Writing An Effective Listing To Get Your Offices Rented (Chapter 1)

There are several different components of an online listing that determine if it will be popular or not - whether the audience of attorneys looking for space online will respond - or if you might have to wait awhile to get some results from your posting. The title of the listing should explain exactly what you're offering, who you are, and where is it locate

Example: "3 Furnished Offices For Sublease In NYC Matrimonial Law Firm Near Penn Station"

Here, you've explained how many offices you've got available for sublease (rather than license. You've located yourself in NYC and near Penn Station, and you've qualified that the "host" firm has a matrimonial practice. This will serve to attract attorneys looking for space in that submarket - and it will raise a green flag for your listing if the responding principal has a practice that would have a good relationship with a matrimonial practice.

Often, when attorneys share office space together there is a good opportunity to refer business to each other. This is a very strong impetus for many lawyers that share commercial office space together - as they actually work together and share clients when another specialty is available in the same office. A good legal suite will have a variety of symbiotic practices that can help each other build additional business.

Next, comes the description element, which on looking for space has unlimited text. The most effective listings seem to be based on 4 - 6 paragraphs of descriptive text. It helps if the top few lines are centered and bold - and reflect the most important aspects of the offering. It is OK to repeat some content from the title here - but you should try not to use the same exact words in the same sequence. Don't copy the title - but amplify the message with a few additional descriptive terms

Example: "Midtown Law Firm With Fully Furnished Offices Provisioned For Legal Use Seeking Low Traffic Practice To Share Our Space. T&E Would Be An Ideal Use But All Practice Areas Are Invited. All Services Included In Rental"

That is a good "lead in" to position your office space advertisement for the attorney who is looking for space. If the inquiring party senses a good potential match, you'll likely get a call or an email requesting more information or an inspection of the premises.

If your law firm is offering offices for a rental that is appealing because it is, perhaps, below market rates, or for very competitive rates - it can pay to state the monthly rental at the head of the listing as well. Sometimes this functions as an immediate attention grabber. But, we see that many advertisers feel they will be less competitive if they state the rental for their space - and the jury is out on the exact answer to this question. Sometimes it can be very attractive.

Example: "Penn Plaza Law Firm Offers Furnished Corner Partner Offices For $2800 / month All Inclusive Rental With Phone Answering And Paralegal Help Available"

That is a heading that would be sure to grab a lot of attention and it covers all of the elements. In fact, rather than just a heading, this could alternately serve as a good title sentence for the listing.

The Body of the listing is the main group of paragraphs where you can expand your explanation of what you are offering in a much more granular fashion. This area gives you the opportunity to explain individual features and it really pays for the listing party to carefully describe the offering. You have to remember that in addition to speaking to the audience, you are also talking to Google and Bing as they make their automatic decisions about what order your listing will be displayed on a search page. That is why it pays to write a well thought out description using natural language you would use in a telephone conversation describing your space.

First, in the Ad Builder Dashboard, we always suggest that you include the dimensions of each room as well as the price. If there are multiple offices available that are the same size and price you can change the Number of Offices to reflect a group of similar offices in your description. The size can be reflected as "Length X Width" or alternately: "sq. ft.". The price is a monthly rental dollar amount - or alternately you can choose "Please Inquire" or "Negotiable". A lot of people feel they are negotiating against themselves if they don't put the price in the listing, but you should know that we get calls every week asking us why we don't post prices in all of the listings and we would advise you that this is a field that is very important to the users who are looking for space. You can also fill in some custom identifying text for each office or group of offices. Words like "Corner Office" or "Partner Office" Or "Fabulous Views" will work well in this spot.

What do people want to know when they are looking for shared office space? Here are some very common points that should always be addressed in your text:

• Do you have a full time receptionist?
• Is your phone system included, or available to the subtenant? Is internet included or available?
• Does your operator answer the phones in the subtenant's company name?
• Is conference room use included?
• Are the offices furnished, or are furnishings available?
• Are there good views, and or light in the offices for rent?
• Do you have a kitchen and lunch room? Are kitchen supplies included, or is there an additional charge?
• Is Copy/Scan/Fax available If not included, what is the cost per copy?
• Is there any file storage space available external to the offices?
• Will you rent the offices individually, or as a group only. What is the minimum number of offices you will rent to a tenant?

So these are a few examples and hints on building a good listing that will be attractive to attorneys and other professionals that are looking for space online in your city. This is a series of articles, and next we will discuss photographing your space for an effective listing. The LookingForSpace.com interface will accept an unlimited number of photos - but we like to see at least 4-6 images, and that will be the subject of the next entry on the LookingForSpace.com blog.

If you have any questions or need any help building your listing, feel free to call our office at: 212 986 9100 or EMAIL US. There is always someone here that can help you during business hours (EST) and we are more than happy to share our expertise with you regarding constructing an effective listing that will put your extra offices available for sublease in front of attorneys and other professionals who are looking for shared law office space online.