July 16, 2012 / Marketing Stuff / News / Walsworth Live

Help with yearbook sales top advisers’ concerns at Academy

Written by Elizabeth Braden, CJE

How to sell more yearbooks was a main concern of yearbook advisers who met with Steve Blair, Walsworth’s executive vice president of yearbook sales, during roundtable discussions held at the company’s Adviser Academy.

Blair held four roundtables with advisers during the Academy to ask about their concerns and needs for their yearbook programs.

Most of the six advisers attending the roundtable at noon on Friday said they struggled with yearbook sales, and Stacey Roberts of Camp Verde High School in Camp Verde, Ariz., said her staff surveyed students about why they didn’t buy the yearbook. Roberts said lack of money was not the problem, it was getting students interested.

The group also expressed the need for better equipment, wanting information on writing grants and wanting a list of the best equipment, such as cameras and copiers, for yearbook programs when it was time to replace items or if extra money came to their programs. The advisers were directed to an older story on Walsworth’s website about grant writing.

Kim Praser, adviser at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing, Ill., praised The Yearbook Suite, Walsworth’s curriculum guide, and the group discussed its contents for newer advisers and how to get a set. Praser said she wrote her own quizzes, and offered to email them to the group.

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Elizabeth Braden, CJE

Elizabeth Braden, CJE, is the former editor of Idea File magazine. Before retiring, she was a copywriter for Walsworth Yearbooks for more than 15 years, writing articles for various marketing materials, and proofreading copy for the Yearbook and Commercial divisions. Her career included reporting and editing for United Press International and editing for Knight-Ridder Financial News. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Media News from the University of Tulsa.