Fruit For Life

Have you ever thought that a pamphlet can be one of the most potent of all your selling materials?

It is a simple piece of paper but the initial impact that your brochure makes is fundamental. If it’s shabby and unpresentable your prospect is left with the same opinion. This will weaken your business growth.

Having a pamphlet professionally designed and published is a key to success in a crowded market. Taking the time to make sure that your pamphlet delivers all the key information in a way that is easily figured is something that only a professional can do.

If you are just getting started in business you may be tempted to do your brochure yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself – not a smart choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even relatively successful. Heed my warning – go professional from day one on your merchandising materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally created materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow – the reason why you are in business.

A booklet has to use eye-catching design. It has to be brief in terms of the content and last but not the least, it must be successful in enticing people to make that call of action.

Here are three key design principles to follow when producing a pamphlet. Use them and you will see your results flow.

1. The cover:

The cover is your salesperson. Leaflets are quite passive creatures and you are not often able to ‘walk’ individuals through your brochure. So you need to energize people to read further. The cover is the starting point so must be tantalising and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question – What’s in it for me.

A good design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your pamphlet. Dissect these designs to examine which excites you the most. Ask your friends their opinion. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t energize and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay bounties later.

2. The Content:

Once they are past the cover then the message has to become the sales rep. So once again, the pressure is on to be good. Do not opt for cheap incompetent content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then hire one yourself.

Ensure that all the key questions that a potential client will have about your product are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into ‘overkill mode’ and flood them with too much information at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to excite and get people to call you.

3. The call for action:

If your likely client has read the brochure then you have done a good job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW.

Having things like a free call 0800 or’00 number distinctly presented (in big letters) can make a large difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are clearly placed in large clear type.

Even give your clients a special coupon on the brochure or reference code can help. But above all, make sure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. People only purchase something that is of value to THEM.

4. The part that got missed:

I did this on purpose and only said there were 3 points. Well the last point is the one that can get neglected. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your pamphlet:

Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors?

Discover how creative catalog designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified graphic design professionals.