It’s always a surprise to find out a competing graphic designer charged out 10 hours to design a DL flyer, so let’s discuss what a small business owner in Brisbane should expect to pay for a well-designed brochure. (Often a tri-fold DL)

When looking at getting some print design work done, there’s a few things to consider.

  • Designer is adept at carrying out the brief, with solid design skills, to the point of making it print ready.
  • Designer gives a quote or estimate upfront of entire job, not just an hourly rate. (Since 3 hrs x $90 ph only costs $270, whereas 10 x $80 ph costs $800). This should include high res PDF, all print ready. He/she may also state whether the cost includes print management – i.e. liaison with your printer. (RPD can design A4-folded double-sided brochures from $300 – $400+ GST).
  • Designer is a decent person with good customer service (ie. calls you back promptly, happy to do changes, etc)

You should also be mindful of printing prices. Red Planet Design can actually give you economy print choices so that on a smaller print run, a very low cost digital printer is used, and on quality or larger runs, a reliable full service printer is used. We pass on the savings to you and never charge a commission.

And of course, these days you can even have personalised print, different shapes cut (like a wave), different styles of designs done for various markets/products, and of course gloss spot UV varnish on high quality paper, all to make your print brochures stand out.

Power of Words website

Power of Words - our Copywriting site

When business people think of getting a brochure or website developed, they often start by getting a quote from their favoured graphic designer, who then obliges and starts asking about the design. The designer makes a start, but then find he can’t go any further with the project without content.

Unfortunately, business owners are often juggling many balls – and the copy (words) gets overlooked and left… sometimes for months.  The reason for this could be lack of time (busy on earning activities), or lack of knowledge of how to approach the writing.

Either way, the business owner or marketer should not be the sole person who is responsible for the copy and content. Just as designers exist to ensure artwork is balanced, attractive and print ready (or web ready), editors exist to ensure your grammar is perfect, consistent, and correct in voice. People wanting professional material hire an editor.

But if you struggle to write, the solution is hire a copy-writer (that’s a writer of copy). A copywriter is trained to write to get results – so the approach is a little different. If sales conversion from written collateral is important to you, the solution is… a copywriter. Making a document compelling to read is what makes our heart sing.

All you will need to supply is info on your target market, your business proposition, benefits to customers (these can often be found in client testimonials), product features, what you will use the brochure for, and what you want to achieve. Even the desired length and form of the piece can be worked out collaboratively from what you say about its purpose (with a mind for practical things like posting through the mail and printing costs).

So you think your logo is your brand. And your signage. OK, and maybe your uniform. Think broader.

You see, everything you do as a business owner publicly affects your Personal Brand. (With Politicians, some things they do privately as well;-)

How about:  What you drive… what you wear… what charities you support… how clean and fresh your building is… what you read… how you shake hands…

Authors of “The Brand Called You” (Peter Montoya & Tim Vandehey) believe that a personal brand makes a promise. Once branding is established, “everything you do will either confirm that promise or contradict it“. Failures are not delivering on those promises, say of great customer service, keeping to deadline, whatever it may be.

Are you living the reality that your Brand commits you to? People can feel authenticity and they can see fakeness.

So when you assess your logo, marketing look and feel, office, attire, car/van, and personal philosophy all together does it give a cohesive message – as Peter says, “does your look suit your brand?”

Things To Do:
1. Talk to your copywriter and graphic designer to create branding tools – slogans, themes, and logo/design look.
2. Attend networking events to get important contacts/referrals.
3. Redesign your “look” (office/clothes/car) to suit your brand.
4. Create a one-year branding budget.
5. Decide on the personal characteristics that will define your personal brand.

(Summarised from P.14, “The Brand Called You”, 2009).

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