Have you ever thought that a leaflet can be one of the most powerful of all your selling materials?

It is a simple piece of paper but the initial impact that your brochure creates is profound. If it\’s shabby and uninviting your candidate is left with the same opinion. This will weaken your business development.

Having a brochure professionally designed and published is a key to winning in a jam-packed market. Taking the time to make sure that your booklet delivers all the key data in a way that is easily understood is something that only a professional can do.

If you are just starting out in business you may be tempted to do your booklet yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself – not a good choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even relatively prosperous. Heed my warning – go professional from day one on your merchandising materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally designed materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow – the reason why you are in business.

A leaflet has to use eye-catching design. It has to be succinct in terms of the message and last but not the least, it must be successful in tempting people to make that call of action.

Here are three key design rules to follow when producing a booklet. Use them and you will see your results flow.

1. The cover:

The cover is your sales rep. Leaflets are quite inactive tools and you are not often able to \’walk\’ individuals through your leaflet. So you need to arouse people to read further. The cover is the starting point so must be tantalizing and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question – What\’s in it for me.

A great design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your brochure. Examine these designs to see which energizes you the most. Ask your acquaintances their opinion. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn\’t excite and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay premiums later.

2. The Content:

Once they are past the cover then the message has to become the sales rep. So once again, the pressure is on to be great. Do not opt for cheap incompetent content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then employ one yourself.

Ensure that all the big questions that a potential client will have about your product are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into \’overkill mode\’ and inundate them with too much data at this point in time. Remember the brochure\’s job is to excite and get people to call you.

3. The call for action:

If your potential client has read the pamphlet then you have done a great job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW.

Having things like a free call 0800 or\’00 number distinctly shown (in big letters) can make a big difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are clearly placed in large clear type.

Even give your clients a special coupon on the booklet or reference code can help. But above all, ensure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. People only purchase something that is of value to THEM.

4. The piece that got missed:

I did this on purpose and only said there were 3 points. Well the last point is the one that can get overlooked. It is the \’dummy\’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your leaflet:

Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors?

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