HS senior mailing list company?

[Outlaw]

Who do you guys use to get your high school senior mailing lists? Or heck, any mailing lists for your area at all? I serve a pretty rural area, and I can't seem to find any mailing lists that even apply in this area.

Thanks for the help!

[picasso]

Have you contacted the schools directly? Some will give a list out for $1.00. I have been told several things but what I gather is if they share w/one vendor they have to share with all of them.

The other source would be someone like American Student List http://www.studentlist.com/

I think they are a tad pricey though. I would try option 1 first.

Paul

[Michael Lyons]

hm, I am going to try to use the years my dad was on school board for some pull and try to get the lists

[bondarnes]

Some of our schools give us their list, some of our schools sell us their list, and some of our schools just give us a hard time. We also buy a list from American Student list and merge it with our other lists. If a school sells the list by law in Texas they can only charge what it costs them to produce the list. Our local district sells the list on a CD from three large high schools for $8.00. That's actually cheaper than a free printout that you have to scan into your computer.

[Outlaw]

Thanks for the great ideas, all; KISS, eh? Never even thought about going directly to the districts. I figured it would be considered private records and not available.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by Outlaw

Thanks for the great ideas, all; KISS, eh? Never even thought about going directly to the districts. I figured it would be considered private records and not available.

If they give the list to the contract photographer then it is no longer private. I have one small school (about 50 seniors) that doesn't give or sell the list to anyone, but the counselor will mail my senior mail pieces if I give them to her with postage attached.

Most schools have an opt out provision and those students won't be on the lists they provide.

We used to buy the drivers license records from DMV, but found that a lot of kids were either a year ahead or a year behind according to their birthdate. And many don't get a license until the summer after their junior year.

[Outlaw]

Great advice, Don. So when and where can I purchase your book on running a successful photography business? I think you have one of the most solid backgrounds and practices of any photographer I have met on the net.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by Outlaw

So when and where can I purchase your book on running a successful photography business? I think you have one of the most solid backgrounds and practices of any photographer I have met on the net.

Thanks for the compliment. Sorry, but I have been too busy running my own studios to find time to write a book. But I'm always happy to share all the business mistakes I have made in the last 35 years. A lot of what I know I learned from those before me so I'm just paying my dues.

[Outlaw]

And thank you for that; nobody could fail to benefit from your knowledge.

[AwShucks]

Let's say I were able to procure a list from a High School --- What's the schedule for mailings? I seem to remember (vaguely!) having my Senior photos taken the summer before my Senior year. When is the opportune time to start marketing for Senior portraits? ~Bronwyn

[R & J Photography]

We ran into one of those "student list" companies at Imaging USA and they wanted quite a lot of $ for the lists... we were driving near the new high school in Manvel and I said to Kathi, let's go inside and introduce ourselves and see if we can get a list... Thinking the worse that they could do was tell us NO, we did it.. and guess what they EMAILED us an Excel file of all the 2008 juniors/seniors FREE of Charge... I thought this was too good to be true. We went to Pearland and tried the same thing... They sent it to us ALSO!!!

So all in all we spent 2 hours or so and a few dollars in gas and came home with over 2500 leads... A little leg work can go a LONNNNNGGGG way!!!
I always say! "Give it a try and ask them, the worse that they can do is say NO... They aren't gonna eat you! :) "

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by AwShucks

Let's say I were able to procure a list from a High School --- What's the schedule for mailings? I seem to remember (vaguely!) having my Senior photos taken the summer before my Senior year. When is the opportune time to start marketing for Senior portraits? ~Bronwyn

We start with a postcard listing our first three offers at the end of May. June's offer is a 75% off session fee if they call by June 30. Our regular session is $79.00 so that makes it $19.00. In July the session is 50% off and they get 8 free wallets with an order. August the session is 25% off and they can order 24 wallets for $24.00 with an order. The next mailing is in September, then one in November to get them in after Christmas. Then in January we have a last chance letter. So far I have done 62 sessions for the class of 2008 and I have a full calendar until mid July.

[Outlaw]

Don, since you give such good discounts on the sessions upfront, what is your target goal in print sales after the shoot? And please refresh my memory, do you provide images online/on CD or do you only do in-person viewings?

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by Outlaw

Don, since you give such good discounts on the sessions upfront, what is your target goal in print sales after the shoot? And please refresh my memory, do you provide images online/on CD or do you only do in-person viewings?

Before we began this program our senior session fee was $39.00 so we doubled it to $79.00. So 50% off is our target price. Our senior average for the class of 2006 was $466.01 on 202 sessions. Our goal was 300 sessions at a $600.00 average. Our lowest average promotion was an invitational session and it brought us 109 sessions at $353.00 with no session fee and our highest was $813.00 on 9 sessions including a half price session.

All of our viewing sessions are projected images in person using ProSelect software.

[CobyPhoto]

Don,

Thanks for the candor! You are one of the first ones I have ever had to give actual "realistic" numbers and averages. I would image that your advertising expense was in the 4-5K range at least, right?

Coby