Idea File Fall 2023

36 | Feature: Yearbook Haul

10. Marketin g Materials The more books you sell, the more cool stuff you’ll be able to buy for your classroom! Marketing materials run the gamut of prices, so you have a lot of choice. ;ERX QEVOIXMRK ƽ]IVW ]SY GER TVMRX SR ]SYV S[R# If you order through Walsworth’s Customized Marketing form at walsworthyearbooks.com/customizedmarketing , we’ll send you the PDF for free! There are lots of ways to do some marketing on a budget. You could market your book with something as simple as sidewalk chalk. You could also get more fancy with something like the hand fans Kathy Beers’ yearbook staff hands out to parents at football games. The fans include the annual football schedule and a reminder to purchase the Timber Creek yearbook. They’re a hit during the hot early season in Texas. Justin Turner, from Sheridan High School in Arkansas, recommended Walsworth’s “Buy Your Yearbook Here” signs. “It was so nice not having to make a new poster every time we got the sales table out.” Those yard signs cost $16 for two signs at walsworthyearbooks.com/advisersmarket . You can even place them near the school pick-up line so parents are reminded to buy a yearbook while they’re waiting for their student. eting dget. e as staff ude ase ot as, re” ster

11. Studio E q ui p ment +MZI ]SYV KVSYT ERH TSVXVEMX TLSXSW E QSVI TSPMWLIH PSSO with a standard background. You could even go all-out and get a backdrop with your school colors and branding. Investing in lighting equipment will take photography to the next level. Choose the price point you can afford. Ring lights are fairly affordable and can make a huge difference.

Photo by Ashley Flores

W hat you should buy depends on what you already have. Jim McCrossen, the yearbook adviser at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas, keeps enough camera bodies for each of his photographers to have their own assigned to them for the year. He chooses mid-range camera bodies, then the best lenses the school can afford. ƈ- ƼRH MX FIXXIV XS LEZI JI[IV PIRWIW XLEX EVI FIXXIV XLER QSVI PIRWIW XLEX EVIRƅX EW KSSH Ɖ 1G'VSWWIR WEMH His “workhorse” lenses are 70-200mm f/2.8, and they’re the lenses his staffers want. McCrossen recommends getting as many as you can afford of these. All of his kids get a 35-70mm lens, and they share the limited amount of 70-200mm lenses as needed. He also bought a few 300mm f/2.8 lenses, which he said his students don’t like as much because they’re heavy, “but they’re beautiful lenses.” Extra camera bags come in handy as well so your staff can protect their camera and keep equipment, like SD cards, all together. For more photography recommendations, watch the Fabulous Photography webinar available online at walsworthyearbooks.com/webinars .

PHOTOGRAPHERS Equip Your