In August I wrote about How’s Business for you?

As if we needed reminding!

We’re constantly fed how bad the current climate is; that’s economic too you and me!

The BBC news earlier this week reported on how 2012 is going to be an even tougher year with a projected rise in unemployment!

For goodness sakes… when is the media going to let up and start talking business, the economy, up a little bit and how about reporting good news just for once!

This will be my last blog for 2011 and I’d like to share how good this year has been for me personally, warts an’ all!!

Believe you me I had quite a few of those days like my lady opposite when I thought the best thing I could do would be to jack it all in and walk away. Like the day on holiday in August when our lovely, precious 8 year old was almost stolen from us. The response we got was overwhelming; people do care.

This time of the year one can be reflective; I for one never believe anyone who says they don’t look back.

The pain of the learning and growing process is to LEARN from what has gone before so we might take with us in to the future!

But like Hilary Devey aka Dragons Den said in her biographical documentary last night on BBC2 “I am tough and resilient and I am not going to let anything beat me” Umm…

I was ill recently leading up to Christmas nothing like a mega dose of woman flu to make you shut down totally. A colleague of mine visited me at home (bless); our usual pre-christmas analysis of all that was good and bad this year.

Here’s a quick precis of that conversation:

Steve:- “I’ll be so glad when this year is over”

Me:- “Steve you say that every year”

Steve:- “Yea, I know”

Me:- “What was bad about it?”

Steve:- ” The usual crap but worse because of the euro crisis”

Me:- “What do you mean by the usual crap Steve… Like  Customers changing their minds; reneging on promised orders; people forgetting to do things; stress and palpitations; wondering if all our hard work is in vain?” But that is life Steve pure and simple. I’ve met so many people this year who’ve bigged it up and said how fab this year has been for them when you know damn well it’s the opposite.”

So here’s why I think 2011 has been a good year!

1. My family, my husband and my precious boys are alive and kicking
2. Digital Print Management has been in business for 10 years; financially sound and with a strong balance sheet! Phew
3. New clients picked up this year! May not have been the budgeted number we had hoped but 2012 looks good for development (one turned out to be a time waster and has been monumentally struck off Digital Print Management’s list forever)
4. My 12 year old winning the 4 x 100m at the Alexander Stadium on the 4th July; a day never to be forgotten
5. My then 7 year old starting big School in September
6. Embracing social media head on and learning so much from my followers and the people I follow which proves you are never too old to learn
7. Really getting deep into networking and meeting some incredible people
8. Fortunate enough to meet gifted and talented people who influence my life daily I am confident you know who you are!
9. Still loving what I do after twenty years even though the last three have been tough physically, emotionally and mentally
10. Fortunate and privileged to still be in a position where I control what I do, when I do it and for whom!

So in my book that’s a pretty damn good year!

(F.Nietzche- German Philosopher)

Wishing You all a Very Happy 2012!! Here’s to bigger and better things and to being Happy!!

What successes have you had in 2011?

What’s kept you positive when all around us seems to be doom and gloom?

Do tell!!

The post 10 Reasons To Be Cheerful… One Woman’s View appeared first on Digital Print Management.

Its been a gradual process updating my husband with the ingenues of social media and I have got use to the tongue in cheek comments like “so when’s the next big deal going to happen”, or what’s it really all about”; to comments like “don’t you have anything better to do”, “all you seem to do is twitter (now my personal favourite) facebook or linkedin.

Of course all this has been quietly solicted by my business coaches who have empowered me to embrace the importance of getting into social media and personal branding for our business.

Don’t misunderstand me, I am aware it exists; its here and its happening and if you aren’t doing it now then within five years its quite likely you won’t exist at all!

Online marketing and social media can be bewildering especially when you start out on the quest for “likes”, “links” and “connections” but it becomes so compelling and addictive, enough to make you want to run screaming out of the office shouting hey, what’s wrong with the old way of doing business. But that’s the point, it’s the old way.

This is not an advert for the aforementioned product, don’t think they need any help with their SEO; nor am I getting paid by that well known “bite” unfortunately!!

But because the quest for online presence and social media is so instant and so beguiling; it reels you in with articles of interest and ambiguity, headlines which are fun and misleading; it tempts you to keep on reading; hell, you don’t need a good thriller to read, it’s all there on social media; which brings me back to my new love affair with my best friend beginning with a small “i”.

You see I find myself reaching for it as soon as I open my eyes in the morning; its the last thing I now say good night to; and recently, I woke up unable to get back to sleep, I was at it again at 3am in the morning. I sneak to the W.C. with it instead of a magazine; it’s in the kitchen craftily hidden behind my recipe book as I pretend to read whilst really checking to see what’s going on in the world; so you see, I’ve got it bad, I’m bitten by the SM bug; that’s SOCIAL MEDIA by the way not some other well known acronym!

Recently on my own facebook page I updated my status as follows” you can turn off your ipad but you can’t switch off your husband” too true but until such times as Mssrs Jobs invents an on/off switch for husbands’ my ipad is staying well and truly on!!

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