2009 Calendars
As you may have seen, the 2009 Calendars are now available. I encourage you to check them out and buy one if you enjoy the site. I guess with the economy in the crapper it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that sales are far slower than last year…but hopefully things will pick up.
One reason the slow sales is bothersome is that most sales then come from people whose cars are featured, which feels fairly sleazy to me–like I’m one of those guys who takes a snap of people at a tourist attraction and then tries to sell it to them. “Hey, your car is in the calendar…oh, by the way, would you like to buy one?”
“Slow” is not a euphemism; last year I sold about 150 calendars total, so to slow from that…would make them much like the “donation” button. One person per year has clicked that–seven donations in seven years. That said, I really do appreciate those who have donated, you have my undying gratitude. (I hope jag-lovers does better than this!)
According to a friend in the know, the only real way to raise funds from something other than advertising is to either
- Have a beg-a-thon every once in awhile, or
- Or charge something in exchange for “premiums”
The calendars are about as close to a beg-a-thon as I’m comfortable getting at the moment, and I have no idea what would constitute premium content on these sites. Mostly naked women lounging on vintage Jaguars–for a price? Throwing lots of ad screens for dubious products between every page and photo which you could remove by paying a fee? The former sounds good, but I don’t really have a stock of mostly-naked women, or working vintage Jaguars, for that matter. The latter sounds…less than ideal.
Roger, any chance of a Coventry Racers Calendar?
Comment by richard brown — November 25, 2008 @ 9:28 pm
I’d love to do one, but I don’t think I have enough unique photography to put one together. I cannot use the photos I’ve been able to obtain via the courtesy of others for anything other than online stuff, and while you’ve uploaded quite a few, I don’t think there are 12 “calendar quality” images of enough different subjects. Maybe next year? I’d like to at least offer a “mixed jaguars” calendar next year, I do have a few saloon images that would be suitable, so if nothing else, maybe a few could sneak in there.
That said, if we can get enough original images of the racers from people attending revivals and the like, I’d love to publish a racers calendar. We could also mix in “standard” production racers, too, if we have the original photos.
Comment by roger — November 26, 2008 @ 1:21 am
I have a BUNCH of C, D, & SS photos I plan to upload at some point in the future, and I’m happy to let you use them in for a calendar. (as you know!) Just got to find some time… life has me going near the redline right now.
BTW, I received my calendars for 2009. MUCH nicer than the 08 ones overall (the cal parts, not the photos, which have been consistently good every year!) I already handed one out as a gift, and need to get another in the mail soon!
–chuck
Comment by chuck goolsbee — December 8, 2008 @ 11:06 am
Hello Roger,
I also look forward to a “Coventry Racers” calendar. I have several photos of C-D and E Types
taken at several european circuits/events and select/post some to ensure you get what you need !
I would be happy also that you use these for your calendar next year
Philippe
Comment by Philippe — December 13, 2008 @ 9:42 am
I would love to see a calendar comprised of vintage ads from jaguar!
Comment by amanda uribe — January 2, 2009 @ 9:52 pm