What should a freelance copywriter know about folds? --"Always Flat "

Dear Always Flat:
If you're working with a ho-hum designer or looking for a way to impress your client, knowing how to fold a brochure can add a WOW factor to the project. 

Copyright © 2011 Blockbuster Print, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Pasted from <http://www.blockbusterprint.com/Brochures.html> 

Forget the conventional tri-fold; it's boring. Go for a gate fold. Or a double gate fold (my personal favorite). With a double gate fold, your piece can have two reveals (1 on the cover + 1 on the folded inside gates) and four inside panels for text. For more on reveals click here.

Another favorite is a Z-fold cover. It gives you two separate front covers, (you turn the book upside down) which provide two separate signature (groups of four pages) areas. Just like a certain breath mint, this gives you two brochures in one. Great for playing two ideas off of each other. For example, let's say you are a custom tailor that also sells prete-a-porter suits. Your custom line goes inside one cover, your ready to wear inside the other.  

A handy folding guide is available at: http://www.ebaprinting.com/brochure-folding-types/

    

The deadline is looming. I'm tired. Is there a tool to help me think? --"Out of Ideas"

Dear Out of Ideas--

You're in luck.  Just head over to http://www.wheelofconcept.com/

It's called the Wheel of Concept, from Tribal DBD New York. Just enter your client's name, spin the wheel, and up pops an idea. Even better, you can download a PDF presentation of the idea, personalized with your client's name and logo.

Actually, there are now two wheels: the original for digital tactics and a recently added one for PR tactics.  

Is there a recipe I can follow to become a better freelance copywriter? --"Alone in the Kitchen"

Dear Alone:
Yes. In French cooking, many recipes begin with the phrase: “Make a roux” (butter and flour cooked together). In creating annual reports, rack brochures, direct mail pieces, and other forms of marketing communications, we often begin with the phrase: “Make a reveal.”

What is a “reveal?” If you’ve ever read a humorous greeting card, then you’ve experienced a reveal. The format is generally the same: a setup on the cover—a question or something that piques the reader’s curiosity or is intriguing—followed by a strategic payoff on the inside.

How does a “reveal” work? Here are three examples:

Example 1: A regional power company was expanding into new forms of energy and needed a way to tell that story to investors. On the cover of their annual report was the phrase, A word about our future. On the first text page inside was the payoff— the single bold word, Energy.

Example 2: A national exterminating company launched a new commercial service and needed a direct mail piece to send to potential clients. On the cover was the statement, Now the technology to eliminate bugs fits in the palm of your hand. A visual payoff—a telephone handset—was used on the inside along with a call to action to call the company for a free inspection. This promotion was a self-mailer. (For more about using post cards, see June 6th post)

Example 3: One of my old self-promotion pieces was targeted to advertising agencies with agri-business clients. The cover asked the question, What could a nice Jewish boy from Miami Beach possibly know about farming? The one-word payoff on the inside: Plenty. The question-answer format is a popular way to create a reveal. A question on the cover piques readers’ curiosity—hopefully enough to cause them to open the piece. This promotion fit in a catalog 

envelope.     

Now it’s your turn…

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Who am I?

ROTH copywriting is Robert Roth---expert Atlanta freelance copywriter. http://www.rothcopy.com

What I'm working on now

Just finished writing content articles for a global crop science company. Starting on a monthly newsletter for the CDC.