Posts Tagged print marketing

Which is Better, a Company Trifold Brochure or Sales Sheet?

Company trifold brochure 15$ discount on graphic design Connection Group
Your company website is live, you have business cards in hand, and now your’e ready for some leave behind print marketing materials. Small businesses often start with a standard, every-company-has-to-have-one-trifold, and others use company sales sheets. Whether you are a start-up company or second stage business, when choosing between a company trifold brochure and a sales sheet, first consider how you plan to use your print materials.

Company Tri-Fold-Brochure

Three panel brochures are standard letter size (8.5” x 11”) sheets that are folded twice, horizontally.  The paper is usually creased in equal thirds, resulting in three panels on each side of the sheet totaling six panels for the entire piece. Designed to fit into a standard #10 envelope, trifold brochures are also known as #10 brochures for this reason. Brochures can be a combination of any amount of colors. Trifold brochures can be simple black ink with text only or full color, effects, die cuts and short folds. A trifold brochure template can open horizontally, custom brochures can be designed to also open vertically. You can choose a z-fold brochure or roll fold brochure, depending on the order in which you want the viewer to read each panel.
A custom company trifold brochure or brochure template, is often a gateway introductory tool. Brochures can be many different sizes and shapes, with multiple folds, single or multi-page. Multi-page brochures are, in essence, marketing booklets designed to wow the audience and support the corporate brand. Brochures with sleeves and die cuts can be used as folders that hold inserts. The shape chosen is dependent on how the print marketing piece will be distributed, along with amount of information to be communicated, and the style in which the company brand, product brand and services brands will be presented.

When a company trifold brochure is most beneficial:

  • point of sale (check out)
    retail store
    bank
    pharmacy
    restaurant carry out menu
  • direct mail – fits easily into standard #10 envelopes
  • general company information
  • display in brochure racks
    coffee shops, travel bureaus / Welcome centers, chamber of commerces,
  • event promotion
  • other….

Sales Sheets

Sales sheets are standard letter size (8.5” x 11”) sheets that are not folded. They can be one sided or two sided, full color, one, two, or three color. One sale sheet could cover everything or multiple sheets may be needed to highlight individual products or services, pricing, etc. Sales sheets may also be designed for specific target markets. For instance if your company sells products or services to manufacturing firms and also to end users, your sales literature will need to be adapted to each audience.

A Sales Sheet By Any-other-name….

The term sales sheet is often interchanged with: sell sheets, brag sheets, capability sheets (capability statement sheets), product cut sheet, flyers, inserts, specification sheets (spec sheet), data sheets, and one sheets (often used for Professional Speakers, authors and other creative talent such as models and actors.) There are some differences in the content in each of these items but the purpose typically serves the same end – to promote.

When a sales sheet is most beneficial:

  • leave behind after a sales presentation
  • part of sales kits for use by sales staff or independent sales representatives
  • company manufacturers or offers multiple products or services
  • after sale literature for customer reference

Each marketing item that is designed for printing can also be included in digital format for posting to your website. All print items can be shared electronically in emails, posted to social media, and as downloads from a specified page on your website.
Do you need help with the design or writing of your company trifold brochure, sales sheet or booklet? Are you in need of a promotional kit with sales sheets? Connect with us today. We’ll plan a face to face meeting to discuss your ideas or schedule a phone consultation to clarify goals and outline marketing solutions.

Keep Your Business Connected

girls on rollercoaster

It’s been a load of fun!

As we are nearing the year end, Connection Group is excited to announce we will be bringing back our monthly e-newsletter “Connectivity”. As business has increased and our services have expanded over the last few years we have dedicated our time to meeting our customers needs by fulfilling their project requests and increasing our knowledge and skills in the areas of social media and internet marketing. Whew! It has been a fast paced rollercoaster ride with a mix of laughter, joy, fear and tears! We have grown to a full service design firm with a focus on integrative marketing.

So what does this all mean to you? It means we still make you look good, we make your ideas work, we make headlines and most importantly, make your job easier. Our design offering still include graphic design services of your choice, logos, brochures, illustrations, book covers, magazines, visual displays ( trade show graphics and signage) etc. Web design solutions include graphical interface, illustrations, photo optimizing, landing pages, web-galleries, websites that you can update yourself, e-commerce websites, members only websites and more. Web development includes; content management systems, payment portals, shopping carts, password protected areas, statistic tracking and analytics, etc.

The integrative marketing services Connection Group now offers small business marketing, consulting, internet marketing, print marketing, and social media marketing. Digital marketing includes marketing plan, publication calendars, website design and development, internet/digital advertising, research, e-press releases, internet copy writing, etc. Print marketing continues with direct mail pieces, corporate brochures, postcards, business cards, flyers, mailers and more. Lastly and most in demand currently is our social media marketing services. Connection Group manages all social media platforms for you. If you’re on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and others we manage your posts, respond and update all areas, track and review analytics, write, publish and track regular blog entries. Am I leaving out anything? Probably, give us a call if there is something related that you need, we can help or we can refer you to another resource.

Don’t worry we are still offering options for these services. We provide monthly marketing solutions for customers that incorporate all of the above or we can tailor a package that fits a small business marketing budget. All services can be chosen individually or as a package to suit your needs each time.

We look forward to staying connected with you. We are committed to providing valuable small business marketing and design tips to help you grow your business, get more traffic and customers to your business. Subscribe to our e-newsletter, connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and ArchtypeMe we will be sharing current trends in business marketing and design, offering discounts and specials for printing and digital services and uploading fun, artistic cards to share with your family and friends for free!

Stay connected,
Connie

Join the Michigan EcoSystem at Entrepreneur Connect

The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (Leap, Inc.) has combined with Great Lakes Entrepreneurial Quest  (GLEQ) to bring aspiring  entrepreneurs two days of inspring presentations, Angel funding session, points on securing government contracts, tips on marketing, notes on protecting intellectual property and many more critical topics of value to entrepreneurs.
On Thursday, June 9, enjoy a day of presentations and breakout sessions and virtual tours of Michigan’s business incubators and the GLEQ Business Plan Competition Awards Banquet that evening. On Friday, you’ll have the option of participating in numerous networking and educational activities and exploring the displays in the exhibit hall (please stop by Connection Group table and let us know you read this post to receive a special gift!).
The agenda on both days encourages meeting and learning from other entrepreneurs, investors, business professionals and resource experts. Contact LEAP to secure small conference rooms that are available at no additional cost on a first-come, first-served basis for small meetings and private conversations. Visit Entrepreneur Connect to read more about the session available and reserve your place. Participate in the events and activities as best fits your schedule and interests.
I hope to see you there and look forward to this great opportunity to meet and support business in Michigan. Even though Connection Group opened our doors over 14 years ago, business continues to evolve because we keep learning. If all we offered were the graphic design services for print marketing that was our base  in 1997 we could not have sustained the business. Because we paid attention to trends and consulted experts, we have continually expanded our product offerings to meet the market. Internet marketing, website design and consulting quickly became a larger segment of client sales, even in those early days.
The ability to learn and excel is a critical component to business success. Because we have stayed in touch with customer needs and honed our skills, Connection Group has become recognized as a brand marketing resource. When our customers need to engage in social media we develop social media strategies for them, custom designed Facebook fan pages, landing pages, and custom website design and development as part of the marketing services mix. We don’t know what the future will bring, but we will be one of the first to learn about it as we continue to attend great events such as Entrepreneur Connect.
Entrepreneur Connect will be held at the Henry Center in Lansing, Michigan.   Take a look at these breakout sessions and register to attend!
As Miche Suboski shared, “Summer is usually a sleepy time for business, but not for Entrepreneurs!  At least the one’s that are out making stuff happen….Entrepreneur Connect has many… excellent opportunities (all in one event!) for you to get out there and continue to build your brand or make connections that will help you take the next step with your venture.”
 

Sustainable Sales Growth




Sustainable Sales Growth image 2010 copyright Connection Group.

Plant - Feed - Harvest


Plant Your Best Seeds
Life coach, Michael Neil states “When you approach sales from a place of joyful service, you realize making offers is like planting a garden. Instead of focusing on what you might get back if you’re lucky, take some time to think about what you would like to grow.”
Ask yourself questions like:

  • Who would I love to serve?  How would I love to serve them?
  • What would be the most powerful, fun, and useful thing I could do for this client or customer?
  • If I dedicated my life to making this person/company’s life better, what is the biggest difference I could make for them in the smallest amount of time?

Feeling Finding Questions help bring answers your prospect may not even know are under the surface. I have often gone into meetings with prospects and existing customers for a specific project and after further discussion we have determined another solution or product would serve their goals better. The following questions were shared with me by Phil Kline who is an expert in Dale Carnegie Sales Training. These questions are more valuable insight are provided in Phil’s book, Customer Driven Sales.
6 FEELING FINDING QUESTIONS:
1. What do you like most about your current product (website, logo, brand, marketing efforts)
2. Why is that important to you?
3. What do you dislike most about your present product (website,logo brand…)
4. Why is that a problem for you?
5. If I could change something for you in your next product what would you want me to do differently?
6. Why would that be important to you?
When questions are asked from a place of joyful inquiry, the answers are truthful, creative, fun, and take root. Don’t skip the ‘Why’ questions! As your prospect digs deep to answer the ‘why’ the true reason behind the need can be discovered.
Harvest Low-Hanging Fruit
Often the best sale to make is going to existing clients and customers. When working with customers for a long time is is easy to get into ruts. Projects can flow well, which is always a blessing but are we doing the best we can or are we staying safe? Especially with marketing and graphic design it is important to always look at new ways of approaching concepts. You don’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water and completely reinvent everything. Sometimes just a change in logo placement or color can update a Web site or print marketing piece. Other times digging deep into the entire brand and relating it to the business as it is today is needed. If you take the time to  ask questions to find the differences your customer would love to make and the way they would most like to make them, you can deliver creative solutions that help your customer relationship and their business flourish.
Happy seed planting and remember to appreciate the abundance of the harvest.
If you like the Sustainable Sales Growth image please visit our desktop patterns area. We have a “Money as Tools” saying on the images posted. If you would like to use one as your desktop pattern, download the image size that fits you monitor.