Working on next year’s book before this year’s book is done sounds like somebody’s idea of a joke. No joke. Doing this keeps the staff productive to the end of the year and gives them a jumpstart on next year’s book.
Our staff begins to work on the yearbook in March. Starting early allows us to be organized, solve problems, and meet deadlines. That means we work on the 2014 and 2015 books at the same time, but it also gives us a head start on the next year.
In March we finalize our theme, design our pages, and begin routing our business ad sales. This strategy has worked for our adviser, Mrs. Roseann Gish, at schools with very different demographics: a school with a total population of 200 students located 15 miles from a small city; a high socioeconomic status (SES) school in the middle of a city; a school with a diverse SES.
This ad sale strategy can work for you! Here are the facts:
March
• It takes dedication. We work on our sales year-round.
• We have 30 editors, with a total staff of 84. (Don’t think we’re crazy.) We need the numbers to market the book, and everyone has a job, big and small.
• We assign about 10-15 seniors to every editor.
• We put together route books for ad sales. Which include:
• Route lists (Businesses to target)
• Sold List (Use this to write down what we sell.)
• No List (Every group must have at least 25 no responses so we know they tried. While they are getting no’s, they pick up some yes’s, too.)
• Call-Back Sheet (These are extremely important because we can usually sell about half of these ads.)
• Route Goals (Make a goal for each route based on the area where they are selling.)
April
• Design layouts for senior ads.
• Finish route books. Make sure to have plenty of pens and envelopes.
• Send out bills for senior ads (2014 books). We do not ask for senior ad money until May 1st.
• Gish started at SHHS in 1990, the editors had sold $1400 by asking for money at enrollment.
• In 2000, they switched to asking for the money in May and made $4000
• Last year (2014) we sold $15,633.
• Presently (2015) we are at $20,246.
• The Drawback- Sometimes the kids never give us the money, so you can’t count on all of it. (We usually can’t get about $500.) One way we try to close that gap is withholding the particular student’s yearbook until they pay for the ad.
May
• Assign someone who is organized and good with numbers, to billing.
• Assign a “talker” to collections.
• Send out bills again.
• Start calling anyone who has not paid by May 1st. Students who owe us ad money need to pay by graduation or we will withhold their books.
July
• Mail out information packets and examples of previous ads to incoming seniors (2015 seniors).
• July 15th our editors call all of their 11 seniors. They must record a response, yes, no, or maybe. (We estimate the “maybes” as ¼ page for budget purposes.)
August
• Registration- Organize all of the information collected by the editors.
• First week of school- assign ad routes: pick drivers, go over goals, strategize on how to sell an ad.
• In 2014, we sold $11,152 in our two-day sales drive.
• Presently, (2015) we have sold $12,362.
• SELL, SELL, SELL- We take a full day of school to go around town and sell.
• Set Call-back Goals- As soon as the groups return, make a goal from call-backs and assign businesses to contact
September
• Assign a staff member to record ad income.
• Confirm sizes for “maybes.”
October
• Collect logos and place business ads on pages.
• Bill 1st time for business ads.
November
• Submit most business ad pages. (This is when you must start being aggressive about businesses supplying copy and art.)
• Bill businesses again.
December
• Confirm sizes for senior ads. (This is when people start to change sizes. Keep an accurate spreadsheet.)
• Send letters telling parents to send in pictures. (Tell them the money is not due until May 1st in bold.)
January
• Senior ad money starts to come in. Keep accurate records.
• Place senior ads on the pages. (Get more aggressive about receiving senior ad photos and copy.)
• We use the SnagIt program to show parents the status of their ad. (The program usually makes the process much faster, but sometimes it makes parents more ‘”needy.”)
• At this point, the adviser may have to call difficult-to-reach parents and give them a hard deadline to meet or the ad will be cancelled.
February
• Go after the extremely hard-to-get ads. (Stay strong. Keep calling and sending letters.)
• Senior ads come in pieces. (Be prepared to receive both digital and hard copies. Email seems to work best for us.)
• Four to five ads may drop around this time.
March
• Send senior ad bills 1st time by Spring Break.
• Around 10 businesses are unpaid at this point. (Assign a persistent person to continue to call these.)
April
• Start new book!
May
• Continue to contact seniors who have not paid.
We may sound all business, but the community loves the 448 page book. A key part of the whole process is that is must be visual. If students can see how far along other people are, they are more likely to motivate themselves to finish. The process is long, but rewarding. So you better get started!
Excerpt from Elements magazine “How’d You Do That?: Begin Work Early.”
Shawnee Heights High School’s yearbook can be purchased here.