Everyone that handles network magazines, software will need updating as Network are going from bimonthly returns to weekly. Unlike Gotch when they went weekly, it went out slowly so giving us all a chance to adapt gradually network is doing everywhere next week.

By then we are going to have to finish the new software, test it and have all our clients trained by next week.

Some of the work and coming confusion could have been avoided with just little things. For example Network create return forms on Monday, Gotch recall schedule uses Wednesday. So a Tuesday's magazine is in different weeks depending on the supplier. Also Network will be using dates, which I prefer while Gotch uses week numbers. Why could they not use the same standard? It is just extra points like this that everyone is going to have to remember.

This came up today with magazine on-line returns. Our software meets the industry standards for magazine returns however that does not mean that any user is automatically allowed to do returns. You will need to be approved. One condition of approval is you will need to send sales data daily.

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE4BU53T20081231?sp=true

Interesting article, I thought on US newspapers.

The biggest problem at the moment there with US newspapers is the falling advertising revenue.

Last year, we released information sheets early however later some publications were changed. So we had users that mucked up their system. It took much work to fix it.

So this year, we decided that we would release the information later. So we could be sure of what was happening. So today information sheets on the financial review were released for posbrowser for the New Year edition. You should have them now.

I would like to thank the Age circulation department in particular because although many are new for this task they did a good job in keeping us informed.

Please do these needed changes in the last-minute because in this period much happens without forethought or planning. So amendments may still need to be released.

Now you should have the information sheets for what is happening over the seasonal period. Please follow the instructions exactly.

Please contact us, if you have not received them.

Also if you do not invoice in newspapers, then you need to confirm the price in your computer when they arrive as several are putting out special holiday editions, with a different price to normal.

These information sheets are going out today to help you handle the newspapers and magazines over the seasonal period.

Several publications have weekly extras for Thursdays. One popular one is the Green Guide in Melbourne. Since this will be delivered on Wednesday, many people that just subscribe to the Thursday paper will not get it. Most of these people will be upset. So yesterday and today, I have had discussions with Fairfax on how they want to handle this situation.

Fairfax has decided that they cannot support the automatic change-over of all Thursday Age deliveries from Wednesday deliveries as the client must approve any changes first. However Fairfax will allow newsagents to supply copies of the Green Guide to Friday purchasers of The Age on request, and sourced from copies of Wednesday unsolds.

The Wednesday unsolds will still need to be returned as normal procedure but they will alert their returns depot that not all copies will contain Green Guides.

I do shop at Borders bookshop. Although they can be expensive, they do have a terrific range in their computer section. However, Borders is not just a bookshop but it also a large magazine seller. So yesterday while looking through their catalogue, I was drawn to their magazine subscriptions section

I started to scanning these magazines trying to discover what formula Borders were used to price their magazine subscription. Mainly as we are thinking of doing something in our newsagency software. I wanted to know what is the market rate for a subscription? So I looked at a few and doing some estimate it appeared the subscription prices were more than 15% off retail although some looked like 20%. That does not leave much, I thought if one is working on 25%.

Then I noticed WHO. The 6-Month Subscription price was $69.95. There is a saying, if a figure looks wrong, it probably is. This one looked wrong. WHO is weekly at a retail price of $4.70. So six months is 26 weeks x $4.7 about $120. Take off 25%, you still could not sell a 6 months subscription for $69.95

Now I have nothing competition if it is fair. Here I am not sure.

Since they are Pacific Magazines products, I think it would be a good idea for the Newsagency association to clear it up. For example, MPA is regularly in communication with newsagents. The head of the MPA is Nick Chan, who is also the CEO of Pacific Magazines. He has always struck me as a straight and reasonable person. He would be a good person to approach. There is nothing wrong with someone calmly trying to determine what is happening?

I think that Borders are on-selling Pacific magazine subscriptions. If so, why cannot newsagents? I might be wrong. It might be nothing and my suspicions and figures are wrong? However, If something is there, what is causing this? Maybe Borders know something newsagents do not? If so, perhaps newsagents can join in? If not, it would be nice to know why not.

Ignorance is not bliss, it is often worrying.

We are now contacting newspapers and magazine companies to learn what should happen during this seasonal period.

Now I feel the loss of staff at Fairfax. There are always some fine points that need clearing up on how to handle their various publications countrywide. The problem is these “new” staff although they have been there for years; they are new to these fine points.

We are scheduling our first draft of information sheets to go out on Monday as we are waiting for Fairfax.

Here is a tip for any newsagent, please do these needed changes in the last-minute because in this period much happens without forethought or planning.

But it is a good idea to read them now so come the day you know what to do. Then as amendments come through, which they always do this time of year we will edit these sheets and send them out again.

The family flees Vietnam. The daughter died during the sea crossing. They set up a new life for themselves here. The son (Chinh Nguyen) has a dream to own his own business so he becomes a newsagent. Then there is a robbery for $195 in his shop during which Chinh Nguyen is killed.

A good man is killed for $195 and his murderer gets 7½ years nothing seems fair or right in this equation.

His Mum statement was so true. "Australia is a good country, so what happened to my son? He worked so hard, he did the right things and did not harm anyone. Why did this happen to my son?"

Terrible so sad, a tragedy!

John Sands have finally issued a complete stock file with categories for example anniversary, female relations, etc.

It is available here for downloading.

For this and other supplier files, please visit here

Newsink is the original and probably the lowest cost Newsagency promotion group inkjet cartridges and associated IT products. Their aim is to make your newsagency, the destination store for these products.

Recently two of their members made a TV commercial. It will be shown on local TV.

[youtube]PJIMtfegE0A[/youtube]

For more information contact:

Neil Chandler
NEWSink PTY LTD
M: 0417340817
P: +61 3 9879 4319
F: +61 3 9870 3552

Everyone in the newsagency industry I think suspects that 2009 will be an important year for newsagents. Because the industry is asking now "Where are we going?"

Over the last few weeks, we have had meetings with several largest organisations in the newsagency industry.

Now everyone sees that retail is in great flux. We can see that too in our benchmarking project. Retail is so much about public sentiment and now the public is confused. Also most newsagents and suppliers work in months. The difference between November 2007 and November 2008 is one more Saturday and Sunday and two weekdays. There will be an instant difference just there. So November is out.

Then we are going into the holiday season. That clears up in mid-February. Beside many professionals are in holiday mode and do not want to start then. Also between February 2008 and 2009 there is an extra weekday because of the leap year. While March 2008 and 2009, the difference is minor with only one weekday and one Saturday.

Almost all are zeroing on March 2009 as the earliest date for doing studies. That is when we will see many studies in the industry.

I am pleased at the change of policy of XchangeIT on magazine sales data. Now it is unfair. People that follow the correct procedures and send accurate sales data are not getting any credit. They get the same as those who send nothing or worse crummy sales data. It is particularly unfair to POS Solution’s clients as our accuracy is more than 95%.

Finally, something will be done. Soon people that send reliable and timely sales data will pay a reduced annual fee for XchangeIT. I think they should go further. If few people in a region are sending accurate sales data, those that are should share the credits for the region for those that don’t as they are carrying them.

Good sales data is vital to the industry. Those that help should be rewarded.

The editor and publisher report, although an American report, they do have a point here.

While reading this, I was thinking of here. In Australia now, circulation and readership are only slightly down. Advertising is going down, just look at the size of the Saturday papers today. Some of the costs in this report such as the expected rise of newsprint in the short term will not happen here as the major newspaper bought this when the dollar was high. But soon it will go up too as in the US. So one would expect newspaper revenue to decline. The only solution besides the cost-cutting we are seeing now is to increase cover price. That will drive circulation down too.

In the 1990s, we saw the afternoon paper died out. Maybe soon we could see the era of the no-newspaper city, here too. Maybe just national and local papers will be left.

Have a read and see what you think.

A brochure was sent to all newsagencies today. 

Just a few days ago, a newsagent told me that a major card company IT department suggested that I talk to him about using his stock sales report. He wants to look at sales trends and pocket turns for his cards in their shop.

The problem is that they change their designs often. So each week, they get more than twenty new designs arriving. To decide which section to put it into is often arbitrary, difficult to select and tedious.

Yet now thousands of newsagents do this all the time when one card company could do it. They do it as properly managed, cards using categories can increase sales by over 20%.

Why could a card company not supply proper categories for each card, as magazine companies do now? That would make cards much easier to display.

This mess has been going on for years. Yet nothing has happened. It is not from lack of meetings. In the last lot of meetings, a common category card system was promised on the 13 August 2007. That is over a year ago. Nothing happened. Unlike other departments in newsagencies, the only one without common categories is cards. Clearly, the card industry has failed newsagents.

Also if done, we could provide newsagents with some brilliant reports as we do with magazines. I am sure that this would result in similar savings to newsagents as in magazines.

The card supplier was either John Sands or Hallmark. I am not saying which as both are guilty.

The NSW government will review whether to sell off the NSW lotteries.

So the Australian Newsagents Federation (ANF) announced that they want a "seat at the table" as part of the review. They are concerned about how these new owners would run NSW Lotteries.

But the ANF should be concerned about what the NSW government will do once it sells the lotteries.

Once sold, the NSW government to raise more revenue might allow new players like Intralot in. Then NSW newsagents like Victorian ones might have to pay extra to keep what they have now.

Like our other brochures, this one shows the positive benefits of software that is newsagency rather than computer focused. As with this software, you don’t need a computer expert in your shop. For example, you do not need to learn about updates as our software does it automatically. Nor do you need to stay up late every night to do backups as again the software does it automatically.

What it shows point by point is how software can go beyond saving time and money, by increasing productivity and improve your profit by growing your top lines and removing dead stock.

This new brochure is directed at newsagencies and should arrive to you this week.

If you want to see more now, please contact Zac

Henderson Greetings have created a new version of their stock file. It is available on our website.

For this and other supplier files please visit here