Replies

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Oct 02, 1999 03:47am | #1

   *
   Dale, the only comment I have is that I found a brochure to be somewhat inflexible. By that I mean I don't have a steady 'line' of furniture in which the style changes slowly. (I'll do something for a while, and then go off on a completely different tangent!) Changing a brochure to keep it up to date required ditching all the old photographs and inserting new, which incurs the same costs as before. For me I found a brochure to be no more than a clumsy business card, and I no longer provide one for my potential clients, but I stress that is only my experience. Your circumstances may be different, and you may well find a brochure the ideal tool. If you want to explore this subject further, do get back.

   You might look in the topic "Do home pages pay off." It's in the same business section. That's the way I've gone. A website works pretty well for me. Just another option worth considering.

1. 
   Woodcarver_Ron_Wiener | Oct 05, 1999 07:41am | #2

   *Dale,You're getting a good price on the 4 color. I had a brochure printed up a number of years ago. I left my address as well as my telephone # out of it - made it sort of like an artsy thing. I didn't want to have to reprint in case of geographical changes. Then I bolstered it with a flier and postcards that have the address and tel #.My work is also all custom. But I still felt that I could feature generic work to illustrate workmanship etc. So, I wouldn't back off because of not having a product line.I find that the brochure is still very helpful in addition to my website. Good luck to you.

1. 
   Adrian_Wilson | Oct 05, 1999 04:39pm | #3

   *Yeah, that sounds like a good price on your brochure. i just had my first one made, and it cost more than that, even with me doing most of the layout. I don't have a website yet, so it is my main form of advertising, and I think it is doing pretty well. My business is furniture and cabinetry, so I'm selling design and workmanship, and a good brochure makes a real impact; my sense is that people still react to it better than a website. The pictures are more flattering, and you can set up a brochure to lead the customer through a logical progression of thought (Who are they? What do they do? Why should I go to them? and last page Who do I talk to?). With a website, people go where they want when they want, and your chance to deliver a message is compromised. Also, when they leave the website, it's out of sight , out of mind. A four colour brochure stays around, and gets shown to other people, friends of your potential customers who may right then become more potential customers. All in all, I think it's still a good bet for someone with something visual to sell. And if you don't like the pictures, or have something new, you can always do a run of postcards, and the goal with the brochure is to get rid of them as fast as possible right?(into the right hands, of course).

1. 
   Dale_Lenz | Oct 06, 1999 02:39am | #4

   *Thanks for the advice from all. I have had a 'bread & butter' line for a while and that is what my brochure will focas on. Had the chance this past weekend to share a booth at our State fair got overwhelming postive comments. Passed out my cards, folks said they will be calling me. Has anyone every done a ratio of literature passed out to actual calls to actual sales? Anyway I thought with a brochure that wouldn't let folks forget me as quick. One thing I learned by reading all the current woodworking pubs and others is to try to make eye contact and speak with a simple hello, with every person that walks by. It collected several-several potential sales? laterDale LenzBeautiful Woodworks

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Oct 06, 1999 09:28am | #5

   *Good point about the postcard. I'm just about to do a show, and ordered a bunch of postcards that feature just one piece. Of course it has all the means of contact listed on the back, but I'm hoping the photograph will be enough to jog peoples memories after seeing my stuff for real at the show.

2. 
   Adrian_Wilson | Oct 06, 1999 04:43pm | #6

   *If anyone is interested in seeing my brochure, email me your address and I'll send one off. Maybe we can swap ideas or something.I watched a business show on TV last night which looked at internet retailing (I know that isn't how most folks like us are using it; more like an electronic portfolio). Anyway, the experts were saying for small retailers, selling in ones and two's, you could get in the game for 100K, (if you're lucky). More like 400-500 for bigger operations, most of which accept that this is something they have to do, but theu will lose money at for years to come. Food for thought.I guess you have to cover all your bases. Gotta get that website going.

3. 
   Dale_Lenz | Oct 16, 1999 12:05am | #7

   *Well I gave out 500-600 business cards at our State fair from my booth, May I'll get a feel of a ratio of cards handed out to calls to sales???

4. 
   Callum_Murray | Nov 11, 1999 03:03pm | #8

   *Dale. I have spent the last ten years pondering this problem and finally came up with the following solution. We have a 6 page booklet that is made up of loose pages held together with a small decorative brass bolt. I don't know how things work in the States but here in Scotland our 'phone companies change our numbers quite regularly, tax codes change etc. etc. Having a flexible booklet allows us to change anything without changing the whole thing. If we tire of one page- out it goes, to be replaced by a fresh page. We spent £10,000 on our brochure so hope it will last.

5. 
   bobmundy | Jan 20, 2000 05:56pm | #9

   *Interesting discussion which drew me to post this suggestion.In my business I take many photos and having trimmed them, I cut and paste with carefully located text, to produce a 'master'in colour on A4 quality paper. Sometimes I prepare 2 identical sheets with similar photos.I then take my masters to a colour-photocopier and have them reproduced at half size so they both fit on an A4 sheet.The cost here is about A$1.00 per sheet and for that I receive 200 copies when the sheet is guillotined.Generally the quality is excellent. I usually stay around to see the first copy and suggest toning adjustments if necessary.Good luck. My 2c worth