Activity

USS Biz Trek Activity #15: Design a Brochure

What’s all this talk about brochures? It’s certainly not just another fancy French word, that’s for sure. Brochures are all about advertising your biz. That’s right! Something as simple as putting together a brochure will attract more customers and put more cash in your accounts!

Brochure, S’il Vous Plait

This French word meaning ‘small color pamphlet’ is simply a folded piece of paper containing awesome selling info about your goods or services. Typically, the paper is a regular 8 ½-by-11 sheet folded three times and decorated with just the right lingo and photos to get prospective customers’ attention.

Things to Consider

So you think a brochure is something you’d like to try, huh? Start out by making a small list of what your biz offers (benefits). Why is your product the best? What will a potential customer gain by using your product? These benefits are the things that will sell what you have to offer.

Next, figure out what your purpose is for making and sending a brochure. Do you want it to build your image, sell your services, or both? How will you distribute them? Will you mail them, go door-to-door, or hand one out to everyone you meet? Open your log, jot down the answers to these questions, and you’ll have your brochure-publishing plan.

Focus on the Features

To write an effective brochure, you need to include some basic information. Follow these steps and you’ll be ready to launch!

Introduce your biz. What are your goods or services all about? Use your list of benefits to persuade them to keep reading.
Highlight your specialties. Gather some data for graphs or charts, and use photos! These will help you bring the unique aspects of your business more to their attention.
Get detailed. Include things like color, size, options, prices, and any discounts in a more detailed summary of your business.
Make contact! People need to know how to reach you, so make sure you include your address, phone number, e-mail, fax, and how to order products. As a bonus to clinch those new customers, include a few ego-boosting comments from some of your current customers. If your have one satisfied customer who talks, then you’ll have more doin’ the walk — right to your biz!

More tips for writing your brochure:

Use a strong selling message or logo
Use photos and data to identify your biz
Make sure you give all and complete facts
Organize everything in a logical and easy to read way
Proofread it before you send it

Finished?

Rocket back to Lesson 5

Rocket forward to Activity 16