The Yearbook Blog

Ads are a great way to raise money for your yearbook program, so when determining your ad prices, make sure you are making money off them. How do you do that?

1. First, find out from your rep how much it will cost to buy more pages.
2. Let’s say it costs you $400 to get 4 more pages (just so we have an easy number to work with). That means it’s $100 a page.
3. Therefore, you should charge $200 for a full-page ad. This way, for every page you sell, you get one free to use in the book for other coverage (or in your bank account for a new camera, etc…)
4. Half of $200 is $100, but that doesn’t mean you sell a 1/2 page ad for $100. You have to add a little to this to give people an incentive to upgrade to a full-page. Based on this idea, your ad prices should look something like this:
   • Full page ad - $200
   • Half page ad - $125
   • 1/4 page ad - $75
   • 1/8 page ad - $45
   • 1/16 page ad - $30
5. Notice that when I double the price of a 1/16 page ad, it’s $60. Therefore, it’s a value for them to buy the 1/8 for $45. Got it?
6. Also, don’t worry if no one buys a full page ad. You actually make more money selling the smaller ads. For example, 16 1/16-size ads a= $480! Selling that entire page to one person would only get you $200.

• Allow parents to purchase “tribute” ads for their 8th graders or seniors
• Sell “buddy messages” to students. For $5, they can get 2 lines of text. Sell messages to teachers as well.
• Send teams of students to local stores to sell business card ads for $35 each (fit 10 on a page, and you have $350!)
• Make this one of your early deadlines, since it’s much easier to collect the materials.
  
• - OR - Have students sell over the summer, then when you return, you will already have plenty of material for your first deadline (giving you more time to cover the important stuff, like Homecoming)
  

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook” project. If you’d like to download the “A” card, go to the “Adviser Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

So, it’s May, your books done, and all you’ve got left is distribution. What are you going to do with all this time? Well, there are 3 ways you can take advantage of the yearbook “down time”:

1. Bring in some movies for the kids, call this your extra prep, and catch up on all the stuff you didn’t do all year because you were busy with yearbook
2. Have the kids put all the skills they’ve learned this year into other areas: creating a magazine, website, etc…
3. Start next year’s book now, and be ahead of the game in the Fall!

If Option #3 sounds appealing to you, here are 11 specific things you can do to make sure your staff is ready to roll on the first day of school:

1. Recruit your staff now - Ask your Herff Jones rep for a “Staff Recruiting Packet” if you haven’t done so already. It’s filled with posters, application packets, and everything else you need to recruit a quality staff. If your school won’t let you recruit, ask if you can simply recruit your editors.
2. Decide your theme and cover - The underclassmen on your staff have been waiting all year to have a real say in the book. It’s time to let them strut their stuff. Start brainstorming theme and cover ideas. Write down ones that have potential. Have the staff start collecting magazine lay-outs, brochures, etc… with design inspirations. This is also a good way for you to start choosing your editors for next year.
3. Write down what went well and what didn’t - Do this on your own, with your editors, or with the whole class. Don’t count on remembering everything. Make sure you write it down. (Although you’re calm and relaxed now, remember how rushed you are in the beginning of the year.)
4. Re-do any forms that didn’t work well this year - Sales letters, camera sign up sheets, etc… If there are any forms you use that need improving, now’s the time to do it. Remember to save the new version with a date or version number, in case you run across the old file again.
5. Register for yearbook camp - Most camps have registration deadlines or early bird discounts. Make sure you have all the information you need to register your staff for camp.
6. Train your staff - Now is a great time to work on photography, design, and copywriting skills for your staff that will be returning next year. Bring in some professionals in the community, if you can. Or use this time to beef up your technology skills. Learn some InDesign or Photoshop tricks that you might want to use in next year’s book.
7. Review this year’s budget and make plans for next year - Make sure you know what your final invoice is going to be, or at least a good estimate. Make sure you’ll have enough to cover it. If not, what adjustments do you need to make for next year. If you’ve got money left over, think about how you might want to spend it!
8. Plan your book marketing and sales for next year - Start planning next year’s sales now! Plan a Yearbook Sales Kick-Off event toward the beginning of the year. Come up with a sales slogan. Create video advertisements for morning annoucements. Get all the details taken care of now so that information can be ready to send home as soon as school begins! (TIP: If you sell enough books at the beginning of the year, you might be eligible for an early payment discount with your printer. You can also better estimate how many books you’ll need, so you don’t end up buying more than you can sell!)
9. Sell Senior and Business Ads over the summer - Just because they go in the back of the book doesn’t mean you have to do them last! In fact, if you sell your ads over the summer, your staff can already begin working on pages as soon as school starts (without having to wait for events to happen). This means you will have your first set of pages ready for that first deadline! And if you’re a Herff Jones customer and you send in pages early, you can get credit for future late days! (ask your rep for more details)
10. Open next year’s kit and toss out this year’s out - Your publisher kits should be arriving about now. Go through all the new stuff, and toss the old stuff out. There is no reason to keep old kit materials lying around! Take time to learn what’s new for next year, so you don’t get caught by surprise the day before a deadline, or miss out on an exciting new feature!
11. Clean out your photographs and file cabinets - Start next school year on a clean slate, archive all your photographs and then delete them off your harddrives. You don’t want them getting mixed up with next year’s photos! Also, have editors clean out section/editor cubbies, mailboxes, etc…

If you have any end-if-the-year tips, we’d love to hear them! You can add your comments below…

Monroe Clark Middle School in San Diego, CA, has found a creative way to raise money and increase coverage. They are selling “Page Numbers.” For only $2, students and staff members can pay to be pictured holding the page number! Great idea, Monroe Clark!

Here’s the actual posting on their website:

http://www.monroeclark.org/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=87635&id=0

I hear this complaint a lot from schools. Now, if your school is fine with this and happy to print a book just for the Seniors, then this post is not for you.

Most schools want to sell more yearbooks, but just can’t seem to get the rest of the school interested. If this is the case in your school, the first thing you need to ask is, “Why?” What is it about your yearbook that only appeals to Seniors? Why don’t Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen find value in your book? If you’re a typical school with this problem, then the reason probably includes several of the following…

• The Senior portraits are much larger than the rest of the school
• The Senior section is probably in color while the rest of the book is black and white
• The Senior section includes senior quotes or signatures under their photos
• Only seniors get to buy ads
• You have a special section of the book dedicated to senior activities
• The yearbook staff is mostly, if not all, seniors
• If the staff is mostly seniors, the candids are probably mostly of seniors
• If the staff is mostly seniors, then only seniors are being told when and where to buy a yearbook (and how great it is)

So what do you do? Here are some options to make your yearbook more valuable to underclassmen…

1. Put more photos of Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors in your book! Make it a point to check the coverage in a spread for representation of all grade levels
2. If you’re including spreads on special Senior activities, don’t ignore the activities of other grade levels
3. If your Senior portraits section is much better than the underclassmen, then lessen the difference. Senior portraits can still be bigger, just not 5x bigger. They can still be the only portraits in color, but then include a Student Life section in color that includes candids of underclassmen as well.
4. Allow other grades to purchase ads. They don’t have to be as big and elaborate as Senior ads. Maybe they’re text only. You can call the spread “Message Board”, “Text Messages” or “Shout Outs.” Charge kids $5-$25 to just print a couple of lines
5. If you have a lot of polls and quotes in the Senior section, make sure you’re doing the same in the other sections as well. Make the questions specific to that grade level, “What’s the worst thing about being a Freshman?” or “What are the top 5 hardest things about being a Junior?”
6. Recruit more underclassmen for your staff! This will ensure that underclassmen are being covered. If it doesn’t work out in the school schedule, form a Yearbook Advisory Committee made up of representatives from all grade levels. Maybe they meet once a month after school, and give their input on what underclassmen want to see in the yearbook.
7. Make sure you’re marketing to the entire school, and not just the Seniors. If the only reminders to the school are that Senior ads are due or Senior quotes are due, then the rest of the school is going to assume the book is only for seniors.
8. If you have a special section in your book dedicated to senior activities, consider making this a supplement that only seniors get and charge Seniors $10 more for their book!

Hope these tips help, and if you have ideas of your own, please share them below!

The Cullen gang in the Forks High School cafeteria

Do the words Bella, Edward, Jacob, La Push, and Forks bring chills of excitement to you? Well, Forks High School, where Bella and Edward of the “Twilight” book series met, is now offering you a chance to be a part of the official “Twilight” spread of the official “Twilight” High School! For only $2, you can vote for your favorite locations from the books/movies that will appear in the yearbook. In addition, everyone who votes will have their name printed in the book. Visit the Forks High School website for more information and to download an official entry form.

What does this mean for you?

As you brainstorm your themes for 2010, think about what your school or town famous for? How can you incorporate it into your theme? Better yet, how can you turn it into a fundraiser? Brainstorm ways to get the community involved!

And don’t forget the virtual community. Think about how many “Twilight” fans Fork High School has reached globally by placing their contest info on their school website! And don’t just stop at your school website, use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to advertise your book and contests as well. Don’t know how? Ask your students!