A virtual office is one of the fastest, least expensive ways to take a freelance business to the next level. A virtual space is essential for branding. This is true regardless whether you’re trying to expand operations, and need more space and access to skilled workers in your industry, or you simply want to increase the number of clients you can handle to maximize profits.
Reputation is everything in the freelance space. This is of course true in all businesses, big or small, but when you’re climbing through the trenches of client work all by your lonesome, branding often becomes an afterthought. You might be so busy today that it seems like you’ll never have to find new clients, but customers disappear — their needs change, sadly they even die occasionally.
Thus, you should always be growing your brand, regardless of how comfortable you are. For those looking to enter the freelance space, you’ll fare far better at landing those first few crucial clients if you take advantage of the space and resources offered by many of the competing virtual office services operating out there.
Here’s a few of the more common advantages a virtual office can contribute to your freelance branding efforts:
Instant image boost via a professional address
Whether you choose to go with a local virtual office provider, or a global one, your brand can immediately be associated with a professional address, situated in an upscale business district of your choosing. This is similar to the “curb appeal” homeowners are attracted to when buying a house.
If your address is classy, and not located in the basement of your home, prospective clients are obviously going to have a higher perceived value of the services you offer. After all, when your website, business cards, email blasts, and other outreach methods all have an address at a dedicated office space, it tells clients you’re successful at what you do and take your business seriously.
Access to several locations worldwide
It’s important to keep in mind that this benefit doesn’t apply to all virtual offices. Some only offer country-specific or hyper-local mailboxes to clients, and generally charge less for their services, too. Many of the big providers have office spaces located on nearly every continent worldwide, and, in addition to offering you dedicated Virtual Addresses to headquarter your freelance company, they can also grant limited access to their other locations if you’re a globe-trotting type.
This is a huge branding boost if say, you’re located in Australia and wish to test your wings in Europe, Asia, or North America. With access to other office locations, including conference facilities and equipment, WiFi, and other amenities, you can impress and entertain prospects in those areas in a professional environment, without spending a fortune reserving such space in hotels and the like. Again, clients will be uber-impressed and you’ll never feel like your reach is limited due to a lack of professional facilities and resources.
Additional legitimate virtual office services offered to boost your brand value
The virtual services offered by office providers will, of course, vary. However, there are some who offer some or all of the following:
- Dedicated toll free number routing to your personal phone.
- Virtual receptionist services offering call answering, message taking, call forwarding, message transcription, and more.
- Have mail and packages delivered to your office mailbox and forwarded to your home or other address.
- Access to office equipment and amenities such as WiFi, printer, fax, copy, and more.
- Virtual assistant option, along with access to call center agents (Eg., inbound/outbound, email support, presales, sales, appointment setting, technical support, etc.)
- Furnished office space, with access to other facilities in the provider’s network.
- Access to online platforms such as CRM, databases, email, and more mean less money spent on productivity apps.
- Zero lease obligations, upkeep, or other overhead expenses — most offer month-to-month or significant price reductions for prepayment (Eg., 6, 12, 24 months).
As you can imagine, having access to these and other virtual service options can have a huge impact on your business’s image. Even if you just need a business address and phone number to get started, the option to add on services as the business grows mean you’ll spend less time managing logistics and more time making sure your clients are 100% satisfied.
Everything will run smoother and a smooth running business is a successful one!
How much does a missed call or lost (important) message cost a one-person freelance team? Hundreds? Thousands? The numbers are tough to quantify as every freelance business runs on its own unique scale.
The logistics of running even the smallest business can be overwhelming and customers aren’t as loyal as we’d all like to think. When delays or communication and organizational problems occur, your brand will inevitably suffer.
Virtual office services can offer you all the tools you need to run your business smoothly, so fewer problems occur.
Cost savings leave more money for what matters most
Leasing an office, paying cleaning and maintenance expenses, hiring a receptionist, renting a phone number from your local carrier — these and other expenses can really add up when you’re trying to grow a successful freelancing business. Just the basics of leasing and managing an office and staff can run up well over a hundred thousand a year in added expenses.
Since marketing and client services is the key to freelance success, why not free up those funds and use them to market your business more effectively via digital and offline methods, in order to reach more clients?
Are you ready to take your brand to the next level?
A virtual office allows you to build a professional online and offline presence with clients, without all the hassles and expenses that come with leasing and maintaining a traditional brick-and-mortar office, hiring employees, and providing them with the equipment needed to do their jobs effectively.