We won an award! Daichi was delighted. Having never entered any business competition before we did not know what to expect. Customer service and looking after all our valuable advertisers has been at the core of everything we do here at Modern Magazines. I have always had the viewpoint that we get what we give out in life. If we are helpful, want people to succeed and are willing to go that extra mile to make it all happen, the client is delighted. In return we get great local trades and businesses who also want to help their clients. Everyone wins. You the resident can rely on the people inside the magazine, which is after all what you need. Of course, we are not perfect. Daichi will vouch for that! Mistakes happen and sometimes a client gets cross. This happens in life doesn’t it! Well, how do we react to that? What do we say back? Shouting back creates more shouting and everyone gets upset. Listening, understanding and correcting a mistake, or quietly giving a suggestion back usually handles the situation and we all have a better day for it.
So, that was what this award was all about – our business to business ethos and attitude. How do we treat our advertisers? Well, it seems like we won with flying colours. How amazing is that!
One area we work really hard is the creation of the adverts themselves. We have a new graphic designer, Jaidan and he is fantastic. He works quickly and professionally which at a young age of just 23 is brilliant. He is also a videographer and we have some exciting news about a new E-Magazine, which will be online and found through Google, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and even emailed out, where all the adverts will link to business websites, there will be interactive puzzles that can be done within the magazine online, competitions and there will even be talking pages where you will be able to listen to business owners talk about their business and how they can help you. Soon to be released! Keeping up with modern technology is a must of course, however paper is still in fashion! Yes, print advertising is still seen as the most trusted source of finding a local trades person and business. Combining the two mediums will help all round and create a real hub of the place to go to find all that is local. I am very excited about that… as you can see!
Beth will also be back soon, having had her wonderful baby boy a few months ago. We will then have two graphic designers. Beth has a woman’s touch to her designs (am I allowed to say that?) and I think we will have the perfect balance to get those all-important adverts right, depending on what the customer wants.
Our team of salesgirls… yes we are all girls there I am afraid… are incredible. We really don’t see ourselves in sales. Our purpose is genuinely to get more work for local businesses and to give you, the valuable resident, good trades and services to help you. Mel has worked with us for over fifteen years! Today this is what she told me,
“I love working at Modern Magazines. I am one of those rare people who looks forward to going to work. Great team. Great customers!”
Julie has been with us for over nine years. This is what she says,
“I just love working with Debbie and Stephen and the whole team. It really feels like we are a family, looking out for each other and looking after our clients. There is nothing better than knowing you helped a client get more business. Most of all the work is fun, getting to talk to lots of interesting people. I look forward to every day!”
Then we have Steph who is a delight to hear talking to customers on the phone and then our newest member is Pippa who runs our office in Weymouth and set up the new “Wonderful Weymouth Magazine”. She has been amazing. Her knowledge of the area and the people has enormously helped and without her that magazine would not be what it is. Pippa says,
“Having worked on the Wonderful Weymouth magazine the past 16 months, winning the WeyPort B2B category and supporting both local businesses and the local community of Weymouth and Portland, in which I’ve always lived, is an honour. I would like to thank Debbie, Stephen and the rest of the Modern Magazines team for giving me the opportunity to be part of such a fantastic team with a passion to help others succeed.” Amazing.
Chris, our distribution manager gets the magazines to the distribution company that delivers several of our magazines each month, drops off magazines to local shops, cafes and businesses in their respective areas, delivers magazines to our own distributors in a few areas and when he has some downtime, he posts photos on each of our Facebook pages. He is busy!
I started our first magazine in 2005. At that time Hayden was very young and I needed something to do. I walked around the streets with him in the pram and “touted for business” as Pat at Kingfisher Cleaning Services laughs. She was my first client ever. I will never forget that phone call. It gave me hope and a reason to continue… here we are today. Thank you Pat. Stephen, my husband, gave up his career in computer engineering to work alongside me in 2008 and we have not looked back.
The WeyPort Business Awards were such fun and we thank all our nominations for acknowledging us as “The Business to Business” business of the year! We love what we do and are here for any business wanting to expand. Most of all we are here to link you the homeowner, resident and VIP of your area, to these very important trades and services. We thank all of you for your support and loyalty. Let’s continue to work together. www.modernmagazines.co.uk
By Debbie Corney
