You know ESPN hosts both Summer and Winter games of Extreme Sports with events like skateboarding, BMX biking, street luge, snowboarding and snowmobiling. Well, what about the Yearbook X-games? Once the book is done, have an X-Game Celebration after school. Have staffers sign up ahead of time for events like these:
Big Wheel Slalom
Skateboard Paddling
3-legged Cross Country Skipping
Nerf Skeet (Frizbee) Shooting
It’s a great way to burn off all that built up stress, and it’s a great prelude to a nice Yearbook banquet where winners receive their medals along with the other staff awards. Or, be really X-treme, and ask ASB if you can host the Yearbook X-Games for the whole school over a couple of lunch periods and have students pay a dollar or two to participate. Instead of gold medals, give away golden tickets to your yearbook signing party!
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “X” 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…
SoYoung Jun, yearbook adviser at El Cerrito High School, noticed that yearbook sales have been on the decline in the past few years. When asked, students told her they could not afford a book. In this current economic environment, this comes as no surprise. However, Ms. Jun decided to do something about it.
On a whim, she sent out an email to parents and staff members through the school e-mail tree. She asked if anyone was willing to sponsor a book for a student. She also asked for name submissions of students who deserve a yearbook, but cannot afford one. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but knew she had nothing to lose.
In one week, she received $50o in donations. This may not seem like a huge amount, but it’s $500 more than she would have gotten and all it took was one email! It also means that about 10 more students are going to receive books that otherwise would not have!
With such success through such little effort, Ms. Jun is now looking at other ways to get more books into more students hands. She plans to send a similar email to their school Alumni Association and offer Gift Certificates as a way for friends and teachers to purchase books for others as gifts (regardless of he recipient’s financial situation).
Here's Julie getting her $100 American Express Gift Card for coming in 2nd Place in the Ultimate Sales Challenge. (*Excuse our dress. We were sorting yearbooks for distribution!)
When it comes to fundraising and book sales, Julie Fox–yearbook adviser at Central Middle School in San Carlos, CA–is a true guru. In 2009, as a first-year yearbook adviser, she won 2nd place in the Herff Jones Northern California Ultimate Yearbook Sales Challenge.
In 2009, the yearbook staff at Central Middle school not only wanted to increase sales, but they wanted students to buy early. So they motivated them by offering complimentary name stamps to all students who ordered books within the first 6 weeks of school. The price covered the cost of the name stamps and more. Each Monday during the sales campaign, teachers received a list of students who had not purchased. Homeroom teachers encouraged students who had not purchased books and new orders came in every Tuesday. The week the free name stamping disappeared, parents were notified of a last chance offer with order forms and personalized money envelopes in weekly mail folders. Increase in sales: 10%, and for the first time ever, the school was able to prepay, making them eligible for the prepayment discount.
How does she top it for 2010?
For her 2nd year as an adviser, Ms. Fox noticed that Central’s yearbook did not have a name, so she asked the school to help. At a school-wide assembly, the yearbook staff announced their Yearbook Naming Contest. They explained the importance of a yearbook name and shared examples of other schools’ yearbook names. They then opened it up to the entire student population to submit their ideas. The names started flooding in. With Principal Lynette Hovland’s help, the staff narrowed it down to 2 choices: Hoofprints or The Round-Up. (Their mascot is the Mustangs.) Instead of just having students vote on one of the final two names, the staff decided to turn it into a fundraiser. They placed two jars in the school office, one labeled “Hoofprints” and one labeled “Round-up.” They then asked students to vote for their favorite name by placing spare change in the jar.
Three weeks later, not only did Central Middle School’s yearbook have a new name, but the entire school was excited about the yearbook and being a part of creating a tradition that will stay with the school forever. Talk about great publicity! And if that wasn’t enough, the yearbook staff raised an extra $170 by simply placing 2 jars in the office.
What’s the secret to her success?
“The yearbook belongs to the students, not the yearbook advisor. My role is to help the students create the book that showcases the entire student body,” shares Ms. Fox. “If I help them do a good job, then the students and staff will buy the book. It’s all about talking the talk beforehand (through advertising) and following through with a great product.”
Now that you know how many more books you want to sell, you’ve got to work hard to sell them. But we say work smarter, not harder! Try one of these ideas:
Set up a My Space, Facebook or Twitter page for yearbook. Post status updates of current prices and production news. (EX: “Yearbooks now on sale for $25.00. Don’t get left out!”) You can even post “teaser” pictures of a game or a rally
Plan a big, one-week sales campaign. Then advertise like crazy: email, auto-dial text, post info on the school marque or social media site, and/or create a commercial (see theyearbookblog.com for ideas)
Post a copy of your working index and invite students to see what pages they are on.
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “M” 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…
Need more of it? Who doesn’t? But who wants to run a car wash or sell gift wrap to get some? The easiest way to generate more income is to sell more books. Take a look at the numbers:
So instead of another fundraiser, put that energy and effort into marketing your book, and watch your profits grow.
Involve your entire staff in the process by:
Making a wish list for the things you would like to do with your profits
Setting a class goal of the number of books you need to sell to generate the profit you would like to make
Celebrating each new level achieved in whatever way makes you all feel good
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “M” 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…
As I was driving from school to school the other day, I couldn’t help but notice how many Geico billboards there are. At every stoplight, I felt as though I was being watched. I’d turn around, and there was yet another Geico billboard. Then I thought, “There are probably just as many billboards for other companies, but I don’t notice them as much because they’re not staring at me!”
Then it hit me! Many of my schools have been asking me for tips to increase sales and/or marketing ideas. Well, if I were still an adviser, I would be stealing (ummmm, I mean “borrowing”) Geico’s successful campaign!
So, I came back to the office and quickly put together a “yearbook with eyes”.
Go to www.theyearbookladies.com and click on “Adviser Resources” to download your copy.
Photocopy them
Cut them out
Put them EVERYWHERE! On lockers, in the office, peaking out of classroom windows, in the trees, in the locker rooms, … You get the idea.
You can also download a mini-poster with the same yearbook and the tagline “The memories you could be saving.” Hang these up in hallways with info on how to buy a yearbook. If you have a poster machine at your school, blow them up bigger.
I know that there are some of you who are much more talented at Photoshop than I am, and could probably make a better poster. Feel free! Everyone else, do whatever you want with these. Even if you don’t use them, I hope this helps get you thinking about how to market your book! Either way, have fun!!! And good luck!!!
*If you do try this campaign at your school, we would love to hear your story! Share it below… Or let us know if you came up with your own advertising-inspired idea!
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan declared the week of October 4 (October 5th this year) National Yearbook Week! In his proclamation, he stated,
“School yearbooks not only chronicle educational achievement and school tradition but are a part of them. For nearly two centuries American students have produced yearbooks to commemorate the accomplishments of the school year and to compose a lasting record, written and pictorial, of campus, classmates, teachers, and school staff.
In later years, alumni treasure their yearbooks for the memories they hold of times gone by and friends of long ago. The students who compile yearbooks likewise treasure all that the experience can teach them about teamwork and about writing, the graphic arts, and business skills. The practical cooperation and specialization that students learn in yearbook production stand them in good stead when they enter college or pursue other opportunities.”
He then called upon all Americans to “observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”
So here are 5 ways you can celebrate National Yearbook Week:
Kick off your yearbook sales this week
Dig up the oldest school yearbooks you can find from your school and put them out on display.
Collect old yearbook photos of the staff and display them without names, so students can guess who’s who
Give a special discount for yearbooks bought this week and wear your staff t-shirts to spread the word
Have a special staff party “just because”
Whatever you do, take a moment to congratulate you and your staff for being such an integral part in creating your school’s memories!
It’s a new year, new theme, new kids, new ideas… It’s so easy to get caught up in all the fun stuff and lose focus on what really needs to be done. Use this list of the 12 most important things that need to be done by October 1st to help your staff stay focused. (But that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun!)
Open Your Kit
Your yearbook kit contains all the materials necessary to produce your yearbook.
Start with the “Start Here” Envelope.
Check the Kit Guide to make sure all items have been included
Use the order form on the back to order any additional supplies you will need.
Contact Photographer
Schedule a meeting with you school photographer during the first few weeks of school.
Discuss your full color needs and be sure he understands the importance of deadlines
Give him your deadlines. Predate them one week as a safety margin.
Discuss what you expect from him and what he can expect from you. Find out what services he is willing to perform and schedule his services for important school activities, such as homecoming.
Have senior portraits or DVD delivered to your school at least 10 days prior to your senior deadline
Set dates for underclass and faculty portraits and determine when you will receive your Quick Panel Plus CD
Determine Deadlines
Check your deadline packet from your reps. Make a note of your deadline dates and number of pages due.
Check your deadline packet to determine when your color pages are due, if your book is not all color.
Check with photographer to determine when DVD of senior portraits
Develop a Theme
If you have not yet chosen a theme, select a small group of staff members, preferably returning ones, to work on the theme.
Have them discuss what is new and different this year, and have them make a list of these changes in order to find a theme that fits your school and is unique to this year.
Conduct brainstorminwg sessions with the entire class and present the group’s ideas.
Plan to have the theme appear in some way on the cover, the endsheets, the opening section, the division pages, and in the closing.
Make a Ladder
Before any pages can be assigned, a page ladder for the entire book must be completed.
Check your publication agreement to see how many pages there will be in your book. Obtain enrollment figures for your school from the administration.
Decide on the number of pages you will need for seniors, underclass and faculty.
Make a list of every club, sport, organization, and event you wish to include.
Compute the number of pages needed for each section. Be sure to leave enough space for your opening, closing, divider pages, index and advertisements
Use a pencil for your first draft of the ladder; or laminate it and use a dry-erase pen, or use the HJ Planner program.
Design the Cover
If you attended the Spring Cover Workshop, be sure to finalize your cover design.
Consult your yearbook representative to see what types of covers are available and within your budget.
Decide on the type of cover that best fits your theme and ask your reps to show you examples.
Assign a few staff members to develop a sample design.
Once the style and design are decided, determine exactly what type of material you wish to use, the color of the material, the applied color or colors, and meet with your reps to put it all together.
Decide whether you will order individual name stamps or name plates for the books, and choose the color for these name stamps/plates.
Select Endsheets
Several choices of endsheet materials and styles are available to you including company designed full color, colortext, and solid color. Check with your rep to see what options best fit your budget.
Select an endsheet that will complement your cover and will carry your theme forward. Be sure that the endsheet colors coordinate with the colors of the cover.
Discuss other endsheet options with your reps such as printing on the endsheet, four-color endsheets, die cuts, short-trim endsheets, foil stamping, embossing, and tinted embossing.
Sell Ads
Make a card file that contains the name, address and phone number of every business that has advertised in your book over the last five years as well as merchants who have advertised in other yearbooks in the area.
Add cards for businesses that are owned by parents of students in your school.
Expand your file further by adding businesses in your area from the Chamber of Commerce directory for your city and from the yellow pages. Pass out an equal number of cards to every staff member, letting them select those that they know.
Students must contact each business. Require that a business card or design is submitted for each ad sold.
Give commissions or a bonus to students who sell ads.
Plan Full Color only if you’re not doing an all-color book
Take four Roughing-Its, staple and fold them down the middle. Number them from 1 through 16.
Take this 16-page signature and use it to “rough in” your title page, opening spreads and student life spreads and/or any other signatures that will include color pages.
Plan the color for one flat or the other or both. Try alternating 4-color with spot color on different flats.
Plan to cover activities on your color pages that will occur at least one week before your color deadline.
Refer to your “Basics” booklet (in Your Kit) for more explanation on signatures and flats.
Make a Style Guide
Have each member of the staff make a notebook of graphic and typography samples collected from magazines and brochures. (Ask your reps for a list of good publications.)
Review the samples and choose ideas that the staff would like to include in the yearbook.
Make a style guide for each section that will include the layout style for that section, the type of headline to be used, and the style for copy and captions.
Using Roughing-Its, have staff members use photos and copy from magazines to mock-up double page spreads for each section of the yearbook.
Organize Staff
Select and Editor-in-Chief who is experienced, knowledgeable, and most of all, a coordinator of people. He/she must be able to encourage others to perform.
Choose a good writer with strong personality as copy editor and a good organizer as photo editor. Finally, you should have a financial editor or business manager who is very responsible and who can also motivate people to work.
Divide up the remainder of the staff into sections of the book: Student Life, Academics, Clubs and Organizations, Sports, Seniors, Underclass, and Faculty. Be sure that each section has a good writer and a computer expert.
If you wish, you may select editors for each section.
Sell Books
Decide whether to have a one-day sale or a one-week sale. You will sell more books in a short period of time than you will sell all year.
Prior to the sale, put up posters, make announcements over the PA, send letters home and in general, try to get the students excited about the yearbook.
Remember to include dates and prices in your advertisements.
Juat before the sale, have a yearbook rally and have guest speakers talk about the importance of their yearbooks. Be ready to take orders that day.
During the sale, assign several students to man the tables at convenient locations.
Want to boost sales? Create a commercial for your yearbook! Play it during morning video announcements, post it on the school website, or just upload it to YouTube and pass the link around. Here are some of the best yearbook commercials I’ve found online right now. Maybe they’ll inspire you!
P.S. If you DO create your own commercial, let me know, so I can post it up here, too!
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”:
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
Have the kids put all the skills they’ve learned this year into other areas: creating a magazine, website, etc…
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:
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!)
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)
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!
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…
Sponsoring a signing party is a great way to distribute yearbooks while having fun and making money! Charge admission, sell soft drinks, popcorn, pens, plastic covers and autograph supplements. Order items from the Herff Jones Collection and give them away as door prizes, or sell them to make money for the yearbook program. Use the weeks before distribution to publicize the party and promote the yearbook. It’s extra work, but the money you’ll raise and the publicity you generate will be worth it!
Party planning timeline
8 weeks to go
Reserve a space for the party (may be done at the beginning of school or months in advance); it’s best to hold the party in the gym or cafeteria.
Arrange for chaperones and security at the party.
Order pens to sell at the party.
Order autograph supplements for signing.
Order items from the Herff Jones Collection and decide how to distribute.
Order plastic covers for yearbooks.
Order 300-500 helium balloons (in school colors or the color of your book), helium tank, ribbon and balloon clips.
Order butcher paper for signs.
Order staff T-shirts for the party. Put the time and place of the party on the T-shirts and wear them one month prior to the party.
Buy white or colored poster board (about 25 sheets).
Purchase crepe paper (in the color of your book).
Buy small stickers for personalized yearbooks.
7 weeks to go
Make signs on butcher paper to advertise the party.
Make signs on 8.5″ x 11″ paper and photocopy them.
Contact your school newspaper for an article about the party.
Begin to write promotions to submit for school announcements.
6 weeks to go
Continue to make signs on butcher paper to advertise the party.
Check that items ordered for the party will be delivered on time.
Arrange for four cash boxes at the yearbook signing party:
- one at the door
- two for new book sales
- one for pens, plastic covers and autograph supplements
Arrange for a DJ or music for the party.
5 weeks to go
Make signs for the following:
- cost of admission to the party
- cost of plastic covers, pens and autograph supplements
- cost of extra yearbooks
Make signs that display alphabet groupings: A-F, G-N and O-Z. These will be posted above yearbook distribution tables at the party.
4 weeks to go
Make or finalize a list of yearbooks previously sold; divide the list by letters of the alphabet and paste on poster board for quick reference.
Put up the first set of signs in your school advertising the party.
Distribute 8.5″ x 11″ fliers throughout your school.
On Friday, put the first promotion of the party on the school announcements.
Begin wearing T-shirts advertising the party on Friday.
3 weeks to go
Continue to place signs throughout the school.
Make sure the list of books sold is complete and personalized books are given a special number.
On Friday, put your second promotion of the party on the school announcements.
Wear your T-shirts on Friday.
2 weeks to go
Continue to place signs throughout your school.
Make sure all the signs advertising the party are displayed around the school.
Every day of this week, promote the party on your school announcements.
Wear your T-shirts on Friday.
Assign students jobs for setup and cleanup.
1 week to go
Every day of this week, promote the party on your school announcements.
Check to see when the yearbooks will be brought to the party location.
Arrange for ladders, tape and scissors for the day of the party.
Day of the party
Staff members should wear their yearbook signing party T-shirts.
Three hours before the party, the staff should begin to decorate the party location with balloons and crepe paper.
Set up the yearbook distribution tables; post signs according to alphabet groupings (A-F, G-N, O-Z) above the tables.
Personalized books with name stamps, name plates or other specialized options should have stickers with numbers placed on the spine for easy reference.
Set up a separate table for the purchase of additional yearbooks.
Have plenty of plastic covers, pens and autograph supplements.
Have the sound system set up for music.
Now, open the doors and distribute your yearbooks!
What a great idea! First of all, if you’re not using the power of YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Texting, etc… to promote your book, you’re missing out on a lot of FREE publicity. Check out the video North Forsyth High School created using Adobe After Effects:
Wondering what to do with the kids after the final deadline? Have them create video commercials for next year’s book!
You know ESPN hosts both Summer and Winter games of Extreme Sports with events like skateboarding, BMX biking, street luge, snowboarding and snowmobiling. Well, what about the Yearbook X-games? Once the book is done, have an X-Game Celebration after school. Have staffers sign up ahead of time for events like these:
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