Ten steps to helping you upgrade your business brochure

From ArticleWorld

Brochures

A brochure can help your business attract customers, if brochure presents your information correctly. Here is some advice to help you:

1. Step one, be crystal-clear about what you want your brochure to say. The brochure has to be specific in the information it contains and not general. Besides, brochures that are specific are mostly, always, effective, and you want your brochure to be effective in bringing in more customers for you.
2. Step two, choose about three or four important points you want to make. Also, remember to only use one point for one (each) panel. In fact, try not to have any points that extend from one panel to another one. If you choose to use an alternative layout for your panel like a single panel, per column layout, leap to step ten.
3. Step three, if you want the viewer to continue the read the brochure, make sure you have designed a front panel that makes them wants to. To do this make sure your brochure has an abundance of interesting phrases that speaks to your target audience. Also, it is important that your graphics and images are top of the line.
4. Step four, the brochure needs to have colors that will be attractive to your niche audience. If you are trying to attract 60 year old business men then you don’t want to have colors that draw teenagers.
5. Step five, do not give the reader too much information. You want your brochure to simply tell about the services that you provide, numbers for the potential client to contact you, information about your website, and when to drop in on your business.
6. Step six, the font size needs to be correct. It has to be just right or you will turn your reader off, a 10-14 pt range font is good. Plus, the right size font will make it easy for the reader to scan the material for information. Also, regular paragraph breaks are advised.
7. Step seven, your brochure should have bullets, and a header. Also, try to not have to much “gray” space. What is of primary importance is to showcase your text to the best advantage by using your white space in a good way.
8. Step eight, avoid lone words left on the last line of a paragraph and/or running over into the next page. If this does happens, when rewriting the copy get rid of these “derelict” words.
9. Step nine, do not have right-margin hyphens, they should also be avoided.
10. Step ten, for an alternative layout try making two or panels be a single page. The alternative layout without a center margin will help in two ways: it will help to disrupt the monotony of a tri-fold and will give you the ability to use larger, stronger imagery (graphics), keeping your copy intact. An example, is if you were to open the front flap, the second flap reveals a two-panel sized area, a perfect place for a double-width layout.

Do’s

These do’s are for the usual tri-fold letter sized page. Do have, in the front, a header that grabs the readers attention. The header should entice the reader that to continue viewing the brochure. Do reserve the contact information for the back on the middle area. This is the backside of your brochure, the four remaining panels is where your message will be. Do make your copy interesting and compelling to the reader.

Do have your copy that tells your story, the way you do business and have a tone that invites further reading.

Stop

If you want your brochure to look professional have it done by a professional. You might be tempted to do it on your home computer printer, fight the impulse it will be worth it.