Everything seem upside down? Let’s make it right side up. Everything seem unfamiliar? Let’s make it familiar. Balfour yearbook representative Betty Cruz shares ideas on how to plan for the uncertainties of this school year.
As a sales representative for Balfour, I have been hosting Zoom calls with advisers and helping them make plans for a year that will be like no other. In no particular order, here are some of the tips that we are passing along to advisers to help navigate this uncertain year.
- Market early. Make this a priority. Have your online store ready. Set up eMarketing. Make sure everyone knows there will be a yearbook and how important it is to order early. Some schools are accustomed to waiting to sell a bulk of the books when the books delivery. This is a great year to break that habit.
- Make adjustments for Picture Day. It may not include all students if there are distance learners at your campus. Some portrait companies are planning a day for the distance learners to come to have their portraits made. This could be a great solution. Balfour has a new plan called EZPix that will facilitate portraits being submitted by students/parents straight to your yearbook project. Some schools are considering group photos instead of portraits. Any of these ideas or a combination of them can work. It may not be exactly how we usually do things, but the most important thing is to include as many students and teachers as possible. Remember, as journalists we document what happened and that may mean non-standard portraits from students whose “classroom” doubles as their laundry room.
- Consider a larger advertising section. We saw a surge of yearbook ads in the spring because so many ceremonies and events were canceled. Parents wanted a way to congratulate their students. Anticipate this and appeal to parents early to purchase in your ads section.
- Capture what is happening through ImageShare. Even if Mary can’t play basketball and Johnny can’t perform at a band concert, they are performing somewhere. Odds are Mary is dribbling in her driveway court and Johnny is playing his trumpet in his band room/living room. Let’s reach out to get those pics.
- Organize content chronologically. Plan to arrange your yearbook in order of when things happen rather than how they always happen. We can’t rely on the same sports section as last year or the year before. Be flexible enough to provide coverage if it happens and if it doesn’t, report on what does happen.
- Have a donation book program. We saw many schools in the spring who were sensitive to families in their community that were affected by lost jobs or cut salaries. Schools set up opportunities for others to buy extra books to be given to students who could not afford them. This was an excellent example of a community coming together. You can easily set this up by announcing to the community that books can be purchased online at balfour.com in the name of EXTRA BOOK or JONESHS STUDENT, for example.
We are documenting an unprecedented year. The key is to be flexible and report what happens. Upside down and unfamiliar should be expected. Producing a right side up, familiar yearbook filled with coverage of a school year like no other will be our success.
Betty Cruz has been a Balfour sales representative in San Antonio for 23 years. Previously, she worked as director of public relations and yearbook adviser at Ouachita Christian School in Monroe, La.
