Being the salesperson that is in charge of selling your school’s yearbook is a big responsibility, and often is a job that no one really fights for. Selling yearbooks doesn’t need to be this way. With a little bit of pre-planning, selling your yearbook can and should be a breeze. That is because your yearbook can sell itself! Here’s how:
● Instead of selling your yearbook, market it. By creating awareness that the book is coming out both traditionally and online can help get people excited and inspired to make sure they purchase one. You can do this a variety of different ways. For example, perhaps tease your audience by showing a little snippet of what the book will look like and how unique it’s going to be. Maybe do this via a YouTube video that can be emailed to all the students, faculty, staff and community.
● Show how great a value your book is. One way to do this is via a discount. By providing an early-bird discount and how much you can save by purchasing now will resonate with potential buyers. Give an example. For instance if you buy before the end of the month, you can save $25. That $25 can be used for a new pair of jeans or help pay for your cap and gown.
● Show the customization incentive. Provide your audience with examples of how the yearbook can be customized to include pages with your best friends. Students will be counting the days until they can grab the book and go right to the page that they helped design.
The more personal you can make the yearbook, the more people will want to purchase it. Don’t be that used car sales guy. Explain the options and the benefits and you will be surprised how quickly the book will be flying off the shelves and into happy recipient hands!
Putting together a school yearbook doesn’t just take one person; it takes a team! That is because there are a lot of moving parts involved. From the design to the photography, to the marketing and fundraising there are definitely a lot of hands on deck.
We know an unorganized staff can lead to a slew of potential problems and headaches. So what should you do to keep your staff organized?
The first thing you need to do is assign roles. Just like in any group or company everyone has a specific task or responsibility. By having a description of each role can surely keep everyone in line on what is and isn’t expected of him or her. Editors should be assigned one role; photographers and writers should be assigned their roles and so on.
It is very important though that each one of these roles be put in writing and even signed by the person who is responsible for them. This way there is no finger pointing and everyone is held accountable.
If you are the yearbook advisor or the overall head of the entire project, it is important to keep your staff happy and motivated. This will help in the outcome of the overall school yearbook. A simple thank you or job well done can go along way with a staff member and will show them you care in their work. In addition, you will want to create an atmosphere that is fun and welcoming. This will motivate the team to share ideas and resources. If you reached a particular goal try to create some sort of celebration so everyone is recognized for his or her accomplishments.
Besides the motivational organization, a yearbook involves tactical organization. The Pictavo design software is a great tool that can be very useful throughout the entire yearbook process, keeping everyone organized and on the same page.
Learn more about the collaboration tools and features of Pictavo >>
An organized yearbook staff is sure to turn out a great finished yearbook. Simply put together, a great strategy ahead of time and your execution should become flawless.
A yearbook is something a student will hold on and keep forever. It is a keepsake that in thirty years will still be great to look at and enjoy with friends and family.
Besides the spelling and photos of the yearbook, the actual design of the book is crucial. That is because the yearbook not only needs to carry on the great memories of that graduating class but also generate excitement every single time it is looked at.
With that being said, here are a few design ideas on how to make your class’s yearbook great:
- Current Events. One great design idea is to incorporate the yearbook into what’s going on with current events in the world. For example, The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team just won the World Cup. If you are looking to showcase events that occurred during the class’s graduating year, that may be a great one to include.
- Utilize Trends. In 2015, why not incorporate the biggest TV shows and movies. Was it Jurassic World and Minions that were the big movies everyone was talking about? Was everyone chatting about Orange Is The New Black and Game of Thrones in the school hallway? Why not try to match the colors and fonts similar to the look of these shows and movies.
Are all the students currently hooked on Snapchat and Instagram? Why not have some of the photos include a special filter that will remind them of what things they are currently using, watching and participating in. These types of things will bring back a slew of memories and laughs in future years to come.
- Look for Uniqueness. What makes this graduating class stand out? What makes them different from other school years? What characteristics best describe student life today? By holding a few focus groups with the graduating class will help answer these questions and create a vision and basis for the yearbook’s design.
Designing your class’s yearbook should be fun, meaningful and creative. The theme shouldn’t though be overstated and should simply be supported through the details within it including the text and photos.
If you still need assistance and are hitting a “road-block” you can always get fresh, creative ideas and resources through YearbookLife’s Pictavo software program. It provides a slew of templates that will most certainly get your creative juices flowing!
Happy designing!
Organizing all your school’s yearbook photos and files can sometimes be a long and grueling task. Between the retouching and renaming of files, the stress level for these members of the yearbook team can most definitely hit new highs.
In today’s digital age though, it doesn’t need to be as bad as you’d think. A little structure and the help of yearbook software programs like Pictavo, which can be used online, can make this organization process a breeze.
Instead of using Microsoft Excel and Word, which could have fifty versions of the most up-to-date document, try utilizing the Pictavo Software, which is available when you work with YearbookLife. This software doesn’t live on one computer hard drive but rather online in the “cloud”. This means multiple users can easily collaborate from anywhere there is internet access.
Aside from the numerous templates and collaboration capabilities Pictavo provides its users with a great way to keep your files and data organized. Within the software admins are able to grant permissions and access rights so those who aren’t suppose to be in certain areas, aren’t.
With Pictavo’s community image upload feature, members of the school community, beyond the yearbook staff can contribute to the school’s book. These people are able to upload and share images they’ve captured on their own, which can make for additional great additions to the book. Best of all, all of this can be done with the Pictavo mobile app!
No more will you hear “Am I using the latest version” and “did I just overwrite an existing file?” Everything can be in one common place with the latest data always updated in real time.
Give Pictavo Software and YearbookLife a try. It can be a real lifesaver!
While photos and graphics are extremely important elements within a class yearbook, typography is also up there. That is because your typeface compliments the overall tone of your yearbook.
Most typefaces or fonts are part of a larger font family meaning there are various versions of the font available as well as versions of it in bold and italic.
Once determined, your typography should be applied consistently throughout each section of the book and should not be adjusted or changed just to make the copy fit. Instead, your copy editing team should become involved in adjusting the copy.
Unlike with an invitation or other professional looking piece, a yearbook should utilize fonts that are simple. There also shouldn’t be too many utilized.
It is recommended to use one serif font throughout the entire copy of the book. This type of font involves small “feet” extensions at the base of the letters. In contrast, san-serif fonts do not have feet. Two popular serif choices that should be considered are Times and Garamond. They are easy to read and are very “clean” in nature.
There are also script fonts that look similar to script handwriting as well as decorative bubbly specialty fonts. It is highly recommended to use these fonts sparingly as you don’t want your yearbook to look like a cartoon, comic book.
Help Tip: Fonts are measured in points, from the top of the letter to the bottom. To visualize one inch is equal to 72 points.
When choosing the right font for your books always consider size and readability. You may want to utilize the three-font concept that involves a serif font as a headline, san-serif as a subhead and a specialty font as an accent font. Remember though, no matter what you choose though, body and caption fonts should always be from the same family.
Yearbook software such as Pictavo can help you in choosing the right fonts for your yearbook. Don’t get frustrated though, just do some testing and then determine which style your graduating class will enjoy the most!
