I frequent the coffee shop in one of the retail areas near my house. They have a community bulletin board that is littered with flyers and business cards. I’ve noticed it a few times, however, I don’t usually look at them for more than a few seconds.
With that realization, I conducted an experiment.
I’ve heard that you only have 3 seconds to catch someones attention and get them to read your content. Which means, a flyer full of 14 pt font- even if it’s on brightly colored paper- is not going to cut it.
You have to catch their attention. What is the ONE thing you want to say. Why are you even creating a flyer in the first place? That should be your focal point. You don’t have to have mad Photoshop or Illustrator skills (even though those are my programs of choice). Maybe just a basic knowledge of Publisher, or even Word has a few good templates.
Or hire someone that can do it quicker and cleaner. They’re going to save you time- a lot of time. And it’s going to get people’s attention.
Color. Yes. It needs to be in color. In our day and age, with flashing lights and technology surrounding us, color is critical. You will not get the attention you want with out standing out, and color is a really easy way to do it.
Here’s the math for 1000 flyers (which won’t go far):
Do it yourself: about $100 (give or take depending on your printer and the paper quality) plus about 2 hours of your time creating and printing. These are black print or photocopies on colored paper.
Color design printed yourself: about $150 (considering the cost of ink and the fact that you are going to use photo paper or something of similar quality).
Print through Kinkos or Office Depot: $250 for color. It’s averages about $.25 per color print, one sided on medium quality paper.
Printing through VistaPrint: $370+ shipping and 7 days.
Having someone like me do it: $235.
While having someone local doesn’t seem to save you any money. Think about the value of the product.
1. You don’t have to spend any time on the work, and time is money.
2. There is an extra level of professionalism when the flyer is custom made.
3. If you put out a copy of a flyer, what does that say to your customers. Does it say anything at all?
Before you start printing off hundreds of flyers for your next event, think about the message you want to get across, your audience and whether or not you even want to be noticed.
modernelixir 