subject: Make Catalogs That Stand Out [print this page] Author: Andrew Author: Andrew
In todays business world, customers routinely do a lot of their shopping if not most of their shopping on the internet. Buying merchandise online has become the norm, even when it comes to items that were traditionally bought in brick-and-mortar stores. Still, hard-copy catalogs are still around. You will not see as many bulky, tome-like catalogs as often as you once did, but wholesale catalogs and store catalogs are still very prominent. You will still receive them in the mail and you will still find them at the entrances of many large stores. If you are a businessperson, you cannot afford to neglect the importance of catalogs, even in this information age in which we live. Catalogs can still drive a significant increase in your sales volume, even if the method has changed. Whereas customers used to buy items through the order sheet included in the catalog, they now find what they want in the catalog, and then order online or over the phone. Now that we have established the value of catalogs in your business strategy, lets now discuss how to make your catalog stand out from the crowd. The area of catalog printing and booklet printing has become subject to many rules that businesses are expected to follow. To name a couple, it is expected that your catalog will employ simple printing and that you will put your most expensive items on the upper right portion of the page. However, as is often the case in business, you must think outside of the box in order to succeed. As we mentioned, catalogs are still prominent, so there is a whole lot of competition out there. Do you really want your catalog to look just like the rest of them? Not if you want yours to actually generate sales, you dont. Now, I am not suggesting that you do all of your catalog printing with loud, bold type and bury all of your expensive items on the bottom of the page. Certainly, there is a benefit to keeping your typeface simple, for the most part. But there are things that you will want the customer to notice very quickly as he scans the page, and in those cases, simple printing will not do. Make those critical features stand out by using a bolder font, or a larger font, or even some color. Putting your more expensive items in the upper right corner of the page can be beneficial, as well, but only if those items are able to catch the customers eye. It is true that that portion of the page is usually the first portion noticed by the reader. So the goal should be to put items in that section that will appeal to the reader, and make her want to look at the page more closely. You want to put your most interesting items there. If they happen to also be expensive, even better! There is no magic art to printing an effective catalog or booklet. You simply want yours to stand out from the rest. You can do this without going overboard by breaking a couple rules and thinking of the big picture. About the Author:
