How to market a virtual office?

Any opinions????

Craigslist is your friend. Try posting in the office / commercial section of craigslist. If you need examples of what others are doing, try here plenty of competition to learn from.

Its' just like having a regular office. You have access to space in a professional business building if you ever need it. You can ever pay a little extra to have a secretary answer the phone for you. You tell her what to say. You will always be, " In a meeting or out of the office", or you can have your calls forwarded to you. Here in California there are even lots of nice business buildings that charge a low monthly fee for a virtual office. When you want to meet a client, you request a meeting room and use it for an hour or so. When clients get off the elevator, they never know that you are not there full time. There is usually a secretary who works for a group of virtual workers for everyone on a given floor. I have seen some really nice ones that are decorated top shelf. If you want to do everyhing from home, you can get a virtual secretary to forward your calls or just get an 800 or 888 phone number with a professional message on it that leaves options for leaving a message or forwarding the call to your cell. I have not needed a live person so far, I have had a professional voice do my phone greetings. Google virtual office and pick a large city close to you. I have seen really nice ones in Irvine California.

Good Luck!
GfS

so advertising and marketing would be like a normal office. but arent offline marketing techniques more targeted towards getting people to walk in

has anyone around here used a virtual office setup?

You would market like you would anywhere else. For example, if you distribute business cards, brochures, or send people to a website, just have the virtual office phone number listed. Offline marketing means that you usually contact a business owner and pitch him what you have to offer when the owner says he can meet. For example, I have met with many restaurant owners. They don't want to travel to me. They want me to visit during non- peak business hours. Offline, you make a strong impression on the phone to get to the owner. Then the owner usually wants to meet in person. Then you close the deal. You can walk in unannounced if you hapen to know when the owner is available. If by rare circumstance the owner wants to get away from his work, you can invite them to your virtual office space. Most all will want you to come to them though.

Like i said i am well aware of what a virtual office.
what i am more interested is how i would utilise the virtual office in a best possible.
like once it is set up how would one go about marketing one's services in that area where you have set up your office.

Find out the owner or decision makers name before you cold call. You can look online or ask an employee. If I call matter of factly with a friendly, confident tone to my voice and ask for the person by name, I usually get through to them. Like anything else, it takes a little practice to get your phone swagger down. Be ready to let them know why they need you and what this will do for their bottom line quickly. Anything free to get started opens doors to gaining trust towards making them a client.

has anyone around here used a virtual office setup?

Using a virtual office is no different than using a "regular" office...

The only difference is that most "virtual" offices will not be available to you 24/7 like most "regular" offices. Typically a virtual office plan will allow for 1 to 3 "office visits" or "office space" days per week or month.

I think you are getting confused and thinking that you could set up a "virtual" office as a full-time permanent "regular office".

But as far as "marketing" your services - the process will be the same regardless of where you setup your office space.

Cheers,
Coby

no... not confused... well aware of the limitations of virtual offices.
has any one have experience setting up and running a virtual office....

what i am looking to understand is what specific problems they faced and how they overcame it etc?

main limitation i see is limited usage of actual office space. like i have seen offers where they provide 5 days a month of office usage.
not much rt?

then marketing.... has there been any specific marketing technique which would work better for a virtual office....
for eg, appointing a sales person.... how beneficial would that be for a virtual set up
i hope i am making my query clear.

If you look at Google for search "Virtual offices " + your target location, you can find out more agencies who had listed the such virtual office details. You may contact them to add your details as well - That may help. As usual, you can add your details to online directories as well.

Or, It is better to do some keyword research and spend some money with Google PPC for immediate results OR Go for SEO and optimise your website for those keywords.

I know a guy who owns a virtual assistance, computer troubleshooting, etc business here locally. He partners with accountants, business consultants, etc and pays them for referrals. Word-of-mouth is usually the best form of advertising, especially when it comes from someone you trust.