With the explosion of the internet and online businesses many business owners forget how important it is to market offline as well. One of the main pieces in your companys marketing should be a brochure. You should have a brochure for your online and offline marketing.

Brochures have many advantages over most other marketing tools available to you. Probably the most important advantage is that brochures can convey a lot of information about your business. Brochures can tell a detailed story about your business that cannot be told through display advertising. A brochure gives you the flexibility to communicate your message with both words and graphics.

In the information age people expect to get the information they want and need quickly. And that is exactly what a brochure does. It gives prospects the information they want in just a few seconds.

In most cases the more you tell the more you sell. People dont read brochures unless they are seriously interested in gaining information. They are not interested in white space; they are interested in learning more about your business and your product or service. And they resent it if you dont give them enough information to buy what you are selling.

Your sales letter should be warm, human, sincere, honest, personal and one-on-one. But your brochure should be technical. It showcases the attractions, components, advantages or positive benefits of your product or service. It should be written in concise one-sentence or one-paragraph statements that give a solid list of facts and benefits. Reprint or excerpt your best testimonials, endorsements and recommendations.

You should begin your brochure with a headline that summarizes the contents. This is very important because your headline is the ad for the brochure. Here are some important tips to help you create a winning brochures:

* Tell your prospects why they should buy your product or service.

* Tell your prospects why you are enthusiastic about your product or service.

* Give some important facts that your prospects should know about your product or service.

* Tell your prospects why your product or service will benefit them; Give facts, figures, and testimonials that confirm the case for buying your product or service.

* Use visuals, photos, graphics, and illustrations that help create a desire to buy.

* Use a three-fold (six-panel) brochure that fits neatly into a #10 envelope.

* Use a larger brochure with a flap inside the rear cover to hold 81/2 x 11 sheets of paper. This helps you personalize your brochure to specific prospects.

* Create a brochure that can be used for many years. For example, instead of saying, Were ten years old, say We were founded in 1995.

* Always end your brochure by summarizing the entire proposition of what youre selling. And restate your guarantee very powerfully and prominently.

The job any brochure is to get your prospect interested in your product or service. So make sure you give them all the information necessary to make a decision, and then offer them a way to move directly to either purchase or request more information. Your brochure should act as a tour guide for your company.

The goal of any brochure is to convey your key message quickly and concisely. Prospects want to know whats in it for them. They want to know how your products or services will help them. Always remember, prospects have to be told what to do. So make sure your brochure does that. Your brochure is a call to action.

Run ads that invite prospects to call, write or e-mail you for a free brochure. Your brochures should be given to prospects who request them or have a high probability of purchasing from you. By doing this, you can give many reasons to purchase from you without paying for the advertising space to do so. Then you add the names of the brochure-requesters to your mailing and e-mailing lists and write to them regularly. One final note, never send out a brochure without some type of letter with it.

Use your brochures to spread the word about your company. Use ads, your customers, the internet, and any other outlets you can think of to have your prospects request them. The more places you use, the more effective your brochures will be. Your brochure will compliment every part of your marketing. It will leave your prospects with everything they need to help turn them into buying customers.

Copyright 2005 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.