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Thread: Question on designing a tri-fold brochure...

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    Default Question on designing a tri-fold brochure...

    I am in the beginning stages of a print marketing campaign and want to get a tri-fold brochure designed.

    Would it make more sense for me to have someone design the brochure first and work the copy into the design or go the opposite direction and use the copy to design the feel of the brochure?

    How much could I reasonably expect to pay? I have a sample designed and printed off of an inkjet printer, but it needs to be "tweaked" and the original file has since become corrupted.
    Ted Pfirrmann
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    Omega Firearms Training

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    I know what I charge for that sort of work, but that doesn't necessarily reflect what is average within the field because there are really so many options to choose from. If you prefer to work local you can go directly to printers who offer graphic design (though you'll often find they are not as great on the copy as you might want or need) or you can go with a marketing agency if you have a higher end product or service to market. Quality will vary depending on their specialty, much as it will with freelancers. The better you are able to communicate your message and vision, the better whoever you hire will be able to produce it, so be specific in what you are looking for and think not in terms of what you like but who your target market is and what the results are that you expect to get from your brochure. Include things like how you are going to be distributing it (mail, in person, at tradeshows) and who it will be going to (existing customers, prospective customers, random people on the streets of a parade route)...

    You can budget for anywhere from $250-$10,000 for a decent, performing brochure design. It varies that much.

    Hope this helps.

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    Well since the cover may very well sell the brochure, I would say to have intriguing design on the cover along with a few key ideas or selling points, something to entice the reader to continue looking into the brochure. Your copy material could then be placed inside.

    I am not a brochure expert. I have designed several and am actually working on one today. Something that says "OPEN ME UP! COOL STUFF INSIDE!" has usually worked for me. Cover=sell, Inside=copy, Back/Last Page=enticing offer/discount/rebate/membership/whatever.
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    I guess it would help is I explained my business a bit. I didn't realize that I hadn't done so in my introduction post.

    I own a firearms instruction business, which has very unique marketing challenges. It's a service industry that most people don't feel they need until they see the results after attending one of our courses.

    We have been in business for almost three years now without doing a single bit of print advertising, aside from an article that was written about us in a newspaper distributed in the tri-state area.

    I've just now scanned the hard copy of the brochure layout I have in mind and am currently working on "cleaning up" the scanned image.
    Ted Pfirrmann
    Owner / CEO
    Omega Firearms Training

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    Patrysha's estimate is pretty on-target. As she said - I know what I would charge for that, but it's hard to give you a good estimate.

    From a designer's perspective - unless what you are "cleaning up" is really, really good - high resolution, etc... - your designer is going to have to start from scratch. Also as an FYI, tri-folds are not 3 equal sized panels, the panel that folds inside the tri-fold is slightly smaller than the other two panels.
    ~Jenn
    Crazy Dog Creative: Graphic Design and Marketing

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    Thank you everyone for the advise and suggestions! I'm only "cleaning up" the image so that if I send it via e-mail, it gives a more accurate representation of my ideas.

    I think Patrysha has given me a pretty good idea of the financial ballpark. I had originally assumed around $200.00, but I now see that is a starting point. After "getting to know" a lot of the regulars on here through reading the posts, I believe I'd much rather have the design work done by someone affiliated with this forum. It's not everyday you get to meet such a collection of fine and talented people gathered in one spot.

    [edited to fix typos]
    Last edited by SCUBA9097; 01-16-2011 at 12:51 AM. Reason: Typos
    Ted Pfirrmann
    Owner / CEO
    Omega Firearms Training

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    I know that I am coming into this on the tail end of the conversation, but how will these tri folds be given out? Is this something that you are going to give once they are there, or use this as its own marketing campaign. I know everyone is answering on the design portion, but you said that you have been in business for over three years without print advertising, so I am just wondering why you chose the tri-fold as your first one.

    Thanks

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    It looks like I missed this conversation earlier in the game, and Patrysha did a good job of explaining the principles, but I do see one thing to add that Patrysha only touched on a bit. Brochures seldom do very much on their own without something more in the mix. They basically serve as a point of contact.

    In a tradeshow for example, the booth provides a point of contact and the brochure provides a memento to help people remember you. Then hopefully you have a system in place to gather a prospect list. By the time you contact people in this scenario, they are more likely to respond to your offer.

    When you choose someone to design the flyer, there are graphics people who would just design it according to your specifications. As you can see from Patrysha's, Jenn's (Blessed), and my own response, we are marketing people and would be discussing with you how this fits into a bigger plan so you're doing much more than just handing out beautiful pieces of paper hoping to make a profit.
    Steve Chittenden

    Web design, graphic design, professional writing, and marketing.

    "Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt

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    The brochures will be given out at trade shows and also placed on the counter of a gun shop that we are loosly partnering with by offering training courses in their building.

    We rarely get the "send more info" request, however I was thinking (I know, first mistake) of placing a personalized letter, brochure and a few business cards into an envolope. We're not going to send these out as a "cold call" marketing product.
    Ted Pfirrmann
    Owner / CEO
    Omega Firearms Training

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    For the use you are putting these too I'll make one other addendum to Steve's (CBS Creative's) note - about how we marketing people would be talking to you about how to fit this brochure into your overall marketing plan - whatever you do please make sure you have these printed on quality paper, with a quality process, machine folded and that they look professional. It is possible to have this done without spending a ton of money and it is essential. I've often wondered how many small business owners with great ideas, products and services have lost out on business by having do-it-myself, marketing materials that scream "UNPROFESSIONAL" to the general public.
    ~Jenn
    Crazy Dog Creative: Graphic Design and Marketing

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