Marketing with 4-color printing

Getting your brochures printed in full color (also known as 4-color) doesn't have to be expensive.

To have about 2500 brochures printed in 4-color on an 8 1/2 x 11 page, front and back, you can pay as little as 20 cents per brochure.

If you choose to design your brochure in-house, check with the printing company first.

All files, including artwork, will need to be in a format that your printer can work from.

It's also a good idea to get a quote with and without design services included.

Especially for very large quantities, some printing companies will charge only a nominal fee for layout and design.

The reason that full color printing can be such a good value has to do with the process itself.

With 4-color printing, every color is converted to a percentage of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. (Sometimes you see this referred to as cmyk. The "k" stands for "kohl", which means black.)

So, regardless of how many colors you use in creating your brochure, it receives no more than four printing passes, hence the term 4-color printing.

If you only need a couple of hundred brochures, you might want to look at other printing options. However, it depends on the market you want to reach.

It also depends on your products or services, and how important color is to communicating their value and appeal to the consumer.

Consider your printing cost. Then, look at how many customers you expect to gain and how much each of these customers is worth to you.

Color sells. Research has shown that.

Make sure, though, that your full-color brochure does the job it's designed to do.

Just because you have practically no limit to the colors you can have doesn't mean you should use them all.

Color should enhance your message, not obscure it.

Nancy Richardson
CreateYourMarket.com publisher

Need a writer?

Quick Tips:

Enclose a business card promoting your website with each piece of outgoing mail.

Ask customers who frequently do business with you for a testimonial.

Promote your website URL offline on everything from bumper stickers to your answering machine message.

Want to reach the highest percentage of your target market?

Advertise in specialty publications including newspaper supplements devoted to a specific topic.

Marketing is crucial, but it doesn't always have to be serious.

Some of the most effective advertising campaigns rely on humor. Don't be afraid to make your customers laugh!

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Marketing With 4-Color Printing