Advice on selling more calendars?

ChuckWC

Hi everyone,

This is my first year selling calendars on Lulu. I actually got my inspiration to do that from reading several threads about the subject here at DGrin.

You can check out my six calendars at: www.lulu.com/chuckcald

(If anyone cares to offer any creative comments/critiques on my calendars, please do so, although my post has more to do with the business side )

Here's my question: what are some tips for improving calendar sales? So far, I've made few sales and those have mainly come from family and friends. Believe me, I've read a lot of the marketing threads here at DGrin on how to market my stuff (e.g., put links in forum signatures, write a blog, etc. etc.) But I believe calendars are unique products with unique marketing requirements.

One thing I've noticed is that people are much more likely to buy a calendar if they see it in person and then pay you cash on the spot. They're less likely to buy if they have to order a calendar online (I have to admit, in my entire life, I never thought of buying a calendar online!)

So, how do I get the word out? How do I showcase my calendars? One of my fears is buying a whole bunch of my calendars at a huge up-front cost and then not selling them, leaving me with a big financial loss.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

VanishingAmerica

How is the printing at Lulu?
I tried them for a book four years ago and the quality was horrible. The pages looked like Kinko's photocopies (but not as good).
I'm in the process of building a calendar at Lulu, but am having problems with their calendar creator software not being able to access the photos on my Smugmug account (though this is one of the options they offer). Lulu has been a nightmare for me, but I desperately want to sell calendars online.
Have you had good results?

Oh, and try Facebook ads to market your calendars. The ads are super cheap and can be tailored to reach friends of friends, so even people who don't know you will see that your FB friends like your calendars. And that often prompts people to buy.

Sam

ChuckWC wrote: »

Hi everyone,

This is my first year selling calendars on Lulu. I actually got my inspiration to do that from reading several threads about the subject here at DGrin.

You can check out my six calendars at: www.lulu.com/chuckcald

(If anyone cares to offer any creative comments/critiques on my calendars, please do so, although my post has more to do with the business side )

Here's my question: what are some tips for improving calendar sales? So far, I've made few sales and those have mainly come from family and friends. Believe me, I've read a lot of the marketing threads here at DGrin on how to market my stuff (e.g., put links in forum signatures, write a blog, etc. etc.) But I believe calendars are unique products with unique marketing requirements.

One thing I've noticed is that people are much more likely to buy a calendar if they see it in person and then pay you cash on the spot. They're less likely to buy if they have to order a calendar online (I have to admit, in my entire life, I never thought of buying a calendar online!)

So, how do I get the word out? How do I showcase my calendars? One of my fears is buying a whole bunch of my calendars at a huge up-front cost and then not selling them, leaving me with a big financial loss.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Chuck,

Your link says you haven't published anything.

Sam

ChuckWC

Sam wrote: »

Chuck,

Your link says you haven't published anything.

Sam

This thread is over 6 years old, not sure why it was replied to, as anything I wrote 6 years ago is probably irrelevant now!

I wasn't happy with Lulu's quality so I no longer use them for calendars. In fact, I got out of the whole calendar business some 5 years ago. (And I no longer use Lulu; I have no idea if their quality has improved in the last 5 years.)

Nowadays, I just create 1 calendar, always of the same theme (Amalfi Coast), which I sell on Zazzle.com. I don't publicize it, and yet, I usually sell a few every year. It's the ONLY calendar I've had any success selling, and funnily enough, I never market it in any way!

You can find it here, if you're curious:

http://www.zazzle.com/chuckcald

(I do like Zazzle's print quality, but their prices are higher than Lulu's... well, I'm assuming so, as again, I haven't looked at Lulu in a long time. )