Yearbooks: Yearbook Sales Tips
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions by school leaders about yearbook sales.
When do I start selling the yearbook?
Begin the yearbook sales during the “Back to School” PTO/PTA meeting. Several sales campaigns should be conducted throughout the year. The last spring campaign should have the price of the book raised to try and incent parents to order early.
How do I sell the yearbook to the school?
First, check with your yearbook company to find out what your budget would be if you could provide a yearbook for every student. With that budget outlined, discuss how you can afford a book for every student in the school.
Try to include the yearbook as part of the initial year fees. Remember, the yearbook is the only documentation the school will have to document the year’s events.
As part of the sale, you could give parents an option to “donate a book” to a less fortunate student who may not be able to purchase the book.
If each parent purchases the book for the students, your struggle resides in just getting the yearbook form home and noticed in the sea of material going home. Listed below are some suggestions for getting the message out:
* Send an e-mail to anyone on the school or PTA/PTO e-mail chain.
* Send a flyer one week prior to the sales letting parents know the date and cost. Offering a fall sale at a lower price and increasing the price closer to the delivery date also gets results.
* Sticker each child with a note that the yearbooks are on sale.
* Send the yearbook flyer home with each child.
* Advertise your yearbooks in the newsletter that usually goes home quarterly.
* Ask your yearbook company to print some preview pages for you. Display the preview pages at the sales table.
* Have your sales table at evening or school functions where you expect parents to be present. If you have a book fair, be sure to sell a “Yearbook Reserved” card – much like the presales on famous fiction books.
How do I sell personalizations or add-ons?
Add-ons, such as personalization or dust jackets, can be easily sold if it is included in the order form. Ask your yearbook company to preprint the sales envelope to include the items that parents love to add to the book to make it special. Most companies will provide a spreadsheet to compile all the orders with the add-ons.
How do I help fund the yearbook?
First, with regard to pricing ads, a good rule of thumb is to price a page of ads equal to the price of two pages of the book. For example, here is an easy calculation: 250 books and 48 pages is $16.50 per book, or $4126.50. Divide that total by the number of pages (48), and the cost per page is $85.95.
* Cost per page (rounded up) is $100.00
* Cost per ad page (equal to the price of two pages) $200
* Full page ad: $200
* 1/2 page ad: $100
* 1/4 page ad: $50
* 1/8 page ad: $25
How do I sell ads?
The easiest way to promote the ads is with your yearbook sales envelope.
You can also post the ad availability on your school’s Web site. Research has indicated that parents search a school’s Web site for more information than ever before.
Promote ad sales at evening functions where parents are present. If you have some samples of ad pages made up, your parents are more likely to buy. Contact your yearbook company and ask them to print some for you if you have draft pages created.
What are some fundraising ideas from your customers?
Have a different theme every Friday that students pay to participate in. For example, if it is Crazy Hat Day, students pay $1 for the privilege of wearing a crazy hat. Proceeds go to the yearbook budget to lower the overall cost per book so that each student can get a book.
Participate in recycling efforts with toner and cell phone recycle companies. It is an effort that keeps us “green” and cash rewards come from the recycling effort.
Have a contest to select art for the cover of your yearbook. What student wouldn’t want their art as the cover? The art is more reflective and personal to the school rather than a standard design cover.
How many yearbooks do I order?
Find out how many yearbooks were sold the previous year and begin with that number. If there is a record, find one of the most popular yearbooks and see how many copies were purchased that year.
An average rule of thumb is between 50 to 75% of your student enrollment. However, since the yearbook is the only physical memory of the entire school year, having one for every student is an important goal to work toward.
This article is courtesy of School Annual Publishing Company, www.schoolannual.com.
