How to Build a Brochure

It seems that one of the first things a business does when setting itself up, aside from developing a logo and business cards, is create a brochure. That certainly is the most common project I am asked to develop for clients…even AFTER their businesses have been established.

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

So you say you’ve already done a brochure, eh? Okay. Did you first make sure that all or most of the elements listed below have found a place therein? I was surfing the web recently and came across a site called About.com. As they describe themselves, “we're the one place on the Web where you'll find passionate people with practical advice and solutions for almost any problem. Whatever your needs, the answer is... About.com.”

Well, here is a Checklist of materials that they suggest should go into “building” a brochure. And I concur. These points may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many of them are neglected (you included?):

*Name of Location, Business or Organization.
*Address.
*Phone Number.
*Fax Number.
*Email Address.
*Web Page Address.
*Headline that creates curiosity, states a major benefit, or otherwise entices the reader to open and read your brochure.
*Headline that states the name of the Product, Project, or Described Process.
*Subheads.
*Short, easy to read blocks of text.
*Lists, charts.
*Key Benefits (2-3).
*Features.
*Instructions, steps, parts (for a procedure, to assemble a product, etc.)
*Biography (of business owner, key members of organization, officers, etc.).
*Mission Statement.
*History.
*Logo.
*Graphic Image(s) (including purely decorative elements).
*Photographs of product, place, people.
*Diagram, flow chart.
*Map.
*Call to Action (What you want the reader to do: call, visit, fill out a form, etc.)

Of course, now that you know what to put into your new, or even revamped, brochure, you also know whom to call to help you put it all together…

Joel Kweskin