Chapter 151: A Successful Start and News about Commercial Radio
Chapter 151: A Successful Start and News about Commercial Radio
"Hey, why is this newspaper in color?" A young man who was about to buy a newspaper saw the obviously different newspaper and asked in surprise: "Boss, is this new?"
The newsstand owner smiled and said, "Yes, it just came out. It's called Hong Kong Chinese Daily. Look at the color and the quality of the paper. They are both very high-quality."
The young man took the newspaper, touched it, and found it really felt good, so he asked, "How much is this newspaper?"
The newsstand owner raised his right hand and opened it, saying, "5 cents a copy."
"So expensive? 5 cents can buy two other newspapers, right?" After hearing the price, the young man immediately showed some hesitation.
The newsstand owner said, "Handsome boy, look at the quality and color of the paper. Do you look more comfortable now?
Just like the clothes you are wearing now, there are several colors on it, isn’t it much better looking than the one that is just black and white? Isn’t it more expensive too?”
The young man thought for a moment and said, "That's not wrong."
The newsstand owner continued, "Handsome boy, do you like to read martial arts novels? There is also a novel in the Hong Kong Chinese Daily News, and it feels not much worse than Jin Yong's."
"Impossible?" The young man obviously didn't believe it. He then flipped through the newspaper in his hand and found the page of the novel: "'Sky Sword'? Let me see."
The boss didn't say much. After a minute, he took the initiative to ask, "How is it?"
"Really good." The young man nodded, then flipped through the other news in the newspaper and said, "Then I'll buy a copy today. This color newspaper is really pleasing to the eye."
"Okay." The newsstand owner smiled and took out a new newspaper, and the two made the deal.
After the young man left with the newspaper, the newsstand owner smiled and thought to himself, "The owner of the Hong Kong Chinese Daily News is really amazing. He actually came up with an extra rebate policy. As long as you sell a lot, the commission will be much higher than other newspapers."
Similar things were happening at the same time in many newsstands in Hong Kong. Some consumers felt that 5 cents was too expensive and it was not worth it to spend extra money just to read a little newspaper; others did not mind spending a few cents and bought the product because it was new and interesting.
But no matter who you are, your first impression of a color newspaper is definitely much better than the ordinary black and white newspaper. Everyone likes colorful things.
That evening, in Hong Kong Island, inside the warehouse factory of the Hong Kong Chinese Daily, the color newspaper printing machines were still working non-stop.
Yang Wendong also stayed here on purpose. This was his first media industry and it was also his first day, so he naturally had to stay here and wait for the results to come out.
The data had not yet been fully released, so Yang Wendong came out of his office to take a look. When he came to the equipment, he asked, "Is this tomorrow's newspaper?"
Qin Zhiye replied: "Yes, tomorrow's data. Although today's data is not yet fully available, the number of responses in the afternoon is about 2300, which means about 3000 to 3500 responses a day.
So now we will print tomorrow’s valuation based on today’s sales tonight, usually at 6%. After receiving real feedback from the market tomorrow morning, if it is better, we can increase the volume.”
"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "This way we can avoid waste."
Qin Zhiye said with a smile: "Generally speaking, newspapers are a bit wasteful because they often can't accurately predict sales. Large newspapers are better, but small newspapers' sales are often like a roller coaster;
Controlling waste is an important measure to ensure profitability. However, if our newspaper has a good novel, it can stabilize sales. Even if we print too much, we can still sell it at a discount, because news will expire, but novels will not. "
"This is another advantage." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
Newspapers are different from industrial products. They need to be produced in advance and are particularly time-sensitive.
If daily sales are unstable, the waste caused will be immeasurable. Or, if we are conservative, it may result in consumers not being able to buy newspapers when they are enthusiastic, which will affect long-term profits.
A novel with good content cannot be said to be able to stabilize consumers, but it can at least have a certain soothing effect.
Qin Zhiye added: "I went to see Mr. Xiong this afternoon. He seems to be having a writer's block. Although he still has a lot of manuscripts saved, I'm still a little worried."
"It's normal for Jin Yong to get stuck. He also gets stuck often." Yang Wendong said, "It's just that we can't help him. Let's try other methods. We can give him whatever he needs as long as it's reasonable."
"Okay." Qin Zhiye continued, "He has been wandering around Hong Kong for a long time these days, and he said he wanted to go back to Taiwan to pay respect to his mother. He said he wanted to stay in Taiwan for a while, and maybe he would get some inspiration.
I agreed, and I also booked him an additional boat ticket for his journey."
"It doesn't matter. The boat ticket is only the price of a few newspapers." Yang Wendong said indifferently: "You can negotiate with Xiong Sheng. As long as you can ensure that his novels can be updated normally;
Not only this book, but he will continue to write, one after another. If he runs out of inspiration, wants to buy some books, go to the library or even go traveling, as long as the request is not excessive, he will agree to it. "
In his previous life, Gu Long was not as famous as Jin Yong, but he had written many more novels. Yang Wendong naturally had to make good use of this advantage, and it would also be beneficial to Gu Long himself.
If entertainment companies want writers to write novels or singers to invent new songs, most of them will try their best to meet their requirements, even the most bizarre ones.
Anyway, as long as it succeeds in the future, the company will gain greater benefits.
Qin Zhiye nodded and agreed, "Okay."
At this moment, a young man trotted over and said, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Qin, the first day's sales are out. A total of 3753 newspapers were sold throughout Hong Kong."
"More than 3700?" Qin Zhiye was actually prepared in his heart, but he still said happily: "Mr. Yang, this number is already very good. In Hong Kong, there are only six or seven newspapers with stable sales of tens of thousands. For a new newspaper to achieve this result, it is definitely a good start."
"Yes, I know that." Yang Wendong nodded. Hong Kong currently has a population of only 300 million, and only about to percent of the population can understand newspapers. There are probably hundreds of newspapers in Hong Kong, large and small, so the competition can be said to be very fierce.
Qin Zhiye said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, your strategy of giving extra rebates to the newsstand owners is indeed a good idea. This way, they will be more willing to sell for us."
"It's just a small strategy." Yang Wendong smiled. This was a trick that OV mobile phones liked to use in their previous lives, and it did have some effect.
However, he still said: "The premise of this method is that the content is at least not bad. If you want to continue to sell better in the future, you still have to look at the quality of the content."
Qin Zhiye nodded and said, "Yes, it still depends on the quality of the content, which is the core of the newspaper, especially since we are a high-end newspaper." "Have the people overseas been arranged?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Qin Zhiye replied: "It has been arranged. We have people in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. They will sort out the local major news and inform us as soon as possible. If it is urgent, they will contact us by phone.
In Hong Kong, I have also organized a team of six journalists to investigate various issues in society.”
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "You are experts in social matters, so I won't ask about them. But I suggest that you pay more attention to real estate and stock prices, especially housing prices. Hong Kong's housing prices have been rising, and citizens are very sensitive to information in this area."
The ordinary people of Hong Kong, without a doubt, care about how to make more money. Regardless of whether they are rich or poor, they all want to buy houses and land. This is the characteristic of Chinese culture.
The same is true for stocks. Fewer people play, but it is easier to drive people crazy because the volatility is greater than real estate, so many people are willing to gamble.
Qin Zhiye nodded and said, "Okay, I will ask a few reporters to keep an eye on this area.
From another perspective, if we do well in this field, real estate companies will be more inclined to advertise with us.”
"That's right. The real estate company is a big client of the newspaper." Yang Wendong also agreed and said, "Today is considered a success. Except for those who have to work the night shift, everyone else can go back and rest.
Also, prepare some nice dinners for the colleagues working the night shift, and then have a big dinner with the colleagues working the day shift tomorrow to celebrate.”
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Yang." Qin Zhiye agreed with a smile.
The next day, the Hong Kong Chinese Daily continued to be sold, and newsstands found that there were still many people willing to buy it again.
In Hong Kong, at the headquarters of Galaxy Daily, Hu Xian was reading several English newspapers when suddenly there were several knocks on the door.
Hu Xian raised her head, saw the person at the door, and said, "Editor-in-Chief Li, please come in."
"Miss Hu." Editor-in-Chief Li came in and greeted, "Something happened in the newspaper industry in Hong Kong yesterday. A new newspaper called Hong Kong Chinese Daily opened and they launched a color newspaper. Take a look."
"Colored newspaper?" Hu Xian was stunned for a moment, then took the newspaper and said, "We discussed internally whether to make colored newspapers at the beginning, but gave up because of the cost."
Editor-in-Chief Li said: “Yes, it’s not that color newspapers can’t make money, but it will affect our existing newspapers.
As far as I know, several other newspapers have actually considered it, but gave up for similar reasons.
The Hong Kong Chinese Daily is a new newspaper, so naturally it does not have this burden. "
"The paper quality is good. It looks good at first glance." Hu Xian's first reaction after receiving the newspaper was to praise it: "The cost is not low. How much does it cost? How much is the sales volume?"
Editor-in-Chief Li said: "The price is 5 cents. We don't know how much the sales volume is yet, but it shouldn't be too bad."
"5 cents?" Hu Xian flipped through a few more pages of the newspaper and said, "We will definitely lose money if we just sell at this price. There are no advertisements in this newspaper yet. We will probably have to wait until sales increase before attracting advertisers.
I have to pay for it myself during this period. Has the boss behind this been found out? Who is it?"
Editor-in-Chief Li said, "It's an old friend of ours, the sticky note king Yang Wendong."
"Is it him?" Hu Xian was stunned for a moment, then said, "With his financial resources, it shouldn't be a problem for him to support this newspaper."
Although the popularity of the sticky note king has faded, as Hong Kong's top media, Hu Xian also pays attention to the group of Hong Kong's wealthy. After relocating the factory, Changxing Industrial's output has increased several times;
Although I don’t know the specific financial situation, I can roughly get an idea of the scale.
Editor-in-Chief Li said: "The financial resources are very strong. After this newspaper appeared yesterday, I immediately arranged for someone to check. The headquarters of the Hong Kong Chinese Daily is still under construction. It is a 12-story building. It is also an old building that Yang Wendong bought specifically for the newspaper, and then demolished it to build a new one."
"It seems like he really values this newspaper?" Hu Xian murmured, "Yang Wendong's financial resources far exceed ours. If he is determined to come in and is not just playing around, then I'm afraid we will be under a lot of pressure in the future."
"I think it's for real." Editor-in-Chief Li added, "Ms. Hu, there's another novel in this newspaper. The content is very good. I don't know where Conghua found the novelist."
Hu Xian also turned to the page with the novel content, read it for a while, frowned and said: "It's really troublesome. If a newspaper company relies on color newspapers to increase sales, then we have to change it too.
So, you go ask about the prices of these equipment and we will prepare them first.”
Editor-in-Chief Li nodded and said, "Okay."
A few days later, reading the Hong Kong Chinese Daily News began to become a habit for Hong Kong citizens. Many people also knew that a color newspaper had been added recently. It was a bit more expensive, but there was a good novel in it.
At the temporary location of Hong Kong China Daily, Qin Zhiye came to an office of Yang Wendong and reported: "Mr. Yang, in the past few days, our newspaper sales volume has been as low as 3500 per day and as high as 4100. Judging from the current trend, it will stabilize in this range.
If you want to continue to grow, you have to rely on long-term quality to slowly attract people. Many newspapers in Hong Kong have also grown step by step in this way. "
"Well, okay, just follow the normal model." Yang Wendong nodded. For a commodity like newspapers, even Ming Pao, relying on Jin Yong's novels, would need a long time to make it to the top ten in Hong Kong. It is unlikely to be achieved overnight.
Now, relying on color newspapers, Gu Long's novels and decent content, I have established a firm foothold in the Hong Kong market.
"Okay." Qin Zhiye paused and asked, "Mr. Yang, you once said that publishing newspapers is just the first step in your plan to enter the media industry. Does that mean you will invest in other media in the future?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" Yang Wendong asked back. Newspapers can only be said to be a small part of the media. The majority is actually television. However, it is still a few years away from the emergence of TVB.
Qin Zhiye said, "I just learned that the Hong Kong government is planning to launch a new commercial radio station. Are you interested?"
"Commercial radio station?" Yang Wendong suddenly realized that he almost forgot about the radio station.
(End of this chapter)