Two dinners featured on the newsXpress conference menu this week with an opening dinner at Benihana at the Marriott and a closing dinner at MooMoo. The photo shows just some of the group who took over MooMoo enjoying delicious steaks and one or two refreshing drinks and a decadent dessert plate. The dinners were good times. We got a chance to socialise with friends and colleagues.
Author: mark
I am a Director of newsXpress, a marketing group for newsagents keen for a bright future. You can reach me on +61 418 321 338 or mark[at]towersystems.com.au
Magazine insights to help newsXpress members grow magazine sales
Vicki Rossi, the Retail Rales and Circulation Director for Pacific Magazines was a featured speaker at our national conference this week, sharing valuable insights into magazine sales and discussing opportunities for newsXpress members to grow magazine sales. The session was backed up with a training breakfast hosted by Pacific the following morning at the Royal Pines resort on the Gold Coast.
Helping newsagents with lease advice and suggestions
newsXpress Director Graham Randall ran a popular training at the newsXpress workshop on the Gold Coast this week on retail leasing. Participants heard about lease pitfalls and got to discuss specific situation in a co-operative environment with Graham and their colleagues. The workshop was very popular. It shows newsXpress providing practical help to members long after they joined the group.
Newsagency group member training on good margin product and service
At the newsXpress national conference on the Gold Coast throughout the day members were able to engage in training for a new product service offering being promoted by newsXpress. The training provided a behind the scenes look at how to make an excellent margin product that will drive new traffic and facilitate cross over sales in other product categories.
newsXpress hosts cash-flow workshop
The newsXpress conference on the Gold Coast yesterday featured a workshop on cash flow hosted by a CPA and a Financial Controller. This workshop outlined cash flow processes and planning techniques to help newsXpress members run stronger businesses.
Run twice through the course of the conference this workshop was vary popular – delivering to newsXpress members professional quality financial planning skills that will help them run more valuable businesses.
Newsagency marketing group newsXpress national conference about to start
newsXpress members from around Australia are heading to the Gold Coast for our second national conference this year. At the conference, being held this Tuesday at the Royal Pines Resort, we are set for a busy day plus a couple of dinners. This will be as much about business building sessions as it will be about networking with other newsagents in the newsXpress family.
A feature of the conference will be practical workshops with a CPA, a lease expert, retail experts and a product buying expert – these will provide practical learning opportunities for newsXpress members. We are also hosting training in in-store engagement with a new service to be offered through newsXpress members under a brand we have trade marked.
The supplier trade display will introduce new good-margin product opportunities for newsXpress members. The products on offer will help some members enjoy an even more successful Christmas 2013.
So, we’re excited for the opportunities we’ll see this week and the friendships we will renew.
Happy Father’s Day to all dads
newsXpress shows off marketing collateral at GNS trade shows
newsXpress has been showing off some 2013 / early 2014 marketing collateral at the GNS Market Fairs. This collateral, A1 double sided, is sent in landscape and portrait format for members to connect with seasonal and other marketing opportunities.
Developed exclusively for newsXpress, this collateral helps our members tell engaging retail stories.
Newsagency marketing group newsXpress funds $60,000+ Father’s Day giveaway
newsXpress members are participating in Father’s Day in-store giveaways valued at more than $65,000 in Samsung galaxy Tablet 2 devices to be given away.
This is a newsagency channel leading Father’s Day prize pool. It will make many newsXpress shoppers very happy and provide newsXpress members another opportunity to show off their local point of difference.
newsXpress funds the giveaway for members.
newsXpress national conference next week
newsXpress members around Australia are preparing for our second national conference of the year. This time we are meeting on the Gold Coast next week for a day of team building, learning, buying and rewarding. There’s be some laughs, some celebrating and plenty of excitement heading to Christmas 2013 and on into an exciting 2014.
Car in a Can a hit for newsXpress members
The Car In A Can product offer form newsXpress is selling very well across our retail network. This funky gift is proving to be an ideal Father’s Day gift as well as year-round.
Easily displayed, the Car In A Can product is selling well from feature displays in-store as well as at the sales counter – generating excellent revenue for newsXpress members.
newsXpress sources good product for members and it backs this with strategies and tactics that can be used by newsXpress members in-store to drive sales for the business.
newsXpress visual merchandising service helps newsagents create successful displays
Visual merchandising in a newsagency is all about creating displays that sell product. An attractive display is useless if it does not move stock in the time necessary.
newsXpress has brought to its members a relationship with a visual merchandising company that will help newsXpress members create stunning and commercially successful displays.
This practical and professional visual merchandising assistance will help newsXpress members break free and drive sales. By using an external team we are able to help our members better compete and more practically enjoy their businesses.
This new visual merchandising service is another newsXpress point of difference.
Terrific GNS trade show in Sydney
newsXpress connected with some excellent new member prospects at the Sydney GNS trade show on the weekend. Our stand was busy showing off the newsXpress difference – the supplier relationships, business strategies and marketing support from the group that combine to help newsXpress members enjoy their businesses more … financially and operationally. newsXpress appreciates the opportunity from GNS to connect.
newsXpress appoints National Sales Manager
newsXpress is thrilled to announce that Peter Francis is joining our team as National Sales Manager of newsXpress from today.
Formerly National Sales Manager with For Arts Sake and prior to that with John Sands, Peter brings to this senior management role at newsXpress excellent newsagency rooftop acquisition experience along with an energy and positivity for the future of newsagencies from which we are certain to benefit.
Working from a Sydney base and reporting direct to the Directors of newsXpress, Peter’s remit is to bring on newsXpress members nationally.
Coinciding with the recruitment of Peter Francis to this role newsXpress is undertaking a series of marketing initiatives to introduce our enhanced model to the newsagency channel. We will share details of a series of marketing events and fresh marketing literature in the coming weeks.
There won’t be a newsagent in Australia who has not heard from newsXpress at least four times between now and mid October. Each communication will of itself potentially add value to newsagency businesses – we are showing off our point of difference in a practical way.
The ideal newsXpress member is a newsagent keen to grow their business beyond the traditional to a model of strong gross profit and best-practice operational efficiency … and to do this while helping all involved in the business to enjoy it more.
Please join with us in making Peter Francis welcome to the newsXpress family and help him to unlock for newsXpress member growth as we grow our own way.
20 questions newsagents need answered before signing to join or renew with a newsagency marketing or franchise group
Not all newsagency franchise / marketing groups are the same. The devil, as they say, can be in the detail – detail often embedded in a long contract you may not read. Here are 20 questions we think you need to ask at the very least BEFORE you sign a contract or sign to renew a contract.
- Will I be forced to take any product? If so, what product and when? What does your contract say?
- Is product sent that I do not directly order? If so, please list product sent in the last year.
- Can I sell my business when I choose to anyone I want without giving you first right of refusal or having to tell you in advance? What does your contract say?
- Can I buy products from any supplier or MUST I purchase through suppliers you approve? What specifically does your contract say?
- In terms of your preferred suppliers, do they mark-up product before they give members of your group a discount or is the discount off the wholesale price other newsagents pay?
- Please list for me all newsagencies trading under your name that have closed or gone broke in the last two years.
- Do you offer an in-store business advisory service? If so, how often and how long are the visits and what is the experience of the person making the visit?
- Do you support the newsagency owned GNS for stationery supply? If not, which organisation do you support for stationery and why?
- Do you offer a lease negotiation service? If so, is there any extra cost for this? Also, is the lease in my business name without reference to your business at all?
- Am I forced to use a particular newsagency software program? If so, what guarantee is there that I get this at preferential pricing, better than if I bought it by myself?
- Who owns your group?
- Can I contact the owners of your group at any time with any issue at all?
- What guarantee do you have that you will not allow another newsagency to join near my business? Is this in writing?
- Can I join another group when the contract ends or do I need to wait for some time?
- Must I use a central billing service to get supplier discounts or rebates or can I control my own cash-flow?
- What happens if my business closes – am I liable for franchise fees?
- Do I have to supply you with my sales figures and if so what do you do with this?
- Do I have to attend your conference and if so what is the cost?
- What is the total cost of joining the group?
- What is the full monthly cost of being part of the group?
newsXpress stores loving the car in a can opportunity
newsXpress members are reporting excellent sales of the car in a can, a newsXpress preferred supplier initiative that is helping newsXpress members play in a unique space in the marketplace – attracting shoppers as well as getting existing shoppers to spend more in the business on this unqiue gift … a perfect Father’s Day gift for a Dad who likes gadgets.
This product brightens the store!
Right across the country in all sorts of newsXpress locations we are hearing of success of the car in a can!
newsXpress stores offering a Samsung Galaxy Tab to promote Father’s Day card sales
newsXpress stores are offering a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 as an in-store prize as part of our Father’s Day promotion.
With close to $50,000 worth of prizes being given away, this promotion is probably the richest promotion for father’s Day 2013 in the newsagency channel. It’s another example of newsXpress leveraging the value of its network for its members and for the benefit of customers of its members.
newsXpress had a terrific Melbourne GNS Fair
The newsXpress stand at the Melbourne GNS Market Fair was an excellent event from the perfect location of our stand next to the GNS showroom thrugh to the new leads from Victorian newsagents keen to join our proactive community of newsagents.
The newsXpress pitch captured the interest of Victorian newsagents looking for help in navigating change and for someone to help with core issues that are holding their businesses back.
The exclusive deals we have with more than 130 preferred suppliers got some newsagents very excited when they compared what we offer to the margin they make today for similar products.
We’re expecting good membership growth in Victoria as a result of this action-packed weekend in Melbourne.
Newsagents urged to due diligence before joining a newsagency marketing group
A newsagent recently approached newsXpress for help on discovering that the newsagency marketing group they had joined had first right of refusal to buy their business. This other group, no newsXpress, has it in their contract that they have the first right to buy out the business should the owner want to sell. This makes selling then business difficult as it has to be navigated should another party express interest in purchasing the business.
Our view is that such a position in the newsagency franchise agreement benefits the franchisor as ti is a barrier to the sale of the business and seems to lock the business into the franchise regardless of what purchaser / vendor may want. This could hurt the return a newsagent gets for the sale of their business.
Newsagencies are small businesses. The owners need the freedom to sell their businesses when they want and to parties they want. Other parties, like franchise groups, getting in the way of the sale process risk diluting the value achieved for the sale of a business.
This is another reason newsagents need to carefully look at the franchise agreements before they sign them.
newsXpress members love the free choice they have over products
newsXpress newsagency marketing group members get to choose for themselves if they take on any product. They are not forced to take product from a supplier.
The freedom afforded newsXpress members is a point of difference for the group, something newsXpress members appreciate and enjoy, something they like compared to the rules and demands placed on newsagents outside of newsXpress who are involved in another group.
This is just one of many beneficial differences offered by newsXpress that separated our newsagency marketing group apart from others in the field, just one thing that helps newsXpress enjoy their membership more and to create the business they want based on local needs and local knowledge. This freedom is important as newsagents navigate to a new business model, one that is locally competitive.