Chapter 26 Open the champagne
Chapter 26 Open the champagne
Ah Le looked thoughtful, and took the initiative to light a cigarette for the boss, and asked seriously: "Brother Tang, besides selling newspapers, what other magical powers does the newspaper guy have? Can he help us sell spicy ginger?"
Yin Zhaotang puffed out a cloud of smoke and said slowly, "Newspaper men handle all kinds of print media every day, including magazines, newspapers, novels, in Chinese, English, and even Russian."
"They are already the best editors in the industry. They can tell which newspaper issue will sell well and which magazine will sell out just by looking at the title."
“So, from the beginning, many newspaper men were more optimistic about our 91 magazine. They were happy to promote our magazine and put 91 magazine in a prominent position. Of course, our sales were better than those of other magazines. Besides, Lajiang’s magazine was more expensive.”
Ah Le pricked up his ears and nodded frequently, then asked in confusion, "Boss, La Jiang's magazine is also sold for five dollars a copy, the same price as ours."
"Same price, different quality." Yin Zhaotang sneered and wanted to flick the ash, but Jiang Hao immediately pushed a glass ashtray to his side.
Yin Zhaotang gave Jiang Hao a comfortable smile, flicked the ash off his cigarette, and said, "La Jiang's magazine is not only the same price as ours, but also has seven more pages!"
"But did you notice?"
"The materials he used were too low-quality. The paper of a five-dollar magazine was on the same level as a two-dollar gossip magazine or horse racing book."
"He must have been cheated by the people at the printing factory. They asked him to buy someone else's factory. He was incapable of managing it. They must have cut corners and cheated him."
"Foreign trade companies that sell materials are not afraid of him!"
Although magazines and newspapers focus on content, customers have their own standards for the quality of materials and will not complain about how bad the paper of a magazine is.
But when you buy, vote with your money immediately.
Moreover, paper, pigments, and printing processes will directly affect the color presentation of photos.
Ah Le's eyes lit up: "Brother Tang, is this business as usual?"
"Yes."
"You can't make all the money by yourself. You need to make your friends in the business world make money, then you are qualified to be a gangster."
"Learning to learn spicy ginger depends on robbing and smashing. You will be a lifelong scoundrel!"
After Yin Zhaotang finished speaking, he pondered and said, "In addition, there is another very important point. La Jiang printed 100,000 copies of the magazine at one time, wanting to take over the pornographic magazine market in one go. This is very ambitious. For this reason, he specifically sought help from the Newspaper Distribution Association to distribute 100,000 copies of the magazine to the whole of Hong Kong. This is a big deal."
"But the directors of the distribution association are actually channel dealers. They get a bite of the pie when the goods pass through their hands. According to the information I received, the ex-factory price of a copy of La Jiang magazine is 2.5 yuan, which is 20 cents more expensive than mine. After being distributed by the newspaper distribution association, the cost price to the newspaper sellers is 4.3 yuan."
"La Jiang makes at least $1.50, and the remaining $30 goes to the association. But the $4.30 price hasn't been reduced, so the newspaper sellers only make $70 from each copy. If it's expired, they have to mark it down themselves, and the estimated profit is less than $50, or at most $40, which is worse than our magazine."
"Moreover, our magazines have low costs and we have a return system. If the newspaper sellers can't sell all the magazines, they can return them to us without worry."
"On the premise of ensuring the profits of the newspaper men, when two new magazines are launched at the same time, the newspaper men will naturally try to promote the one with a higher return and profit first."
"Only when our magazine is no longer doing well will the newspaper men promote Lajiang."
Also, since the volume of 91 Magazine was small, it was sold one by one to newspaper dealers.
Although it was not distributed all over Hong Kong, every newspaper seller who sold 91 magazine had more copies of "91 Men" than "Big Wave".
Because of the previous cooperation with free magazines, each newspaper seller had at least ten copies of "91 Men" and "Big Wave" distributed through the distribution association.
Although they were sold all over Hong Kong, on average each newspaper seller only had two or three copies.
In this way, all newspaper men who cooperate with 91 Magazine will first promote "91 Men", which will be sold out quickly and become a trend. The disadvantage is that a large amount of blank market will be eaten up by "Big Wave". If the market cannot be filled quickly, "Big Wave" can still survive.
"Ah Le, call Boss Xian and tell him that we need to print at least 10,000 copies of the first issue a day. At the same time, we need to reserve capacity for 150,000 copies of the second issue."
"Print as much as you want and settle the bill on the same day. If materials are insufficient, go and buy them immediately. If manpower or machines are insufficient, you can subcontract them, but the quality cannot be compromised," said Yin Zhaotang.
Ah Le promised generously: "OK, Brother Tang, leave it to me, I promise to get it done!"
Hecheng Building.
La Jiang pretended to take out a bottle of champagne from the cupboard, on which there was a label saying "30% off discount from ParknShop" supermarket.
A celebratory banner reading “Big Wave Magazine Sales Exceed 100,000” has been hung in the company’s office area.
Mawei, Dabiao, Qiangshui and several of his younger brothers stood in front of the table. Even Sangkun, the master of the Mong Kok branch of the Dong'an Society, and Shezaiying, who was a white paper fan, came to visit the building, and each of them brought a flower basket.
Although some uncles and big guys in the society did not come, they asked their younger brothers to send flower baskets, making the magazine company bustling with activity, as if it was an opening ceremony.
La Jiang, dressed in a suit and tie, dressed like a big boss, came to several square tables, holding a glass of champagne and said, "Thank you all for coming to support my new company."
"In the future, there will definitely be more girls from our company featured in big wave magazines."
Shezaiying said with a smile: "Lajiang, you are so famous now. Your magazines are everywhere on the streets of Hong Kong."
"Haha, Brother Ying, please take care of me." After opening the champagne, La Jiang came forward to toast.
But Sheziying took him to Sangkun and said, "Brother Kun wants to invest in the magazine. Is there any chance?"
Sang Kun had thin eyes and long eyebrows, and a lean figure. He clinked his glasses and said, "Brother La Jiang, we are fellow disciples, you won't even give me a chance, right?"
"Haha, brother Sangkun is joking. I'll definitely go in!" La Jiang smiled flatteringly but was cursing in his heart.
But Sangkun is the most powerful gang leader of the Tung On Society. He owns many nightclubs, KTVs, and billiard halls in Yau Ma Tei and has six or seven hundred brothers under him. He is the only big boss of the Tung On Society who has a presence in Yau Tsim Mong.
La Jiang was pounced on by him and took a bite of the meat. He had to greet him with a smile and pretended to enjoy it: "With Brother Sangkun's care, our magazine company will definitely be able to sell more than Ming Pao in the future!"
noon.
The lively celebration banquet ended.
La Jiang sat back on the chair in the office, beaming with joy, took out a stack of Hong Kong dollars and put it on the table, saying, "In the afternoon, brothers, let's go to the sauna to wash our feet, and by the way, go to the street to see how the magazine sales are.
"Half a day has passed. Sales are good. It should be over 20,000 copies."
Ma Wei took the 10,000 Hong Kong dollars and readily agreed: "Thank you, Brother La Jiang."
But no matter what, the numbers counted by my brothers on the streets are definitely not reliable.
La Jiang then called Director Sun of the distribution association and said humbly, "Boss Sun, I want to ask how the magazines are selling."
(End of this chapter)