Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Leaflets and Brochure
Leaflets and Brochure
Leaflets and Brochure
Make an impact and be memorable; stand out and be different. Use compelling
language and words that make people think. Be as outrageous as possible,
bearing in mind your target audience. Humor, used appropriately, is also a great
way to communicate. It relaxes people and makes them feel more comfortable
about the message you are presenting.
Step 4; Review your work
Present your work to your friends. Show them the leaflet for 5 seconds and then
ask them questions about its content. If they fail to remember the important
points, the leaflet is not clear enough. Listen to your friends, write down any
new ideas they may have. Listen to yourself, discussing your work with others
will stimulate new ideas of your own. When the final draft is ready, always give
your work to someone else to proof read.
Step 5; Producing your Leaflet
Most people print their own leaflets using a black and white printer, because this
is cheaper than color. When you print out your leaflets, pay attention to the
following;
1) Use brightly colored paper to get attention.
2) Images and text may not be very clear in Black and white, so ensure high
contrast between text, images and the background.
3)Ensure you use a readable font size (size 11 or 12).
Brochures:
General guidelines
When preparing your text, keep it short and sweet. The reader should be able to grasp the
main points by simply glancing through the piece. If you bury your messages in dense
text, the reader may simply decide that it will be too much work to read your brochure
and just throw it away.
When you open the piece fully, you have three full panels to write a complete description
of your company and what it does. Here are some ideas to get you going.
Start with a one- to two-sentence description of what your company does. Try to word it
in a way that makes the reader feel that he or she would be "smart" for choosing you.
Provide a list of your products and services. Keep each item short and save the lengthy
descriptions for your web site or for sell sheets.
Write a paragraph or two for each of your competitive advantages. This is more
important than providing long boring descriptions of each of your products or services.
Customers want to know why they should choose you over your competitors. For
example, you may sell the same kind of widgets as your competitor, but your widgets are
of a higher quality or can be quickly customized to the customers needs.
Tell the reader how you typically work with your clients. Customers like to know up
front what the process is that you will take with them.
Refer the reader to your web site for detailed information. If you do not have a web site,
invite the reader to call you directly to discuss his or her needs or to request detailed "sell
sheets".
To create a brochure, take the following steps:
1. BEFORE putting pen to paper, answer these questions. Who will be my target
audience? Consider developing a brochure for each business segment.
What format will work best? A self-mailer (mailed without an envelope) works
well as long as it grabs the attention of the reader.
How will we use the brochure? Some possibilities include direct mail, trade
shows, invoice stuffer, a sales tool, leave-behind and inquiry fulfillment.
2. CAREFULLY consider these dos and don'ts of brochure design and production:
o Do make an outline of the contents before you begin.
o
Do interview employees and customers about the benefits they feel are
important.
Don't write your own copy. Write down your thoughts, but then turn your
notes over to a professional copywriter.
Don't insist that the brochure include everything about your company. A
busy customer will be more likely to read short, snappy copy rather than
lengthy, detailed explanations.
3. ANTICIPATE costs. Prices for the professional development, design and printing
of your brochure can vary dramatically depending on the project. Variables
affecting cost include whether or not a marketing professional writes the text; the
availability of high-quality photographs to illustrate the brochure; the cost of
professional design and production; the type of paper chosen; and the number of
brochures printed. Obviously, the more brochures printed, the lower the unit cost.
All of these factors affect the final cost. However, cost isn't the most important
consideration. Your message and your image are worth far more than the small cost of
each brochure. After all, your prospects will judge you, in large part, by the quality of
your brochure.
What you can expect from a brochure is a consistent, professional message that will
support the efforts of your sales staff. With an enticing offer, you can expect to increase
your mailing list of hot prospects, thereby growing your business over time. And growing
your business is the real value of any company brochure.
x-tra points
First of all, determine the purpose of your brochure.
Are you trying to get new customers, or do you want to explain the breadth of your
services to current customers? Do you have a new service or product youre trying to
promote? Or are you trying to direct prospects to your Web site? To be successful, your
brochure should be tightly focused on a particular objective.
Whether you decide to design your brochure yourself or hand off your project to a
graphic designer, you need to know:
Second, decide how much you want to spend. If youre completely lost as to where to
start when budgeting, call a few printers to get quotes. The printer will need to know how
many copies you want, if the brochure will be printed on both sides, how many colors of
ink (black counts as a color!), the size and type of paper and whether you want the
brochure folded.
If you cant afford to have your brochure printed, call a copy house for prices. You can
design a good first brochure to be photocopied, then move on to printing in two or more
colors as your budget expands.
Third, write your brochure copy. When you decided the purpose of your brochure, you
might have set out your objectives in bullet points. Use those points as a framework for
your copy, elaborating as necessary.
Write as if you were speaking to a person. Cover the information needed to support your
purpose, but dont put your reader to sleep. Use direct, easily understood words. When
you feel you have clearly expressed your message, put it aside. After its not so fresh in
your mind, reread your copy and fine-tune it.
Have your copy edited for grammar and punctuation or for length, if it turns out wordy. A
good editor can make your copy shorter, faster, and easier to read without losing any
meaning. At the very least, have someone preferably someone with excellent grammar
skills read your copy to ensure it makes sense and has the intended effect.
Fourth, lay out the brochure.The brochure design should fit your message and budget.
Since you already know if you will print or photocopy your brochure, design your
brochure accordingly.
If youre going to photocopy, stick with solid blacks as much as possible, for grays often
turn out muddy. If using photos, test on a copy machine similar to the one your brochure
will be copied on. And choose a good quality paper to make your brochure look more
professional.
For either printing or photocopying, pick artwork suitable for your chosen audience; what
will catch your targets attention? Consider your audience when selecting fonts, also.
Your fonts and your artwork should support the image you want to project.
Double-check everything: spelling, punctuation, placement of artwork, lining up of
columns, and anything else you can think of. Dont forget pertinent information such as
business name, address, and telephone. Include your Web site and e-mail address, if any.
Finally, arrange the printing. If youre having your brochure photocopied, just take in
the final version of your brochure. If youre having your brochure printed, discuss your
project with the printer. Your printer will be able tell you what is needed for your
particular project.