Author: Mark Fletcher

I have just finished reading The Dip by Seth Godin and highly recommend it to newsagents. Don’t be put off by it’s small size – 80 pages – or that it looks like another ho hum American guru book, The Dip is a good read. It is a book about that moment in the middle of something you are doing where you face giving up or working harder to achieve success. It is the make or break moment of your day, a project or something even bigger. How we respond determines our success.

In The Dip, Seth Godin encourages us to quit – to quit if you are not going to get beyond The Dip and achieve success in the project, relationship or other activity you are stuck in. His approach to strategic quitting is refreshing.

This book is relevant to Australian newsagents because so much time every day is spent on what I would call busy work, stuck in the rut of The Dip. Newsagents kicking goals in their businesses are those who have quit some of this busy work and used the time saved to get through The Dip to greater success.

In my own newsagency I would say that selling the newspaper home delivery round is a good example of quitting unproductive activity so the business can get through The Dip. This decision to quit improved our bottom line and released considerable manpower resources for use in building the retail side of the business. While we did this prior to reading Seth’s book, we now have a useful context through which to consider this and, indeed, see other opportunities for quitting so that the bigger goals may be achieved.

The Dip is not for process workers – people who have their heads down and are only interested in being busy with what is in front of them. The Dip is for entrepreneurs, those who want to excel and those looking beyond the horizon.

I heard a story recently about a newsagent for whom things had got too much and he took his own life. The newsagency channel being what it is, the story is spoken of in hushed tones and without all the facts being represented – how can we really know what leads someone to such a step?

Beyondblue offers excellent resources for people feeling that life is too difficult. Their advice sheets cover a range of helpful topics including how to help someone with depression and reducing stress.

Given the challenges of consolidation and the uncertainty some newsagents feel because of changes in the media landscape, it may be timely for industry associations and other groups to facilitate sessions where newsagents can navigate their concerns before they become too big. I’d certainly support such an initiative.

This book, Thumb-sucking and Dummy-sucking by Dr Elsie Mobbs which arrived in store yesterday is another example of a title which ought to have been denied access to the newsagent channel. Speedy Distribution sent us two copies: RRP – $14.00; our price $10.50; on sale period – 6 months. These numbers don’t work, especially given that this book is A5 in size and I only have two copies with which to create a story. It would get lost in our magazine racking. We already have more titles in this category than our space allocation can professional handle. Speedy Distribution is abusing their relationship with newsagents by sending the title and newsagents are fools for allowing this.

If authors and publishers of books want access to our channel they ought to pay a minimum of 40% commission. For unknown authors where, we are investing in building their profile, we ought to be paid a stocking fee to cover our space for the entire on sale period. We have to remember that the retail newsagent channel is has the upper hand, our network is valuable.

This is why newsagents ought to appoint a magazine czar to control which titles access our retail network.

We have contacted Speedy Distribution asking that they collect t their cost these books from our newsagency and immediately credit us for the two copies supplied.

I have no gripe with Dr Mobbs or her book. My gripe is that the newsagency channel has been used to distribute a title which will lose money for newsagents and that Speedy Distribution would have known this when they decided to use us for this title.

A colleague told me a few days ago that they are giving up their newspaper home delivery business because of heavy newspapers. In this family run business the husband delivers the newspapers and has done for years.

OH&S standards require that they use two drivers to handle the run. Unfortunately, delivery fees – controlled by publishers – do not provide sufficient revenue to cover the cost of two drivers. The husband has injured his shoulder and cannot continue. No one wants to buy the run so they will give it up.

The question is what has caused this? Is it overweight newspapers – especially the weekend newspapers which often weight more than 1kg? Is it the economics of home delivery driving newsagents to overwork rather than take a bigger loss by employing more distribution staff? Are the many cheap subscription offers the cause – driving newsagent return down in some areas?

This is a serious problem for city based newsagents with fewer than 500 daily home deliveries for it is those under this number who appear to be most economically challenged by the current delivery fee structure. I say city based because in the country there are mechanisms which can lead to delivery pricing based on cost of service.

I was in an elevator on my way down to dinner at my Hong Kong hotel tonight and James Packer stepped in. No, I didn’t ask why he has retreated from the old media companies his family name has been connected with for so long and what he felt newsagents ought to take away from this. I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the place or time – and an elevator ride is so brief.

My questions have answers through the actions of PBL. James Packer sees a brighter future or an easier ride – or a mix of both – in new media; newsagents currently have no role in new media. Like James Packer has done for his own assets, newsagents need to make entrepreneurial business decisions which put their needs ahead of others.

For more than a year I have been contemplating the newsagency of the future. Based on many conversations with newsagents across the country, I know that newsagents are expecting suppliers to guide them to the future. Riding in the lift with James Packer I knew that there was no point in asking the question. I don’t begrudge his decision to sell down his old media interests, not for a second.

Newsagents cannot rely on anyone, including long term suppliers such as the formerly Packer controlled ACP Magazines, to deliver their future. Just as James Packer is doing for his interests, newsagents need to follow their own path.

Some are already pursuing a brighter future over which they have more control, many are not. How does one get that message across, how do we turn newsagents from the process workers many have been for decades into entrepreneurial business people? I have some thoughts and will explore these here soon.

In the meantime, the diversification of the Packer interests including a focus on new media (online) offers some pointers newsagents would do well to consider.