I shook my head in disgust as I read this story about the cancellation of another college yearbook. This “nobody wants it so we stopped working to finish it” attitude really ticks me off. While many college yearbooks are ceasing publication, The Constellation at Oklahoma City University is experiencing a renaissance. In fact, last week we distributed every book we had for the third consecutive year. The key – marketing. Yes, we “pimp” our book to the student body and they eat it up. I would love to share our success and provide tips for anyone interested. Let me know!
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teachj says
Please tell me how you market your book. I’m a HS adviser, but may be able to modify your “pimpin.’
lilchicken says
That makes my soul cry a little.
I think a lot of it is that the regular student population doesn’t know that there is a yearbook at some schools.
I didn’t know there was one at another college I looked at and OCU having a yearbook that I could work on was a big factor of me going here.
But I am a nerd, so that could have just been me…
skins96 says
Do you think it makes a difference when the size of the school is considered? At schools like OSU or OU, where there’s 25,000 students, a yearbook is probably way lower on the interest scale that a school that has, say, 1,000 students.
thekrg says
I don’t think it makes a difference. It’s true that you’re probably not going to sell 25,000 yearbooks, but it only takes a couple of thousand to pay for the book. It’s also an amazing publishing opportunity for the students who work on it. I think it’s well worth the investment.
skins96 says
Well, what I’m saying is people at a big honkin’ university don’t have the emotional attachment to a yearbook the same as students at a smaller university.
I mean, if you go to a university with 25,000, you’re going to know just a tiny, tiny fraction of the people in there, etc.
I don’t know. I’m totally talking out my ass here. But it’s what comes to mind.
dkzody says
congratulations on your successful sales…I too would love to know how you do it. I teach at a very large, inner city high school that has declining sales for the past 5 years. I push the yearbook all year long to students. The faculty is really good to buy books and give them to kids, but I know there are at least 700 kids in a school of 2800 who can afford the book.