Massage Brochures: Do it Yourself or Ready-Made?
To celebrate our 3rd decade of selling our first brochure, What
is a Massage Like?, we want to share with you our thoughts
on that exciting and sometimes daunting task — getting your
first brochure.
We believe a brochure is the vital in-depth business tool you need to make
a professional and convincing impact. When you are ready to invest in a brochure,
how do you go about getting what you need?
Make your own
Maybe you’re thinking that you
want to start out with a splash by creating your own brochure from scratch.
To make a brochure for your own practice, start by researching these questions:
- What’s the best way to present
the benefits of your work?
- Remember to emphasize the problems you can solve, rather than the techniques
you use.
- Consider using testimonials.
- Have a colleague read it carefully for language that might be misleading
or offensive to a reader.
- Should you include your menu, rates or directions to your office?
- Think about how often items such as your rates may change. These may work
best on an insert.
- How do you achieve a professional and attractive appearance?
- If you have a computer and layout software, you can design and layout a brochure
on your own. But keep in mind that hiring a graphic designer can make a big
difference in the quality of your presentation. If you do hire a graphic artist,
be prepared for a considerable investment.
- Proofread several times for typos.
- What graphics will catch people’s eyes?
- Googling for “free clip art” returns a number of sites that
could help with graphics. Check out the free art at Microsoft and Avery.
Printing options
Once you have a brochure design, how can you get it into print?
- Your home printer. To make changes as often as you want, print
a few brochures at a time at home. Big office supply stores even sell
tri-fold brochure paper. Do take into account the cost of paper and especially
ink for making full-color copies.
- Copy stores such as Kinko’s. They
can print from paper master or CD, and fold, too. The more you print,
the less each brochure costs.
- Online print services like the popular VistaPrint.com.
Prices vary widely from $.07 to $1.20 a piece, as does quality. Order
small at first to make sure the product projects the image you want.
- No matter
what option you choose for printing, look carefully at the print quality.
Check for smearing, feel of the paper, and crispness of the folding.
Ready-made, professional brochures
“Why reinvent the wheel?” is
a frequent comment made by bodyworkers who use pre-made professional brochures.
They seek a brochure company they trust to provide brochures that are reputable,
well-researched and attractive. They simply add their business information
to the back for a ready-made professional presentation. Check out our personalization
service for examples.
Many find that brochures from an independent
source also add credibility to their practice — in other words, you are
not just making it up that massage can help prevent injuries or improve sleep.
It’s easy and inexpensive to type
up, print and add a single panel insert to a pre-made brochure that states
your rates, menu and other business information. When your rates needed to
be adjusted, simply replace the insert.
A combination approach
If you have your own brochure, there
are still good reasons to use brochures on modalities like Reiki,
reflexology or Thai
massage where detailed explanations really help. In addition,
brochures on conditions like back pain,
headaches or fibromyalgia
help you reach specific individuals in, say, fibromyalgia support groups,
childbirth classes, or your chiropractor’s
office.
A brochure is something you can hand
people that’s more in depth than
a business card. Think about the impact you want to achieve, and research your
options well before committing to a particular type of brochure. You want to
be happy with what you get — and where it gets you.
(Based on an article first published
on massagemag.com under the title “Professional
Brochures.”) |
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