|
|
I am not in the Real Estate business. I am a freelance graphic designer that had a building question and in the process, came across this post. So, here is my 2 cents. I have created brochures, business cards, magazine ads, signs, etc. for builders and various trades. I find that different things work for different people, depending on the location and the business.
Your first question should be, who's attention do I want? Then, work on ways to get that attention...that's what my job is all about. When you are looking for someone to help with marketing, it is just like looking for a carpenter. Find someone with experience, who will do a quality job for a fair price. Someone who is not looking to upsell just to make money off of you. For example, I know a guy who lays tile and he was approached by a designer wanting to create a brochure, signs, etc. for him. He asked me what I thought. I asked him, "Who's attention do you want?" Since he is a one-man show, he was only looking for referals from the people he had already worked for. I told him, a business card would do the job. Later, if he feels that he's not getting enough attention, then move up to a brochure, ads, etc. (but make sure those items are focused on the right people, otherwise they're a waste of money).
On the other end of the spectrum, I have seen flyers stuck in my door for various trades and instantly think, well, they cut corners for this, will they cut corners if I hire them? If you are serious about your work, then find someone to do a quality job promoting you. Don't get me wrong, I don't think everyone needs an expensive color brochure to express quality (except for landscapers... black and white plants don't do much), but if designed correctly, black and white flyers can be simple and clean, even sophisticated.
Second question, what message (or feeling) do you want to convey? Sometimes sophisticated comes across as pricy and other times simple comes across as cheap. Back to the first question... who's attention do you want?
|
