Remote workers are on the rise. In the US alone, 42% of the workforce is working from home full time, and the rest of the world is not far behind.
As the laptop lifestyle is catching fire, remote workers living in big and expensive cities have little to no incentive to stay put.
As more and more companies go fully remote, remote workers have little to no incentive to live in a big and expensive city. This has led to a new wave of location-independent workers called “Digital Nomads.”
Digital Nomads are usually millennials, under 40 years old, working as freelancers, virtual assistants, or full-time employees, or own a small internet business, and they mainly work in the IT industry.
Like everyone, they need a productive workspace to produce high-quality work. Safe to assume that most coworking spaces in places like Bali, Lisbon, etc., are bustling with digital nomads worldwide.
Positioning and improving your coworking space to cater to digital nomads can help your business grow in the long run, as some estimates say that there might be as much as 1 billion digital nomads by the year 2035.
If you’re running a coworking space, you should definitely incorporate these 6 tips to attract more digital nomads to your space.
1. Enlist with a Global Pass Provider
Digital nomads are always on the go. They enjoy the freedom of not being tied down to a single place and usually don’t like making long-term commitments either. Renting by the day means you can pack your bags and leave whenever you want, which can be nice. It’s safe to say they want their coworking to be flexible too.
Many digital nomads have started only to visit the coworking spaces included in the global pass. Adding your space to the global pass can help get your brand more eyeballs and attract even more workers.
Many big brands like WeWork provide global memberships that allow digital nomads to use their spaces anywhere in the world, so they don’t have to keep buying separate passes for each new coworking space they visit.
2. Keep the Coworking Space Open 24x7
Most digital nomads are freelancers or own internet businesses. They are usually very tech-savvy and entrepreneurial-minded, so they rarely work by the 9-to-5 norm.
They create their own schedules and set their own calendars. Some pull all-nighters to meet a deadline, or others just want to hustle and work 12+ hours a day. Some want to take calls with clients late at night, and others are night-owls who feel productive only at night.
Least to say they don’t go by the traditional conventions and have a strict routine. Keeping your coworking open and welcoming to the night-time nomads is a must to attract digital nomads with erratic schedules.
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3. Make Them Feel Part of a Community
Dealing with loneliness is one of the biggest challenges of being a digital nomad. By coworking, people can work while making new friends & connections.
Digital nomads who view themselves as a part of a community thrive and excel in their work. As you’re traveling alone, loneliness can set in, and you’re constantly looking for new ways to socialize. Connections with other people are a big reason why digital nomads pay for a coworking space in the first place.
As a coworking space owner, you need to foster and cultivate camaraderie and organize workshops they can attend to learn from their fellow nomads. You can also host networking events like 90-second speed networking etc., bring in entrepreneurs and other influencers to speak, and include things like a foosball table in the common room.
Many coworking spaces especially position themselves as hospitality companies rather than a workspace provider, and rightfully so, they understand the role and importance of community for digital nomads.
4. Include Coliving with Coworking
Coliving is a radical movement where people share their living spaces and resources. Like coworking, coliving spaces are an even better way to meet like-minded people and encourage healthy social habits. Being around others who understand what you're going through can make all the difference in your mental health.
This is directly catered towards digital nomads who want to have a social circle while traveling to remote locations. However, Coliving takes the community aspect to a whole another level by mixing the common space and the workspace.
Including coliving with your coworking space can help you attract more digital nomads who are looking for a full end-to-end experience. One of the added benefits of including coliving is that you can up-sell and cross-sell addons to the same individuals.
Digital nomads are constantly looking for more coworking spaces that have coliving in place, so they don’t have to commute from their stay to the space. In addition, they want their stay and workspace tightly coupled together, so they get to spend more time with their friends and make new connections.
5. High-speed Internet and VPN access
You might already know this one, but it can be one of the biggest upset a coworking space can have. Advertising high-speed internet but constantly having speed, bandwidth, or reliability issues are a few of the biggest reasons why coworking spaces get bad reviews.
Getting a spare backup internet connection from a different company should be sufficient to handle the peak hour usage or if the mainline goes down.
Also, digital nomads, in particular, are concerned about their privacy while browsing the web, so on top of a high-speed internet connection, make sure all your network traffic is tunneled via a VPN service. You could check online lists of the best VPN options out there. This will instantly make your coworking space stand out from the competition. In addition, having a VPN will make your space look privacy-focused, credible, and attractive to the nomads.
6. Ergonomic Workspace
Digital nomads usually have poor workstations at their stays, and naturally, they rely on their coworking space to bridge the gap. Therefore, ergonomic chairs and spacious desks are a norm and a must to have at your coworking space.
But don’t just limit it to just these two, since digital nomads are usually willing to pay extra for other remote gear and tools like a Monitor, Laptop stands, Keyboard, Mouse, Noise-canceling headphones, etc.
Here are a few other extras that can delight digital nomads and make your coworking stand out from the rest:
- Green screen/wall: Many digital nomads are content creators on different modern platforms like TikTok (having more followers), YouTube, etc. They would appreciate the thoughtfulness of a space that helps them shoot content without worrying about the background. This can also be a great pricing addon to your passes.
- Data-enabled furniture: You can have desks embedded with wireless chargers and have pop-up electrical units to avoid wire clutter on the desk. Each micro-stimulation like this is an experience on its own and counts towards the overall vibe of your coworking space.
- Safe space to have downtime & fun: Nomads primarily look to work in a coworking space and want to make connections and grow their social circles. Include dedicated spaces for people to sit and chat, play a delightful game, and interact with new people.
Wrapping Up
Coworking spaces have gained popularity among freelancers and digital nomads because of the balance they provide between autonomy, flexibility, and the community. Coworking spaces can attract more digital nomads by supporting coworking communities, where they can work on their projects, meet other interesting entrepreneurs.
Create a social environment and keep engaging with your coworking members to gather feedback from every team once in a while to improve the space according to their needs. This would help you to please your members and make them feel good, so don’t hesitate to follow the tips given in this article!
The article was written by Daniel Wolken, the Head of Content Marketing at DailyRemote, a remote job board that connects thousands of job seekers from all over the world with top-notch remote companies looking to expand their workforce by hiring talent globally. DailyRemote is the #1 job search portal across different categories like software development, virtual assistants, data entry, product, sales, marketing, copywriting, and more.
