What a month it has been – and how quickly things can change in just a matter of days!
It seems like we’ve all been affected by the Coronavirus – and when we sent our April issue off to the printers at the beginning of last week, we didn’t envisage that less than two weeks later we’d have the kids off school and be isolating ourselves as much as possible!
We certainly never thought that we’d see something of this magnitude in our lifetime and we hope that as quickly as Coronavirus came, it disappears. Or at the very least that it doesn’t affect our daily lives for long.
On the plus point, we’ve a couple of reasons to celebrate this month – Mother’s Day (hence the picture with {some} of our children) – and this month’s International Women’s Day!
So what better place to celebrate than by announcing our involvement in the #BossWoman podcast!
Lauretta joined local business woman and brainchild of the #BossWoman podcast, Cheryl Huggins, to share her story of launching a new business while coming to terms with her cancer diagnosis.
You can have a listen to the recording here – with details including how the magazine was launched, the challenges Lauretta faced, building a business in the face of adversity and staying positive.
What we learned…
Coronavirus is affecting all of us. We’re now witnessing people panic buying (and shops running out of essentials), to the closing down of schools and self-isolation – crazy!
We’re lucky enough to be able to work from home, but some people aren’t quite so lucky. All we can say is that we hope the virus gets nipped in the bud as quickly as possible and that we can all go back to living our lives as normally as possible without feeling paranoid going about our daily lives.
We’re encouraging our readers – and all residents as much as we can – to help one another, particularly the elderly or vulnerable. This is especially important in times of need. Communities that help support one another are stronger together – and this includes supporting local businesses who are the backbone of the local community. We’ve just learned that Bromley Council is encouraging volunteers to come forward to offer their help if and when needed. If you think you can help, please fill in this form.
As much as possible we will continue to publish Life In Orpington magazine (as long as we’re able to cover our print costs) – we realise that some readers depend on the magazine for local news and information. However, what we would encourage people to do is to check with organisers if their events are still running; many organised events and get-togethers have been cancelled, so it’s important to double check this.
A huge welcome
Thank you to the following businesses who have joined us for the first time for our March issue: The Bank Locksbottom; Lee Lam Business Consultant; LSEC; Grace Rose Pilates; The Cooking Shed; Philip Training Centre; Hair By Jo; Cannon Cars; Dolly’s Dog Walking; and Tech Assist London.
We hope to do our new advertisers proud, even in these unpredictable times! One of the ways we offer value is by promoting our advertisers for free on social media, as well as including their news, tips and expert advice in the magazine, which helps raise awareness of their brand.
Out and about
A new first for us was attending our printer’s annual conference, which was held at the Regent Street Cinema – a lovely venue in London.
We heard from a company called Two Sides UK, which had some interesting statistics to share with attendees. For example, did you know that you’re more likely to remember something if you read it on paper rather than on a screen? And, according to studies, print is also more trusted than digital channels, and it delivers more recall and response than its digital equivalent.
The event also provided us with networking opportunities and the chance to be inspired by some of the bigger publishers. We met one lady who had eight magazines in the Edinburgh area and had grown from one small magazine herself – a huge inspiration and very apt given that this month we celebrated International Women’s Day.
We celebrated this in our March magazine by contacting some of our female advertisers to provide their success stories – we really believe in celebrating the successes of others and acknowledging the support that we offer one another.
And talking of International Women’s Day, iVerbalize had organised ‘Her Story, Her Voice’ event in Bromley, which was due to take place on Monday 30th March. We’re thrilled to be media sponsors for the event – and we were equally thrilled to be invited to join a speaker’s panel to share our story – thank you Ronke! Alas, the event is moving online instead (what an innovative idea!), so at least all is not lost.
Earlier this month we were invited along to a supper night run by Regan at The Cooking Shed. It was a Middle Eastern menu (which was scrumptious!) and the setting – at The Homestead Cafe, Beckenham Place Park – was wonderful.
In terms of networking events, we attended our regular monthly PIB meeting and the launch event for Athena Bromley at The Manor At Bickley.
Other news
This month was supposed to be the debut ‘Meet The Buyer Bromley’ event, which we were delighted to be part of – both on the planning panel and as media sponsor. And this, like many events at the time of writing, have been cancelled for the foreseeable future.
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
Until next month, stay safe!