A chronicle of building aBetterOffice and all the interesting things I find along the way. Connect with Mike Sullivan on LinkedIn aBetterOffice is all about office space Find office space in New York Find Los Angeles office spaceTumblr (3.0; @abetteroffice)http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/<p>My main form of generating traffic to aBetterOffice.com is through search engine optimization. I spend a lot of time trying to ensure I get some good quality (unpaid) links pointing to my site. One of my goals was to be on as few “resource” or “links” pages as I could be. While it’s fine to have a link on one of these pages, it’s typically much better if it’s on a different page. I won’t go into why except to say those links are too watered down.</p> <p>Anyway, I would take a “resource” link if that was my option, but I always try to talk people I’m working with to put links to my site in other places on their sites. </p> <p>Well, despite my best efforts, I did get my first resource page link. I’m happy with it because there are only a few other resources on the page, and it’s from one of the best sites in the industry. </p> <p>No complaints here. Check it out:<br/> <a href="http://www.corporateofficecenters.com/links.php">http://www.corporateofficecenters.com/links.php</a></p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/173155381http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/173155381Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:44:42 -0400<p>A few months ago I ran into a new website called <a href="http://downsizeoffice.com/">Downsize Your Office</a> while researching office space related websites. At the time, it was unfinished and had a number of articles from <a href="http://www.abetteroffice.com">aBetterOffice</a> on it. Since then it has taken shape and focuses on providing helpful content about how companies can save money by, you guessed it, downsizing their office space footprint. </p> <p>The concept of downsizing an office continues to gain steam, and the executive suite industry is in a great position to capitalize on the idea. The biggest obstacle remains, however. How can executive suites sell the idea to large enterprise? I used to work in the printer industry and for the last 5 years the push has been to sell services rather than merely printers and related supplies. Huge dedicated sales and sales engineer teams have been deployed to help companies understand that by managing their “fleet” of printers, they can save millions. </p> <p>In order for the executive suite industry to capitalize, it’s got to mobilize a sales team to aggressively go after this type of business. Unlike the printer industry, where there are several multi-billion dollar companies with tremendous resources and salespeople with experience in selling multi-million dollar contracts to large enterprise, the executive suite industry has only one giant and even they are much smaller than the Xeroxes, HPs and Lexmarks of the world. This will make it tough for the movement to gain traction.</p> <p>But, I’m not doubting the industry can do it. It’s just a big obstacle, and it’s going to take a long time. I’d keep my eye on <a href="http://www.regus.com">Regus</a>, <a href="http://www.pbcoffices.com">Pacific Business Centers</a>, <a href="http://www.abcn.com">ABCN</a> and all the large e-brokers (and probably some others) as companies who can get around the obstacle.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/147712267http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/147712267Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:18:03 -0400<p><a href="http://www.austincentresuites.com/">Austin Centre Executive Suites</a> is a new serviced <a href="http://abetteroffice.com/austin-tx">office space in Austin, TX</a>. From what I can tell, it replaces AustinSuites, which has moved to 700 Lavaca (this info is not comfirmed yet). </p> <p>This business center at 701 Brazos St. is owned by commercial real estate firm T. Stacy & Associates. We see and hear this trend happening more often, where real estate firms are taking over management of executive suites after the exit of a previous operator, or unleased blocks of space are being converted. I expect to see more of this continue.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/140922620http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/140922620Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:31:06 -0400<a href="http://smartofficeoftexas.com/">Smart Office of Texas</a>: <p>I recently started following a newbie to the office suite world on Twitter (@smartoffice). By the looks of their website, it seems they know a bit about marketing and design. I’m excited to see photography, and hopefully video, of their offices. The name of the company is Smart Office of Texas, the soon-to-be-newest <a href="http://smartofficeoftexas.com/">office space in San Antonio</a>!</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/99104035http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/99104035Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:04:00 -0400<img src="http://19.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmljcuakmY1h59wpJo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p><b>Regus Launches New Website</b><br/> New site is fine, but not a vast improvement. The two best things they’ve done is put their offerings as the top navigation elements. Other one is focus on their customer set in the showcase on the home page. Those two things are important. The thing I don’t understand is the fact they have moved the locator tool to a low visibility position. I think this is their highest ROI element on the site. Location, location, location… help your users find your 1000+ locations.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/90094747http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/90094747Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:00:55 -0400<object width="400" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h599_7hVQbM&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h599_7hVQbM&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br/><br/><p>This is from Amata, an executive suite company in Chicago. They have 4 locations and do a great job of marketing. I haven’t spent a bunch of time on their site, but there are two things about it that I like… Videos, videos videos and a different message: “because our employees are owners, we’ll treat you right.” Both are great examples of marketing. View more<a href="http://www.abetteroffice.com/chicago-il">office space in Chicago</a> on aBetterOffice.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/89878419http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/89878419Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:30:00 -0400<img src="http://10.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmkxzzhhiCYiWQ1NVo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>OfficeLinks launched a new website recently. I was very surprised because I thought of it as one of the better ones in the industry before launching. The new site is very good from a communication standpoint and does a lot of things very well. There is one striking aspect to it. They have made a bold step in how you interact with the home page. There is a visual cue on the right side of the screen of an image and some text, but it’s hard to know what it is… it looks like something might not be loading in the browser properly. When you select a location, you see what it is.. try it. New, interesting, maybe useful, probably piques your interest. I like it… not sure if less adept web users will. Visit <a href="http://www.theofficelinks.com/">OfficeLinks</a>.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/85622892http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/85622892Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:17:00 -0400<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="289" id="viddler_1f9137c4"><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.viddler.com/player/1f9137c4/" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://www.viddler.com/player/1f9137c4/" width="400" height="289" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" name="viddler_1f9137c4" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br/><br/><p>aBetterOffice’s directory went live a few weeks ago. February 5, 2009 to be exact. I expect big things!</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/81856415http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/81856415Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:19:22 -0500<img src="http://6.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmjian4r28SuELuaIo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Sunshine’s great new site is simple and clear. Everything you really need to know is on the home page: why you should work there, who works there, how much it costs, where the spaces are and other resources.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/75333159http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/75333159Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:52:13 -0500<p>I recently commented to my friend Scott Annan about how much church conversation hear in my central Kentucky Starbucks(es). Like 50% of the conversations I overhear are church related… </p> <p>I stopped someone who I see working in Starbucks to tell him about an effort to start a co-working facility in Lexington. Based on my comment above, it wasn’t surprising that he is the pastor of a church that has no facility they call their church. He has no office (except Starbucks and Common Grounds), and they hold services at local historic Kentucky Theater. I’ve heard a lot of varied stories about different industries working in novel ways, but this is a surprising first… check out Rosario Picardo’s virtual <a href="http://www.embraceumc.com/">church in Lexington</a></p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/71842127http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/71842127Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:32:00 -0500<a href="http://betahouse.org/">betahouse</a>: <p>Maybe my favorite website for any coworking facility… to the point, simple and possibly(?) effective. Of course to do something so simple, there’s got to be some real cache behind it… which I think there is.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/70754458http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/70754458Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:41:23 -0500<script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/46928cc51133af17/49679dc1a39d0225/46928cc5343041a6/457b5e9d/-cpid/ccd0adac21fbf84c/autostart/false/widget.js"></script><br/><br/><p>Nice new video slide show creator from a company called Animoto. The featured photos are from<a href="http://www.abetteroffice.com/featured-office-space/2008/11/09/a-truly-unique-office-suite-provider-in-indianapolis/"> Yeager Properties in Indianapolis</a>.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/69423723http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/69423723Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:58:33 -0500<p>This website, <a href="http://www.therarestwords.com">TheRarestWords</a> is an interesting experiment by a Russian developer. I’m not sure where it’s going (if anywhere) but it was fun playing around on it…</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/69369866http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/69369866Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:49:40 -0500<img src="http://12.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmien738ei0el5Kl0o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The logo is official!</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/68791190http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/68791190Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:52:53 -0500<a href="http://www.uspto.gov/teas/eTEASpageA.htm">US Patent and Trademark Office Website</a>: <p>Filing for trademark on this site made me feel like it was 1996 again.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/68782478http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/68782478Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:01:37 -0500<img src="http://5.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmhvi742uiirIX000o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Just installed some compact flourescent lighting in our home addition. Room was painted a nice creamy yellow. The compact flourescent makes it look lime… despite advances, CFL stil has a long way to go!</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/66575844http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/66575844Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:25:18 -0500<img src="http://9.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmht2ehsxJ47yPlaRo1_400.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Lots of exciting things happening here at aBetterOffice… brand launch and office directory are coming soon. Image is a preview of the brand</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/66270076http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/66270076Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:27:35 -0500<img src="http://17.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmhbi8d5923AqRB1Ao1_250.png"/><br/><br/><p>Excited to try tumblweed… didn’t think I was going to get a desktop app with tumblr. Silly me. By the way, I should be blogging about office space.</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/64082877http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/64082877Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:30:51 -0500tumblweedtumblr<img src="http://8.media.tumblr.com/giKfA5bxmhb1lzr50dF234gzo1_400.gif"/><br/><br/><p>Wanted to use Pownce because it has a Windows desktop app for posting. But it (Pownce) will be defunct in a few days…</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/64029452http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/64029452Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:45:33 -0500<p>Check out my website about <a href="http://www.abetteroffice.com">office space</a>. Lots of new features and functionality to come…</p>http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/64028323http://abetteroffice.tumblr.com/post/64028323Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:38:15 -0500office space