It has certainly been a year.  Trying to come up with an appropriate adjective in that opening sentence –  I decided to just leave it out altogether!  I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from.  At the end of the 2020 financial year I am grateful that although I did lose a couple of clients during the Coronavirus lockdown period, my business sustained significant growth for the 2020 financial year.  I know this is due to the focus and consistent work I put into planning each quarter and ensuring I did everything I could to help my digital marketing clients continually improve.

I’ve helped a number of new clients realise their digital plans with new websites this year and learned a lot in the process particularly when working with clients who were start-ups (not projects I usually take on) or had established businesses but were new to marketing in the digital space.  Those client situations highlight areas where I can be more effective.   For example understanding the level of digital skill in a business initially means I can help business owners skill up enough to understand what’s possible if you do digital well.  This goes a long way to building the sort of trust I need to be able to execute on plans that I know will make a difference.  These articles are one of the outcomes of that learning this year.  Having many years experience it is easy to overlook how important it is to take a moment to ensure clients who are new to digital understand and don’t feel overwhelmed.

This is also what I love most about my long term clients.  The trust I work hard to maintain with my long term digital marketing and web design clients, many who have been with me more than 10 years, allows me to do what I need to do to help them.  Their collaboration is key to good results and it ensures what I do remains grounded to the reality of the business and the direction owners want to take in the future.

Even though my clients all reported record breaking years (in a good way) I’m very aware that many business owners in Brisbane and Australia are still in the thick of dealing with the COVID-19 fallout.  Business premises currently closed, working from home, having limited opportunities to socialise and in many cases job losses.  I imagine there will be a variety of situations unfolding from the finalisation of accounts this financial year.  Tough decisions to be made in some cases.  Whatever unfolds, we / you will get through it.  Running a business is risky which is why so many don’t last more than a couple of years beyond startup and also why we must suffer the losses as well as the celebrating the wins.  It’s in situations like ‘COVID’ that we innovate, we find new ways and we find ways to do more with less and make the most of what we have.

I wish you all the best for the last couple of days of 2020 financial year and I wish you great tenacity and resilience to continue to grow your business in 2021.  Onwards and upwards!

Enjoy your week.