Going Virtual Archives

Maintaining Community While Members are Virtual: Insights from 4 Coworking Operators

Now that your members are working from home, scaling back their time in the space, or working apart from one another, how do you maintain community?

We asked four workspace operators to share a glimpse into their experience, how they’re creating virtual offerings, and what advice they’d give to other coworking owners and managers.

Susan Dorsch is co-founder of Office Nomads in Seattle, WA. Office Nomads has 103 members, zero private offices, and 10-15 events per month. Jamie Orr is co-founder of Cowork Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe, CA. and co-founder of Jellyswitch. Cowork Tahoe has 150 members, 32 offices and 8-12 events per month. Felicity Maxwell is co-founder and COO of Fibercove in Austin, TX. Fibercove has 100 members, 4 offices and 5-10 events per month. Maya Delano is the community manager at Nextspace Coworking Santa Cruz who runs the space with community coordinator Jennifer Hamilton. NextSpace Santa Cruz has 241 members, 26 offices, and hosts about 14 internal/public events per month. Here’s what they had to say:

[?] Cat Johnson: How are things in your space and community? What precautions have you taken around COVID-19?

Susan Dorsch: Things in Seattle are definitely tense as our region is one of the centers of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the space and within our community, I’d say the general feeling is subdued. It’s hard in Seattle right now. But there’s also a solid undercurrent of humor and good-naturedness that is so reassuring. This outbreak and the onslaught of news about it has been hard on everyone, but I hear lots of words of encouragement between our members. While it’s a crappy thing to connect over, our members are connecting well and finding ways to at least cheer each other along in the struggle.

The precautions Office Nomads has taken thus far are:

Daily sanitizing of most surfaces in the space (countertops, door handles, coffee pots, our iPad for check-in, etc.)
Temporarily switching over to disposable towels in the bathrooms and kitchens (normally we use regular towels because we love the environment).
Having hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies out at the ready for members to use.
Temporarily putting a pause on our food-related gatherings in the space (though we joked around about having a snack be individually wrapped cheese sticks placed at 6-foot intervals around the table.)
Maintaining a strong channel of communication with our members so they know all the things.

Jamie Orr: This week, we really saw things start to change in response to COVID-19. It’s quiet here. We still have people coming in, but the energy is completely different. On Monday, we established our response protocol as a team:

Suspended all drop-in day passes
Canceled and suspended any meeting room bookings from outside groups, and any events in the space
Placed signs everywhere reminding people of good hygiene protocols. Most of those signs are fun and encourage singing while hand washing
Increased our cleaning, disinfecting primary shared surfaces like handles, buttons, etc. multiple times throughout the day
Sent and posted notices about CDC guidelines, our procedures, etc. to all members

Felicity Maxwell: Cleaning stations, extra hand soap, spot cleaning of common surfaces.

NextSpace SC: Things are getting weird, not going to lie! Initially, we started disinfecting every AM and put out hygiene signage with additional “sanitation stations” and even added floral arrangements to the stations to bring a little beauty (and engage members) to use the sanitizers.

Wash Your Hands Signage NextSpace Coworking Santa Cruz

But now we have closed the space to abide by our county’s shelter in place order.

We are only open 2 hours each day for the purpose of managing mail to keep our members’ businesses running smooth
Members have started an online “Coffee Time” to hang out virtually each morning. It’s so cute!
We plan to have a virtual happy hour

In what ways has COVID-19 affected the day-to-day in your space?

SD: Things are definitely more quiet in the space, and the majority of our conversations are outbreak-related. So that’s different for sure. Literally someone just said, “Nice to social distance with y’all!” as they left the lunch table.

JO: Everyone is on edge, especially as this past week has progressed. The typical water cooler talk is all about the pandemic, what is going to happen, what people are doing to prepare. Many members are preparing by taking home monitors in anticipation of school closures.

At the same time, everyone is being incredibly supportive of one another and trying to stay in good spirits. The community is strong. Our team has been working really hard on overcommunicating with members: asking how they are doing, what they need, talking with them about what we are doing, what our thought process is, how we intend on supporting everyone. That has gone really far.

FM: Totally Normal / Totally Not! We have plenty of community members that are attempting to work as usual, but also have a number who have been impacted. Specifically:

SXSW cancelled: One of the startups here has their entire remote team flying in, they were scheduled to be featured at SXSW Innovation Showcase. All of that was cancelled. No team meeting, no SXSW parties, no chance to win or gain the exposure and connections offered by SXSW
Projects cancelled: Several members have already mentioned work projects being cancelled. One works with the airline industry and they had an entire RFP revoked. Likewise, another member who supports large tech conferences had six months worth of work put on hold. Their contacts are now asking them to create a system for virtual conferences, since it is unclear when these types of gatherings will be coming back.
Meetings cancelled or low attendance: We have had several bookings cancel due to attendee travel concerns about COVID. One client has zero attendees at a sales meeting that normally has 10-15.
We’ve made the decision to go to a members only/limited staffing model for the next few weeks. That should allow our members who need space to use it, but encourage everyone else to stay home and safe.

NextSpace SC: Our space started to fill with children and friends for a bit (we are thinking it had to do with school closures before the shelter-in-place order). Although NextSpace is closed to the public, we still allow access to members that absolutely need the space to conduct business.

We offer mailbox services and are staffed for two hours a day so members can access their mail via pick-up, but we have encouraged scanning or forwarding to their home address.
We have also directed members to ship packages (Amazon, UPS, etc.) to their home.
Staff are mostly working from home and trying to keep our community informed and find ways to keep everyone connected. We’re going as virtual as possible and testing the waters of online events and messaging platforms.

[?] Do you have ways for your community to connect virtually? If so, what is working well?

SD: We sure do! We have a member mailing list as well as an active Slack. Both of those channels are proving to be really valuable for our members to touch base with each other. We just launched our first-ever virtual membership (which is free in March) to encourage those who might be newly experiencing the challenges of remote work to have another touch point.

Already there’s been an increase in the use of Slack. We’re planning virtual work sprints, have a “daily debate” channel, and are checking in on weekly goals. It’s lovely.

JO: Next week, we’ll be rolling out scheduled times to virtually cowork with each other. I’m looking at a few options:

Work sprints with video on
Happy hour or “after kids are asleep” hour
Water cooler check-ins in the morning and towards mid-afternoon when members would typically be taking coffee breaks

FM: We primarily use Slack for member communication and have seen an uptick in engagement. We’re planning to use Zoom for virtual coworking this week.

NextSpace SC: We are lucky to have amazing members who started a Facebook group to host virtual morning coffee sessions each day. Our company will be using Zoom and Facebook Live to host virtual happy hours on Friday’s at 3:58pm and daily coworking sessions with our members. We’re also using our mailing list to communicate with members. Our internal team will be logging in together each day to connect, support and share experiences and challenges.

Virtual Happy Hour NextSpace Coworking Santa Cruz

[?] How would you advise other space operators working to find ways to support, maintain and strengthen their community through the outbreak?

SD: Don’t be silent. Reach out, be proactive, and find ways that you can be helpful. It’s not as hard or scary as you might think.

JO: Now more than ever it’s imperative to model good communication, and over-communication. Even I have taken for granted the ease at which we connect with one another when in the same physical space. There is extra effort required to get used to doing that virtually. As coworking space operators, we can help our members do that by showing them how.

FM: Give your community ways to connect that are not related to physical space. Encourage everyone to stay connected via Zoom, Slack etc., and remind them that this is temporary.

NextSpace SC: There are so many resources! Check out Women Who Cowork who have dedicated an entire training session and created an online manual to support us during these crazy times. Joining virtual discussions such as Coworking Convos is also a great way to stay connected with other space operators that are in the same boat!

Cat Johnson Coworking Convos Virtual Community

Lastly, even if your space is not closed yet, start putting strategies in place and communicate to members what your processes will be “in case of a closure.” Get your mail, communications and resources in order. If you do this ahead of time, you will have more time to be present and available to your members when you do have to transition to virtual coworking.

Cat Johnson is a writer and storyteller for the coworking movement. Cat is founder of Coworking Convos – a virtual monthly group discussion with other space operators on topics relevant to the coworking industry. Sign-up for the next free Coworking Convo and join the discussion!

About CloudVO

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp., headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudTouchdown network that grants preferential access to day offices and meeting rooms at nearly 1,000 locations worldwide for mobile workers and distributed workforces under a subscription model or on a pay-per-use basis.

Integrating Virtual Office Services into a Coworking Space: 6 Ways to Take Advantage of the VO Trend

Virtual offices are an increasingly hot topic in the shared workspace industry—and for good reason. Virtual offices provide mobile employees, remote workers, freelancers, independent professionals and small teams access to office space, conference rooms, a business address, mail service, phone answering, business amenities, open coworking space and more.

Virtual offices have been part of the office rental industry for decades. Now coworking space operators are embracing the virtual office trend to expand their offerings, create additional income streams and differentiate in an increasingly crowded workspace industry. Here are six reasons to integrate a virtual office into a coworking space.

1. Virtual Offices Expand Offerings for Existing Coworking Members
Coworking spaces are full of freelancers, independent professionals, remote workers and small teams. As existing members grow their businesses, they may need more than access to a single location. Adding a virtual office to your coworking space enables you to expand offerings to include mail forwarding, live phone answering services, day office rental and more.

2. Live Phone Answering Services in a Virtual Office
Access to live phone answering services is part of the above expanded offerings for members, but it deserves its own section because it can be transformative for a new business. Whether a virtual office members is on the road, busy building a product or working from an open coworking area, they can still have a professional receptionist answer calls, forward calls to a mobile number and take messages. This can be a powerful tool in establishing a new business.

3. A Virtual Office Can Attract New Markets
Independent professionals and small teams don’t all need set office hours or coworking days—but they may still need mail, phone, a business address, access to a meeting room, and the occasional day office. A virtual office lets you go beyond offering a simple day pass to a coworking space which offers additional valuable services and potentially reach new markets.

4. Activate the Meeting Room in a Coworking Space
Shared workspaces generally have meeting rooms and conference rooms—and they may be underutilized, sitting empty much of the time. By adding virtual office offerings to a coworking space, operators make these spaces available to a broader market of professionals and businesses in need of meeting rooms, conference rooms and day offices.

5. Virtual Offices Open Additional Revenue Streams for Coworking Spaces
A virtual office can be a nice additional revenue stream for a coworking space. By including a range of virtual office offerings, from a business address and mail collection to live phone answering service, meeting room rental and a day office, space operators create additional revenue streams from a variety of markets and professionals.

6. Differentiate Your Coworking Space with a Virtual Office
As the shared workspace industry continues to grow at a remarkable rate, it is increasingly important for coworking space operators to differentiate themselves beyond providing a desk and wifi. One way to do this is through community-building and event programming. Another way to differentiate is through robust virtual office offerings and flexible VO packages to meet a variety of professional needs and preferences.

A growing number of coworking spaces are incorporating virtual offices into their workspace offerings. Check out CloudVO’s Resource Center for more insights on how you can expand your workspace offering.

Not a partner yet? We would love to add you to our growing network of 650 locations around the globe. Visit us at: www.CloudVO.com to list your location for free.

By Cat Johnson, content strategist and coworking member of NextSpace in Santa Cruz, CA.

About CloudVO

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms in 700 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

Don’t Leave Your Clients Out In The Cold

Don’t leave your clients out in the cold. That’s what Virtual Offices are for!

Keith’s short video is not just hilarious; it gives a true sense for at least a couple of the key value drivers that plead in favor of virtual offices:

1) Convenience – Your home office may not be out in the snow like Keith’s, but chances are it’s not a convenient place to have a business meeting. Alternatives like meeting at Starbucks have limits, WRT privacy, amenities, or lack therefore. CloudVO features over 600 Virtual Office locations worldwide with multiple professional meeting rooms, part-time offices, and touchdown spaces in each center.

2) Brand & Image – Not all business transactions can be done online. People often want to know who they are dealing with. Meeting in a professional space will often inspire more confidence. At the minimum, it is more likely to support a productive meeting (for example with reliable Internet connection and projection tools). The concept of image here is not about “pretending” you have a big shot office in a nice building, this is about being efficient and effective. A productive meeting that you host will reflect positively on your brand, personal or corporate, which is related to, but goes way deeper than a superficial view of “image”. A virtual office provides this opportunity at a fraction of the cost of a full-time office in the same building.

3) Better Customer Service – If your virtual office plan includes the use of live phone answering service, you will ensure that your customer calls will always been promptly answered and that you will be less likely to miss an important prospect call if you are not able to answer the call directly. While a call is patched to you, you also have time to mentally prepare yourself, collect your thoughts, and make the caller feel he or she is your most important customer.

4) Low Cost – A virtual office is the most cost-efficient way to establish a strong local business identity at a fraction of the cost of a full-time office – even in a shared office space. Anywhere between 5-20% of the cost of a dedicated office, in our experience, depending upon the level of service you need.

The Cloud Office plans by CloudVO are designed to establish a strong local business identity, with a local phone number, live answering services, and 16 hours/month of free access to day offices and meeting rooms at many of its 600 locations. Their cost is typically in the $250 to $350 per month range, but Virtual Office plans can start as low as $50 with basic use of a building address and mail services; although most mail services would be in the $69 to $99 range.

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 600 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

Switching to Virtual Office Space in Orlando

As a small business owner in the Orlando area, you may be struggling to make the transition from working at home to running your business out of a professional office space. After all, there are cost benefits associated with working out of your house, but you may want to have a more professional space to present to your customers and clients. If you are like most small business owners, entrepreneurs, or solo-attorneys, you may be debating between a home office and renting or buying a full-time office space. Neither one may seem like the perfect match for your needs. The good news is that there is a third option that you may have not yet considered, the option to rent a virtual office space.

What Is a Virtual Office?

A virtual office space provides the best benefits of both working from home and renting a full-time office space. This is a space that may provide you with a small, dedicated or shared work area as well as shared common areas, such as a conference center, a reception area, a business lounge and more. Generally, these are located in desirable areas of the city with a high-end address. You may continue to work from home on some days of the week, but you always have the option of coming into the office when needed. For example, you can reserve the conference room if you are scheduling a meeting with clients in the near future, and this means that you can create the impression of having a full-time office space when you have meetings.

What Are the Benefits?

If you have not yet considered the option to lease a virtual office space, you may not be aware of what all of the benefits are. For one, this rental option is often available to you at a fraction of the cost of a full-time office rental. It provides you with on-site staff to support you, such as catering or beverage service, document services, and/or video conferencing setup. You also have the option to add live telephone answering, which includes professional receptionists answering calls to your dedicated office line with a customized greeting. In addition to these benefits, you will have complete access to all of the office services and amenities you need. You will not need to worry about paying to outfit a traditional office space to enjoy access to common office equipment, furnishings and more. This provides you with an exceptional solution to your dilemma.

How Do You Find a Virtual Office in Orlando?

After you have learned more about the virtual office option in the Orlando area, you may be ready to take a closer look at the options. There are several virtual office environments you can consider in the local community, but CloudVO may be your best option. This is an established virtual office reseller that has plans available for you to lease today. CloudVO provides you with access to a professional support team, a reputable address, a dedicated business phone number, and all of the amenities and features you need to create a fully functional work environment.

Although you may feel torn between working out of the house and renting a professional office space, you can relax knowing there are many options available. Virtual offices are becoming increasingly popular and are especially beneficial for small business owner in the local area. Before you make a final decision about where to office, take time to reach out to CloudVO for more information about virtual offices solutions. With this information in hand, making a decision that is best for your business can be easy.

The Perks of Running your Business from Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California. Perhaps no other city in the world captures the imagination the way L.A. does, a city synonymous with fame, wealth, and success. The L.A. metropolitan area is home to nearly 20 million people, enjoys some of the best weather in America, and is also the business hub of the West coast. As an entrepreneur, L.A. is a great city to make it big with a small business or startup. Unfortunately for a determined and thrifty entrepreneur, L.A. is also home to astronomically high prices for office space. Virtual office space is a contemporary and savvy solution to this problem, allowing your company to have a business address in some of the most sought after locations in the City of Angeles without paying the excessive fee other companies pay to be located there.

How a Virtual Office Works

CloudVO’s virtual office service allows a small business to have an official office presence in Los Angeles at a fraction of the cost of actually renting office space. Rather not test L.A.’s notorious traffic? With a virtual office you can work from home without ever leaving your suburb, but still have a business address in some of the hottest areas in town. Do you need a place for business meetings that isn’t a coffee shop? Would an L.A. business address or phone number give your company important legitimacy? Do you need someone to answer the phone, but don’t want the hassle of employing your own receptionist? CloudVO allows you to package services that will meet your needs, without having to pay for extras.

Services Provided In Los Angeles

CloudVO offers three main services to small businesses looking for 21st Century solutions. First, CloudVO offers business addresses and mail forwarding. This service allows your business to have an address in some of Los Angeles’s premier office spaces (more on this later). Mail sent to your virtual office address is forwarded to wherever you choose. Second, CloudVO provides live answering services for your business. Need an L.A. number but live across the country? CloudVO can provide your business with a local or toll free number. Depending on the options you choose, the calls that come through on your business line can either be directly forwarded to your cell phone or a businesses voicemail. Through CloudVO’s live answering services, do your work in a chill beachside SoCal café while one one of CloudVO’s receptionists takes your calls (answering with the name of your company, of course). If you occasionally need to meet with clients and investors, and prefer not to do it in that beachfront café where you do your work, CloudVO has a solution for that too. Office space and meeting rooms are available to work and meet in on a subscription or rental basis at your business address. With impressive spaces and professional office staff on location to greet your guests, those you meet with won’t suspect you haven’t already made it big.

Los Angeles Locations

Location is everything, and that is what CloudVO specializes in. An exhaustive list of available virtual offices in L.A. can be found here, however, here a few highlights. Ever heard of the Sunset Strip? You clients certainly have. One option for your virtual office is on this iconic street, next to world-class hotels like the Chateau Marmont. Another option is in the award winning MGM Tower in Century City, where your address can be nestled in with established film studios and media companies. Wherever you decide to make your virtual office, CloudVO allows you the freedom to pick the services you need on your path to making it big in Los Angeles.

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 500 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

Virtual Offices in Silicon Valley: Modern Business Solutions in the World’s Tech Hub

Silicon Valley: the home of Facebook, Apple, Google, and dozens of other technology companies known for their unqualified success and the way their products have changed they way we live. A Silicon Valley startup company is synonymous with innovation and the potential for unbelievable prosperity. Unfortunately, for those scrappy entrepreneurs aspiring to be the next Zuckerbergs, Silicon Valley is not only known for a hub of innovation and commerce, it is also home to some of the most expensive office (and residential) space in America. Fortunately for those who have yet to make their billions, CloudVO offers a 21st century solution to small business owners who are not quite ready to build a corporate campus rivaling Google’s.

Virtual Office Space: How it Works

CloudVO’s virtual office solutions allows a small business owner to have an official office presence in Silicon Valley at a fraction of the cost of actually renting office space. Do you work from home, but still need to meet clients or investors occasionally, and would rather not do it in a coffee shop? Would a Silicon Valley business address or phone number give your startup important legitimacy? Do you need someone to occasionally answer the phone, but don’t want to hassle with an actual employee? CloudVO allows you to package services that will meet these needs and more, allowing you to pay for only what you need.

Services Provided

CloudVO offers three main categories of virtual office services. First, CloudVO offers business addresses and mail forwarding. This service allows your business to have an actual address in some of Silicon Valley’s premier office spaces (more on this later). Mail sent to your virtual office is forwarded to whatever address you choose. Second, CloudVO can provide live telephone answering services for your business. This allows you to have a local or toll free number, without you personally having to deal with phone calls. Depending on your needs, those who call your business line can either be directly forwarded to a phone number of your choice, or your businesses voicemail. Through CloudVO’s live phone answering service, one of CloudVO’s professional and friendly receptionists will answer your business line with the name of your company, and then take a message or forward the call to you. Lastly, CloudVO offers private and shared workspaces and meeting rooms to use, on a subscription or hourly rental basis. This service allows you to meet with your clients or investors at your business address in an impressive conference room or day office, with a professional administrative staff on location to greet your guests.

Locations in the Silicon Valley

CloudVO offers virtual offices in some of the best locations in the Silicon Valley area. How about an office in Cupertino, blocks away from Apple’s corporate campus and within two miles of other giants in the technology business? Maybe an office in Palo Alto, within minutes of Stanford University and with easy access to the East Bay would suit your needs better? Check out these and other great locations CloudVO offers in the Silicon Valley area.

Virtual Office Solutions

The personal computer, smartphones, and social media have all changed the way we live. Now virtual office space is changing the way we do business. The rise of technology has made working from home possible in a way unimaginable thirty years ago, but small businesses owners and entrepreneurs still find themselves needing the services and legitimacy that only a physical office can provide. CloudVO is the answer. With a virtual office space, get what you need and don’t pay for the extra.

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 500 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

Virtual Office Space: Creating Your Business in Washington, D.C.

Are you a small business owner looking for a way to give your business a reputable face without breaking the bank? CloudVO’s virtual office solutions allow you to do just that. CloudVO provides affordable mail plans, coworking and meeting spaces, business addresses, and administrative services in Washington, D.C.

Why a Virtual Office?

Maybe you are self-employed and are able to work from home, but occasionally need a setting to meet with clients that is more professional than the corner café. Perhaps you would like an address for your business that is not in the middle of the suburbs or a P.O. Box. Maybe you need an office presence in D.C., however, would rather not pay for office space considered by Forbes to be the third-most expensive in America. CloudVO can meet all these needs and more by allowing businesses to tailor a service package to their specific needs.

Virtual Office Services Provided

CloudVO offers three main categories of virtual office services. First, CloudVO offers business addresses and mail forwarding services. This service allows your business to have an actual address at some of Washington D.C.’s premier office spaces (more on this later). Mail sent to your virtual office is forwarded to whatever address you choose. Second, CloudVO can provide phone and live answering services for your business. This allows you to pick a local D.C. or toll free number for your business. Depending on your needs, those who call your business line can either be directly forwarded to a phone number of your choosing, or your businesses voicemail. Through CloudVO’s live answering service, one of CloudVO’s professional and friendly receptionists will answer your business line with the name of your company, and then take a message or forward the call to you depending on your needs. Lastly, CloudVO offers actual office space and conference rooms to use and meet in, on a subscription or rental basis. This service allows you to meet with your clients at your business address in an impressive conference room or office, with professional office staff on location to meet your clients.

Prestigious Location in Washington DC

Washington D.C. is the political center of the United States, perhaps the political center of the world. Prestige matters when you are dealing with the world’s power brokers. Unfortunately, D.C. is ranked only behind New York City and San Francisco as having the priciest office space rent in the country. Get a D.C. office without paying thousands of dollars a month. CloudVO offers business addresses at a variety of distinguished locations throughout D.C. area. Whether you need a business address or a meeting room a block away from the Capitol Building, or an office just up the street from the Oval Office and the White House, CloudVO has workspaces available for you. If you prefer a business address offering office space surrounded by upscale restaurants and shopping as well as numerous foreign embassies, CloudVO has a place for you. Now offering fourteen excellent virtual office locations across D.C. in addition to numerous options in nearby Baltimore, Arlington, and Alexandria.

The 21st Century Solution to Your Office Needs

While companies like Airbnb and Uber revolutionize the way we travel, CloudVO is changing the way business owners meet their office space needs. CloudVO allows you and your business to have a prestigious location without paying astronomically high rent. You can have a receptionist without worrying about how to keep them busy. CloudVO gives you and your businesses the ability to get the services you need, without having to pay for the things you don’t.

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 500 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

3 Things You Didn’t Know About Virtual Office Space in Miami

Are you looking to establish a professional image for your business, but not sure how to get that corporate feel without spending a fortune? Virtual offices have become immensely popular for small businesses, corporations, large companies, entrepreneurs and professionals.

In today’s global economy, it is vital that you set up your business in a premier location. CloudVO is a reputable reseller of virtual office solutions in Miami.

For most start-ups, purchasing an office building or acquiring an expensive rental office can take away needed funds to run the core of the business or project. Yet, appearance matters when you’re running a new business.

Rather than renting office space, hiring a reception staff, purchasing office equipment, phone and fax systems, and furniture, a virtual office is simply a ready-made business office.

Virtual office spaces provide an affordable and excellent option for even the smallest budgets to run a business like a major corporation. Here are a few things you might not have thought about when considering a virtual office option.

First: Impressions Matter

A great virtual office in Miami provides you with a prestigious business address, optional lobby directory listings, mail forwarding services, access to fully-equipped meeting spaces and conference facilities, state of the art technology and a wide variety of cutting-edge business support services.

And a professional business address sends a message that you are serious about your business.

Second: Outstanding Technology Services

Get access to high-speed Internet, video conferencing presentation tools such as LCD projectors, smart boards, plasma screens and many other amenities and services to make your meeting convenient and successful.

Virtual Office Spaces in Miami have an on-site professional receptionist to greet your guests, receive drop-offs, take messages, and provide support to you when you’re on-site. Other amenities are also available to enhance the office experience.

Third: No Long-Term Commitments

You can rent meeting rooms or workspace by the hour or by the day. There’s no office lease, no hardware, no utility payments and none of the costs that are associated with having a brick-and-mortar office space. Those savings can be passed along to clients and impact your profit margin.

As you can see a virtual office offers the best alternative for a business owner or entrepreneur to avoid spending a lot of money in office expenses while establishing a professional image for their business.

A virtual office space or business center in Miami offers all the advantages of an office address and office communications and amenities without requiring you to set up an actual office space. It has everything you would expect from a leader in modern business address and office solutions. Everything, that is, except the big price tag.

Find out all the ways CloudVO can help you conduct business through a virtual office space, while giving you the advantages of a private office.

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service ™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 500 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

Why Create A Virtual Office in Chicago

Prominent Location in Chicago

The first thing to choose when deciding where to establish your virtual office space is location. It’s crucial to choose a prominent location that is right for you and your business. Without a doubt Chicago is a well established area, and CloudVO offers a variety of luxurious professional virtual office solutions. The city of Chicago is the perfect place to set up a virtual office for your business, whether you are a startup, mobile worker, solopreneur, or a team looking for temporary shared workspace.

Meeting Chicago Clients

You want your virtual office to be a place where you can confidently meet with clients. For that reason you want to ensure that you have an office space in which you can meet with your clients, and feel confident that your office space is professional. Chicago is one of the most famous cities in the United States, and definitely lives up to expectations. CloudVO offers numerous professional locations in which to conduct meetings. Meeting room locations are accessible via city public transportation and near major landmarks. With so many attractions in Chicago, it makes this city the perfect place to establish your virtual office space, and meet with your clients and colleagues.

Stable Chicago Mailing Address

Once you establish the office space for your business, you will want to ensure that you have a stable mailing address where clients can reach you. Also, you want to ensure that you have access to telephone communication to communicate with clients; and maintain your business’ affairs. Most clients despise automated messages, so having live telephone communication is crucial when picking the perfect virtual office space. That is one major reason why Chicago is a fantastic place to establish your business. If you want to an office space in a well known prominent area in conjunction with the ability to have live telephone communication with clients, CloudVo virtual office spaces in Chicago is the way to go!

Why not make your virtual office space in the windy city? Not only is Chicago one of America’s most famous cities, but Chicago is also a great place to establish a business identity and reputation. Also, with CloudVo there are several prominent locations to choose from that are professional and equipped to cater the varying degrees of your business needs. All of these locations are excellent settings to hold meetings with clients and managing business affairs. That is not all, as part of your virtual office plan with CloudVO, live answering services will keep your clients happy, allow you to receive voicemail messages directly via email, and screen calls when necessary. No need for automated voice messages, leaving clients unhappy or frustrated. Get a prime location for your virtual office along with the benefits of a physical office space!

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service ™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 500 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.

Building your Business Online: Some Useful Tips on Setting Up an Effective Virtual Office Space

No matter if you are located in New York City or Miami, building your first virtual office or home-based business can be challenging. There are several factors to think about and a few challenges to face once you start setting up your virtual office space. However, these challenges shouldn’t hinder you from running your business smoothly. If you are on the stage of setting up your virtual office space, then the following tips can help you out.

1. Work with a virtual receptionist.

Most businesses depend on the telephone to contact people, and for people to contact them. Setting up a business phone number, and then hiring a virtual office receptionist to handle it, can help you jumpstart your home-based business. With a reliable virtual receptionist, you have a hundred percent assurance that all calls from your valued customers are answered.

Your virtual receptionist will also work in handling orders, taking important messages and relaying them to you, answering queries from customers and scheduling appointments. All these can help guarantee smooth business operations.

Not only does having a virtual receptionist have a friendly and professional appeal, it allows you to focus on your business. Trained to work as an extension of your staff, CloudAnswering does the filtering of sales calls, gathering the basic information & relaying the important information over to you wherever you are. This seamless service enables you to prioritize calls, and allow you to choose to accept the call or have transferred to your personalized voicemail.

2. Develop a professional image.

Even if you are just working from home, it is still crucial to showcase a professional image not only to your clients, but also to your team. This is necessary, even if you just intend to work on your pajamas. Having a virtual receptionist handle your calls can go a long way to putting forth a
professional image. Ensure that you dress appropriately during important meetings with clients. Dressing professionally is essential,
especially if you are meeting with the client personally or on Skype. This
will let you show an image of authority and professionalism, making it easier to earn their trust.

3. Get a Prestigious Business Address

Another way to develop a professional image, and create trust from your clients is to have a prestigious business address. A great advantage to having a virtual office is you can work from wherever you are. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be located where your address is. There are laws and taxes to keep in mind based on what state you are “located” in, but really you can be located wherever you would like. Set up your office in the New York/Manhattan area, Miami, or Chicago. The location of your business can give your clients the feel that you are professional, experienced, and ready to handle their needs.

4. Keep your communication lines open.

Your employees/team members should feel comfortable when asking questions or communicating with you. Reassure them that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Make them feel like they can raise their concerns anytime without fear of getting judged. Some ways to communicate with your team are Skype, Google apps such as Google Hangout, and e-mail.

5. Rent/outsource some services.

With the increase of interest in virtual offices, workspace providers are sharing their services to other interested operators. Check out their offers and determine which among these providers can meet your specific requirements. Some of those who are into virtual office space rental also offer additional services like live telephone answering and forwarding, a business address in New York, Miami, Chicago or more, based on where you would like your business to be, listing of email addresses, and building directories. Before starting your search, create a list of all the services that you need. This way, you can easily determine, which among the virtual office space providers can meet your specific requirements.

6. Take advantage of the intranet.

Since you won’t be working with your team in just one location, you have to look for a way to communicate with them efficiently. This is where intranet can help. Once you set it up, connecting with your virtual team and sharing information will be a lot easier.

Wrapping Up

Whether you are in Chicago, Miami, or New York, creating an online
business has a variety of elements that need to be taken into consideration. Businesses like CloudVO offer services such as telephone answering, a prestigious business address, mail and packaging services, and a conference room or part time office each month. This will allow you to create a business you love, without having to worry about the small details that can be a hassle. Virtual office spaces are a great solution for small business who want to go big.

About CloudVO ™

CloudVO is the umbrella brand of Cloud Officing Corp, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CloudVO’s mission is to provide comprehensive virtual office, coworking and meeting room solutions to professionals under a Workplace-as-a-Service ™ model. CloudVO operates the CloudMeetingRooms.com and CloudVirtualOffice.com e-commerce sites and grants preferential access to day offices, coworking space, and professional meeting rooms at close to 500 locations worldwide for distributed workers on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis.