Continuing my week-long series on newsagency marketing groups, today I’ll outline how newsagents can get the most from the group they belong to.
Some newsagents who quit or leave a newsagency marketing group blame the group for not serving their needs – either through lack of services, lack of appropriate supplier deals or poor support. While this will be true in some instances, it could be true in others that the newsagents have not made the most of the opportunities.
The newsagents who make more money from being in a newsagency marketing are those who embrace all the grow has to offer. Here are my suggestions on how to get the most from a newsagency marketing group.
- Engage. A good newsagency marketing group will regularly put opportunities in front of you – supplier deals, marketing advice, training, social media suggestions, surveys – engage. If you don’t, you;re not part of the group and not part of the total brand experience.
- Communicate. At meetings, speak up. In the group’s online forum, have your say. When your area manager visits, share your thoughts. If you are confronting a business challenge, seek advice.
- Network. Go to group meetings, conferences and other marketing group gatherings. Connect with others. The more you get to low people the more you can learn.
- Seek challenges. A good newsagency marketing group will show you opportunities and ideas outside what has been traditional for your business. Work hard to NOT be closed-minded to these opportunities. If you are not being challenged as much as y0u want, ask.
- Learn. Sometimes, the biggest value of being in a newsagency marketing group can be what you learn – products to place with others, free marketing opportunities, staff training insights, the employee management advice, advice on how to hire and how to fire, when to promote certain items. Seek out these free learning opportunities.
- Ask for help. If you are oversupplied with magazines, ask for help. If you are facing a lease challenge, ask for help. If you suspect employee theft, ask for help. If you have an award rate question, ask for help. If you want to build your customer database, ask for help.
- Invest. Just joining a newsagency marketing group does not improve your business. You have to invest time, money and focus to achieve a commercial valuable outcome.
Remember, the only reason to join a newsagency marketing group is so the business makes more money and therefore becomes more valuable. What you get form the investment is as much up to you as it is up to the group.
Footnote: Regulars here would know I am a shareholder in and Director of newsXpress. Prior to that I was a member of Nextra and a shareholder in my later years with them following a capital raising. Prior to that my newsagency was a member of Newspower.