Our Weekly Very Merry Gift Idea from Make-My-Books.com - Through The Years Photo Book

At last, we have reached the last desperate hours of gift giving. With only 5 days to finish your sprint to the big day, the Make My Books team has one more idea to help you build the perfect photo book.

Through The Years

 In the holiday season, we share memories with friends and family, rejoice in the lives we've lived and people we've become. We think of family members passed and new lives beginning. We've all experienced those moments when we wished we had all of our favorite snapshots from years gone by right at our fingertips. This year, select your favorites and compile your own Through The Years photo book. From long lost ancestors to family vacations, your memories can be shared each day in the form of a beautiful keepsake!

Remember, Make My Books is offering 15% off your photo book purchase until 1/2/13. Simply enter promo code HAPPYHOLIDAYS to receive your discount!

School Years

As our children grow, the images of their youth become hazy (as I write this post, I can think of moments when I could not tell which baby was which when looking at photos). With a keepsake photo book from Make My Books, you can see your child grow year over year!  

Growing Up - Choose images from your child's early years and compile a photo book as a reminder of the joy you felt in watching your little one grow.

Elementary Days - School pictures and elementary school events make perfect memories for a custom photo book you can share with the whole family.

Junior High Life - Share the memories of first dances, good friends, and events that may be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of every day.

High School Memories - The road to adulthood is filled with images of love, friendship and success. Share these memories for years to come with a keepsake photo book.

What are some of your favorite family memories that belong in a keepsake photo book?

School Fundraisers Can Be Healthy and Profitable

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

"Virtually all schools in America raise funds to pay for supplies and equipment and to supplement other school activities. Most schools (76%) hold between one and five fundraisers per year, and one in four schools holds between five and ten fundraisers per year, making school fundraisers a common, and often constant, part of students', staff, and parents lives."

"Many school fundraisers involve the sale of unhealthy foods. Of the schools that sell food through fundraisers, 76% sell chocolate candy, 67% sell high-fat baked goods, and 63% sell non-chocolate candy. "

Make My Books (www.make-my-books.com) is proud to offer a healthy alternative to traditional fundraising!

Read more from CSPI about healthy fundraisers that are also proftitable!

http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/sweet_deals_one-pager.pdf

 

 

 

 

Our Weekly Very Merry Gift Idea from Make-My-Books.com - Youth Sports Photo Book

Only 11 days until Christmas. If that thought makes you nervous because of the shopping still to do, we're here to help! Once again,  a Very Merry Gift Idea from Make My Books may be just what you need to finish up that Christmas shopping.

This week, we are recommending a Youth Sports Photo Book. If you spend your weeknights running your kids to and from practice and your weekends on the sideline, you are probably sitting on a treasure trove of photos. Action shots, candid moments, wins and losses...all collecting digital dust on your computer. What better way to bring those pictures back to life than with a keepsake photo book? With a keepsake Youth Sports Photo Book from Make My Books, family members around the country can share in the joy and memories of your young ones sports adventures.

One Last Gift

The last few gifts for the kids can be the hardest to buy. Once all of the toys, technology and clothes have been bought few options remain. A Youth Sports Photo Book can be a great way to share your pride in their accomplishments with the kids themselves. What child wont relish in the idea of seeing their own adventures on the pages of a book? Their youthful moments splashed on every page will provide memories to last them a lifetime! Visit our website to get started! 

Fundraising

Make My Books is proud to offer fundraising programs for Youth Sports organizations. With so many options to raise money, why not do something unique that provides value to everyone involved. If you have a young athlete, talk to you your organization about keepsake photo books as a great option to raise money! Learn more about our fundraising opportunities on our website. 

What special sports memories would your child love seeing in their very own keepsake photo book?

Our Weekly Very Merry Gift Idea from Make-My-Books.com - Special Day Photo Book

Well, another week has passed and you're still in need of ideas for the perfect gift. Look no further. A photo book from Make-My-Books.com is a perfect gift. Need more? How about an idea...last week we talked about Kids-Art Photo Book. A great way to share the creativity of your favorite little artists. This week, lets talk about that special day...whatever it may be...wedding, birth of a new baby, even holidays. Each special event has the ingredients for a perfect family keepsake...a photo book from Make-My-Books.com!

Special Day Photo Book

No matter what the occasion, days that are near and dear to our hearts almost always include photos. From professional to candid shots, a keepsake photo book allows you to share your day with family and friends...while giving the perfect, personal gift.

How to:

• Collect your favorite candid and professional shots from your day and compile them into a folder on your computer or disk/external drive.
• Find (or create your own) poems or quotes that fit the occasion and image to include in your photo book.
• Visit www.make-my-books.com and begin making your very own keepsake! 
• Create one and purchase as many as you like to give as gifts.

Getting Ready for that Special Day?

If you're preparing for an upcoming special day, plan ahead for creating the perfect gift! Ask friends and family to bring their cameras and share their candid shots with you. Including their pictures in the book as well is a special touch. If its a large event, like a wedding, consider providing your guests with disposable digital cameras which you can collect after the event! A great way to turn everyone into your photographer on that special day!

Remember...Make-My-Books.com is currently offering 15% off your photo book purchase of any size between now and January 2! Simply enter promo code HAPPYHOLIDAYS when placing your order.

What are some special events in your life that would make a great photo book gift?

Our Weekly Very Merry Gift Idea from Make-My-Books.com - Kids-Art Book!

The holidays are quickly approaching and, if you're like me, your now beginning the scramble to come up with the perfect gift. With this in mind, we've decided to provide you with a photo book idea each week between now and Christmas! We hope these ideas provide inspiration to your photo book creation!

Remember...Make-My-Books.com is currently offering 15% off your photo book purchase of any size between now and January 2! Simply enter promo code HAPPYHOLIDAYS when placing your order.

This week we will focus on Kids-Art Photo Book....

Kids-Art Photo Book

Year after year, the collection of kids art moves from school to fridge, fridge to storage; tucked away...never to be seen again. You pass one or two on to grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles for displays of their own but they too end up in hiding eventually. How can you immortalize the talent, creativity and joy of your kids art? Create a Kids-Art Photo book with Make-My-Books.com.

How to:

• Make it fun for the kids and have them select their favorite pieces of artwork or writings; have them title each of them

• Scan each item into a file onto your computer or a disk/external drive (if you don't own a scanner, many photo labs offer this as a service - or you can take photos of the art with a high resolution camera)

• Visit www.make-my-books.com, select Art Book...and begin building a beautiful gift that will last a lifetime! Our easy to use Book Builder allows you to easily add your scanned images, add text, backgrounds and more!

 What ideas do you have for creating the perfect gift from your Kids-Art?

Photo Books Make the Perfect Gift!

The following are excerpts from a great article from Susan Adcox at About.com on why photo books make great gifts! Read on then visit us at Make-My-Books.com and build your very own photo book!

I've been making photo books for my grandchildren, and I'm here to tell you: The grandkids love them. I've made them for my younger grandkids, but I can tell from the reaction of the other grandkids that the older ones would love one, too. So would their parents.

You should have your photos downloaded to your computer before you start work on your book. Don't worry about cropping them. You will be doing that as you work on your book. Some sites also include photo editing programs. If you have a photo editing program that you are comfortable with, you can tweak your photos with it before starting your book.


Making Photobooks Takes Time 

Don't get me wrong. It is possible to choose an automatic layout, send your book to a pharmacy or discount store for printing, and have your photo book in an hour or two. If, however, your intent is to create a very special, one-of-a-kind keepsake, you'll want to allow at least two weeks for the total process. Creating a custom book is sure to take half a day or more, and a meticulous designer could spend several days on the process. Printing your book will take 2-7 days. Standard shipping can take up to a week, although faster shipping is available for more money. If you are creating a book for a special occasion, I'd advise starting a month ahead of time. 

About Picture Resolution

It's best to use your original downloads rather than pulling pictures from Facebook and other sites, which may have compressed the shots. Most sites will warn you if your picture resolution is poor. Heed that warning. It may still be possible to use the picture by juggling the layout so that the picture will be sized smaller, but you can avoid the problem altogether by using a photo that hasn't been copied and compressed. Some sites offer guidance about minimum resolutions, but those numbers depend upon the size of the book and the size of the photo in the spread, so there are no hard-and-fast numbers.

Avoid These Errors

I had been working on my first book for several hours when my computer froze. I wasn't concerned, assuming that there was an autosave feature. There wasn't. So hit that save button, and hit it often.
If you are creating a large book, it may not display in actual size on your monitor. Be careful about facial close-ups, which can be overwhelming when a book is actually printed.

Don't Be Afraid of Text

Yes, it's a photo book, but some text will make it more meaningful and will make it more interesting in the future. Yes, adding text is time-consuming. You'll have to check the spelling of people and places. But if you don't add text, you're virtually ensuring that someone someday will look at your book and have questions for which there are no answers.

Double Check Everything

Even companies that guarantee their work won't guarantee it against errors that you make. So be sure that your pictures are placed the way you want them and proofread any text multiple times. Better yet, have someone else proofread it.

You're an Artist!

No one tells you how proud that you'll be after you've created a photo book. You'll feel like the world's greatest artist, author, photographer and designer, all in one! Seriously, you'll feel happy knowing that you've created a gift that will give someone else joy. And if that someone is a grandkid? There's no better feeling.



Create the perfect holiday gift and  visit us at Make-My-Books.com and build your very own photo book!

How Engaging Are Your Fundraisers?

A Google search of fundraising ideas will present more than 11 million results. With so many options, it can often be difficult to choose the right one for your organization. At Make-My-Books, we believe there are factors you should consider when selecting the ideal program for your organization.

Harness the Power of Social Media

In an increasingly social world, harnessing the power of social media has become increasingly important in fundraising efforts. According to npEngage, social media can increase fundraising by 40% compared to peers not using available online/social media tools. With 42% of the entire American population on Facebook, and 16 million Twitter users its easy to see how you can spread your cause and message further. If the program you are exploring does not offer opportunities to tap into your donors social media network, it is behind the curve.

Engage Potential Donors Effectively

According to Todd Cohen and Ret Boney of Philanthropy Journal, the economy has “brought development offices back to one of the bedrocks of successful fundraising – donor engagement.” This includes adjusting traditional strategies. Simply asking for money, or selling the usual wares, isn’t enough. Non-profit organizations must engage across generations while providing meaningful relationships and value. Raise friends, not just money. If the program you are exploring seeks only to raise money (and not friends and future donors), it is behind the curve.

Add Lasting Value to Your Donors

While the adage “it’s better to give than to receive” will always ring true, the majority of your donors want to feel appreciated. Providing them the opportunities to not only give, but to receive, creates a circumstance of mutual value…a win-win. When evaluating your next fundraising program, ask this: “Does this program provide lasting and meaningful value to my donors?” If the answer is no, look for a program that does. Keep in mind, providing them with a lasting memory of their donation will keep your cause at the forefront of their mind. Here are some questions to ask when determining if a program creates lasting value:

1.     Does the program provide opportunities for donors to engage friends and family on social media once they’ve made their donation/purchase, expanding your potential donor base?

2.     Does the program seek to create friends or simply raise money?

3.     Will donors have something lasting that will provide a constant reminder of your cause and their donation?

How you raise funds speaks volumes about your organization. Show your donors and prospective donors that you value not only your cause, but their participation as well. How well did your past programs harness social media, engage donors and add lasting value?