There are many fantastic reasons and benefits of working from a coworking space. They give you to have a physical office and workspace in a professional setting at a cost-effective rate by sharing it with other professionals. This collaborative work style also makes it great for networking, opening up plenty of opportunities to spread the word about your business.
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to turn your coworking space into an avenue for networking and brand promotion, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll teach you some practical ways to do just that.
Create Your Brand Image Within Your Workspace
Building a great physical workplace is an underrated way to build a brand, especially if you’re sharing a space with other businesses. When decorating your office, you should strive to incorporate as many brand elements as possible. This is now easier than ever, with easy ways to create graphics and print physical copies of your logo and brochures. Wherever you’re located across Queensland and the Gold Coast, you can use Brisbane printing services and get posters, stickers and other branded merch delivered to your office to get on-brand decor.
If you’re looking to build a business that values taking care of its employees, consider setting up a lifestyle office in your coworking space. As the name suggests, a lifestyle office is a space where your team can enjoy elements of their personal lives even when they’re at work. Building one might involve investing in facilities like shared kitchens and gyms, adding comfy decor and allowing employees to fill their personal workspaces with framed pictures, knick-knacks and other things that can help them feel more at home.
By creating a physical space that reflects your brand and its values, you can forge a stronger company culture throughout your entire team. Moreover, doing so also allows you to boost brand awareness among the other businesses sharing the same space and any visitors you might have.
Keep Branded Merch On-Hand
Using branded merchandise is a fantastic way to promote your brand and build business relationships without having to spend too much money. And, this strategy is now more viable than ever. There are plenty of businesses out there that specialise in helping companies like yours design bespoke merchandise that’s both on-brand and of the highest quality. Once you’ve identified some key suppliers, you can then proceed to order items like water bottles, notebooks and pens to keep in your office.
Keeping merch like business cards with you at all times allows you to easily share a few branded pieces with the employees of the other businesses sharing the same coworking office as you. These other companies might become valuable partners or clients down the line, so it’s always a good idea to make them aware of your brand by sharing free merch with them.
Build RelationshipsÂ
In a coworking setup, you’ll be sharing your physical space with professionals from other companies. While this is often seen as a negative because it can take away from your ability to focus or even professionalism, it can actually be a fantastic opportunity to network. To do this successfully, you need to establish and nurture relationships with those around you.
We already discussed handing out branded merch as a relationship-building strategy, but there are other ways to go about networking with your neighbours. Another is to simply strike up a few conversations. By getting to know the professionals around you, you can learn more about their enterprises and identify ways you can work together. After making some acquaintances, you can then proceed to invite them to lunch to build the relationship further and don’t be afraid to let them know what you do and the services you provide.
When running a business, it’s often who you know, not just what you know. Working in a shared office gives you the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals without having to go out of your way. Take advantage of your coworking setup and grow your business network proactively.
Invite Clients to Your Office
A personal touch goes a long way to building rapport with customers or clients. Inviting potential buyers to your office for personal demonstrations or sales pitches can go a long way to transforming them into loyal customers.
In order to make sure your customers leave your workspace with a positive impression of your business, it’s important to make sure that the office is set up to be as welcoming as possible. Allocate at least one room you can use for private meetings. Stocking up on treats like candies, instant coffee and cookies can also help make visitors more comfortable.
By using your coworking office as a space where you can meet and interact with clients, you can provide the personalisation that modern customers crave. These spaces often have great facilities and meeting rooms, given the costs are shared, so inviting them in can help impress your client base. By doing so, you’ll boost your chances of not just selling more products but also turning first-time clients into repeat purchasers.
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Branding and networking can be challenging, especially if you’re running a startup. The fact that you are working with a limited budget and might not have built much of a reputation yet often means that you can’t afford massive branding campaigns or might not receive invites to certain networking events.
However, this takes nothing away from the importance of brand promotion and networking. Bad branding and a small professional network can limit your opportunities, making it difficult to reach the heights you’re dreaming of.
We’ve explored a few ways you can promote your brand and expand your network when working in coworking spaces, which you can apply to grow your enterprise and expand your horizons without stepping out of your routine.
