Purchasing resources for Create Brochures

A simple brochure can be a powerful marketing tool. You can leave it behind after a sales meeting, make it available near your point of sale or pop it in the mail to prospective customers. Creating a great brochure isn't rocket science. In fact, with just a few simple techniques, you can develop a brochure that entices customers to open it and read more rather than tossing it in the circular file. A great brochure can:

1. Educate customers about the benefits of your products and services
2. Establish credibility and trust as an established business
3. Provide a long-lasting reminder of your business

Decide on a concept

Determine how you'll use your brochure - will it be a leave behind after sales meetings, a point of sale offering or a direct mail marketing piece? The information you include will depend on its overall purpose.

Sell benefits not products

Customers don't buy products or services, they buy the benefits of a product or service. In your brochure, concentrate on offering solutions to your customers' needs. Think about placing a statement or question that sums up the benefits you can provide for your customers on your front cover.

Use headlines, bullet points, charts and images

Nobody wants to wade through massive blocks of text. Break up your text with strong images, bold headlines and other graphic elements that grab the reader's attention. Studies show that readers look at images and headlines first, body copy last. Because of this, try to get your most important information and selling points across in the images and headlines.

Include a call to action

Your brochure should always ask customers to take action - order now, schedule an appointment, call to place an order, visit your Web site, see your new showroom, send in a form to receive a free evaluation, stop by your location to pick up a complimentary sample.

Create an eye-catching design

Whether you decide to design a simple brochure yourself or you hire a designer for a more complex design, you need to know the basics of brochure design. Get creative with your design to make your brochure more memorable. For instance, if you have a pizza delivery shop, create a brochure in the shape of a pizza.

Hire a professional designer

If creating design seems too confusing or too time consuming, consider hiring a professional designer. Professional designers are often aware of options you may not even consider, including printing techniques such as spot varnishes, die cuts and bleeds.

Print it

Once you've come up with astellar design and easy-to-read copy, it's time to print your brochures. If you only need a small run of brochures, you may be able to print them yourself on a high-quality color laser or inkjet printer. In most cases, you'll need to outsource the printing.

• Avoid listing prices, event dates or staff information that could change. This could result in having incorrect information in the public eye and be costly to reprint every time a change is required.
• Add an order coupon or a postcard to request more information on the back panel without compromising text on the opposite panel.
• Make a checklist of what needs to be included in the brochure and who needs to approve it before it goes to print. Have everyone initial the checklist after they've looked at proofs to ensure that all appropriate copy is included and there are no errors.