Quote of the week:

• "If you don’t feel strongly about that which you’re doing, you shouldn’t be doing it" – Earl Stafford, Founder & CEO of UNITECH.

Recommended book of the week:

• Forbes Great Success Stories
• Alan Farnham
• Published by John Wiley & Sons

Website link of the week

• www.firststep.com.au Gihan Perera provides a weekly update on fascinating, interesting and resourceful internet sites.

This week’s customer service "Touchstone".

Brochures.

As with business cards, the key to a successful brochure is having first determined what the exact purpose of the brochure is. Time is well spent on deciding for whom the brochure is intended and what it is designed to have them do. It is worth repeating that advertisements that win the creativity awards generally fail miserably in achieving the outcomes for which the advertisement was intended.

Knowing who your audience is will determine the complexity of the language used. Daily newspapers, whose audience is the general public, know that to capture the widest readership the language comprehension level must be aimed at twelve-year-olds. I know this is an indictment on our education system, however it is the reality the newspapers must content with. If your brochure is intended for public distribution, the same level of language is recommended. If, on the other hand, your brochure is targeted to a specific group of highly educated professionals, your brochure needs to reflect that.

Economy of words is also vital. As Mark Twain once said, "sorry about the long letter, but I didn’t have time to write a short one’. It is far better to say something in five words rather than twenty. Reducing it to five is what takes the time.

Having brochures available in different languages is obviously important if you have, or desire to have, international exposure.

Another important aspect that is so often over looked, is the psychology of colours. It is important to research which colour or combination of colours is most appropriate for inclusion in your brochure. Several good texts are available to assist you in this area.

Depending on the product or service you are promoting in your brochure, it is worth remembering that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. Travel brochure are usually rich with colourful photos of golden beaches, overhanging palm trees, tranquil waters, exhilarating ski slopes, exotic rainforests, mysterious ruins, etc.etc. New car brochures are fairly devoid of words allowing the glossy photos to convey the pleasure of ownership. Another reason for using photos is that they can communicate a message in a few seconds that would otherwise take the reader several minutes, or even longer, to receive if they were required to read screeds of copy. A map of your location is also a good idea if you want customers to come to your place of business.

For professional services, displaying photos of key personnel begins the important rapport and trust building process with prospective customers. One or two line testimonials from past clients are also very powerful tools to include in your brochures. Most people are not ‘early adopters’, so creating assurance that others have previously benefited from using your product or service before can be of great value.

Consideration needs to be given to the ideal size of your brochure. This is often determined by how distribution is intended. If the brochure is for a trade show, where brochures will be handed out, A4 or similar is probably desirable. If however you intend to mail out thousands by post or place the brochure in a counter top stand, a folded DL size may be more appropriate.

Finally, functional aspects need to include full contact details including phone, fax and mobile numbers and postal, location, email, and website addresses. Also be sure to leave space for your distributors stamp if you have agents or representatives marketing your products or services.

Many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

Next week: Brochure Racks.

Previous newsletters available at www.grahamharvey.com.au/Articles/

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