73 days and the countdown is on....

Seriously I swear it was January last week but here we are just 73 days out and staring down the barrel of the end of 2022.

Pretty much everyone I talk to has had an epic year in one way or another, certainly for myself and my teams we have reinvented ourselves in more ways than I ever thought would be on the agenda at the start of the year. Rumour has it many trades are closing their books at the end of October for 2022 a full month earlier than you would normally expect and at Digital Marketing AOK we are not so dissimilar with only a handful of onboarding slots left for new clients in 2022 before commencement dates start getting allocated to end of January 2023. I'll be honest it's a great position to be in after the nightmarish last couple of years and did have me wondering where everyone else was at with their businesses. Traditionally for me, October is strategic planning month, its when I review the year that was and the likely results at its conclusion and put together a complete integrated business, sales, and marketing plan inclusive of an entire calendar of events for the new year. I find that by doing this my head space is then freed up to enjoy the festive season and it makes hitting the ground running in January much easier.

You may have missed the announcement but we recently acquired a new café - the dob on King William and have been slowly refining our offering there, happy to say that we will be offering an extensive range of corporate catering from there (all Gluten free of course) with menus being finalised this week. So if you are looking to host an event in your offices or boardrooms and need catering please include us in the options you consider. As a sidebar it has tables front and center for pageant day up for grabs, so if you would rather have allocated seating than deal with deck chairs and 4 am campouts please let me know.

Likewise, with the Christmas season planning well and truly here I would love you to consider any one of the many function offerings available at either the Duke of Brunswick or the dob on King William. I myself am planning some fantastic long table dinners complete with whisky tastings on the balcony and expect many people to look to secure the secret garden and bar for casual Christmas drinks and breakups. If you missed out on attending business SA's chamber event - it was a cracker as you can see from the photos

Lastly if you are one of the many legends in my network reading this who has gone out of your way to support any one of my endeavours by having coffee meetings or drinks at the pub or the café, booking into the seriously digital programs or attending one of the many business networking events myself and the team have hosted this year you have my heartfelt thanks and gratitude.

If you are feeling a little frazzled around the edges, run down or lost, in the sprit of Mental Health Month I would love to extend an invite to you to come and meet some amazing humans at one of the many BNI Networking events we host each week. They have certainly made my world a better place and whether you decide to take up membership or not, you will always be welcome as a guest. I don't believe that being in business needs to be as lonely or as isolating as it sometimes is. It has been my experience often that one new business friend can make all the difference to where you life goes as was the case when I met the amazing Lynton Paddick from Jim's group some 10 years ago now who sadly passed away recently.

He was a force to be reckoned with, an exceptionally kind and generous spirit and I hope I can continue to deliver on the legacy that he has left behind in the part he played in my story till now. So as a part of my network please now I am here to help and my door is always open.

Simone Douglas MAMI CPM

CEO Digital Marketing AOK | Publican The Duke of Brunswick Hotel

Executive Director, BNI SA - Adelaide North

Author | Seriously Social | The Confident Networker

Level 1, 207 Gilbert Street Adelaide, SA 5000

M:??0411166320 |?E:????[email protected]