History of Pre-Orders

Remember Martha Stewart Living Magazine? 

Back when waiting rooms and mailboxes were stocked with a wide range of glossy magazines, Martha Stewart Living took the world by storm.  The expertly executed magazine introduced the idea that domesticity could be creative, cherished, enjoyed and celebrated.  Martha was a true maverick!

More importantly for us, Martha Stewart Living was committed to celebrating ‘American Made’ crafts and, in 2017, The Dolphin Studio Calendar was featured in the December issue.

With the resulting explosion in Dolphin Studio awareness, calendar sales doubled that year.  My trusty assistant Siobahn - a freshly coined college student, and I printed and printed and printed.  Each order prompted an exhilarating Cha-Ching! from my pocket to which we responded “Thank you Martha!”  We couldn’t believe our eyes!

When we finally ran out of calendar paper we officially sold out for the year.  Rather than disappointing our new audience that continued to flock to the website, we created a listing to purchase the 2019 calendar ahead of time.  

Little did we know at the time that our calendar Pre-Orders would support and nurture our quickly expanding business in many ways!  The Dolphin Studio was no longer a slow growing a seasonal side hustle.

With robust 2019 Calendar Pre-Order sales rolling in, it was clear that the time was right to hire a full time studio assistant.  For the first time ever, we started printing calendars in March that year.  The early start reduced crunch time stress and enabled a larger print run that we were able to forecast based on pre-order sales.

As years tick by we realize the similarities between our calendar pre-orders and the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model that got its start in our home county - The Berkshires.  

Dolphin Studio Calendar Pre-Orders have become an integral component of our business model.  For the last few years Pre-Orders have coincided with what has been an annual price increase.  In crunching our 2026 numbers, we are excited to see that we are able to keep our 2025 pricing in place this year.  To encourage  2027 Dolphin Studio Calendar pre-orders, we created a SWEEPSTAKES!  Anyone who pre-orders 2027 Dolphin Studio Calendars will be entered to WIN.  More on that next time…..  

For the time being, we would love your help forecasting our annual production with your 2027 Dolphin Studio Calendar pre-order today.