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Do You BUBNU?
An Article by Stephen R. Clark
Do you drool over a competitor’s slick, glossy, artsy, incredibly
gorgeous full-color multi-fold brochure, thinking, “If only I could afford a
fine print piece like this…?”
I don’t. Instead, I often wonder why they bothered to waste so
much time, effort, and money to create a fancy piece of trash! Yes, trash.
The hard reality when marketing yourself or a product is that
most of the print material you produce and distribute – no matter how classy or
flashy – will end up in the trash can. Whether ugly or beautiful, all meet the
same fate eventually.
The quality and success of a print piece can’t be measured by how
much you spent to develop it. The only thing that counts is, before it’s
trashed, what kind of impression did it make?
Did it communicate your message clearly and effectively? Did it
implant your name in the mind of the reader? Did it earn you a place on
someone’s list of potential resources and get you added to their contact book?
Did it create a positive impression of who you are and the services you offer?
Did it portray you as being professional and competent?
These are the issues that really count. Not the weight of the
paper or the color of the ink, although both of these elements are important as
well!
When it comes to marketing yourself, your product, your business,
here’s the one rule you need to remember: In all you do, BUBNU!
What’s BUBNU? Be Unpretentious But Not
Unprofessional.
We’ve all met the man or woman who overdresses,
over-accessorizes, or over-scents, trying to impress. They actually do just the
opposite. Print materials can have the same effect! They can be over-written,
over-designed, and generally over-developed for their intended audience.
Years ago I received a plastic airplane packaged in a box that
looked like an airplane hangar. The plane was actually a clever set of desk
tools (pencil sharpener, small stapler, scissors, tape, etc.) disguised as the
wings, tail, and other parts of the plane. I still have it. The company was AT&T
and they were promoting a special long distance plan for small businesses. The
piece was costly to develop and mail, but appropriate coming from AT&T. For
them, it was unpretentious, and very professional.
If I were to do something like that for my little business, it
would be really stupid! Why? Because it would be way over the top for who I am –
a one-person operation. Those receiving the piece would think that if I can
afford such elaborate direct mail, my rates must be outrageous!
And think about getting such an elaborate piece from a charity
asking for donations! It would totally miss the mark, making you wonder why a
charity would “waste” so much money to ask for money!
While many are pure trash, some of the best marketing pieces I’ve
seen are flyers done up by kids and mini-businesses and stuffed in neighborhood
mailboxes. These one-page flyers are touting services such as babysitting, yard
work, home repair, and painting. The most effective are simple, cleanly laid
out, and to the point. The flyer is in tune with what’s being marketed and the
person behind the business – they are being unpretentious, but not
unprofessional.
Because of the technology tools readily available, it’s really
easy to develop professional and unpretentious materials, even in very small
quantities. You can print great looking letters, business cards, brochures,
labels, postcards, and more all from your desktop inkjet or laser printer.
Not only is there software available to make it easy, but you can
buy blank materials in a variety of paper types, weights, colors, sizes, and all
pre-perforated! Using these materials, you can personalize and customize each
piece or package to be specific to each recipient.
You can also have multi-colored materials, like letterhead,
professionally printed, but without your name, address, and other information
included. This allows you to use your letterhead for more than just letters, and
if you move or change phone numbers, you can still use up all of the pre-printed
stock you have on hand.
You don’t need color either! Black, white, and gray scale designs
can be very striking and unique. Using color isn’t the only way to stand out. In
fact, color can be over-used just like anything else. Plus, printing your
materials on a laser printer can produce crisper looking copy faster and at a
lower cost.
When you need marketing materials, but the funds are limited,
remember to BUBNU!
Even if you can afford the gloss and glitz, you still want to
BUBNU! If your message isn’t clear or your product sucks, all the glitz in the
world won’t help. You’ll just be wasting time and money.
If you need help, send me and e-mail or give me a call. I will be
happy to work with you to develop materials in a format that you can modify and
print on your own as you need them. If you want to do it yourself, check out the
other items in this newsletter for additional tips. And take a look at the web
sites I’ve listed for additional resources.
Regardless of your budget, if you remember to BUBNU, you’ll
produce a printed piece that will still hit the mark before it hits the trash
can!
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