I love helping people market their goods or services. Yet time and again, when speaking to them about it, they opt for the path of least resistance--the tried and true brochure. Granted, I am a fan of brochures; I have one myself. But with so many options out there--like blogging--why go with such a limiting form of communication?

And then there are the problems faced with actually DESIGNING the brochure:

• fold style (tri-fold, bi-fold etc)
• paper quality (NO, you should not print them on your home Epson)
• content (too much, too little, grammatical issues)
• appearance (does it adhere to graphic standard? does it match your overall branding? does it market you the best it can? is it interesting?)
• purpose (who will get it? where will you keep it? etc)

I try to get responses to these all-important questions before we go very far. If the client can't answer them, I know more directives will be necessary and (hopefully) I can steer them in the right direction. But then there is the question of online brochures, PP presentations, presentation folders and discs, etc.

The point of this litany:

Try and make your clients out-of-the-box thinkers. Think out of the box yourself.

Not just for profit; for the longterm benefits these new web2.0 methods present.