With Internet lookup quickly replacing traditional yellow pages advertising, attempting to build your business without a website only adds to your challenges.  RSA understands and now has a solution for any store owner.

Development has been ongoing for about 8 months.  We’ve fine-tuned the format and the process to the point that it is now a virtually do-it-yourself setup with results that look like websites costing hundreds (or thousands) of dollars.  In fact, we’ve asked professional web development companies to quote what they would charge to design and implement a site that looks and performs the same, and the lowest bid we could find was just short of $1,000—many were in the $3,000-$4,000 range.

Regular pricing is as follows:

As you can see, the RS Store Custom Website program is a great value no matter how you look at it, but for a short time, we’re sweetening the pot even more.

For a limited time, we will waive the $99 setup fee for RSA Premium Members.  So, if you are a Premium Member, your only cost to get a custom website is the first month’s hosting fee of $8.95 (in addition to your Premium Membership fee).

As stated, this is a limited time offer, and will only be made available for a certain number of members.

RSA Custom Store Websites are a great value and give you the edge you’ve been missing in this age of ecommerce and e-business lookup.

Once your website is set up, you pay a nominal monthly hosting fee as follows:

RSA Basic Members -- $14.95/month
RSA Premium Members -- $8.95/month
(in addition to Premium Membership fee)

These fees are comparable to, or lower than you could expect to pay with hosting companies providing the same service.

According to USPS, over 40 million Americans change their address annually. That means 26% of US households relocate every year. Homeowners spend an average of $9,400 in purchases during the three-month relocation period. New Movers are more likely to try new brands, products and services than established residents.

The RS New Movers program helps you market your store's services to new residents in your area. Simply choose a design from our growing library of 6x9 postcard templates (or upload your own), customize the card with your information, and the card gets mailed once a month to new movers in your area.

RSA Print and Direct Mail is a powerful toolbox for marketing your store and that you can add to your list of profit centers by reselling the service to local businesses.  The pricing is already competitive, but RS Premium Members receive a 10% discount, so they can stretch their marketing dollars further, and make a better margin when reselling.

RS Academy Professional Skills Certification courses are recognized as the best in the industry.  Our course content, presentation, and testing is rule and science-based.  Our instructors are professionals, and have been training within the industry for years.  Unlike some ‘diploma mills’ in the industry, subject matter certification has meaning when it’s from RS Academy.

RS Premium Members receive a 10% discount on all RS Academy courses.

BootCamp is designed to give soon-to-be and new store owners a comprehensive overview of what it takes to get started - and thrive in the retail packing and shipping industry. In this day-long intensive seminar, you’ll learn what to expect,  how to avoid major pitfalls, and how start your new business with the right tools, look, pricing, and a professional edge.  BootCamp is presented by RS Associates President and one of the industry's leading experts on store operations, Brandon Gale.

Topics presented in this 8-hour seminar include:

RS Premium Members receive a 10% discount on BootCamp

Learn from those that know. Vision Alliance Network is the only company in the industry offering do it yourself training that you can do at home, on your own schedule.  VAN has been developing, producing and selling training manuals, DVD’s, and CD’s for the retail shipping industry for over nine years.  VAN materials cover every aspect of opening and operating a successful center—from startup and store design, to employee hiring and training, to custom box and crate making, VAN covers it all.

Sold in packages and as separate training materials, VAN can help with the training and business-building skills you’re looking for.

RS Premium Members receive a 10% discount on all VAN products.

RS Marketplace is just that—a marketplace where you can find products and services to either use or sell in your business.  The marketplace will grow into a shopping area where you can find equipment, tools, supplies, and inventory—all at special RSA pricing.

RS Premium Members will receive a 10% discount on all RS Marketplace items.

Do you need a vacation, have a family emergency, or just need a short break? RS Store Staffing can help. A seasoned veteran will run your store while you’re away and make certain everything is in the right place when you return. All RS Store Staffers are either current or former store owners, and are cross-trained in multiple point-of-sale automation systems.  They have extensive experience and expertise as retail shippers, and will give you that piece of mind you need when you’re away.

RS Premium Members receive 10% off Store Staffing fees (discount does not apply to travel, food, or lodging for Staffer).

Need to sell that extra scale or PC?  Are you getting out of the gift wrapping business and need to sell your inventory?  Are you closing your store and want to sell everything?  Or sell your store as a going concern?

List it in RS Classified Ads.  RS Classified Ads work much like Craigslist.  You can list by category i.e. equipment, inventory, etc. and you can upload as many as 5 photos of the item(s) you’re selling.  Statistics show that including photos increase your chances of creating a sale by 300-500%.

Classified Ads are priced according the number of words and how long the ad runs.

RS Premium Members can run classified ads for FREE.

Offering Notary service to the public can be very profitable. Help people in your community that need notary services to find you easily online by listing your store on www.rsnotary.com  You can post your store hours, contact info, directions, etc.

RS Premium Members are listed FREE on www.rsnotary.com

The Retail Shipping News is a monthly publication that is delivered subscription-free to more than 10,000 retail shipping centers across the United States.

RS News features articles and news items related specifically to the retail shipping industry.  Cover stories focus on high-impact issues. The “What’s Hot” section highlights two new or evolving products or services every month, our “Ask The Expert” section answers specific operational questions, and we publish results from our monthly online RS surveys.  Advertisers consist of the industry’s top suppliers and vendors, so you’re kept up to speed on the top selling retail items.

“We’re excited to be producing the industry’s first monthly newsmagazine for the entire retail shipping community,” stated Brandon Gale, RS Associates’ President. “Our goal is to deliver timely news and important information affecting the retail shipping community to each and every store operator in the country without regard to franchise or organization affiliation.”

Just as important, you will not get those ”fee surprises” when your statement arrives.

RS Daily Newsfeed  gives you access to all the latest industry news in one spot, posted throughout the day, keeping you on top of the news that affects your business.

RSA captures industry-related news items from a variety of sources and then posts them directly to RS Central in one easy-to-read, concise format. Carrier news, legislative and regulatory changes, vendor items, press releases, breaking news, etc. Anything and everything that may improve or impact your business is at your fingertips. 

The RS Industry Alerts section is where you can find time-sensitive information like weather-related service delays for individual carriers, pending rule changes, rate increases, vendor/carrier program or product launches, and any noteworthy events of direct interest to retail shippers.

Do you have questions you can’t find the answer to or an issue with a customer that you’ve never faced before?  Is there a problems with a carrier that you could use some coaching tips on?

That’s what the RS Help Hotline is for.  Industry experts answer the phone or email requests for solutions to those tough questions or issues. 

RSA Print & Direct Mail is not only a tool to market your business, but it is also a powerful new profit center. You can become the Direct Mail Marketing Expert for every small business in your area—with no additional investment other than your time. Real estate agents, pizza shops, dry cleaners, nail salons, restaurants, car washes, etc.---all have a need for this service, but simply don’t have the resources to do it. Use RSA Print & Direct Mail to be their mail marketing manager and earn money every time your customers use the program.

www.rsaprint.com is the consumer-facing website that allows anyone to use the process and tools.  If you are an RS Premium Member, you are listed as an official reseller on the website.  As such, you receive commission from mailings on any account you refer to the site, and you are paid commission every time an affiliated referral does a mailing through the site.  With a little work on your part, this can become a great source of recurring revenue.

The RSA Direct Mail content library grows every time we create or add a new marketing piece.  Currently available is content for the real estate, restaurant, and retail shipping industries. You can use any content from the library, upload existing artwork & designs, or we can design and create professional mailing pieces for you or your clients.

RS Forums may be the most robust format you can find to tap into the brain power of other store owners, suppliers, and experts for the all-important networking and information exchange.

If you’ve used or participated in Yahoo! Discussion Groups before, you’ll love the new RS Forum. It’s like Yahoo! on steroids and allows hundreds of owners to share information quickly and efficiently.

Unlike Yahoo! discussion groups, RS Forum is topic-driven, which means you don’t have to read through hundreds of postings to get to the subject matter you’re interested in. The Forum menu shows you all current topics, the number of participants, and the most recent postings. Again, unlike Yahoo!, RS Forum allows you to attach files, upload and display photos & graphics, include your store logo with your signature, and you can even use emoticons to add some interest and fun.

You can even create your own group within the Forum, so if you are part of a franchise or local store chapter, you can invite others to be a part of your discussion group.

And if you like the convenience of receiving Forum messages via email, now you can.

So if your current online hot talk has become luke-warm, subscribe today to RS Forums.

We take every item posted to the RS Industry Daily Newsfeed and archive them in this section of the website.  It is a growing library of valuable information and resources.

RS Newsfeed archives are word-searchable, so if you need to research a topic or find details on a previously posted item, you can find it here.

Our resource center is packed with information and resources; carrier rules, tariffs, rates, and tools, form templates, marketing templates, operational tools, and much more.