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2016 Year End Notes

by Bangsar Babe

As 2016 comes to an end, Jien and I reflected on the past 12 months – the accomplishments and “growing pains” we’ve had to endure. He’s always been the more positive one, choosing to look at the glass half full whenever the going gets tough. I guess that’s how we complement one another in many aspects of our lives.

I think 2016 has been rather difficult, despite achieving the targets we’ve set and seeing the brand still grow. All this, despite setbacks along the way. And while Jien has good things to say about how the year went, I feel the opposite. As such, the year-end note differs slightly this time around – with both our point of view.

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Jien: While many complain that this year’s economy is “soft” and I do agree to a certain extent, 2016 was still an exciting year for the Bangsar Babe team. In April this year, we achieved our target reach of 500,000 fans on Facebook 9 months early! A big thank you to those who supported us throughout the years; we really appreciate it. :)

Sue Lynn: We achieved our target for FB fans early, but I feel I could have done better on Instagram. The latter is a whole new ball game which requires more effort and planning, and I hope 2017 will be kinder to me (in terms of time) for me to achieve what I want for both social media platforms.

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Jien: It’s been one year since Sue Lynn set up her digital marketing agency – Rhombus Consulting (mentioned here), and I would like to applaud her for the hard work she has put into the company, with the many late nights and emotional roller coaster she has had to endure.

Rhombus is born out of passion and vision. Sue Lynn and I saw a gap between agencies and brand, and thus, strive improve the standard of digital marketing in Malaysia. Through her experience in social media, advertising, publishing and also corporate, she built a team to help clients improve their brand presence on social media.

We’ve had clients who think that engaging with Rhombus gives them “access” to Bangsar Babe, which is most certainly not the case. Rather, clients get to benefit from Sue Lynn’s skillsets and years of experience first-hand. Some of our clients were disillusioned that when they hire Rhombus, Bangsar Babe would automatically endorse them or that Bangsar Babe would “steal” their ideas. *feel free to insert roll eyes emoji here*

We implement the same principles as Bangsar Babe on Rhombus – honesty, Kaizen and ethics. And we do not believe in short term results; our digital marketing strategies are long term to ensure consistency and longevity.

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Rhombus runs on the “Ohana” concept

Sue Lynn: When I started Rhombus Consulting, I never expected the process to be this challenging. I thought I had it covered – from experience and skill sets, to industry knowledge. Little did I realise, these make a fraction of (what I deem) a successful agency.

Oh, how wrong I was!

Finding the “right” people has proven to be a very, very difficult task and one I’ve yet to succeed in doing. On a brighter note, Jien and I managed to find a few candidates who seem to uphold the values and principles that Rhombus Consulting has so fingers crossed, 2017 would be less strenuous on me as the creative head.

It’s been tough juggling between the agency, the blog and also my new project, Bangsar Babe Collection. While the Bangsar Babe brand did better than the year before, I can’t help but lament the “could be” moments where I had to say no to advertorials because my plate is too full with agency work.

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Jien: I would also like to welcome Melissa Foo (you should read her travel articles) to the Bangsar Babe team. She brings a breath of fresh air to the travel segment on Bangsar Babe and loves taking the road less travelled. Our readers love what she has to say and we can’t wait to read what she’s going to write next!

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Melissa in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

Sue Lynn: I’ve travelled more in 2016 compared to the year before, mostly for blog assignments. Even so, I had to turn down a few trips because I needed to be at the office to support my team. Fingers crossed, I would be able to really focus on Bangsar Babe in 2017 since my “ideal team” is somewhat in the works.

Jien and I did manage one proper holiday to London and US early this year, which was really fun despite the cold. We hope to travel a bit more for leisure next year as I’ve been complaining about our lack of time together.

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Jien: The Bangsar Babe brand will celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 2017 and we’re already planning something exciting. Do stay tuned!

Before we end, here’s wishing all of you a Happy New Year and may 2017 be kind and smooth sailing for us all! :)

Love,
The Bangsar Babe Team

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1 comment

sanj January 6, 2017 - 3:41 pm

Congrats Sue Lynn and Rif for a successful, thou challenging 2016 :) looking forward to your 10th year of Bangsarbabe! :)

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