In planning any calendar printing undertaking, the most obvious truth to concentrate to is that every calendar is a time-sensitive product with a built-in distribution deadline. For the standard 2014 calendar, in case your calendar is just not ultimately user’s fingers earlier than January 1, 2014, they might already have discovered another. For a non-standard calendar that deadline could also be sooner (eg., a school-year calendar needs to be in the user’s palms near the beginning of college if it will be useful to them). Working backwards from this absolute deadline can provide you a good timeline for the whole venture.
How are you getting your calendars into the tip user’s palms? Are you giving them away? If so, then it ought to be comparatively straight-forward to determine the distribution logistics and decide by what date you have to to have calendars in hand. Or possibly you are mailing them out to your prospects or members; in that case you just have to make sure you permit enough time for inserting into envelopes, including a canopy letter, addressing and mailing. Or take into account having the printer or an area mailhouse handle mailing the calendars – it’s going to most likely be cheaper and simpler for you. Simply ensure you discover out from the printer or mailhouse how a lot further time they may want and factor it in.
If, then again, you intend to print a calendar and promote it, either as a nonprofit fundraiser or as a profit-making venture, then distribution is a bit more complicated. How much time you need for sales depends on your sales strategy. Are you selling at an area pageant or other occasion? If so, then that gives you a deadline, however remember that you’ll be better off if you can sell at a number of occasions, in case attendance or sales at one occasion will not be what you expect. Or possibly you’re having volunteers promote calendars to family and friends or door-to-door. If so, it’s best to permit a minimum of two weeks, and preferably up to four weeks, since volunteers all have their very own completely different schedules, and a few will need reminders and encouragement.
When you print a calendar that you just plan to promote, you should remember to develop and implement a strong marketing plan. Advertising and marketing doesn’t have to add to the general length of the calendar mission – you may and may start advertising and marketing through the planning and manufacturing levels of the undertaking. Nevertheless, if you happen to wait to start advertising till you will have the calendars in hand, then you have to to allow at the very least a couple of extra weeks, maybe more, in your marketing message to reach the intended viewers and encourage them to buy.
The production phase of a calendar printing undertaking begins when you hand off all the photos, text, logos, advertising, and many others. to the printer, and the printer turns it into calendar art work for you to approve and then puts it on the press and delivers to you the completed product. Be sure to talk to your printer early on to fins out how lengthy this takes. In our case at Yearbox, it is normally about three weeks (sometimes sooner when you’ve got a particular deadline). In the event you anticipate last-minute changes or additions, or if you will be proofing by committee, then it is best to in all probability allow a bit extra time – maybe a month in complete – for production.
