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Regus and NS, the Dutch national railway company, have opened the first-ever Regus NS station2station business center. The business center behemoth chose Amersfoort, near Utrecht, for the first stage of its mobile worker experiment.

This is just the beginning, but your eyes should be on Regus. Regus will open another new mobile business center every two weeks for the balance of 2012. By the end of the year, the Regus brand name will be on 13 mobile workstations across the nation.

“The remarkable potential of mobile, tablet and cloud technology is wasted if workers cannot find somewhere conducive to use it,� says Mark Dixon, Group CEO of Regus. “Even on the move, people need access to work space—be that a quiet space to think, or decent printing facilities, maybe just for 20 minutes at a time. Otherwise their work suffers or they miss business opportunities.�

Regus is pushing forward very aggressively with its mobile business center strategy. Beyond the NS deal, Regus also has partnerships with SNCF and Shell in France and Trenitalia in Italy. Through those partnerships, Regus plans to open mobile business lounges in train and gas stations across Europe. The goal: to change the way people work and travel.

Why the big push? For reasons that Officing Today has been trumpeting for the past year: There are more than 1 billion mobile workers in the world today and IDC predicts that number will rise to 1.2 billion by the end of 2013. Regus equates that to a soaring demand for drop-in workspace from professionals on the go as well as from a new breed of flexible workers.

Mobile workers aren’t making much of a sacrifice technology-wise when they enter a Regus mobile business center. These flexible workers still have access to facilities and technology found in modern offices, such as workstations, meeting rooms, Wi-Fi, videolink facilities, administrative support and, of course, free tea and coffee. Regus expects to see workers drop in to use the Internet, do paperwork, print documents, and meet colleagues or customers.

“Passengers at Amersfoort Station are among the first people in the world to benefit from a change that will improve the way people work and make businesses more productive,� says Michiel Noy, CEO of NS Trains. “Having instant access to a good working environment whilst on the move will help workers harness the potential of mobile working technology like smartphones and tablets. The launch of the first Regus NS station2station is thus an important step forward in the global shift to flexible and mobile ways of working.�

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In case you are wondering if mobile apps for business centers and virtual office providers are getting noticed—they are.

Creating a mobile app isn’t a bank-breaking proposition. It doesn’t cost any more to build a mobile app than it does to build a quality web site and it can set you apart from the competition. Think of the early days of the Internet. Companies that adopted Internet technologies from the beginning gained a competitive advantage. Developing mobile apps now could offer a similar advantage for business centers.

Years ago it was commonplace for office-based employees to work in their own space, separated by hierarchy and flimsy partitions that boxed workers into private offices or behind walls. But today, walk into any office-based workspace and you’ll see something entirely different. The trend for open-plan office space has swept the world – backed by various studies claiming that open-plan space leads to happier, more productive teams.

Companies of every size and stature have readily consumed the advice by flattening office walls, consolidating their leased space and handing back the surplus, watching their office rates and energy bills go down in the process. In the serviced office world, businessmen and women actively seek out shared space to encourage a collaborative and supportive environment – and many freelancers routinely opt for busy cafes or rent shared space to bounce ideas around and soak up human interaction.

But what about the people that work there? Is an open-plan office really a good fit?

Open-plan environments have been attacked for circulating illnesses and causing disruptions, affecting productivity in the process. In a review for the Asia-Pacific Journal of Health Management, author Vinesh Oommen stated that employees face “a multitude of problems” in an open-plan environment ranging from health issues and loss of privacy to low job satisfaction.

Author Susan Cain has also challenged the culture of “offices without walls”, claiming that they are designed for extroverts where workers cannot escape the noise or gaze of co-workers. “There’s nowhere to stop, to hide or to think. I believe open-plan actually stops us being as productive as we can be,” she says.

So what does this mean for your business centre, and can you successfully create a ‘one size fits all’ space?

Every person is unique and each has their own individual likes and dislikes, so in an ideal world a workplace environment will enable all personalities – from quiet introverts to the more outgoing types – to feel welcome and comfortable. This might seem impossible, but there are plenty of ways to improve your centre that will help to address the needs of every individual.

• Space to think: Create free-to-use spaces with a whiteboard where employees can retreat to, whether that’s to explore the delicate roots of a new idea or to thrash out plans with colleagues.

• Barriers: Provide the option to break large open-plan offices down by separating the room into smaller workspaces with the help of partitions or visual barriers.

• Mixed space: Create different types of space where possible – such as a large communal area with tables or sofas to encourage collaboration. Or split a larger meeting room down to create small private zones for single occupancy.

There can never be a solution that pleases everyone all of the time. But even with the advance of mobile technology and remote working, the cost-effective open-plan office will always exist. So the more you can cater it to the needs of each individual, improving comfort levels and thereby enhancing productivity, the more your centre will appeal to a wider range of clients.

How does your centre cater for different personalities? Please share your views or experiences via the comments box below.

Dayoffice Card, the leading day office service for independent business centers is now inviting U.S. business centers to join the program. Dayoffice Card enables business centers to offer their clients a service very similar to the Regus BusinessWorld Card allowing clients to book and use offices, by the day, at hundreds of locations around the country and the world. 

The business launched in the UK last year and rapidly built up there, the largest network of business centers offering day offices. Now they are aiming to do the same in the U.S. The Alliance Business Centers Network has partnered with Dayoffice Card to bring the program to its members throughout the Americas. 

Some of the country’s leading operators, including Premier Business Centers, Metro Office and NYC Suites have already committed to the program and it’s easy to understand why. The Dayoffice Card program does not cost the business center operator anything to join and delivers 99% net profit on all revenue received. Dayoffice Card handles membership sales, marketing and support. They even manage all day office bookings with their 24/7 call center and real time, web-based booking system. 

The Dayoffice Card program does not require any new software or systems to be installed in the center and takes very little work on the part of the operator. Dayoffice Card adds substantial incremental revenue to business centers and also delivers a steady flow of high quality prospective clients for full time offices.

Following the U.S. launch, Dayoffice Card will roll out its offering to Europe and Asia creating a global membership program with more locations than any other.

Many independent operators have been waiting for a program that allows them to offer a national/international day office membership card to help ‘level the playing field’. Now there is a proven and professional solution available but operators should move quickly to secure their involvement. Dayoffice card is interested to hear from U.S. business center operators of all sizes in all states. If you are interested in finding out more contact Rich Kraus, CEO the Americas by email at rich.kraus@dayofficecard.com, by phone at 949 681-3530 or using our online form.

The Olympics start in about 100 days. Are your business centers ready for the flood of clients seeing temporary office space? Considering new research from MWB Business Exchange, you may want to get ready for heavier traffic to your serviced office space.

The survey predicts hundreds of thousands of London commuters will struggle with what it is calling the daily “workathlon” when the Olympics begin because businesses won’t let them work telecommute or tap into some other flexible work schedule to avoid the Olympic traffic. Your business center should be trumpeting serviced office space as a solution—and you should start now.

Consider this: London is expecting an extra 20 million train and tube trips during the course of the Olympics. Eighty percent of spectators visiting the games will travel by train and underground, causing massive strain on travel hotspots like London Bridge, Canary Wharf and Victoria. That translates to an enormous disruption for commuters—and businesses are yet unprepared. But your business center doesn’t have to be.

“Our survey shows that some London businesses are sleepwalking into a potential work nightmare,” says Kathryn Hurt, MWB’s Head of Olympics. “Businesses who have not thought about it are really going to be hit the hardest. Time really is running out.”

MWB’s surveyed 430 London companies in potential travel hotspots and discovered they face huge threats to their productivity and business. Consider the data:

• • 11% of firms are allowing their staff to work from home
• • 30% have not made any contingency plans for the Olympics 
• • 89% believe the games will affect them
• • 30% are allowing employees to work flexible hours to beat travel disruption
• • 18% of firms have reviewed their staff’s annual leave arrangements

In response to the dilemma, MWB Business Exchange just launched a Business Survival Guide at London Bridge to help budding Workathletes get in training. The guide aims to help businesses address issues like annual leave/staff unavailability, flexible work schedules, telecommuting and temporary office relocation. 

“By not looking into remote working from home or even considering flexible hours, companies will be turning their employees into workathletes, putting their productivity and their staff’s health at risk,” Hurt says. “That’s why we’re launching an MWB Business Survival Guide to help firms and commuters prepare for the worst and ensure they continue to operate smoothly during the Games.”

OK what does Pinterest have to do with the world of business centers? If you want to grow business center to grow, then potentially plenty.

Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has grown to over 10.4 million members and daily users have increased 145 percent since the beginning of the year. Gentlemint is similar service that is also gaining momentum.

Indeed, leveraging social media websites beyond Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is one way for a business center to further grow customer lists, increase website traffic and build brand awareness. But why, specifically, can your business center get on board the Pintrest bandwagon? 

The answer is simple: You already have plenty of photos of your business center. Why not put them to more use on a visual content board that could turn into a powerful referral platform for your business center? It takes a few minutes and could pay dividends long-term.

E-mail marketing service Campaigner offers four tips for enhancing marketing content, encouraging customer interaction and raising social media responses through Pinterest and Gentlemint. We outlined them here with some of our own comments:

1. Find the right audience: Pinterest membership is female dominated. Top pins are about crafts, gifts, interior design and fashion. Gentlemint offers mostly a male readership. Try one social platform before diving in based on the audience. If targeting both sites, keep the audience in mind when choosing photos to add to boards. OfficingToday believes business centers should be on both sites but focus on Pinterest first.

2. Get the news out: Once the account is set up, include the board link in all new e-mail marketing campaigns and your website. For example, add a ‘Follow us’ button on Pinterest within a campaign e-mail alongside the links to pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. OfficingToday believes Pinterest is going to continue to gain momentum. Being an early adopter could give you a competitive advantage.

3. Captivate and capture: Make it as easy as possible to subscribe to an e-mail marketing program. Include a sign-up form in a prominent position on every website page, on Pinterest and/or Gentlemint boards and pages on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. OfficingToday believes if you offer an incentive, like some sort of free report, you’ll be more likely to get sign ups.

4. Make new friends but keep the old: Don’t skip out on Facebook and Twitter to focus solely on Pinterest. Share your content on all platforms. Just add Pinterest to the list. OfficingToday believes you should start with Pintrest and replicate your efforts on Gentlemint as time permits.

We wrote about 02’s flexible working initiative in February—an initiative that saw 2,500 workers work remotely for a day. Now, the results of the experiment are finally in—and the results bode well for virtual office users, mobile workers, telecommuters, distributed workforces and the like.

According to an employee survey, 88 percent of staff said that they were at least as productive as on a normal day at the office. Another 36 percent claim to have been more productive. Sixteen percent slept a bit longer than usual and 14 percent spent additional time with their families. 

“Line managers are used to managing people they can see. Managing them remotely is a completely different thing.  Our Pilot on 8th February didn’t solve all of those problems, but it is a good start,” says Ben Dowd, business director for O2. “We can do a lot more to support line managers in charge of remote teams, but we know it’s not going to happen overnight. We’re educating people about the whole future of work here and there’s still work to be done, but we’re pleased to say this is a fantastic start”.

Let’s drill into some additional statistics O2 made available with this study. Of the 2,000 hours of commuting time employees saved during the flexible workplace study: 52 percent spent that time working and 6 percent spent that time commuting elsewhere. One poor soul actually didn’t know about the program and showed up for work as normal.

O2’s saved about 12.2 tons of carbon dioxide. Electricity consumption decreased by 12 percent and water usage dropped 53 percent. Employees saved nearly £9,000 on the day primarily through reduced commuting costs. 

Instant messaging usage was up 40.8 percent over a normal working day. 146,876 Instant Messages were sent during the flexible working experiment, peaking  at 17,843 IMs an hour at 3 p.m. Lync Meetings hosted increased by 29 percent, with 406 meetings organized compared to  313 on a normal day. Lync Meeting attendance increased by 25 percent, with 1,356 Lync meeting participants compared to  1,077 on a normal day.

“The success of O2’s experiment extends much further than just allowing some of the workforce to stay at home and work. It proves that with the right thinking and planning, even the largest organizations can protect themselves from the most severe disruptions to their business,” Dowd says.

“It shows that given the right preparation and communication, conservative presenteeism-based attitudes to work can be changed, with great benefits for both managers and staff. It shows that businesses really can make significant and lasting reductions to their environmental impact, in a multitude of areas. Above all though, it demonstrates that the principles underlying flexible working really are the principles that will build the future of work, and determine the way that people, technology and buildings interact in the decades and centuries ahead. O2 is using these principles now, to build tomorrow’s businesses today.”

O2 hopes the pilot will also showcase the wider economic business case for flexible working in helping to drive efficiency, productivity and innovation. Flexible working has become an increasingly important aspect of British business culture, with a more organizations and employees adopting a flexible approach to working life as new technologies make it increasingly easy to conduct business from beyond the confines of the office. 

“Four weeks of intense preparation across the business—everywhere from HR and internal comms to IT and property services—laid the ground for an almost completely empty building and a widely distributed workforce,” Dowd says. “And thanks to this rigorous planning, the experiment was an astonishing success—not just in terms of the productivity of the workforce, but as a demonstration of the power of flexible working to forge lasting operational, cultural and environmental change within modern organizations.”

Regus may be doing its business center competitors a big favor—or it may become a bigger threat. It all depends on your perspective.

The executive offices suites giant just published a new book that aims to answer the key business question of the decade: How do you grow a business in today’s ultra-competitive landscape?

Dubbed Growth in a Difficult Decade, the book offers advice from successful entrepreneurs, along with practical insights for managers and business owners in every industry.

Regus pulled out all the stops to offer a resource to its would-be tenants, including advice from more than 60 entrepreneurs and corporations. Donald Trump and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz join teenage Internet millionaires, winning serial entrepreneurs, and founders of billion-dollar family businesses that are now being transitioned to the next generation in offering the secrets of success.

“At Regus we work closely with successful entrepreneurs all over the world, so we wanted to help share their insights into how to achieve sustainable business growth, even in times of recession or economic uncertainty,� says Mark Dixon, CEO of Regus.

Growth in a Difficult Decade, the Regus book offers guidance on every facet of running and growing a business, from how to monetize and execute a business idea to the importance of validating and iterating ideas to how to build a business sustainably, tips on raising finance, how to expand a business into new countries or continents, and what to look for when hiring key staff or finding business mentors.

“This book shows there’s no single formula for success and growth—there’s a fascinating diversity of ideas and approaches,� Dixon says. “But it also shows there are common themes for success—from the power of marketing, to the importance of mentors and colleagues whose talents complement your own, to perseverance, to the importance of exploring new markets. The insights and practical tips in this book will help businesses of all sizes and at all stages of growth.�

Regus’ strategy is simple and effective: Become a resource for entrepreneurs, small business owners and large corporations alike. People value books, and they especially value books with practical advice for doing business in today’s economy.  What’s more, Regus has demonstrated that it can grow in a difficult decade, which gives it the credibility it needs to author such a book.

Regus’ book is now part of its marketing arsenal. It will become a calling card, of sorts, a resource for would-be tenants that shows Regus gets it. Professionals in all industries have been authoring books to build their personal brand for years. Regus has taken a similar approach with Growth in a Difficult Decade. Ultimately, the book alone won’t help Regus win customers. But it becomes part of a larger branding and marketing effort that helps turn heads.

What can your business center to do position your brand as an expert resource in the field?

There’s been plenty of headlines about the poor judgment of some U.S. Secret Service members in recent weeks, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that more federal agencies are making mobile IT investments that set the stage for remote work. Is your business center ready for the storm—and the potential food?

The Telework Exchange just announced the results of The 2012-2013 Telework/Mobile IT Almanac. The Almanac provides a snapshot of where federal agencies stand on enabling remote workers and delivers a forecast for mobile IT investments.

“Mobile device use among federal workers is clearly on the rise,� says Bob Kerr, vice president of SwishData Corporation. “Federal agencies are successfully implementing telework polices and the technology infrastructure needed to support remote workers—but there are some areas where agencies can improve.�

The report reveals that 65 percent of federal agencies cite above average IT programs for enabling telework and mobility. What’s more, federal IT executives expect mobile device use to increase by 20 percent by 2013. What does this mean for your business center.

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have already noticed a federal worker walking through your business center doors. The study shows about 21 percent of federal employees are already teleworking. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed expect more regular teleworkers and 45 percent expect more part-time mobile workers in the next two years.

“More than half of Federal agencies are making the grade in terms of enabling the growing mobile workforce,� says Cindy Auten, general manager, Telework Exchange. “They serve as a model for others looking to strengthen their telework programs in the most efficient way possible,� said Cindy Auten, general manager, Telework Exchange. “As the number of teleworkers and mobile workers increases over the next couple of years, it is imperative agencies invest in technology that supports the changing workforce.�

And it’s also imperative that business centers invest. Federal workers must be assured that they can do business from your serviced office space securely. With the rising population of remote federal workers who need a place to land while traveling or need a meeting room in which to conduct business, savvy business centers are taking measured steps to bolster the security of their technology infrastructures now. It may be time to consult with a security specialist who can help you prepare for opportunities on the federal worker front.

What’s better for your business center? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click ads? Where will you get the bigger bang for your buck?

Based on a new survey from Social Media Examiner, you may be better off with SEO. In case you aren’t familiar with SEO, it’s the process if improving the visibility of a website in search engines via natural (also called organic or unpaid) means. By contrast, pay-per-click, or PPC, ads are just as you would expect: paid.

Although SEO isn’t always free—you can pay firms pretty pennies (and nickels, and dimes and even thousands of dollars)—you can accomplish a certain level of SEO yourself if you are willing to invest some time in keyword research and updating your website appropriately. And that might be all it takes.

Of course, you might also opt for e-mail marketing. Or you could invest in social media efforts galore. But what is more effective? Social Media Examiner’s fourth annual survey listed SEO right behind e-mail marketing. Paid search, or PPC, was sixth on the list. I think for business centers, SEO may be the most effective online marketing strategy of all.

It seems many social media marketers agree on the value of SEO. In total, 65 percent of social media marketers said they used SEO compared to only 38 percent who use paid search. That should tell you something, business center marketer. It appears that the experts believe you get a higher return on investment for SEO than paid search.

According to the survey, 68 percent of respondents plan to increase their SEO efforts. And another telling stat indicates that only nine percent say they have no plans to use SEO. So now the question is: Are you using SEO? Have you search engine optimized your business center Web site? Are your competitors using SEO? If they are and you aren’t, you are likely missing out on tons of free Internet leads.

SEO is ideal for location-based operations like business centers because you can target based on your city. For example, if your business center is in New York, you’d want to use words like “New York executive office suites� in your meta tags and content. If you are in an area with heavy competition for business centers, SEO could mean the difference between winning and losing the opportunity to sign up new tenants.

If you have any questions about who can provide your business center with knowledgeable SEO or PPC services, please contact an ABCN representative at 800.869.9595.