The Yearbook Blog

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).

Great job, Ms. Jun!

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:

• 725 books @ $31.02/book = $22,489.50      sell price @ $35.00/book =  $25,375.00   $2,885.50 Profit
• 750 books @ $30.53/book = $22,897.50      sell price @ $35.00/book =  $26,250.00   $3,352.50 Profit
• 775 books @ $30.08/book = $23,312.00      sell price @ $35.00/book =  $27,125.00   $3,813.00 Profit

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…

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.

During my last year as a yearbook adviser (before I became a Professional YERD), I was told about a new California law that required all ASB funds collected within one school year to be spent within the same school year. As a result, my school Activities Director asked me to “zero out” my account at the end of the year. Knowing that I would not be returning in the Fall, my thoughts were “Whoopie! Full-color endsheets, spring supplement, yearbook camp, new cameras, new laptop… What else can I spend that money on???”

Of course, had I been staying, I would have been distraught. I worked very hard at keeping my account in the black. I always made sure that I had enough money to not only pay my final invoice, but to be able to start the new school year with a healthy amount of cash. Not only was this useful for purchasing beginning of the year supplies, but I always had enough money to pay my first deposit to the yearbook printer regardless of how pre-sales were going.

Now that I AM “the yearbook printer,” advisers are telling me that their schools are saying the same thing to them. They must “zero out” their accounts by the end of the school year. What are they to do?

The first thing you want to do is download the “California ASB Accounting Manual” from the FCMAT website. (Here’s a link: http://www.fcmat.org/stories/storyReader$911) Page 50 of the manual specifically deals with allowable carryover amounts in ASB accounts.

In short, do you have to zero out your accounts? No.

The Ed Code was designed to protect parents and students from giving money to a school for a certain cause, only to have the school not use the money for the purposes intended. If you have a reasonable carryover amount and a specific reason for needing that carryover, you can be exempt from this policy by having your District or School draft their own ASB Policy/Manual. Please see the manual for more specific instructions and guidelines.

Here are some ideas beyond the typical bake sales and car washes:

• Organize a signing party for distribution day. If you’re passing out yearbooks on Monday, reserve the gym for the Friday before and charge $3.00 to pick up your book early. Have a table set up to buy pens, snacks, and find a friend who wants to be a DJ there
• Sell the empty space at the bottom of pages. Parents can write a “dedication” to their student or friends can go in together and include their own names at the bottom. Sell them for $10 each and run the text along the bottom or sides of pages.
• Ask your school if you can run the concession stand at sporting events
• Sell business ads in addition to baby/tribute ads

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “F” 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…

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!

Yearbook Commercial - Concord High School - Watch more Funny Videos

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…

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!

Need a last-minute boost in sales? Try some of these proven tips any time of the year:

1. Auto-dail message home to parents
2. Blast email to parents
3. Start a mass chain text message that the books are on sale
4. Make a rubber stamp that says, “Buy your Yearbook” and stamp hands the day before a big sale day
5. Make a commercial to post on YouTube
6. Post messages on MySpace or Facebook
7. Pass out flyers to parents picking up their kids from school
8. Use sidewalk chalk to leave messages about books on sale (make sure to check with admin)
9. Use the Index builder to post a list of who’s on which pages so students are excited to buy their book
10. Write “Ask me” on a balloon. Tie it to your backpack and when people ask, hand out a flyer about the yearbook.
11. Make a poster of a yearbook spread to hang on campus (see www.sircooper.com for posters as low as $10 each)
12. Have a raffle for everyone who has purchased a yearbook by an advertised date

If you use any of these methods, we’d love to hear your results. 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!

If the economy is having an impact on your yearbook program and you haven’t sold as many books or ads as you expected, here are some easy ways to cut your yearbook costs for next year:

1. Reduce the number of pages in your book - Of course, this is always easier said than done. Once you start looking through your book, you can’t imagine being without any of those pages, especially since what you really need are more pages, not less. Consider cutting pages from the teachers’ section or reducing the sizes of team and club photos, even combining them on a spread by sport or season. Put the team photos in a row across the bottom of the page and fill the rest with great candids of the big games. Better yet, put all team and club photos in a “Resource” section in the back of the book. Remember, if the economy bounces back, you can always order a supplement to get those pages back.
2. Downsize the book - Do you really need a 9×12? If you’re already at an 8 1/2 x 11, did you know books come in size 7 3/4 x 10 1/2? It’s a very small difference in size, but a huge difference in savings. Most people don’t even notice it’s smaller.
3. Go back to black and white - If you recently switched to an all-color book, consider going back to black and white. In my experience, the administration and advisers get more excited about books being in all color than the students buying the book. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a student say, “I’m not sure I want to buy a yearbook. How much of it is in color?” If you’re afraid students will be expecting a color book again, work it into your theme. Maybe your theme next year is “Black and White” or “Back to Basics”!
4. Use a company cover - This definitely will not work at just any school, but you can save a lot by using a company cover. It wouldn’t hurt to ask your rep to see the samples. And if you can get away with it at your school, this is the year to do it.
5. Switch from a litho to a silkscreen cover - It’s more elegant anyway. Again, work it into your theme. Not sure what the difference is? If your cover was printed, it’s a litho. If it was painted onto a base material, it’s silkscreen.
6. Reduce the number of colors on your cover - You’d be surprised at what can be done with different shades of just one color!
7. Meet all your deadlines - This is something you can do without the need to change your book. If you had to pay any fees in the past for missed deadlines, make sure you work extra hard to make them all next year.
8. Submit in signatures - Some publishers reward schools who submit in complete signatures. Check with your rep.
9. Turn in your cover early - Again, some publishers reward schools who submit their cover designs early as well. That’s why many reps host Spring Cover Design workshops, so the covers are done before school even starts! Check with your rep for more details.