Bernie J Mitchell

Coworking Space

  • The Best Coworking Space Management Software: Nexudus vs Cobot vs OfficeRnD

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    Bernie Mitchell

    Coworking is becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason. It offers all the social and productivity benefits of working from your own office, but without the stress, overheads and long contracts. 

    Sign-me up! 

    It’s been a couple of months since COVID entered our lives and changed them forever. And while many coworking spaces around the world have had to close their doors for a while, it’s become very clear that the community element that they foster is more important than ever. 

    Technology to support coworking spaces in their management and growth is going to become more important than ever.

    But where do you start? 

    In this blog I’ve decided to dig deep into three of the best and most popular coworking space management softwares in the UK: Nexudus, Cobot and OfficeRnD. 

    But while coworking is my game, I’m not so hot on the tech. But I know it’s a really important aspect of strengthening and growing your community. That’s why I’ve called in a few favours and roped in some industry experts in order to help you get a real understanding of what things you need to consider when looking at coworking software. 

    The experts who so graciously let me pick their brains for this blog are: 

    Shabad from coworktech by techsapiens

    Fiona Ross from Pink Scottie Connect with Fiona on LinkedIn 

    Hector Kolonas the workspace technologist behind included.co & Syncaroo

    I’ll admit, when I first started writing this blog I thought it would simply be a case of comparing the different coworking software features. But through speaking to these experts, I’ve come to discover that the process of choosing a software for your coworking space is so much more nuanced and complex than this – more on that later. 

    Plus, I’ve spoken to the three companies I’m comparing, who have been very kind and allowed me to pick their brains so we are accurately representing the software. I spoke to:

    • Monika, Head of Sales @ Nexudus
    • Sam, Senior Communication Specialist @ Cobot 
    • Chil, Product Director @ OfficeRnD

    While I’ve done my best to remain unbiased, there might be opinions in this blog that represents the experts and the software companies themselves. But, the overall goal is to help you decide which software is best for you. 

    And the answer to that, and the reasons for that, will be different for every single coworking space. So this blog will not give a definitive ‘best’ coworking software answer – because they are all great in their own way. But rather I’ll try and help you discover how to pick the best one for you.

    Why should you switch your coworking space to software?

    So, before we begin you might be thinking:

    ‘Bernie, I already have a bunch of spreadsheets and sign up sheets to manage my space, why would I need software”. 

    And listen, I get it! 

    Way back when, I used to run a coworking space and we had the exact same reservations. The last thing you need is for something else to be stealing your precious time away from your community and its members. You’ve already got enough pulling you in a million different directions. 

    But, Sam from Cobot put it perfectly: 

    “People worry software will make them lose time and an element of personalisation, but it really gives you more time to spend in the community”

    Implementing the right software will help free up more of your time. 

    It is a good idea to understand what you want to get from your software before you start looking.

    Do you want to:

    • Save time?
    • Save money?
    • Grow your space?
    • Increase the analytics?

    A good space management software will help you manage your time and automate the boring, routine processes that don’t need to take up the time of a human. This will allow you to do more of the things you actually enjoy, and that really matters when it comes to growing and strengthening your coworking community. 

    What to consider BEFORE you implement coworking space management software…

    I bet the first thing you’ll do if you are looking at coworking software is go and dig into all the different features. 

    It makes sense. You want to know what the software can and can’t do. And it’s exactly where I thought most people would start. 

    But thanks to the experts, I got a little more insight into what you might need to think of before you go drilling into software features.

    1. Understand what features your coworking space needs
    2. Understand what integrations you need for your coworking space

    #1 Understand what features your coworking space needs…

    One of the emerging themes from all of our experts was that BEFORE you start to look at software you need to know what features you need, you need to have a really good understanding of how your business runs, and what criteria you have. 

    In the words of Hector: “Don’t let your software define your space”

    If you go straight to the software you will get overwhelmed with all the options and get analysis paralysis. Start with what you need, then you can work out from there.

    Hector suggest that you need to know these three things before you start looking for software:

    1. What is your business model (ie. private office, sublet, leases). 
    2. How do you want to handle payments?
    3. What do you want your member experience to be? Ie. hands off, they only get an email with an invoice or do you want an immersed experience with member portals etc.

    It’s very likely that all three softwares will offer many more features that you will use. You need to decide what is a must have and what is a nice to have. 

    But you only know what you know! 

    Fiona suggests that coworking spaces should be open and flexible to different software options if they are using someone to implement it. She says:

    “Don’t go in with a rigid idea of what you want. Let them get to know your coworking space, and what is important to you – they will then be able to help you select a coworking software around this”.

    Monika from Nexudus echoes this sentiment: she suggests that if you are established, you probably have a list of what you need, and if you are not then you should take advice from the experts and try to not over-complicate things. 

    Chil from OfficeRnD adds that making sure that the software you choose has enough (and the right) features for your needs is important, but it’s equally important to understand how the vendor can support you during the onboarding process. Coworking Softwares are very complex and unless you have the proper support in learning how to best take advantage of them, you’ll never reach the automation/productivity that the available myriad of features promise you.

    So, basically I guess what they are all saying is figure out what you NEED before you start looking for software. Brainstorm with all the relevant parties in your coworking team so you get a comprehensive view of what is necessary to make the space more seamless – you might not be the only one with insider knowledge and a couple of perspectives always helps. 

    OfficeRnD has also compiled this great resource to help you choose the best coworking software for your space, and takes you through everything you need to consider.

    #2 Understand what integrations you need for your coworking space

    It’s easy to identify features of each and to see what they ARE capable of. But they need to be properly integrated in order for them to work properly within the coworking ecosystem. Shabad says: 

    “Software is the part that sits in the middle of the customer and all the other elements”

    It’s an essential element and if you don’t get it right then it might cause you problems later on. 

    Not all integrations are created equal, and not all software will be able to accommodate the same integrations and this is something you might not figure out until later down the track on implementation. For example, with COVID, you might be looking to run more online community events – can the software integrate with zoom (or a similar platform) to allow you to run virtual events seamlessly?

    You’ll need to think of all the different software that you might need or want to integrate with and ascertain whether your coworking software can integrate with it or not. 

    Hector has created this amazing and interactive integrations map to help you understand how workspace software integrates with each other.

    It’s important to remember that all three software options might be a good option. But you first need to work out what you need, and what you can live without. Equally important is ensuring that all the pieces of your coworking ecosystem fit together – does the software integrate with what you need it to, or is it going to cause you a headache further down the line.

    There are so many features and integrations possible with software that if you aren’t sure what you are looking for you might not get the most out of it. If you are investing money in software (which you likely will be), you want to make sure you get the most out of your system – and choosing the right software is part of that process. 

    If not you will end up spending money on something and not using it to its full potential – which might lead you to being unhappy with it and not getting as much out of it as you should. 

    This is why I think it’s a really good idea to contact a consultant who can help you evaluate your coworking space and choose the right software for your coworking space. One that suits your needs and your space as a whole. 

    You can contact any of the experts from this blog post for help with this:

    Overview of Cobot vs Nexudus vs OfficeRnD

    Okay, so I know I said features aren’t the most important thing, but they are still important. You just want to start looking at them once you know what you NEED.

    It’s likely that all of these will have more than you need. But it’s still important to find out what they can (and potentially can’t) do so that you can see if they are right for you. I’ve listed the three softwares in alphabetical order, for fairness. 

    1. Cobot 

    The founders of Cobot used to run their own coworking space, and it was born out of a need to solve problems within the coworking space that they couldn’t find a solution for. 

    Designed to automate the monotonous everyday tasks and replace the patchwork of apps that only half worked. Whether you’re operating a small shared office or a multi-location hub, Cobot is a flexible and easy to use solution for every space.

    Cobot says they pride themselves on doing a few things exceptionally, then automating the rest. And anything that they aren’t the experts in, they build integrations for, to ensure you have comprehensive software that can do everything you need it to. 


    Memberships & Billing

    Invoice and take payments automatically

    Integrate with 100+ payment providers

    Inventory management

    Bookings

    Manage meeting rooms

    Create events and sell tickets

    Synchronize with GCalendar (2-ways)

    Onboarding Members

    Customisable signup form

    Proposals, contracts, eSignature

    Members, Contacts and Teams single database

    CRM

    Tour and visitors management

    CRM boards – you can follow up leads

    Email monitoring

    Newsletters

    Task management

    Check-in and Access Control

    Wifi and network check-in

    Integration with access control systems, including mobile locks

    Mobile and Tablet Apps

    Available on iOS and Android

    Scan and optically recognise (OCR) delivery labels

    White Label Member’s Portal

    Your own white label website

    Members’ directory

    Community board

    Helpdesk

    Customer and team’s dashboards

    Space architecture

    Multi-location support

    Reports

    +100 reports

    Additional integrations and custom dashboards

    Check out a full list of their features here.

    Explore the integrations available for Cobot. 

    How much does Cobot coworking software cost?

    Cobot is made to grow with your business, and it has a pricing model that reflects this. It comes with a free month trial, complete with full customer support to see if it’s right for you. 

    Prices vary depending on the number of users you have, starting at 49 Euros/month for up to 15 users all the way up to 789 Euros/month for up to 425 members.

    Beyond 425 members you can get a price on application. 

    Find out the price of Cobot for your space

    Start your FREE trial

    2. Nexudus 

    Nexudus was created in 2012 after its founders saw there was a gap in the market for a comprehensive management tool. Describing themselves as “the most comprehensive management platform to run your coworking space”, Nexudus has stood the test of time and provides mission-critical tools and technology to power and scale up your workspace business.

    Upon speaking with Nexudus, I learned that their flexible, functional and scalable software was great for businesses that aspire to grow or open additional locations. Though equally, spaces with as little as five members have made use of their technology, so it really can be applied to any coworking space.

    Nexudus takes an “everything is included” approach. There are a LOT of features available, and their recent interface update makes it simpler to use and allows you to hide features you don’t need, while still offering comprehensive functionality.

    Traditionally, Nexudus have been known for three things:

    • API integration
    • Booking systems
    • Providing a fully white-label service

    We might not have been traditionally known for our community aspect, – says Monika- but Community is at the heart of what we do! Nexudus comes with a comprehensive Community Directory, Discussion boards and event ticketing. During COVID-19 they developed an integration with Zoom and created Nexudus Virtual Rooms, an always-on virtual room platform accessible through Members’ Portal via Jitsi. This innovative development facilitates virtual events within the platform, by ticketing events and then taking users directly through to a zoom link. 

    Like all three, they are constantly updating and developing features based on what is essential at the time, so the below list may be subject to changes.

    NEXUDUS FEATURES


    Memberships & Billing

    Invoice and take payments automatically

    Integrate with 100+ payment providers

    Inventory management

    Bookings

    Manage meeting rooms

    Create events and sell tickets

    Synchronize with GCalendar (2-ways)

    Onboarding Members

    Customisable signup form

    Proposals, contracts, eSignature

    Members, Contacts and Teams single database

    CRM

    Tour and visitors management

    CRM boards – you can follow up leads

    Email monitoring

    Newsletters

    Task management

    Check-in and Access Control

    Wifi and network check-in

    Integration with access control systems, including mobile locks

    Mobile and Tablet Apps

    Available on iOS and Android

    Scan and optically recognise (OCR) delivery labels

    White Label Member’s Portal

    Your own white label website

    Members’ directory

    Community board

    Helpdesk

    Customer and team’s dashboards

    Space architecture

    Multi-location support

    Reports

    +100 reports

    Additional integrations and custom dashboards

    Learn more about the extensive features.

    Nexudus also has a wide range of integration options, and is able to work alongside the other software that you love. 

    How much does Nexudus coworking software cost?

    The pricing at Nexudus varies based on the number of active users. 

    It is free for up to 5 users, then prices start at £85/per month for 6 users and above. The service is then priced incrementally depending on the amount of users required, and goes up to £400/month for up to 500 users. 

    For more than 500 users, you will need to contact Nexudus directly for pricing. 

    Find out the price of Nexudus for your users here: 

    Start your FREE trial

    3. OfficeRnD 

    OfficeRnD describes its product as “the ultimate management platform for coworking and flex spaces”. The platform enables workspaces to automate administrative processes, make data-driven decisions and deliver great experience to their customers.

     It was started to help flex spaces deliver an amazing experience to their customers, more power to their brand, and sustainable growth to their business.

    OfficeRnD have been in your shoes. Experts with years of experience as workspace operators are among the OfficeRnD team. Product Director at OfficeRnD, Chil, says: “Not only does this help us shape our product to make it even better, but we can really understand your pain points”.


    OfficeRnD is known for its strong billing and multi-location management capabilities. The company recently revamped their member-facing apps offering a variety of functionalities including push notifications, maintenance management, virtual office, video conferencing.


    The team adds that the member apps along with reporting and integrations will continue to be a priority in their product roadmap.

     

    Membership + Billing

    A complete view of your members lifecycle

    Easy manage and create contracts
     

    Automate billing and payments 

    Bookings

    Book, pay and manage meeting rooms

    Member-facing app 

    (Find our more here)

    Branded web portal
     

    Branded mobile app
     

    RnD rooms tablet app

    White label member’s portal

    Online members directory
     

    Events management

    Post timeline

    In-app messages (+integration with slack)

    Occupancy resources

    Interactive floor plans
     

    Occupancy dashboards

    Analytics

    Get a real snapshot of your revenue, billing and more

    Multi-location management

    Manage multiple locations seamlessly

    Explore the full list of the OfficeRnD coworking software features here. 

    OfficeRnD also has a wide range of integrations, so you can connect it to other software. 

    How much does OfficeRnD coworking software cost?

    OfficeRnD has a per member pricing option, which they recommended for newly opened or rapidly growing flexible workspaces. Prices start at £129/month, all the way to £221/month for up to 200 members. 

    Beyond 200 members you can get a quote. 

    They also offer a per location option which they recommend for established flexible workspaces with multiple locations

    Find out the price of OfficeRnD for your users

    Get your FREE 30-day trial 

    Where can I find out more about coworking space management software?

    As much as I hope this blog is helpful, I’m sure it’s not cemented your software idea. And that’s good. I encourage you to go and do as much research as possible to help you decide which one is best for you.

    Don’t overthink it, you don’t want to get analysis paralysis, but do have a look through at what you need and then 

    Hector suggests that you try and find some unbiased info (like this blog) and speak to people who don’t necessarily have skin in the game. Some examples of this are:

    • Ask questions in relevant Facebook groups 
    • Speak to people who don’t work for the software companies/that aren’t using a particular software (ie. someone who helps implement multiple softwares)

    But in the end, don’t let the software stall your business. Get help, get something implemented but don’t let it hold things back. 

    Remember: you can speak to one of the experts in this blog if you fancy speaking it through with someone who can help you understand a little more about what your space needs. 

    How to pick the best coworking software for you…

    Let’s make this clear.

    All three of these coworking software options are great and they are popular – that’s why I’ve chosen these three to review. 

    It’s likely that you can make any of them work for you. But the reason for implementing software is to make your life easier so you have more time to focus on your coworking community. So, you need to ensure that you get the right software for your coworking ecosystem. And that will vary case to case. 

    If you were to say to me: ‘Bernie, what’s the best coworking software for me”. My answer would be pretty simple. 

    Speak to the experts!

    Going on features, they are all great. But without the experience of someone who knows exactly what you are looking for and what you want to achieve it’s really difficult to understand what software system will best sit within the infrastructure of your coworking space. 

    So there you have it! As for which is the best, well that’s really up to you. 

  • How To Market A Coworking Space Right From Scratch

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    Bernie Mitchell

    In the last few weeks, I’ve had a deep few conversations with people who are ‘picking my brains’, on marketing their coworking space. 

    It seems like a lot of people are about to start a coworking space from scratch in the coming months. 

    Then I ended up emailing them these answers. So in real “They Ask You Answer” style here are the subsequently copied and pasted emails, edited of course. 

    What do you think is the most prominent problem people have when it comes to getting their act together for their coworking space?

    I don’t have time to market my coworking space.

    The one I hear is time. 

    How to find the time to market your coworking business?

    You have to find the time. 

    Stop doing something else and start marketing your coworking business. 

    I’ve been listening out for it this week. And without me even instigating it in a conversation, people said they couldn’t find the time.

    So what do you have time for in your day? 

    I never have enough time, and I’ve read so many books about productivity and time management. I’m sure I’ve lost brain cells.

    Of course, this is tough, because we all have enough time and to be able to find the time for that lucky combination of what we need to do and what we want to do is a never-ending balancing act.

    Look, I know you are short on time, you probably have not got time to read this article, let alone read a book on time, so let us get into it.

    But first, let me take a selfie.

    ACT ONE – How do I know all of this?

    Every weekday I am talking with coworking space owners and managers in London and Europe. I’ve been at this for nearly a decade chipping away and listening.

    I’m also picking apart things with marketing groups I’m a paid member of, so I am always learning and finding out what works. 

    Check out this post about the communities where I’m an active member.  

    ACT TWO – No One Is Coming To Save You

    No one is coming to save you. Not one book, blog post, podcast, or advert is going to turn your marketing around.

    It is all compound effect and connection.

    All you need is this: 

    1. A website with a blog – use WordPress. 
    2. An Email List – just get going with Mailchimp, you can change later.
    3. An Instagram account
    4. A Google My Business Page

    You have to have a website – no excuses.

    What You Need For A Coworking Space Website

    Get a website. Take a look at my mate’s Jammy Digital website for the complete no bollox guide on how to work this one out.

    How you can start a website

    I use WP Engine here and people way smarter than I, swear by it. The hosting is bulletproof, the support is 100%, I pay $36 a month, including a couple of extras and sleep at night and don’t get charged hidden fees.

    Also, at least once a year WP Engine GETS CHEAPER — Mas they scale they pass the saving onto customers!!

    Read the post here about the WordPress plugins we use on my site.

    Oh, and why does my site not look like me theme look here – that is the one everyone gets done with when setting up a WordPress blog.

    To get going, you ONLY need a website, with a blog section, email list and contact page.

    That’s it! Once you get that set up you can and all the other shit, not that you need much of it,

    It is crucial to get a Homebase set up; people google places on the website; they don’t look at Facebook pages.

    If you are Nas Daily, of course, you can use Facebook, but if you are reading this, you are probably a coworking space operator wondering how to get bums in seats.

    So Why Do I Need A Website Again?

    Oh, not this website thing again?

    Websites are what people expect to find when looking up a business, especially one with a physical address.

    Websites show up in search a million times better if you google your name all your social profiles will come up.

    If you google the title of an article or ‘coworking space near me’ websites come up.

    The more articles you put on your website over time, the more ‘authority’ you will have with google or said another way, the more Google trusts you and will direct people to your site to buy what you have.

    SEO, which means Search Engine Optimisation – or how well you get found when people type words into google, bing, yahoo and other search engines.

    FACT: the best thing you can do every week for SEO is to put an article on your website.

    FFS All This Website Stuff Makes Me Want to Lie Down

    You only need to get the website made, then after that, you can work on content, as in articles.

    And to begin with, those articles will be around events.

    It is enormous; everything you don’t know about is considerable.

    But think of it like this, if you had to give a talk next week to five thousand people about your coworking business and how you could help them how much time would you spend on that talk?

    You’d watch TED talks, make slides, get someone to design them for you get the whole space involved and pump it up.

    You’d do practice talks, knowing they’d b crap and get you to the space you want to be.

    Then you give the talk about even if only five hundred of those people were the right match for your space, it would be worth it.

    Out of those Five Hundred, if only 50 joined, you’d be jumping for joy.

    Why would you invest more in giving this talk than making your website?

    Potentially everyone on the planet with an internet connection can see your website if you are a London coworking business and need fifty people you have 8 million people who might pop by.

    You keep the entrance to your space clean as it is the first thing people see, how much time and effort does that get in comparison to your site?

    I Don’t Have The Budget For A Website.

    I’m going to tread gently here, but you do have the budget, you can find it.

    I’ve been in and around websites for over a decade now; I worked one my first on in 2006.

    I have sat by so many business owners who:

    Buy £250 Paul Smith Lamps every desk in their workspace but won’t buy a website.

    Go out for gourmet burgers every week instead of paying for a website.

    Read everything about content marketing but don’t pay for a website.

    Snort a ton of drugs but won’t pay for a website.

    Spend time and money chasing awards but won’t pay for a website

    Take their whole team out to watch Coldplay live and for dinner but won’t pay for a website.

    Throw money at everything else in their business to get it to work but not their website.

    I’m the same, I get excited about new website theme or project and go guns blazing into whatever version of engagingpeople.wpengine.com we are on, and then I get bored, stuck, distracted and it all goes to shit.

    The times over the last decade when I’ve been posting articles, podcasts and email newsletters every week I get more people asking me ‘can I hire you?’ #Justsaying

    If you opened a coworking space in London more than five years ago and you’d written a five hundred word article about events, freelancing, future of work, your local area and coworking anything your SEO would be bulletproof now.

    Please don’t be one of those businesses that pay a company for SEO but never puts any fresh content on your site. 

    The Main Reason You Don’t Have The Budget For Website.

    You don’t have the budget because you don’t understand how it works and can’t see where the money goes.

    It feels like a significant mystery expense and is too much to learn about.

    It’s like a coworking space, all those bloody people working in coffee shops would be so much better off if they’d come to you.

    What is wrong with them?

    To them, a coworking space looks like on office, or it looks like a coffee shop with a substantial monthly price tag.

    They spend £10 a day in a coffee shop every weekday, which is only a little less than a desk in your space.

    Really what is wrong with them?

    You read a lot of marketing stuff, and someone said websites are dead.

    Think of it like not taking a holiday because Elon Musk will be making trips to Mars soon.

    At some point in the next fifty years the role of the website as we know it will change, but for at least the next five years you’d be wise to invest in your website.

    That is why I made a point of only dealing with web site strategy, email marketing and content production.

    Other Social Gimmicks

    I’m always learning about all the other social media, adverts and other’ thing of the moment’ marketing strategy. But I’ve gone in-depth on making a website work to grow a coworking business.

    How To Use Instagram For Your Coworking Business

    Only Instagram?

    I’m going with this because I love Instagram, but there are other more robust reasons too.

    1. There is always someone running an Instagram workshop – my go-to is Brighton UK based Miss Instaboss for no-bullshit one to one stuff. 
    2. And if you give her money and it’s shit, I’ll refund what you spent. That’s how confident I am in her work.
    3. Real daily photos are the number one way in the world to convey how you see your space and what you’d show others.
    4. When you post, others will too.
    5. I post nearly every day from the Mainyard Studios in Bow Road London because I love taking photos and I love people who are in Mainyard with me.
    6. I pay for my studio like everyone else, ok it is THE SMALLEST studio in the building, and I don’t get a kickback for posting on Instagram.

    This type of feeling is there for everyone in places like:

    ARC Club Hackney

    Space4

    Good Space

    Workers League

    Impact Brixton

    Creative Works

    Platform 9

    These folks post on Instagram, and they don’t make me want to stick a fork in my eye. 

    If I am going to give you between £250 to £400 a desk, an honest Instagram feed is where I’ll look.

    What I won’t look for there are crappy offers and adverts. I’ll want to see what matters to you. 

    People in coworking seem to blow thousands of pounds on videos that are so slick they look suspicious and then can’t afford to do anything else.

    What I have been on Instagram over nine years now, and I’m there because I love photos and the connection I have with around 100 people. 

    1. You’ll get better and better.
    2. Post a few times every day, and you discover things in you that you never knew were there.
    3. FFS Don’t post quotes or hustle shite
    4. I know you think HUSTLE is cool, but it is bland, boring and you are hiding the real you.
    5. People don’t read a Simon Sinek or Helen Keller quote and get all pumped up and book a trial day – they think Fu<k me, another quote.
    6. The only way to stand out is being you, and you can be you every day for fifteen minutes,
    7. Unfair Advantage book by deals with Hustle topic 
    8. Talking about Hustle is harmless in the same way as referring to women as ‘birds’ is harmless; of course, it’s not.
    9. Down load this free iPhone app from Creative Live – it’s a free daily lesson on photography. Click here.
    10. Follow the #coworkinglondon – especially if you are an independent!

  • How To Develop An Epic Content Creation Process

    ·

    Bernie Mitchell

    At our weekly London Bloggers MeetUp, I keep getting asked how I write a blog post, and I never have an answer.

    I can’t bullshit my answer anymore.

    I realized that even after all this time I don’t have a system or process for writing a blog post.

    The same goes for building a podcast episode.

    I have got together with my freelancing coworking buddies Cat and Trevor to sort this out on our the OuiShare Radio Write Club podcast here.

    Stop Reading And Pondering

    Even after all the productivity books and courses, I have consumed, there is still a gaping hole in my processes.

    For podcasts, I always know in my gut where I want to go, and I have the gift of the gab; so I neglect to prepare much.

    Notice I said neglect, not “I’m so good I don’t need to prepare.”

    And this is one of the things that eludes me in getting more done.

    The lack of a defined process in this area of my life makes each new blog post or podcast a new and exciting surprise, even to me.

    Email Newsletter Process

    For email newsletters, I have a process. I adore curated newsletters, and therefore, I read a lot; tag it in Pocket App, send it by magic to Publicate.it, and then when it is time to send one, I pop in Publicate.it  hit a tag and then pick an article, then copy and paste the code to MailChimp, send a test, and then hit publish.

    When I am on form, I make a few editions in a row, and the themes are constant.

    I am curating a supportive and helpful newsletter; not a breaking news email so I can work ahead of myself.

    The time-consuming part is writing the words each week, and often I leave this until the last minute, which takes longer and ends up as a disjointed reading experience for you, the reader.

    Josh Bernoff’s ‘Iron Imperative’

    Something that got branded into the side of my head last year was the ‘Iron Imperative’ from Josh’s book, “Writing without bullshit;” which is that the readers time is more important than your own.

    In turn, this made me think about what I’m motivated to seek out.

    In my world, there are hardly any coworking spaces where I read their blogs.

    I keep up with people, but I don’t go out of my way to seek out their words.

    The “Iron Imperative” stopped me for a bit, and not in the right way.

    But this does not mean I should ignore it.

    I started to think about what I write, and is it useful?

    The Coworking

    Most coworking blogs occur as recycled productivity tips, and even they are not done well.

    There is an “I hope this works” thread like they are trying to copy James Clear blogs without the experience and insight.

    There are people who write consistently and interestingly about coworking life, like Cat Johnson and Laetitia Vitaud; but they are writers, not spaces.

    The only coworking space where I look forward to what they are doing is the Impact Hub Birmingham; miles away from me, but their work makes a difference, and as someone who helps run a space, I am inspired by what they do.

    I’m even a little bit jealous!

    We podcasted with Imandeep Kaur from Impact Hub Birmingham at the beginning of their Radical Childcare project in 2017 – here on OuiShare Radio

    Reading Non-Stop To Find Out What I Think

    There is a list of what I read here on feedly.com, and I pick up articles from Pocket, Medium, Anders Pink.

    I learn every day from the communities I am part of:

    Working Out What To Write

    The truth is, I wasn’t sure my words were any use, which leads to doubt, and fear, and all those ugly things that happen when you write and post content.

    Prompted into action by the ‘choose a topic course’ on Fizzle.com, I had to ask who would come to my blog and read this?

    So I looked at who reads my shit, and most people who talk to me about my work are people in coworking spaces, who are either freelancers, run a micro-business, or identify as self-employed as part of a small team.

    I know that sounds like everyone in a coworking space, but it is not.

    So I had my primary audience.

    What Makes Me Read Stuff?

    The content I hold out for weekly is nudging me, reminding me, or solving an issue as I read along. Best of all it makes me think.

    A great example of this is a Fizzle post; I am a fizzle member and the blogs and podcast act as a commentary on the content in the community.

    Other examples would be the

    Yoast blog,

    StudioPress sites podcast,

    Josh’s blog,

    Freelancer to Win,

    Blog Tyrant, and ironically, the Process Street blog.

    This is all right on point for me.

    Right now I am working on writing and podcasting more with less work.

    I am actively building a deliberate practice and looking to get even better results.

    So, Bernie How Do You Write a Blog?

    Not how you think.

    After I had worked out who will read this stuff, I then discovered the three topics in the ‘choose your topic course‘ on Fizzle online community had revealed my sweet spot.

    We talk about the choose your topic course on the @Work Hubs podcast here

    So, I narrowed my focus to coworking, podcasting, and productivity.

    I started just to write. not the best way I could do it, but it at least I started!

    I ended up with acres of Google docs that I lost track of.

    Sure, it was a healthy thing, and joy to write non-stop, but I did not get any articles to publish.

    You have to know where you are going and map out a few episodes and blogs, then think about the journey you want people to go with you.

    I Did Not Know Where I Was Going

    I am involved in the Fizzle community to the extent that I talk about fizzle offline with people at our meetups, who are also members.

    Outside of that, I follow the podcast, which points me towards what is happening.

    At the end of 2017, I joined an online Fizzle.com mastermind group.

    My purpose was to be with a group of people who I’d ONLY talk to about making my engagingpeople.wpengine.com blog happen.

    One of the first questions we all asked was ‘where are you going?’

    I knew where I was going in other areas of my work but not with my blog.

    So we all quickly involved in “Steph’s 15-minute planner exercise,” where she doubled her email list with an improved lead magnet.

    The lead magnet came from asking people like me what mattered and that became the fifteen-minute planner method.

    This method then became a week-long goal setting course, the way Steph looked at goals made us question ‘productivity gains vs desire’.

    I have a HUGE desire to make my website work for me in 2018, and I am finally prepared to go through the struggle, mess and humiliation to build a blog that matters.

    Not Just Another Goals Course

    A few of us here @Work Hubs embraced the planner and Steph’s Fizzle Goals course.

    At this stage of the game, I think that following a course with a group of people close to you enables you

    As I have dared to think about this in more detail, I’ve worked out that I need to batch and design my process for researching, writing, and posting a blog.

    I looking for how to glean more in-depth focus and course correction, so this is useful stuff.

    That reminded me, there are 50 blog process templates here on Process Street.

    For the first time since I was five years old, I know what direction I am heading.

    The next step for me is to get even more precise at keeping on track with both my current 12-week plan and long-term goals.

    If this post spoke to you and you’d like to learn how to develop an epic content creation process come and join in a weekly Deep Work Meetup @Work Hubs:

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    Photo by Dalibor Bosnjakovic on Unsplash