In planning any calendar printing venture, the obvious truth to concentrate to is that each calendar is a time-sensitive product with a built-in distribution deadline. For a standard 2014 calendar, if your calendar is just not ultimately user’s hands earlier than January 1, 2014, they may already have found another. For a non-standard calendar that deadline could also be sooner (eg., a school-year calendar must be within the consumer’s palms close to the beginning of college if it will be useful to them). Working backwards from this absolute deadline can provide you a good timeline for your complete mission.
How are you getting your calendars into the top consumer’s palms? Are you giving them away? If that’s the case, then it ought to be comparatively straight-forward to determine the distribution logistics and determine by what date you will need to have calendars in hand. Or maybe you might be mailing them out to your prospects or members; in that case you simply must ensure you allow enough time for inserting into envelopes, including a cover letter, addressing and mailing. Or consider having the printer or a local mailhouse handle mailing the calendars – it’ll probably be cheaper and simpler for you. Simply make sure you discover out from the printer or mailhouse how much additional time they will need and issue it in.
If, then again, you propose to print a calendar and sell it, either as a nonprofit fundraiser or as a profit-making venture, then distribution is a little more sophisticated. How much time you want for gross sales is determined by your gross sales technique. Are you promoting at a local pageant or other occasion? If so, then that offers you a deadline, however keep in mind that you may be better off in the event you can promote at a number of occasions, in case attendance or sales at one event are usually not what you count on. Or possibly you’re having volunteers sell calendars to friends and family or door-to-door. In that case, it is best to allow no less than two weeks, and ideally up to 4 weeks, since volunteers all have their own completely different schedules, and some will want reminders and encouragement.
If you happen to print a calendar that you just plan to sell, it is best to remember to develop and implement a solid advertising plan. Advertising and marketing doesn’t have to add to the overall duration of the calendar undertaking – you can and will begin marketing during the planning and production phases of the venture. Nevertheless, if you happen to wait to begin advertising till you may have the calendars in hand, then you have to to permit not less than a number of extra weeks, maybe more, on your advertising and marketing message to achieve the supposed audience and inspire them to purchase.
The production phase of a calendar printing mission begins whenever you hand off all the pictures, text, logos, promoting, and so forth. to the printer, and the printer turns it into calendar artwork so that you can approve and then puts it on the press and delivers to you the completed product. Ensure you discuss to your printer early on to fins out how lengthy this takes. In our case at Yearbox, it is usually about three weeks (typically sooner when you’ve got a particular deadline). If you happen to anticipate last-minute adjustments or additions, or if you will be proofing by committee, then you should in all probability permit a bit extra time – maybe a month in whole – for production.
