It feels strange that it’s still January and we’re now working on our March magazine – but that’s publishing for you!
As we managed to have a little downtime over Christmas, we were raring to pick up the pace in January and get back into the swing of things. We find it’s lovely to have the opportunity to relax and unwind, but having a routine (and with the kids back at school) means that we can get our focus back.
A huge welcome
We’ve had a few new advertisers come on board for the New Year, so we’d like to reach out a warm welcome to Flin’s Fitness, who cater for both adults and now tweens and teens; Gina Webley – a medical herbalist and Perry’s Accountants.
Working ahead, we’ve got some new clients for February and now that we’re working on our March issue, things have really started to take off. The ‘Ask The Experts’ page that we launched in January was really popular – both with our readers and our clients, so we’re planning on offering it again a few more times to see if it continues to be well received.
Out and about
This month we’ve managed to get to a few business and networking meetings kicking off with PIB (People In Business), which is on twice monthly but we tend to stick with the morning slot on the first Friday of the month as it’s straight after school drop off.
We were also lucky enough to attend a roundtable discussion with Lord Harris to discuss issues affecting local businesses. Lord Harris is attending parliament this month – and wanted to relay real issues that affect local businesses back to the government.
Topics such as parking issues on the High Street were raised along with business rates, education and even roadworks. It was a real eye-opener for us and we think it’s great that our local businesses can voice their opinions and actually get them heard by the people that run our country via Lord Harris.
Finally, we attended the Farnborough Village Society AGM for the first time this month, which we’ll be reporting on in our February issue – out soon!
New stockists
Last month we reported that we installed a new outdoor dump bin at the Nugent Shopping Park (thanks to Tina Powley for being fully supportive of this). This month we’re pleased to report that we’re now at PRUH hospital – inside and just outside the canteen. We also have issues at the Spar shop (just inside the hospital entrance) and at Costa.
At Sainsbury’s Locksbottom, the magazines can be found at the customer service desk, and we’ve now got a floor stand set up at Petts Wood Train Station.
If they’re not on show at any of the new places, please do ask about them. It might just be that the staff have forgotten to put the stands out!
This month we’ve also been working on our distribution model and our promotional pack, plus we’re delighted to inform you that we’re now registered as a limited company – something that we’ve been meaning to do in a while.
Other news
Finally, we end on some good news in terms of goal setting for 2020. We’ve both signed up for a 5K obstacle challenge this summer in the hope of raising funds for local charities. It’s lovely to be able to give something back to the community – and if it means we get fitter in the process, then even better!
We’d love to hear what you’ve been up to this month, if you’ve got any recommendations or just fancy saying hi – email us at hello@lifeinmagazines.co.uk