Jim Jordan's 40 Things To Do After The Yearbook Is Done

GET READY - THE BABY’S COMING 11. DEVELOPING YOUR DISTRIBUTION PLAN This is one of the essentials of your spring activities. You must come up with a detailed plan of how you want to get the books to your student body. If you sell 500, that will be much easier than if you sell 2,500. There are many different approaches you can take, and you and your administration need to discuss and agree upon what logistics best fit the needs of the staff and the school. Here are a few questions you will need to consider: • When will your book arrive from the publisher? Give yourself a couple of days between when the books arrive and when you distribute them. You will have time to look them over and do any preparations before you pass them out. • When will you pass them out? Will you pass them out during school time, after school or at a distribution event you plan? • Where will you pass them out? What location is best to maximize the speed and efficiency of the distribution? For years, we held an event where students returned to school at 5 p.m. to get their book, enjoy free food and take the time to sign books. Over time, fewer and fewer students were returning to the event to get the book; so recently, we partnered with the student government to host a distribution event right after school. The main purpose of distribution is to get as many books into the hands of as many students as quickly as possible. To increase the number of books that are distributed, some schools are handing the books directly to students in the last class period of the day. This takes much more planning and managing the logistics, but it will ensure the highest number of books quickly get distributed. Over the years, we found that many students are unaware that they have a book (their parent bought it for them at registration but forgot to tell them, or they just forget to pick it up); some years, we had close to 10% of the sold books remaining unclaimed. For more information on planning the distribution of your book, check out our ebook, Distribution Day: The Big Reveal. 12. SELL MORE BOOKS Have a group of students plan a major sales push before you increase the price to what books will cost at and after distribution. Whether or not you sell the books at school or through your online Walsworth school store, put together a promotional plan to boost your sales at this time of year. As the end of the school year approaches, make the student body more aware that the books are coming and the only way to ensure they get one at the best price is to buy it now.

Photo by Will Paustian

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