Michael Rinaldi

Probably the first thing people in service businesses do to promote their business is create a brochure. Brochures are really the print version of your "elevator speech" when you need to concisely and quickly list the features and benefits of whatever it is you are promoting.

Having owned a few businesses, I remember this being one of the more frustrating things to do. The reasons being are simple: I didn't really know what the heck I wanted to say, nor how to say it.

People don't do business with a dentist because of his brochure.

People do come to our seminars based on our brochures and other promotional items. It gets their attention.

So here are some tips for "winning" brochures.

W - Writing.  The writing within the brochure (also known as the "copy"--short for "copywriting") is probably the most critical. You must ensure that the copy is absolutely on-target for:

1. Your audience (i.e. target market or ideal public). You wouldn't send out 12,000 brochures on hearing aids or hearing exams to a random neighborhood--waste of money. You would, however, maybe selectively send them to gated retirement community.
2. The needs of your audience. This is called their crteria. Criteria are the reason(s) somebody buys from you. If you study this and nail it, your success rate grows.

I - Images.  It took me a while to understand this, but when I did, it made a huge difference. Since most people have a visual-learning orientation, an image can sometimes capture a lot of what you intend to convey. A person with crooked teeth on the cover of a brochure may impinge on someone who needs some orthodontic work. The brochure will "sell" that person if the person identifies with that picture, and opens it to see the "after" image with a beautiful, correct set of teeth.

While the person may not sign up right then, they will keep the brochure until they have emotionally "bought" and used logic to convince themselves it is okay to have bought.

N- No to being 'bush-league'. Hey look, your brochure is your marketing piece that you put into the public, how do you want it to represent you? Because what you put out, you draw in.

I do business with middle to upper-middle class strata individuals. My referral sources know it, and they respect it. If they send me anything less, it's a slap in the face.

Sounds kinda haughty? No, I've decided what kind of business I want and the image I convey brings me what I want. It's the best class of people for my business. The extremes don't cut it.

Also, make sure you spell-check and get all your ducks in a row. Don't let a finished product go to print without strict oversight and review.

N - No to expensive printing. There are hundreds of printing companies out there. I've used more than I can count. Because of the quantity, costs should be competitive. But quality and communication is important, and you want a company that will get on the phone and offer solutions for your problems and get them handled without nickel and diming you.

We currently use PFL for ALL of our printing because there simply is noone better that we've come into contact with. We don't care that they are completely across the country from us. They treat us well, and although they made a big mistake for us in the past, they admitted it and made up for it.

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