listing. 

There are a number of things that you can do using GMB including:

• Display business information and post opening hours
• Post news and updates on Google and stay engaged with your customers.
• Share photos that make your business stand out.
• Gather reviews, to share social proof with potential customers.

By registering your business Google will automatically show your coworking space listing in relevant search results, specifically to people looking in your area, which is crucial for driving local traffic.

In fact, your Google My Business profile will get more traffic than your website. 

But how do you convert these visitors into customers?

According to Google, those with a GMB listing are twice as likely to gain trust, and 38% more likely to entice potential customers to visit their premises than those without a listing. 

Luckily, you can enhance your local visibility on Google for FREE by simply listing and verifying your business on Google My Business. It’s the perfect addition to your coworking marketing strategy and it doesn’t cost a penny.  

How to use Google My Business to generate more leads for your coworking space…

But it’s not enough to just register and be done with it. You need to ensure that your listing is up-to-date, and taking advantage of all the different elements of Google My Business. 

There are a few things that you can do to optimise your listing:

1. Register your Google My Business account…
2. Fill out your whole Google My Business profile…
3. Add photos to your Google My Business profile…
4. Post news and updates to your Google My Business profile…
5. Encourage customers to write reviews to demonstrate social proof…
6. Link Google Analytics to Google My Business…

1. Register your Google My Business account…

I know it seems a little obvious, however, you need to list and verify your business on Google My Business. If you don’t do this, then your website may show up in relevant searches, but you will not have a GMB listing. 

It’s a really simple thing to do, but trust me when I tell you that it will make a massive difference to your business. Not only will it make your business stand out in searches, but it will make you seem more legit.

You register your coworking space here.

2. Fill out your entire Google My Business profile…

I know, I know it can be tempting to just fill in the bare minimum and hope it increases your coworking space leads. But you should really fill in as much information about your coworking space as possible. 

Google says: “Local results favour the most relevant results for each search. Businesses with complete and accurate information are easier to match with the right searches.”

Google decides who to show in a search based on three factors:

• Relevance: How well does your listing match the search?
• Distance: How far your location is from the searcher?
• Prominence: How well known is your coworking space?

Making sure all the relevant information is included in your listing will ensure that Google can match your community to as many searches as possible, therefore allowing you to pop up in front of more potential future coworking members.

Hint: Search for other coworking spots local to you to see what they include in their listing

3. Add photos to your profile

People love “seeing” things with their own eyes. 

Much like social media, it’s important that you add images of your logo and branding to your GMB listing so that people recognise and relate to your brand online. 

But I’d recommend that you go one step further and upload pictures of your coworking space, and maybe even community members. 

This will help people visualise what it’s like to be part of your community, and will help your listing stand out. 

In fact, Google says that businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for directions, and 35% more clicks through to their websites. 

So, taking time out to upload some professional looking photos to your listing will really help boost those leads and potentially turn them into paying members. 

4. Post news and updates to your GMB profile…

Neither your business nor your Google My Business profile should be a static thing. They are both dynamic, living, breathing entities, and your GMB profile should reflect this. 

Google My Business allows you to keep your members, and potential members up-to-date with what’s happening by posting news and updates. This could be anything from change in opening hours, to a special offer. 

For example, right now they have the option to post a COVID-19 update. So you can easily let people know whether you are open or closed, or whether you have any special measures in place. 

Updating this also shows Google that you are still active and relevant, which means they will know to rank you higher in search results. 

5. Encourage customers to write reviews to demonstrate social proof…

Of course, you are going to say your coworking space is great. And I know that it is. 

But, potential members are more likely to believe it if other people rave about your community. This might be the deciding factor in some choosing you over another space. 

That’s why it’s important to encourage (hopefully positive) reviews from your existing coworking members. 

PS. You might have to ask your coworking community to leave a review if they have a minute. It’s not always something that people will do without asking. 

And, don’t forget to respond to those reviews, not only is this really polite and good practice but it helps to build trust. Even if you happen to get a not so great review, responding well publicly can help build trust and confidence in your coworking space.

6. Link Google Analytics to you Google My Business profile…

You can never really know how effective something is until you track it. 

Which is why it’s important to make sure that you link your Google My Business into your Google Analytics account (this is your reminder to set up your website Google Analytics if you haven’t yet).

Setting up a UTM link will enable you to track how many people make it to your website from your Google My Business profile, and what exactly they are looking at (so you know what to focus on optimising).

So, are you ready to use Google My Business for your coworking space?

In my opinion, not using Google My Business is a total waste. Not only is it FREE (so there’s really no reason no to use it), but it can help you drive local business to your coworking space, especially if you take a few steps to ensure it is fully optimised. 

It’s really too great an opportunity to pass up, especially for a coworking community which relies on local traffic.
If you want to learn more about how to market your coworking business then let me know. And it might be worth booking in for my Digital Marketing 101 workshop — to make sure the fundamentals of marketing are all in place. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the biggest difference.

I had an agonising chat with a mate who runs a coworking space the other day, so I’m writing this post rather than punching them on the nose. 

They said they would invest all their marketing money in Instagram when the lockdown ends so people could see their space.  

I was in tears.  

“I know I need a website, and once people get there, then they can buy a membership. That’s the job of a website.” 

“But it’s much quicker to take my phone and make a caption and hashtags than write a blog post.”  

You can see their point. 

BUT.  

NOOOOOOOOOOO! 

Something we’ve found out in the last six months on Instagram for Velvet Platform and PayPugs is that no one gives a flying ‘duck’ about you.  

Ok, they do if you are my mates Tash and Marte on Breaking the Distance or art champion ZHC or Jennifer Aniston. 

Of course, we did not try EVERYTHING, and we LOVE Instagram, but the ROI is crap.  

Also, I believe with every social media thing, people connect with people, not brand, but you need to be there, and you need to enjoy it.  

NEXT 

So what do you do? 

Content, I’m going to go with blogging because I LOVE this. 

I also love audio, and I’m finally warming up to video.  

But blogging – writing some words on your website is the thing we can all do.  

Ideally, you’ll have your website, but if not, jump on Medium or Linkedin to get going.  

Why Words?

Words sell things, they tell a story, and they write a review.  

Whether you are making a blog post like what you are reading now or relying on a social network, you are writing and reading.  

You don’t want to make crap content. 

You certainly don’t want to make those fucking annoying little short posts that have a headline to get you to the website but tell you nothing.  

As Avinash Kaushik from Google says, people who read longer posts are more committed to you.  

I agree; we don’t want channel flickers. 

We want to build an audience and authority.  

For our ECA podcast sponsored by Cobot, we have a small and loyal audience, and we enjoy a connection.  

People I know say, ‘I listened to your podcast’ – this is great.  

But we’re looking to increase our audience. We’re 80+ episodes in and understand our place in the microscopic world of podcasts on coworking.  

Now we have to work out how to get a bigger audience, and so do you.  

Dyslexic  

I’m napalm dyslexic, and in the last ten years, my world has come alive; I use: 

Grammarly  

Hemingway  

Autocomplete in One Note and Google  

I’ve completed 2321 writing day in 750 Words.com since December 2013.

Written 1,959,456 words.   

And I’ve built a skill.  

So if you can put the effort in, and so few people do, you will get somewhere. 

The time it takes to write. 

Look on App Sumo 

Frase – research in Frase    

Otter – interview  

Google docs – shared between people 

WP – how to add it on. 

I send people to Jammy, Copyblogger, Grammarly, Hubspot  

H1 

H2 

H3  

Bullet points  

Marcus – photo 

Don’t write for your mates; write for your customer  

For a long time, I wrote for my mates; I’d write to impress, sometimes connect, and look back, I was trying to find my voice. 

But part of it was writing so people would read what I had done, and if I wrote something, those few people would read at least it got read.  

When I started to write for people who I’d wanted to hire me, it got better.  

The best way I’ve found is the ‘They Ask You Answer‘ method by Marcus Sheridan in the book of the same name.

Learning how to blog for real

Over on Jammy Digital, you can download a whole spreadsheet, checklist and content planning toolkit that will save you days of guesswork. 

Please get it here.

In our company, the whole team are signed up for Impact Plus because they train the They Ask You Answer and focus on HubSpot.  

Often people whine ‘they have not got time to watch a video’ and sneer.  

I have not got time to watch a video either; in fact, I send them all to an app and listen to them. 

But I found that when I swapped out binge-watching Netflix and Facebook to watch videos on content marketing, my income went up, and my anxiety went down.  

Paying serious attention to how you organise your time, what you make a priority is a big deal.  

I have always struggled with this; I never stop reading about it and looking for better ways.  

It is not seeking a new and better system; it removes the blocks and impediments in my workflow and knows where to ask for help. 

An essential book for me was Scott Belsky and Making Ideas Happen – he interviewed hundreds of business leaders and creatives about how they organise their workday by day and month by month.  

The people that took a little from every system and made their system did the best.  

When someone screaming at you like a religious fanatic about GST, Prince2 or Scrum methods, run away.  

Indeed Jeff and JJ from Scrum inc say the same, use the outline of the framework and shape it what works for the people on your team.  

Meet-Ups 

London Bloggers Meet Up and Write Club  

For a decade now, I’ve been watching people marketing coworking space. I’ve spent even more time watching people do marketing for their small businesses.

I see a massive disconnect between what people say they want to do and what they actually do.

Think of it like this, Dave Ramsey says that the best place to look for your life and financial priorities is your bank account.

When I was a student, I’d whine about having no money and snuggling to pay the rent. 

When you looked at my bank account, it read like a Time Out bar and club guide for central London.

I had two good jobs in a restaurant and nightclub, but I acted like my customers, not like a student.

And it is the same with marketing, and I’m going to go a little deeper here; it is what we talk about as a group of people.

We Don’t Work In the workspace and coworking industry, there is a company, and you can read about it in Reeves book here. If this was Harry Potter, it would be Voldemort.

Now I want to be clear that I’ve attended and run events over the years, and I’ve never been mistreated by a staff member from this company, so let’s get that clear.

But my mate Neill constantly remind me of 2014 post here about Death Star Start-Ups.

We are a Death Star company.

But in the coworking industry, people and publications can’t wait to share a story about ‘we’ All Work. One of the most influential publications on the internet about work mentions them every week.

This is like the Green Party tweeting about Mein Kamp every week.

What is going wrong When we ask people in the Coworking Assembly what they need help with it. When we dig a bit, it comes down to ‘we need help with marketing, and the support people need getting people to find out about what a shared workspace, coworking space is.

I know how they feel; I need help with marketing all the time.

Most of the time, when someone comes into a workspace, they know pretty fast if they are going to move into that one or not.

There is a skill in the way you do the tour, but that is another blog post.

Earlier this year, a story from This week in coworking said that for every ‘We’ coworking space in Toronto, there are 25 independent coworking spaces.

Jeannine has been saying this for years. Of course, you all know there are more small businesses in places like Reading; you just think Oracle, Microsoft and Vodafone.

As Alex points out in his 10K jobs manifesto – it is better to have small biz than a big one.

You can hear his 10-minute talk at the beginning of this video here.

So tell me about your business.

I love to say to people – ‘tell me about your business!’ 

I learnt to do this at networking events fifteen years ago because it was so scary to talk about my one-person operation back then.

People would talk for ages and never mention a shit head Death Star company.

I then started to run workshops where I’d ask people to tell me about their business. 

Then I’d have them write it down – basically, and then they’d have a blog post.

Instead of one person, I heard about they’d be able to put it on their website or LinkedIn and millions would find it.

We are what we say. 

I am blown away by how many people share and RT. We have a global pandemic, and there has never been more information about spreading a virus.

I got a little heated in This week in coworking on Friday and used some foul language.

Instead of talking about building up freelance, micro and small business, we talked about that fucking ‘We’ company again. 

Every time we spend time on one thing, we lose out on another.

For example, Laura, co-founder of Women Who Cowork, has a vision of the coworking industry becoming the first gender-equal industry. 

We have conversations about equality all the time. 

Over the last five years, people have started to believe and understand; I know I have.

It is a whole education process. 

How we share, that story is a delicate process. 

Cat Johnson, a vital voice in coworking, said, ‘when we come across as telling people they are not doing it right, it is hardly inviting.’

We certainly don’t want to be bullying people.