At the end of September, I had the opportunity to meet with PAGE members at the annual National Newspaper Association Foundation (NNAF) conference held in Washington, D.C. That location was selected to enable the NNAF to meet with legislators on Capitol Hill and lobby for the newspaper industry.
The conference also presented PAGE with the opportunity to lobby prospective members on how PAGE can reduce their costs through the purchasing power of more than 190 publishers and printers. I was delighted at the response that I received from all sizes of publishers as well as our statewide newspaper associations.
As PAGE celebrates our 40th anniversary next year, perhaps due to our extended service to our industry, attendees (many who had not yet been born) appreciated this introduction and reminder of the PAGE mission to reduce costs and accumulate dividends for our members. Thus, I was able to reintroduce PAGE as a not-for-profit enterprise that delivers win-win benefits for the members who purchase through us and the suppliers who provide favorable rates and receive assurance of their accounts receivables.
Our industry has changed significantly over the last 40 years, with many publishers now outsourcing printing and introducing more digital subscription options to reduce costs. During my remarks at the Solutions Start Here conference session, I briefly explained how the PAGE solution is laser-focused on leveraging purchasing power, and this is particularly true for newsprint, which remains the highest operational cost for our publishers, whether they outsource their printing or not.
A secondary and equally important benefit of PAGE is access to a network of fellow publishers, available to all our members who seek counsel and receive a relevant industry opinion on market trends or issues related to commodities, print frequency, labor relations, insurance, investment or even acquisition. PAGE members cooperate with and help each other.
At the conference, I invited the attendees, and now I include the readers of this solutions newsletter to contact PAGE on how they can take the first step to begin saving.
The PAGE team can schedule a 15-minute call to examine your current suppliers and volumes to calculate your savings for your purchases. Your PAGE Membership accrues the purchasing value from your orders, which is returned as a dividend and increased equity at the end of the year. The more you spend, the greater the reward.
You can sign up for your 15-minute call today calendly.com/savewithpage/15min
PAGE has also digitized our six-page partner directory, which is readable on your phone, desktop or laptop. Anyone in your organization can access this link. If you send them this link, they can check this list of suppliers and see if you can grow your dividend check and equity today.
https://pageone.smedia.com.au/partnerdirectory/
Publishers who are not currently members can use the same calendar invite and partner directory to take a fresh look at the significant savings that buying through the PAGE Cooperative brings.
For more information on services and membership, visit www.pagecooperative.com. Alternatively, contact Gary Blakeley, CEO of PAGE Cooperative, at gary@pagecooperative.com.
