Because of poor design most brochures and flyers get thrown away! It is better not to have something that people just throw away because they are unimpressed.
If your going to produce a flyer or brochure, make it worth the effort.
Many times I have told a person to go to my website to learn more about my services, only to have them tell me that they would prefer a brochure or other information he can look at at his leisure!
You might have a website that contains all the information about your company and product that you feel you need. You might also have digital information you can send potential customers via email. But there are many times you will need printed information for a prospect.
If you do not have this information ready to hand to him, you may not get in to see him. You are unprepared and unprofessional!
Worse is to give him something you printed on your computer! Even if you buy expensive paper with a nice background design printed on it and it says it is brochure paper, you will look cheap and unprofessional if you hand it out! What ever your prospect sees in your information, whether printed or online (website, email, etc), he will relate to your business. Cheap printing, cheap business. Unprofessional website or printing, Unprofessional business.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use printed information like business cards, brochures or other items that was printed on your printer at home!
In case you didn’t notice the above paragraph, let me repeat it here:
To avoid looking unprofessional, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use printed information like business cards, brochures or other items that was printed on your printer at home!
Besides, with the price of printing, you can’t afford NOT to have your printing items done by a professional. At my print shop, I am running specials for brochures and other printing. Contact me for more information at ron@cheap-business-printing.com or call me at 801-298-2336. You can also order printing online by going to www.cheap-business-printing.com
For a small or home-based business, a business card is far more than a piece of paper with your name and contact information on it. It should be thought of as one of your most important marketing tools!
It can be:
When well designed and well printed, your card makes an impression, establishes your credibility, and lets you stand out in the memory of those you meet for future business or referrals.
On the other hand, when designed poorly or printed poorly, it is sent to a pile of other faceless business cards that ultimately get thrown away.
Have you ever looked through a pile of business cards that you have had setting around and try to remember who the person was that gave it to you? I do all the time, because the business card did not create an impression I can relate to.
Also, have you ever received a business card that is electronically produced (on a computer printer or a copier) and have the ink and images rub off or crumble? That does not create an impression of importance or quality of the person or his company.
So with the pricing as it is for professionally offset printed business cards, (My company is currently doing them for $35.99 a thousand cards printed full color BOTH sides!), why even waste time and effort copying your cards? Get some done that will impress your potential client!
A highly effective business card draws a second glance. Then the person receiving it will give you a second look as well. That person may comment on the card itself, but more likely will simply be a little more interested in finding out about your business. You have risen in his or her esteem. The effective card says, “This is a person to listen to.”
After my post yesterday on ”Graphic Identity”, several people emailed me and asked where they can find a graphic that can do a good job and is reasonably priced!
The best graphic designer I have ever found, that makes every single brochure or business card she designs “pop” and insures a great first impression is Denise Smith. For only $50.00 she will design a full color two sided busienss card! That is an unheard of price.
Even though I have my own graphics department at my printing company, I send my personal cards to her. When you combine her graphics on business cards for $50.00 and my printing in full color both sides (with or without UV coating) for $49.99, you have a remarkable business card that is still cheaper than most printers charge for printing alone!
You can reach Denise at denise@gocherrybomb.com or go to her website at www.gocherrybomb.com.
If you want your business to sell itself, you may want to redesign your graphic identity to make your letterhead, business cards, website, and other marketing materials as visually dynamic as possible.
Think of every letter you send and every business card you send out and every brochure you send as a mini-billboard for your company. How do the materials you currently use measure up? Do your mini-billboards turn any heads?
If the people you meet can’t remember your company name when they need to call you or refer you, if you don’t have any printed materials to follow up with, if the printed materials you have got are amateurish, or slipshod, if you don’t have a website or that website looks amateurish … or worse, all of your word-of-mouth efforts go down the drain!
On the other hand, if when someone needs to reach you, your company name pops quickly to mind, and if that person has your professional looking card, brochure, or other follow-up materials and they can find your website and all the above speaks well for you, your word-of-mouth efforts will be magnified and will multiply.
There is a saying that you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. This is especially true in the business world. Whether you are meeting someone in person, making a phone call, writing a letter, writing an email, your printed literature, building a website, walking into someones office, or they walk into yours, you only have a few seconds, if that, to make people want to see or hear more. In fact, on your website, if you can’t impress someone to do business with you n 14 seconds, they move on!
Therefore, it is up to you to create not only a good product or service, but to make sure that your first impression is a positive one!
Often prospective clients will ask for the names of others you have worked with. Satisfied clients can be of enormous help to you by serving as a reference for prospective clients and customers. Start building a list of references as soon as you can and have their phone numbers handy to give out as needed.
Even if you know someone won’t care if you use them as a reference, always call to request permission. Then call when someone will be calling. No one should ever be surprised to receive a reference call.
Testimonials or thank you letters offer written proof that what you say in your proposals or brochures is true.
When clients are willing to provide an endorsement, make it easy for them. Don’t expect them to take the time to compose it and mail it to you themselves. People tend to get instant writer’s block or to delay writing. Instead, ask whether they would be willing to dictate a few comments to you on the phone about what your product or service has done for them. Jot down what they say, edit it for grammar and style, and read it back to them for their approval.
Once the brochure is printed, send all the people you have quoted a copy along with a note of appreciation.
If you need a written copy of the endorsement, simply mail or email them a copy and as them to return it on their own stationary.
Global Marketing Plus was started to help small businesses compete on the same level as large corporations but for a lot less expense.
