The Benefits Of A Business Brochure
If you run a small business, you know that one of your biggest needs is going to be getting the word out on your products and services to interested parties. One of the most effective ways to do this is with a brochure. There are some simple ways to make an effective brochure and some very simple rules of thumb to follow.
First, color sells. If you don't believe us, think about the supermarket ads in the newspaper. Which ones leap immediately to mind? Why the ones printed in color. The same principal applies to your company's brochure. Your company's brochure should be selling the sizzle, and inducing the reader to contact you for the rest of the information. So, don't cover everything that you do - but do present enough information that a reader will want to know more by hitting up your web site or by contacting you with a problem that you can solve for them. Good graphics layout principles apply, and can be discerned, again, by looking at a supermarket circular in the news paper. Notice that the name of the store is in the upper left, along with the address, store hours and phone number? There's a reason for that - the upper left corner is the most valuable brochure space you've got - it's the place where people's eyes are naturally pulled to in looking at the flyer. Good copy writing also matters. Always, always, always present what your company does from the perspective of how it helps your customers. Start with a problem the customer may be having. Show how other solutions don't work, then show how your company's services or products solve the problem, and finally, close with a call to action. This is the same basic format used for writing a radio or TV commercial, and you can see it presented 6 times every 15 minutes by watching your favorite TV program; drug commercials are a particularly good example of this kind of copywriting structure for sales. When making the presentation, make sure your graphics work with your text - don't just use free art, use art that reinforces your message. Use images that will build a funny or dramatic association with your business in the reader's mind; those are the ones that remain the most memorable, time and time again. A particularly good example of a combined advertisement is the Rosarem ads for a prescription sleep aid. They're the ones with the sleepy looking guy in pajamas talking to Abraham Lincoln, a badger, and the tooth fairy, all of his dreams who miss him because he isn't getting enough sleep. This combines memorable images (Abraham Lincoln, a talking animal) with a memorable image (your dreams miss you.) with a call to action (Come take our drug and get a full night's sleep…) This structure is one that can be adapted to any business, and only takes a little bit of product knowledge to do. |