10 Things that Changed My Life in 2023

As always, it is that time of year when I put pen to paper and reflect on the year just gone. I know for some, other than just me, this has become a yearly tradition. I feel quite humbled by that if I’m honest. It’s lovely to know that someone, somewhere, is enjoying your writing.

Reading back over the past blogs, my Maths got a little mixed up along the way but I’ve just worked out this is my 15th yearly roundup in a row! JUST WOW.

So as before - it’s a bit of reflection, gratitude and some product admiration, all with one thing in common - it changed my life in some way - this year. As with everything I write/video/blog about, if this can inspire just one person and make a change to their life then it’s been worth the time to create.

I also have very exciting news this year! Thanks to AI (Thats Artificial Intelligence by the way, not me!), I have been able to recover what I had really begun to think were going to be named “the missing years” - the 10 years of ‘changed my life’ round-ups from 2009-2019. Thanks to ChatGPT I have managed to recover and repost them (all in one place). I don’t expect you to read these, they are more for my own personal interest and amusement but if you do fancy finding out why my first iPhone was such a big thing or how I was initially scared to move in with my ‘girlfriend’ Lizz, then read til your heart’s content. I have to say (and it’s probably another post, for another day) it’s also fascinating for me to see the way I’ve changed and matured as a person (and writer) over those years. I would honestly encourage anyone who wants to be able to look back one day, to start right now.

On top of the lost years, here are the previous three years in case you’re interested:

(’20 , ‘21 , ‘22 ).

1). Banksy’s Terrific Treats (BTT)

Without a doubt the top listing of the year, and believe me, there are some serious contenders in here!

So this was the incorporation of a new business with my son Oscar (8) - Banksy’s Terrific Treats.

Born of those lemonade stands you often see in America, I wanted to show Oscar some of the entrepreneurial skills that might help him later in life. I had absolutely no idea how successful it would be. After sharing my idea with Oscar, about which he was very positive, we designed the stall and ‘booked’ a meeting with Grandad, an exceptionally talented, hobbyist carpenter. We talked him through our vision, and he went to work on the stall, turning our dreams into reality.

A few months later and we had the unbelievable creation you see in the photo, far surpassing our expectations. We quickly booked into the school’s summer fete and paid our ten pounds entry fee. Originally, we wanted to sell popcorn and sweets (Oscar was given a popcorn maker last Christmas). Next, Oscar was to make his first signing – Mummy. She kindly ‘volunteered’ to make us sweet and popcorn cones. We signed up to Macro and went to buy our ingredients. Our second employee was Alexa (6) who we needed to taste our products. We now had a robust senior leadership team - Oscar our CEO, me his deputy, Mummy, CMO (Chief Making Officer) and Alexa, CTO (Chief Tasting Officer).

There were a few valuable lessons I wanted to instil. Sales, Marketing, Money Management, Profit and Loss and Customer Service as a start. Firstly, we put together a spreadsheet of everything we bought and worked out individual costs of everything we had (down to the price of a single chewy snake or flying saucer). This allowed us to work out exactly what went into each cone and the cost of making them (admittedly Mummy was kind enough to work for hugs alone so we didn’t have an overhead there to worry about). We were then able to price our cones. We devised a simple pricing strategy, which also allowed Oscar to understand cross and upselling opportunities. I purposely introduced bundles and 3 for a fiver type deals.

On the day he was a complete natural, stealing the show. As anyone walked past the stall, I drew them in with a polite and friendly, ‘Hey I hope you’re having a great day, would you like to know what we have our stall today’? He then took over and talked the punters through everything we had on the stall and what the specific deals were. It was so cute that in many cases I think people wanted to buy just for that reason!

One family told me how incredibly impressed they were when he upsold their daughter who had asked for just one of the cones but walked away with three! Busting out his favourite line, ‘would you like to take advantage of our 3 for five pounds deal today? It’s much better value for you’!

He also dealt with all the money that day and worked out change, probably quicker than I could! When we got home, before collapsing with exhaustion, we did a quick stock take to understand our most popular products and counted the cash. The deal was that Mummy and I would put up the initial CapEx for the stand but stock would need to be taken away from any money we made that day, leaving our profit. Money counted; we asked Oscar to work out the split he felt was fairest for his new business venture. He went away and thought about it before coming back and announcing that as CEO he should get 40%, Mummy and I should have 25% each and Alexa should get 10%. Pretty fair we thought.

That day, Oscar made a higher hourly rate than I did through my early years of Optix and has subsequently created an investment account to start his saving journey – the rest went on Match Attax cards ??

We’ve since done another two Christmas Fairs which have been equally successful and BTT will be a regular fixture on the scene so if you’d like to book him for any special occasion let us know. Also if you have any questions for Oscar on business strategy you can email him at [email protected] (not an actual email ?? !) – he said he’s happy to answer business basics but anything more and he’ll need to charge a proper consultancy rate.

Proud doesn’t do it justice.

2). Creation of the Marketing Leaders Community

The rest from here on in will be a bit punchier I promise. Proud Dad Syndrome!

For a number of years now, I’ve been thinking of how I could create my own side hustle, one that I would be super passionate about and make me really happy.

This year, I finally decided to sit down and consider what this could look like.

I knew I always wanted to create a subscription service, the question was what for. I had a few options but the one I alighted on was closest to my heart for a number of reasons.

Firstly, who would be the members – I asked myself who I have spent most time with over the last twenty years of my career and who I know better than most - the answer, Marketing Directors.

Secondly, what am I most passionate about? Two things came to mind (apart from Skiing and Golf) – Digital Marketing and in particular, new trends and tools.

I put the two together and created the Marketing Leaders Community .

We launched with an incredible 73 people attending a webinar back in Feb. Almost a third of them liked my proposition enough to join immediately. Since then we’ve been growing organically and have tipped over 50 members across the UK and even some abroad. My vision is to get it into the hundreds initially and then see where it goes from there.

The main event is a fortnightly video where I bring to the attention of the members, something I think they or their teams (these are senior marketers) should know about. The videos are purposely short and actionable to make them as valuable as possible. Our members don’t have time to watch long, technical videos and because of my background and expertise, I can position myself effectively as their trusted advisor, ready to keep them up-to-date with the latest happenings in the digital space so they don’t need to. Alongside the videos is a full portal with downloadable whitepapers, documents, and tools. We also have an exclusive LinkedIn group where members can network and share.

I’m excited about going into my second year with this venture. I have lots planned including the addition of live drop-in sessions and more interactive elements.

If you’re a senior marketer and would like to know more, please take a look at the website: https://www.marketingleaders.community

3). Symprove (For IBS)

Let’s move away from the work vibe for a minute and introduce some personal things that have changed my life this year. As some regular readers will know I’ve struggled with bad IBS for over 15 years now and have tried pretty much everything on the planet for this debilitating condition. Thanks to a friend (and some clever marketing) my attention was brought to Symprove this year.

As with every other product I’ve tried I over the years I approached with caution, but the friend raved about it so much I succumbed and signed up.

A few months later and I can without doubt say this is the closest thing to a cure that I’ve found. I’ve also heard other people I know who suffer, saying the same. I need to be clear – I’m by no means 100% better but I now have more ‘good days’ than bad and I’ll take that every time.

What makes it so good? I wish I knew. I’m no gastroenterologist but my suspicion is that as it’s a water-based probiotic, it’s much kinder to the gut than other PBs.

If you suffer from any gut conditions then don’t mess around, signup today and give it a go

*yes these are affiliate links but they get you 50% off the first 3 months which is not to be sniffed at and as I’ve said before, I only promote things I feel passionately about.

4) Feel Multivitamins (For everything else)

As 2023 rolled on I was getting increasingly frustrated at feeling extremely tired halfway through the day. I really didn’t understand why, after so many years, I felt the need to get a regular power nap in almost every day. I even started to put it down to my age! Then a friend told me about Feel Multivitamins (link gets you 20% off). They waxed lyrical about all the good stuff in these powerful powder pouches and boy they weren’t wrong. I don’t think I can do it justice. You’ll have to read the ingredients list yourself. After about a week of taking them every day I started to notice the difference. My body was clearly lacking in something because I was no longer tired, no longer yearning for sleep. I also found myself with about 50% more energy (useful with kids) and on the days I forget to take them I genuinely notice the difference now. I really think we live in a world where it’s so easy to go day to day without getting everything you need for your body. I’m glad to say that Feel has closed many of those gaps.

5). ChatGPT and Generative AI

In December last year, something changed the face of the world. ChatGPT was born.

25 years previously, thanks to Professor Derek Partridge at Exeter University, I studied the “New World of Artificial Intelligence”. Aside from a few stories of computers beating Chess Grand Masters and Self Driving Cars in San Fran, I rarely came across the term again until 2022. Now you can’t escape it.

When I spoke to a very intelligent friend of mine about it back in Feb this year, he described it as “looking through a window into the future”. Spot On. Since then, the generative AI train has been on full steam ahead and every week there is a new twist or turn in the track which keeps it as exciting as the time it was first revealed. I now sit with ChatGPT always open on my devices and have made the behavioural move from this being a ‘nice to use occasionally tool’ to one that I probably use in over 50% of the tasks I carry out.

Always keeping ahead of the curve, Optix has been at the forefront of the “Generative AI for Marketing” offering this year, keeping our clients and those further afield up to speed with what’s possible in this space. Early 2024 will see a series of new services (including Ai audits for marketing, training and even prompt creation) so if you’re looking for help in this area then give me a shout and I’ll connect you with the right people.

6). Oscar learning Golf

Last year I wrote about Oscar’s love of watching sports (currently obsessed with the Darts).

The big change this year is that he’s been playing much more, and I couldn’t be happier that one of his favourites (and believe me, I didn’t push this!) is in fact golf!!!

Thoughts of playing 18 holes with my son one day fill my heart and I don’t think it’s going to be too far off if the rate at which he’s improving continues.

Much of this progression is thanks to Chris Honeywill at Exeter Golf and Country Club who is exceptional with the kids. Earlier this year we put the idea to him of running a summer golf camp and it was probably the best 3 days of Oscar’s year (his words, not mine).

With a drive of around 100 yards and a better bunker game than mine, I reckon we’ll be out on the course for a few holes this coming year and possibly doing 9 or even 18 the year after!

Tommy Fleetwood - (Oscar’s favourite player) - watch out.

7). Bucket List Item – Going to the Ryder Cup

They talk about once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and this could well have been one of them. It’s also a bucket list item for me which means it gets an insta-inclusion in this list.

I wrote about it earlier this year so I’m not going to go over it again but what I will say is this. If you get the chance to do something you’ve dreamed of, something that will make you happy and something you can share with friends, do your absolute best to make it happen.

Of course, these things cost money but what I’ve come to appreciate over the years is that experiences matter much more than material things. A new phrase in the Banks household this year is ‘Making Memories” It reminds us as a family to invest in the things that will make us happiest when we look back in 20 years.

The Ryder Cup was a memory made with my closest friends and I’ll never forget that.

8). Naked Wines

Yes it’s true, I’m partial to a bit of claret. I’ve also tried most of those ‘subscribe and never use’ / ’subscribe and get the good stuff at first but soon find out you get rubbish later’ type wine clubs. So when this one came via a friend I was dubious. A ridiculous starter offer of ￡80 off your first order (you’ll get it too if you use that link) was too good to miss and after checking the small print to ensure I wasn’t signed in for 12 months or something, I duly obliged and ordered my first box. I think I got about ￡150 worth of wine for about ￡40 (after applying the discounts and starter offer). I received my wine box, quaffed it all and was pleasantly surprised with my new find.

I then did some further reading and decided to subscribe to something they call the Naked Angels . Despite its name, it is actually a fully legit and respectable scheme where Naked Wine’s supports winemakers all over the globe and if you subscribe to it, your money (which is still yours) goes to helping them fund it. I’m not 100% sure I understand exactly how that works as you still have 100% of your money available to spend on what you want. I’m guessing it has something to do with cashflow & interest but I’ve not asked. What I do know is that by doing this, it unlocks quality deals on some exceptional wines. Far be it from me to tell you what to drink, click the link below and enjoy ￡80 off your first order on me!

?https://www.nakedwines.com/invite/alastair-banks?cid=UK

9). Our New (ish) Head of Growth - Xenia

Over the years I’ve been writing these lists, I’ve shared the names of a few team members who I’ve shared a special bond with. That’s not to say that I don’t have a great relationship with others or want to include them. It’s purely because I happen to spend more time with those individuals, so I get to know them better and because of that, they have had a big personal impact on my life (sort of the title of this thing right).

This year I really think Optix has the best team we’ve ever had so this was harder than ever to consider putting in my list. That said, because of the fact we have so many amazing people working for us, I also know that due to the outlook those individuals have on life, I know they won’t hold the inclusion of this person in my list against me. There is no one in the team who doesn’t love her!

Xenia came into my team at a time when I was struggling. I was burning out quite badly. We had a poor run of years where I didn’t have anyone I could trust enough to take on the business development role. So Rob, James and I made a bold decision. We brought a key member of the marketing team into the growth side of the business - Xenia. Oh, and that’s without her having any background in sales or business development at all. Naturally, it was met with a few frowns from the team who lost her but I think everyone understood the strategic decision-making behind it.

I’ve now worked with Xenia, every day for the last year and I can say hand on heart, that I’ve never been happier, knowing that the business development part of our business is in safe hands. She’s been promoted extremely quickly, right through to Head of Growth all at a rapid pace. She’s allowed me to step back fully from the day-to-day sales role I had for 20+ years to the point where I no longer even attend sales meetings. We knew that finding someone for this role was critical for the business if we were to grow.

But without wishing to sound too emotional, it’s not the business development skills I’ve enjoyed spending time with her for. Xenia is one of life’s special souls. The life and soul of the party, the person who constantly wears a smile on her face, despite whatever she’s faced with. When she sits down with me to debrief a meeting or situation, the first question is always ‘What could I have done better’ or ‘How can improve’ – I LOVE That! An absolute shining light in the company as well as a friend outside it – everyone could do with a Xenia in their life. ?

10). Delivering a Talk at Cambridge University

This brings us to the end folks. It’s been a long one! Maybe longer than normal. Perhaps that signifies the type of year it’s been for me, I don’t know.

So how to end? OK this one’s pretty special… As my speaking career has developed, I’ve had more and more amazing experiences and opportunities to talk at prestigious events and institutions.

I’m still enormously grateful for getting my first opportunity at London Business School, 8 years ago, due to my now friend Jeff Skinner. This undoubtedly led to many other organisations, conferences and academic organisations wanting to book me due to my credentials. Without Jeff’s support, I would not have spoken at half the places I have done since.

The pinnacle for me came this year when I was approached by Tina Basi at Cambridge University to deliver a keynote at a conference they were organising.

I’ve now had a few “pinch me” moments and this was yet another. The realisation of this truly hit me as I drove into Cambridge the day before my gig and past the historic and unbelievably grand, Kings College.

There is a feeling in the air which is palpable. Everything revolves around the University and the colleges. I was walking in the footsteps of some of the greatest academic minds and feeling extremely blessed to have been given this opportunity.

People often ask me how I get these sorts of opportunities. The truth is that I’ve not gone after any of them. They’ve always been organic, generally because someone has been in an audience one day, seen me talk and then approached me after.

Over the last 25 years, I’ve learnt that if you turn up, put the work in consistently and aim to improve what you do, every time you do it, this sort of thing will happen for you. I’d love to know what’s changed your life this year. Big, Small, Products, Services, People – Writing this sort of thing down has a cathartic element to it and allows you to practice gratitude which is great for your mental well-being. Feel free to use the comments below to share if you want to.

I’d like to wish you and your families a very Happy New Year and I’ll see some of you the other side.