Old Media vs. New

Here's a conversation I overheard between a man and his teenage son who were sitting next to me at a youth baseball game the other day. The boy was totally involved in text messaging on his cell phone and only rarely looked up to follow the game:

Dad: "You have been texting for almost an hour. What's going on?"

Boy: "I am talking with Wendy." (I've changed the name here, but for no particular reason.)

Dad: "Really? For the last hour?"

Boy: "Uh huh."

Dad: "Hmmm, well wouldn't it be great if you could just talk into your phone and have it send the message  for you? Maybe it could even arrive in your own voice?"

Boy: "Hey, that is a really sick idea." ("Sick" here apparently means "rad" in an older teen lexicon.)

Dad: (After a few seconds in which he stared intently at the boy) "Yeah, well maybe someday someone will invent something like that."

Obviously, phones already have that "sick" capability. I may not have the entire conversation exactly right, but that was the gist of it. The Dad clearly knew what he was saying and was waiting for his son to catch on. Maybe he eventually did, but the game ended and they left before I had a chance to find out.

This episode got me to thinking about the nature of technology. Text messaging allowed the boy to talk to his girlfriend with a degree of privacy even while sitting on bleachers within earshot of a couple of dozen strangers. This is a good thing. But it also appears to have engaged him to such an extent that it numbed his brain to the obvious advantages of the older technology. He could choose to simply talk to her! Text messaging is not necessarily the best tool of communication all the time.

As a society, we have become so enamored with electronic media, that we have forgotten some of the more obvious advantages of print. Email, text messaging, websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and every other electronic media you can think of, all have tremendous value. But their value does not negate or replace the value of print. Think about it, if you are one of those accomplished graduates who will be earning their degree or diploma this spring, would you want the certificate emailed to you?

Creating the Right Brochure

There are few better selling tools than an attractive brochure placed into the hands of your customer or potential customer. Creating such a brochure does not have to be a difficult task. Here are a few steps to follow.  

Decide on Your Purpose
Brochures fall into two broad categories — those that introduce a new product or service to a likely customer and those that turn an already interested customer into a buyer. To be successful, a brochure should have a precise objective and a target reader in mind. It's best to create the least elaborate brochure likely to achieve its objectives. The content of your brochure will depend on the specific service or product you want to promote. Product photos, testimonials, benefits, your unique selling proposition, and contact information are all components to consider.

Use Color
Today’s market place demands color. Full color is especially important if the product or service you are offering needs color to show its features. Most product brochures, for example, won’t work effectively in anything other than full color. Can you imagine any food, cosmetics, florists, or auto brochures being done in black and white? Even service businesses can benefit from a color presentation. Financial or legal services may get by with black and white or single color, but dental services, veterinarians, home improvement, hair stylists, or similar services will usually opt for color. Take a look at the mailers you receive or the ad inserts in the newspaper - color is now the norm.

Get Good Design
Of course, a lot more goes into an effective brochure than just color. Type fonts and sizes, white space, choice of images, and layout, along with the essential message, all combine to determine if your brochure will have the intended result. A professional designer who thoroughly understands your marketing message is the optimum way to go. If you do not use professional design, be sure to collaborate closely with your printer to insure that your final product will print as you intend.

Tie into Your Website
We live in a digital world. Your brochure, like your business card, should contain information that will direct your customer to your web site. You might even consider using a QR Code that will allow a customer or prospect to access your web site immediately with his smart phone.

 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid
 1. Not emphasizing the unique selling proposition of your business.
 2. Being concerned with the looks, but forgetting the sales objective.
 3. Omitting essential contact information.
 4. Omitting product information critical to the reader’s decision-making.
 5. Including details that become outdated too quickly.
 6. Giving insufficient thought to how the brochure will be distributed.
 7. Using text that is lost in the background color or too small to read easily.
 8. Including low resolution or poor-quality images.
 9. Allowing a busy or complex design to distract from the key selling message.
10.Not proofreading very carefully before submitting your file for printing