Answers to
Frequently Asked Questions
About Custom Calendars
What is a custom calendar?
What is the minimum quantity for a custom calendar production
run?
What type of modifications can be done to an existing
"stock" calendar style to make it look more unique?
What production limitations exist for producing a custom
calendar?
How can I get a better idea how my custom calendar might look
prior to actually printing it?
What is the most important thing I should consider about a
new custom calendar?
In what ways can I keep the costs low for my custom calendar?
Are there ways I can offset the production cost or lower my project
risk?
If I supply the creative services for my calendar project
will this save me money?
How early do I need to start on my custom calendar project?
What is the policy on paying for a custom calendar project?
Do I need to take immediate delivery of the entire
production run once the job is complete?
A custom calendar is any calendar
manufactured to your unique specifications. The ready-made calendars shown on
this web site are considered "in-stock" calendars as they are already produced
awaiting final imprinting and assembly instructions. Any changes in
specifications such as sizing, paper weight or assembly to a stock calendar will make it a
customized project subject to additional charges. Likewise, any calendar that
is newly designed containing customer submitted pictures, dateblock information, unique
graphical layouts, etc. is considered a custom calendar project.
The minimum quantity for a custom
calendar project depends on several factors. First, the style of calendar
determines minimum feasible production quantities. Whereas it might be
feasible to produce 100 custom deskpad calendars it is not feasible to
produce 100 custom wall calendars sporting 12 months of photos. In the case of
a 12 month photo calendar we generally suggest that the minimum project quantity be
established at 1,000 calendar units. In some cases 500 calendars can feasibly
be produced depending upon the style.
Keep in mind that when producing a
calendar, particularly a photo calendar, there are basic costs involved that exist
irrespective of the final production quantity. These costs include photo
scanning, color separations, typesetting, design, and press set-up activities.
On small calendar projects these initial costs alone can be more than the
project budget sometimes allows and this is before any ink is even laid on
paper. Once the printing process begins it's usually necessary to actually
print 1,300 to 1,500 calendars just to complete the 1,000 calendar project
order. Again, this is an additional expense as with most types of
printing there is some necessary spoilage in order to get the desired final output
quality.
On small quantity customs the majority
of the project cost is associated with these fixed production costs necessary for the
calendar to be printed. When these up-front costs are amortized over a larger
production run they incrementally become a smaller fraction of the total project cost.
Thus, we generally encourage our custom calendar buyers to seriously look for
ways to distribute more calendars to lower per unit production costs.
If you're unsure of a suitable minimum
project quantity for your next calendar, we suggest you complete our on-line project
quotation request form anyway. If the quantity doesn't
meet what we consider to be a minimum feasible quantity for such a production run you will
be advised.
- Unique Front Cover: Many calendars
contained on the web site can be produced with a totally new or modified front cover
giving the appearance as if the calendar was manufactured exclusively for the customer.
(minimum 500 units)
- Unique Back Cover: Many calendars can
also contain a back cover generally printed only in one or two colors. This is
perfect for customers who want to promote a product line or for organizations who want to
describe the purpose of their existence. (minimum 500 units)
- Date Block Overprints: Some customers
want to highlight special events and have it printed directly on the calendar date pad.
(minimum 1,000 units)
- Phantom Overprints: Another
interesting way to modify a calendar and make it more unique to the user is to print a
phantom on the date pad. Essentially a phantom is a screened (almost
shadow-like) appearance of a logo or copy shown prominently on the date pad.
The same copy or logo must appear on all months of the calendar. (minimum
1,000 units)
- Cover Letters: Cover letters are
simply bound sheets of paper that can be assembled on most calendars either on top of the
front cover, atop the January date pad, or behind the December date pad. These
letters could be anything from a personalized letter from the company president, a
membership application or product order forms, etc. They can be printed at our
factory or we accept customer supplied sheets if proper specifications are met (an
additional cost is charged for binding customer supplied sheets). (minimum 100
units)
- Coupon Sheets: Much like binding the
cover letters described above, it is also possible to add coupon sheets that are
perforated (or line dotted) to the calendar. (minimum 500 units)
- Raffle Tickets: An increasingly
popular way to use calendars as a fund-raising tool is to sell the calendar as a raffle
ticket. On certain calendar styles we can either perforate the drop ad copy
and turn this into a raffle ticket or we can actually bind a separate ticket atop the
front cover. Either way, the calendar can be sold and used like a ticket stub.
The best part is every purchaser of a ticket has something of value to show
for the money they spent (even if they don't win).
Calendars Now has the capability of
producing virtually any type of calendar a customer might desire. For
additional information on the size and capabilities of our equipment, please download the
production specifications available on the
custom page.
Once a new customer has been provided
with a quotation and they have expressed further interest in exploring the possibilities
of the project, we sometimes offer a free, no-obligation calendar mock-up to the customer.
This mock-up is a computer generated version simulating how the calendar
might appear in its finished state providing customers a better opportunity to visualize
the concept being proposed. Mock-ups are perfect tools for taking to
committees and other decisions makers with whom a calendar customer must still sell the
calendar idea.
Over the years we've seen many custom
calendars succeed and, unfortunately, many others fail. Most often the problem
does not lie with the calendar, but rather how the calendar is distributed. We
therefore ask all new custom calendar prospects this very simply question:
"How are you intending to distribute your calendar?" If we don't
hear a well thought out response which sounds reasonable we simply don't move on with the
production planning. Our feeling is like this, there are many pretty pictures
in this world that would make wonderful calendars, but if the customer is not satisfied
with the end results our mission in creating a satisfied new customer did not succeed.
Whether you are creating a custom
calendar to promote your business, your organization or perhaps even your hobby, we want
to work with you. When you purchase calendars from Calendars Now you not only
purchase the calendar, but years of distribution experience that we've acquired along the
way. We can't guarantee your project success because ultimately that is
controlled only by your circumstances and efforts. Still, the folks at
Calendars Now can be used as a resource to further aid your sales or distribution efforts.
We strongly encourage you to ask if you have questions on how you might be
able to expand your calendar distribution efforts to ensure success of the project.
There are several things you can do to
minimize the costs of producing a custom calendar. The first one is be
flexible. If the exact size of your calendar isn't of critical importance
suggest that we offer our pricing on the most economical sizing. When we are
able to make the best use of our equipment we can then pass the material savings along to
the customer.
Many customers believe that paper
quality is one of the primary requirements for a wall calendar. Indeed, paper
quality is essential to a point, but realistically once a calendar hangs on the wall it
serves the same purpose to the eye whether it is printed on 100# Cover Stock or 80# Text.
The difference in cost can be quite significant.
Consider reusing a monthly photo image
for the front cover rather than having a unique cover shot. By using a monthly
image on the cover the savings amounts to one less color separation that needs to be made.
Besides, a calendar doesn't hang showing the cover. Most calendar
projects find it quite acceptable using only 12 pictures rather than 13.
Allow us to use one of our date pads
from a stock calendar (a style shown on this web site). In so doing the design
work is reduced and there will be some savings in the project prep time and cost.
Try to keep things simple.
The fancier your calendar project becomes inevitably the more expensive the project will
ultimately cost. Use a well conceived plan to make sure that what you are
putting into your calendar is essential and will be valued by the user.
Look for unique ways to subsidize the
cost of the calendar, thus minimizing project risk. For instance, depending
upon how your calendar is to be used, create coupon pages and sell advertising space to
sponsoring businesses. With some effort and a bit of sales work, it is
possible to subsidize half or the entire production cost by using some aggressive
marketing techniques to sell the calendar even before it is printed. And
remember, a calendar with value added coupons is a calendar the end user will find even
more functional to use.
Another similar technique is to have a
different business or organization sponsor a month of the calendar by purchasing rights.
In so doing, the sponsoring entity receives a month long billboard of
advertising along with the goodwill that such sponsorship will inevitably bring.
Perhaps the simplest approach to use is
to solicit businesses or individuals to purchase a quantity of calendars up-front before
production begins. If you might want to sell your custom calendar as an
advertising specialty vehicle (allowing customers to place their own unique advertising
imprint on the calendar) tell us this at the time of quoting. For a slight
additional amount we can allow you to sell the custom calendar to businesses or
organizations with the option of including their advertising message on the calendar.
Calendars sold in this way helps a custom program build production quantity
which helps lower per unit production costs.
Generally speaking, the Calendars Now
art team likes to perform all its own work in creating your custom calendar.
We do this because we understand the requirements of our production equipment best and can
ensure a seamless process from creation to printing. We do, however, allow
customers familiar with advanced creative services to supply some or most of the work when
done under very strict tolerances.
If you're interested in supplying your
own creative services for a custom calendar project we ask that you first download a copy
of our requirements by
clicking
here (32KB). To view this file you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader
available for free by clicking
here.
It's impossible to start too early
on your custom calendar project. Currently we are working on projects that are
three years in advance of when the calendar will be used. By working on a
calendar early this allows us to maximize the use of our resources by performing
activities in our seasonal downtime. Custom calendars can take as few as four
weeks to complete to upwards of 12 weeks or more when our presses are running at their
busiest.
Calendars Now asks that all bonafide
businesses or organizations seeking credit terms first complete a credit application
available for download by
clicking here (24KB). To view this file you will need
Adobe Acrobat Reader available for free by clicking here.
Once credit is established, our terms of
sale on all custom calendar orders are as follows:
- A company check or a cashier's check for 50 percent of the
anticipated amount due must accompany the signed purchase order describing in detail the
custom calendar project. An order is not considered complete until this
down-payment is received by our business office.
- Calendars Now and Outside Connections, LLC (our parent operation)
reserves the right to accept or deny any order received for any reason whatsoever.
Down-payment checks will be cashed immediately and any company check that
does not clear the bank will automatically terminate production activities.
- All funds must be received in currency of the United States or its
equivalent value.
- Payment for the balance due is required before
any shipments of finished goods may be made from our facility. (customers desiring
Calendars Now to store finished goods for later scheduled shipment must indicate this
request on the purchase order)
Absolutely not. Delayed
shipping is one of the biggest services we offer. We encourage customers to
produce their calendar early and schedule shipping at a later time when it is more
convenient to take delivery. You may delay shipping on all or any part of your
custom calendar order at no additional charge. We simply ask that if you want
delayed shipping of your custom calendar product you specify this desire on your original
purchase order. And remember, if you delay shipping of your entire order you
are also delaying the payment of your balancing owing. Here's another reason
to print early getting the project out of the way and completing payment on it potentially
months later in the season.
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General Questions About Our Calendars?
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