Maxxd Business Blog

The last day in april, and its preperation time for the coming month! may is a VERY important month to us, as its the launch month for MAG2, the Second edition of the Maxxd.info magazine.

Its probably the most important mag launch, the first was to get the name out and gauge interest, and the second one is where we hopefully get people coming up to the stand requesting a mag, as we’ve got the word out to LOTS of people. We need to finalize a few plans in that area but things are looking awesome!

We are finishing a few websites off today, and dave has lots of calls to make. Wait, dave ALWAYS has lots of calls to make!

We have picked up a couple of website contract over the last few weeks, and this week was mostly spent adding text and images to these sites.

One site is being made from scratch, and the other one is a replacement for that companies existing website - which isnt exactly the most useful and appealing website in the world.

Both companies are based in mansfield and has created a nice link between us and some more of the business owners in mansfield. We have found that links and networking between people is one of the most important things in business.

Its not what you know, its who you know.

We hope to have both websites finished for mid next week so we can concentrate on a few other areas of MAXXD that are at the moment being left behind.

Sorry for the fewer updates guys, we are so busy we forget to eat most of the time, never mind update our business blog!

We’ll try to go back to a day to day post, no matter how short and sweet.

Well, what a busy time its been recently. I don’t want to sit here for hours typing but to sum it up quickly we have been…

• Developing new ideas for the magazine and looking at a different approach to the layout of the advertising.
• Continuing with the sales, and have incorporated another new package into the online advertising.
• Working on other income streams such as web design, we have been asked to do websites for two local companies, which are both well know Bar & Restaurants. They will be started as soon as we have all the necessary details.
• Talking to the local authorities and Police about the problem in the area regarding Boy racers and are now putting a proposal together that will hopefully rid of the problem our local town has had for several years. More to come soon…

Times going real fast at the moment, hence why the blogs not been updated on a daily basis…

More to come soon….

After the little dispute between myself and dave on the monday, and yesterdays tension we sat down and discussed everything that is happening with maxxd, and everything that is gonna happen.

We have been so caught up in the future, we have neglected to discuss the present and this has meant that neither of us knew what the other person was doing, we have kinda been in our own little bubbles, there has been so much to do, time has ran away with itself and the business starts running you and not the other way round.

This industry moves so fast its unreal, our to do lists get bigger and if your not careful you end up with a back log that no one could clear.

Jobs are slowly being delegated and more structure is being put in place, it all take time though and we still have to keep an eye on the cashflow. Its all coming together mind.

Following a meeting today, we have discovered that we can get some backing from local authorities that will help us progress the business further and maybe give us more stability whilst we build up our clients. We now have two media packs that look more professional and have been perfected. I cannot believe how many changes have been made to the sales literature since we started.

Last but not least, its the weekly club meet tonight so we are off to see the guys and girls, taking some magazines with us for those who missed the show.

Still being tired from the weekend we only worked until lunch time, we had a few things to sort out with the server and content on the website.

Everything has been up in the air today, the tension has been rather horrible, like I mentioned yesterday with us being good mates you try and avoid letting the friendship clash with the business. We are both adults though and true professionals so we have it under control.

Feedback is still coming in from the magazine launch, the feature requests are flowing in, so all looks good this end. We have an important meeting tomorrow that should result in some local support with the magazine and another “project” we are looking into. Fingers crossed..

Today we have spent time sorting out the impact from the weekend, it has been totally mental and none stop. We spent the weekend on our magazine trade stand promoting and selling the new magazine. We were speaking to people none stop for most of the weekend.

We feel it went really well, we sold a hell of alot of magazines however it did come as a bit of a shock having to speak to thousands of people about it and not everyone buying a copy. The general impression from people was fantastic and alot were really interested too get their car and club featured.

For the first time in our lives Me & Olly had a bit of a clash and had to walk away and take some time out, we know that its down to taking alot on and basically having too much on, it has got to the point where its been hard to communicate properly. We have both been in our own little bubbles, still been getting work done but its been very hard to focus together. We have had a good chat about it and have got ourselves back on track. It is hard sometimes working with your best friend as certain things you feel awkward saying. We are both aware of this and have now sorted out what to do if any of us ever feel that things aren’t going in the right direction.

This week we are going to be sorting through the data that we have gathered over the weekend and getting the direction of the business back on track, theres so much work been created over the weekend.

Happy times….. More tomorrow

Its now Friday morning and we are getting ready for Donny Show.
We took delivery of the magazines yesterday and they look absolutely fantastic, its an overwhelming experience seeing all the hard work printed into a real publication. The whole week has been crazy, we have not stopped running around and organising everything for the show.

Our marquee looks fantastic, thanks to Mini Marquees we have a 6ft x 6ft hexagonal display with banners all printed with the new magazine graphics. We have also had some T Shirts printed for us all to wear.

This week has been a massive turning point for us, we have had a few doorways opened and have been sending more quotes our for advertising packages, we have not closed any huge deals yet but there are alot of people interested and it’s only a matter of time. Two companies are hopefully signing up for twelve months on the front page soon and there are alot more potentials out there.

This weekend is going to be HUGE, I just hope we don’t run out of magazines. We have had to keep some back to send out to clients and those that are interested in advertising in the next issue. We have meetings organised for next week that will hopefully result in further backing enabling us to print more copies and have more pages.

I’m gonna leave the blog now, and will update you on Monday, we should have some good news and have spoken to alot of companies and generated a massive hype amongst the car enthusiasts of the UK. Fingers crossed.

Today has gone so fast, its now 18:46 and we are waiting for two guys to come and see us about the final touches to their online shop.

Olly has designed some new business cards today for the magazine so that we can take them to the show with us at the weekend. This week is going so fast its scary. We receive delivery in two days then its show time, we are so excited.

We have had a visit today from an old Maxxd member regarding the magazine and Donny show, he is opening a new branch of a very famous bodystyling company in Nottingham, which everyones really excited about. They are gonna make a huge impact in the Nottinghamshire area and we are really excited about doing something with them.

I have not had as much time for the phones today, a few companies have been chased up, the interest is still going strong. Once the magazine is out the hype is gonna be massive, we are getting some excellent feedback from car clubs all over the country. Ollie is doing a cracking job promoting and sorting out the next issues car features.

I wish we could get him on board full time and give him a good wage, its something we’d like ourselves too, all in good time though, the time WILL come.

Over the next few days we will be creating a new media pack that covers everything, the magazine, the directory and the front page advertising, we have finalised the three advertising packages today also…. these are now set in stone. We now have a secure payment gateway that allows people to pay for Maxxd merchandise, order show tickets and pay for advertising. Due to being a new business we did not want to set up a PDQ machine straight away.

Last but not least, we have moved into the new office which as Olly said yesterday is alot bigger and can house three people and not be cramped. It feels a whole lot better too, we have so much room and have bigger desks also, just need some big reclining leather chairs now
Anyway, its now 19:04, still loads to do and no one has showed up yet, can see tonight being a late one. Roll on the weekend and having a day off Monday.

Thanks for reading folks, more tomorrow..

oh yeah, almost forgot, remember the wall covered in modified car pics? They have had to come down, what a long and boring job..

First day of a new month, and some absolutely amazing news. We are moving offices after 74 days of trading! We start the move tomorrow, we can’t wait.
We are only moving two doors down the hall, but the office is much better, it has a much bigger window, alot more room and is at the end of the building so Dave can sit in the corner and speak louder than ever (joke).

There is an increase in cost, only a very small one but it’s definately worth it. We may be needing to employ another person and there is no room in this office!

The mag is out our hands now, we have seen final PDF versions of the pages, and it all looks good. We read it all 4 million times so it should be more error free than the dictionary!

We have had a more relaxed day today, finishing off a few bits and bobs and making calls to people chasing leads and informing even more companies about Maxxd. The stress has all gone, its just the nerves that remain, three days and we have our own magazine. Two days later and we will be in front of thousands of people promoting it at one of the largest race circuits in the UK.

Plans are now being set for the next issue, we are hoping to expand it even further and have organised meetings with a few local organisations that are looking at backing us all the way..

Check back tomorrow for more fun and games. Thanks for reading.

More tomorrow maxxd fans.