How to Make Great Brochures… Yourself
Brochures can be a great marketing tool for your business. When you include the right images and content in an easy-to-read format, your brochures can actually do a lot of selling for you. This means you can attract more customers to your business, and you don’t have to be the one doing the “selling”.
Furthermore, there are lots of resources online that enable those of us who aren’t graphic designers to actually make your own brochures - and have them come out looking great! The great thing about this is that we can save a lot of money, but our brochures don’t look cheap.
Several of the tools we use in creating brochures can also be used for websites and other marketing materials (ie. logo design, stock photos). This is like a nice bonus because when we create stuff for our brochures, much of it can also be used on websites, business cards, signs, product packaging and more. It’s another way we save a bunch of money.
Brochure Designs: Tips on Making Your Own
Brochures come in several shapes, sizes, formats and folds. Before you design your brochure, you want to decide how you will be using your brochures.
For example, if you plan to mail them, use a brochure that’s close to letter size, like a tri-fold design. If you need to provide a lot of information, consider an accordion fold that can hold more information. If you need to display a large image or map, a z-fold may work best.
How to Organize Your Content
Next, outline the content that you want to include in the brochure. You want to communicate a message to the reader and ultimately get them to take action. The best way to do this is to focus the message on how your company can solve their problem instead of talking about how great your company is.
How to Format Your Design
Keep the font large enough that it is easy to read and include bold headlines and headings throughout for people who like to “skim”. Bullet points also make for easy reading and signify that you are conveying some important ideas. Don’t clutter up your space, or many people won’t even try to read what you are trying to say.
Photos and images are also good to use to break up the text and make your brochures easier to read. They can also add a level of emotion to a simple piece of paper, and people make purchasing decisions based on emotion. When you use the right images, they can be very effective at
Drawing the reader in
Backing up what you are saying and
Showing proof.
Getting Your Brochures to Sell for You
You also want to include a call to action. With a good call to action, your brochure can work like a salesperson for you – bringing in clients without you having to make cold calls, hire an ad agency, etc.. As long as you are going to invest money into marketing, you might as well get them to put them to work for you and make you money!
A call to action could be:
A coupon they can tear out and use in your shop
A phone number they can call to schedule a free quote
A form them can fill out to sign up for a membership
A website address they can visit to sign up on your VIP customer list to receive special offers
Using templates can help eliminate much of the design work, especially if you don’t specialize in graphic design. They can pre-format your layout and provide professional graphics – they you simply organize your content (the benefits you can offer the reader) and the action step you want them to take next.
Where to Get Images for Your Brochures:
A picture is worth 1,000 words, so it’s important to include some on your brochures – and all marketing materials for the matter.
The best images you can use are your own. However, if you need to find stock photos, you have plenty of options in all price ranges (ie. if you need a picture of a purple shark, and you don’t have one nearby).
There are many websites that offer free images, but not usually for commercial use, so make sure to read the fine print on each site to see exactly what they restrictions are (if any). Also, some image owners let you use their work if you credit them with a link back to their site.
If you’re not sure, take 60 seconds to email the webmaster and ask.
Here are a few resources:
Creative Commons Check the box that says, “use for commercial purposes” before you do your search (if you plan on using images for commercial projects)
FreeCommercialPhotos.com Photos are free to use with credit given. Each photo has instructions on how to credit the photo owner.
Public-Domain-Photos.com
Veer.com Purchase photos/images/fonts individually. Photos cost as little as $2 each.
iClipArt.com If you need lots of images for marketing materials, websites, etc. you can access millions of photos, clip art images, fonts, sounds, animations and videos for commercial use through this site (awesome stuff). Cheapest subscription deal I’ve found.
You will also want to include your company logo on your brochure. Logos are important because they help people recognize your business, and this builds brand awareness. Design a logo once and you can use it on everything – from business cards to websites to vehicle signs to advertisements to product packaging to, of course, brochures.
When people are exposed to your brand multiple times – through a memorable logo or mention of your company name – they are more likely to think of you what they need your product or service.
Using an Online Brochure Maker:
VistaPrint is best known for it’s “250 free business cards” deal, but since they are a printing company, there are lots of other materials you can print – including brochures . Just like their business cards, they provide lots of templates that you can use – you just pay for printing.
Users start by selecting one of VistaPrint’s included templates (you can upload your own design if you choose). They have templates in 20 different industries and 15 different styles to choose from, so these are far from generic.
Plus you get to customize them with content, logos and pictures of your own. What used to be a lengthy and costly process you can now do on your own in a single afternoon.
PsPrint.com is another easy online brochure maker you can use. If you are working with a limited budget, here’s something you’ll like – they let customers order as little as 50 brochures at a time.
They also provide free templates you can use to create your brochure, in a variety of industries and professions.
Some other things to note:
You can make your brochures even more unique by selecting a custom size and folding style.
Do you want to include a coupon or member card in your brochure – they will perforate it for you.
If you plan on mailing your brochures to prospects but you’ve got a full schedule already – ask them to do the mailing for you.
Rack Cards can be another option to traditional folded brochures. These are typically on a thicker stock and printed on two sides.
They can be used to list things like golf course rates or explain services in a salon or information on a tour company. If you don’t need all of the space that a brochure provides and you don’t plan in mailing your brochures, this may be a good option. Another alternative is flyers.
Microsoft Brochure Templates
If you have a great printer and want to print your own marketing materials, downloadable templates can be the way to go. Be sure to compare the cost of printing your own (ink, paper stock and time) vs the cost of hiring a printing company. I’ve personally found that my printer ink is so expensive that I actually end up paying more if I print materials myself, unless I’m only printing a few.
You can download brochure templates for free directly from the Microsoft website.
Some of their tri-fold designs format the back center panel for mailing (convenient if you plan on mailing some of all of your brochures to clients for prospects). Some have a generic design, and they also have industry-specific brochures (ie. real estate, legal services, health, medical, technology, etc..).
You can also download free Microsoft Word Templates from StockLayouts.com. They have the traditional half-fold and tri-fold brochures, but they also carry a variety of different layouts like rack cards, note cards and data sheets that you can use to design your brochure in a non-traditional way.
Their free downloads give you a basic layout. They also sell hundreds of other Microsoft brochure template designs for about $80 a piece. Even if you don’t decide to use their templates, it’s a great place to get ideas.
Professional Folding Techniques for Business Brochures
Brochure Examples
Below are some examples of brochure designs. If you like one of these designs, you can actually click on the image and customize the content and images to fit your business or project. They are all 2-sided with different designs on the front and back.
Customizable Brochure For Spa Massage Salon
Candy Stripes Folded Brochure
Three Fold Makeup Artist Brochure
3-Fold Beauty Salon Brochure
Feminine Illustrated Brochure