Herff Jones Adviser Assistance
Herff Jones Adviser Assistance
 
HOW TO YBK
Mind your business.
(Your YBK business.)
 
We hope you have already registered for the Book Sales Blitz. (Make sure to register by Sept. 22.) If you’re just starting school or even if you’re not, you may be wondering why we’re focusing so much on business and sales over writing captions or taking headshots. Don’t take this the wrong way: Teaching those things is important to starting the year off right. Teach all the things! However, book and ad sales are where many advisers struggle. It’s an easy task to “put off until later,” and unless you’re a lifer in the yearbook world, it’s probably an uncommon task for you.
 
Follow our three-step plan to get your sales started, and then you can turn your focus back to teaching caption-writing.
 
1. GET READY
> Decide how to price your book.
Hint: The “regular price” is the highest and everything else is a discount. Don’t sell too many books at the lowest price, and definitely call your rep if you need help with this!
> Schedule your sales events for the entire year and decide whether you are doing tiered pricing.
Hint: Not sure where to start? Check out the worksheets under Selling Your Book in the Curriculum on LearnYBK.com. Start with Yearbook Sales History.
> Start your book sales in Yearbook Order Center.
Hint: Make sure to go through the whole process of buying a book so you are familiar with what your customers are seeing.
> Sign up for Sales Assist.
Hint: Who doesn’t love a program that sells books for you? Check it out. Your rep will walk you through enrollment.
 
2. GET SET
> Promote YearbookOrderCenter.com in as many ways possible.
Hint: A common complaint from parents is simply that they didn’t KNOW there was a sale on or how to even buy a book. So, make sure to include sales information everywhere parents will see it — on the school web site, through grade-level newsletters and on community Facebook groups. Ask your fellow teachers to send home reminders with their weekly emails.
> Appeal to the masses.
Hint: Goal No. 1 is to convince (often apathetic) students they want a yearbook, but remember, you need the parents and grandparents to actually go online and buy the book. So, make sure to appeal to both audiences.
> Inclusion sells books.
Hint: Let students know that they’ll be featured in the yearbook. Post sneak peeks around the school. Make a point to tell students their story has been placed on a spread. Sell lots of ads, too.
 
3. GO SELL
> Join the Book Sales Blitz and motivate your staff to sell.
Hint: Register by Sept. 22 for the Book Sales Blitz and start selling on Sept. 27. Use this two-week period to do a big sales sprint and see how far you can get. Check out these ideas, too.
 
QUICK LINKS
 
Just in case you missed them:
1. Sign up for a roundtable. (Editors, too!)
2. Don’t forget to submit for Portfolio.
3. Check out our blog!
 
 
Need to rewind? All of our Adviser Assistance emails are available on their own page.
 
12-piece printed curriculum set
Purchase our 12-piece printed curriculum set here.
Sales Assist
Need help selling your book? Check out Sales Assist.
 
Task Manager
Stay ahead of the work with Task Manager.
Online Ad Creation
Save time with Online Ad Creation.
Herff Jones
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