The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - MARCH 1, 2020
FEELING THE LOVE OF PROMOTION: Get Great Promo Ideas from Jostens and Scott
Hello! Looks like spring again this week. Down in the southern part of PA it could exceed 60 degrees this week, wow.
Good luck to those high school basketball teams competing in their state tournament brackets. And a bunch of regional wrestlers are headed to Hershey for the state championships, bring home a medal.
But UH OH, here comes the start of Daylight Savings Time this Saturday night the 7th. Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour later Saturday night, losing an hour of sleep that night. Personally I wish we'd return to years ago when DST didn't start until April. Next week we'll be back in the dark when kids and staff (and ME!) are heading to school each morning. Hey Congress, we're not saving any extra energy by starting DST early and ending it in November. Go back to the time schedule of mid April to mid October or even less time than that. I've read about a swell of sentiment to end DST entirely - not sure I agree with that but it can and should definitely be shortened.
Checked out the February Yearbooking Report episodes yet? The feature interview is on great ideas from our Jostens CAMs, and there isn't a staff out there that couldn't use more of THAT right now. We share some great ideas and advice - check out the widgets in the lower right column here for both the monthly video and podcast episodes.
Boost your yearbook promotional efforts now with these proven ideas...
Promotion is a key to any great yearbook effort - and yet it's been my experience that most yearbook staffs either do a poor job of promotion or some hardly even try. They don't let their audience know about the many facets of their operation and yearbook product, or they expect their yearbooks to essentially sell themselves. Think about any other product - cars, computers and gadgets, clothes, anything. If those retailers expected their items to sell themselves they wouldn't stay in business for very long.
Now here in March, every yearbook staff has books to sell. That, and in trying to get your audience more interested in your book and your memory keeping, means that PROMOTION should be a key element of every yearbook effort.
But where can you get some ideas that you can use right now to boost your sales and also your visibility?
First, check out my personal series of online videos on promotion - click on the link in the left column of the home page for my complete list of videos. My titles including Yearbook Promotion 101, The Psychology of Yearbook Sales, and LOW Tech Promotion. In these videos I share many ideas on how you can let others know about all of the great things you and your staff are doing - and why they NEED to get a copy of your book.
For Jostens advisers, absolutely check out your Yearbook Avenue website and head to the Digital Classroom for even more great promotional ideas. Check out the video series there, use the search function for "promotion" to see what other items are available, and see what's included in the YBA Sell menu under Plan and Promote. LOTS of ideas there.
And for my advisers, you'll be getting an email from me soon filled with great promotional ideas that are effective, thorough and FUN. Spring book advisers, the goal is to sell all of your remaining books before distribution day in May or June. Fall book advisers, you still have nearly three months in your regular sales campaign so let's make the most of it as we work down the stretch.
Even as spring yearbooks finish up their page creation work right now, and fall yearbook staffs start to ramp up their page submission work, don't overlook PROMOTION. Don't wait, get active, and show your audience all the great aspects of your book this year and why they NEED to get one.