Direct Marketing - How to Build a Catalogue
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Catalogs aren't just for big-name companies. If you own a small business that sells a variety of products, create a catalog to showcase your wares to the world. Because your catalog is a tangible representation of your company, you should take a personal interest in the look and feel of the catalog. If you are creating your company’s catalog, take care while creating it and make sure it fully defines your company and what you sell.
1
Gather catalogs that you enjoy looking at. Peruse the catalogs and take notes about the things you like and dislike in them. Also, check out your competitor's catalog if he has one and take notes.
2
Create a rough blueprint on paper for the inner pages of your catalog. The mock-up will be your blue print for your catalog. Think about what you would like your catalog to look like when it’s finished.
3
Organize and paginate your mock-up. Add additional pages to your mock-up if you want your catalog to contain more content. In addition, decide how much content you want on each page.
4
Gather content. Based on the mock-up, write or gather the descriptions for each item as well as the accompanying photos and product images.
5
Create a couple of mock-ups of the cover on paper. The cover of your catalog is the first thing someone will see when he picks it up. The cover image should grab the reader’s attention and exemplify what you are trying to sell.
6
Lay out the cover and content for the inner pages with professional design software such as Adobe InDesign or Quark, advanced word processing software such as Microsoft Word or design software that includes a catalog creation package. Save the file as a PDF.
7
Bring the file to a printer and have the printer print the catalog. If you are not printing that many catalogs, print them yourself on your home or office printer. If you are printing a lot of catalogs, hire a professional printer to take care of the printing.
Tags:
Direct Marketing, Marketing
1
Gather catalogs that you enjoy looking at. Peruse the catalogs and take notes about the things you like and dislike in them. Also, check out your competitor's catalog if he has one and take notes.
2
Create a rough blueprint on paper for the inner pages of your catalog. The mock-up will be your blue print for your catalog. Think about what you would like your catalog to look like when it’s finished.
3
Organize and paginate your mock-up. Add additional pages to your mock-up if you want your catalog to contain more content. In addition, decide how much content you want on each page.
4
Gather content. Based on the mock-up, write or gather the descriptions for each item as well as the accompanying photos and product images.
5
Create a couple of mock-ups of the cover on paper. The cover of your catalog is the first thing someone will see when he picks it up. The cover image should grab the reader’s attention and exemplify what you are trying to sell.
6
Lay out the cover and content for the inner pages with professional design software such as Adobe InDesign or Quark, advanced word processing software such as Microsoft Word or design software that includes a catalog creation package. Save the file as a PDF.
7
Bring the file to a printer and have the printer print the catalog. If you are not printing that many catalogs, print them yourself on your home or office printer. If you are printing a lot of catalogs, hire a professional printer to take care of the printing.
