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Image IS Everything - Don't Sell Design Short

For some reason lately we seem to be getting more people coming to us at Winters Productions asking about content for web sites, brochures, sales letters, press kits - you name it. That's great for us since we too are a business, and our attitude is the more the merrier. 

But the problem comes in when we're asked to rewrite materials and we're given a link to an ugly, boring brochure or a hideous looking web site where the content is intended to go. 

It's never easy to tell a client, "Umm you've got great products or services but no one will buy them. Your design stinks to high heaven." Sadly, these clients fail to realize that copy alone will not pull in buyers and poor design can, in fact, scare them off. 

Study Question of the Day: If your web site looks like a third-grader designed it and you're a store, do you think people will have confidence to shop with you? Would you place an order and have total faith you'll get it? Worse yet, would you wonder if you’d become another statistic of identity fraud? The answer is you would probably forego giving your information over to them. This is especially true of on-line buyers. You need to establish trust right from the get-go and that means having a site that looks profession (design) as well as sounds informative (content).

The problem is that many businesses in a quest to save money either do the designing themselves or they hire inexperienced designers who work dirt-cheap. And by inexperienced we mean someone who just bought Photoshop or a web design program and put out a shingle on the web to bring in clients. They have no degree, or even formal training in design, and they essential take good people's money. 

Trap of the Day to Avoid: You'll find designers that might have skills, but they resell your layout or logo to anyone and everyone. Sure you might have only paid $25 for that logo but don't be surprised if 'ABC Store' shows up someday with a logo just like yours… but with their name on it. If you're serious about branding your business then be willing to pay something other than pennies on the dollar for design to get something truly original for you and YOU ALONE.

Copy is important, make no mistake about it, but having a layout and design that makes someone take action is just AS important. What often happens with clients is they hire a writer to do their copy. The writer does quality work, but the end product goes into a plain design - perhaps it's 'solid' but it's not engaging or eye catching. Said company then spends hundreds or even thousands on printing costs for the brochure. 

But here's where the kicker comes in... two or three weeks pass and the phone isn't ringing. They don't know why - after all, they paid a professional copywriter, the design was okay and the printer did his job. "So what's the problem?" they ask themselves. Chances are the brochure is now either in the recipients 'file 13' or being used as a coaster on their kitchen table with all the other 'junk mail' of that week. 

If you're going to be spending hundreds or thousands on printing then wouldn't it make sense to spend a few hundred more to insure you get a design that actually gets noticed? Isn't that the entire purpose of marketing materials - sales calls or purchases? Companies try to cut corners where they can and unfortunately they pick design and content as the areas to cut when in fact these are the two most important. 

About the Author: Winters Productions (www.wintersproductions.com) offers affordable copywriting and design services for small to large business.