2. Brochures

Historically the mainstay of any sales push, brochures have lost out to websites as a way of reaching out to customers in recent times, but still represent a major potential source of work for professional copywriters. The aim of most brochures is to help in the sales process by providing information, although text is only one element in this. Often much of the take-out from a brochure is subliminal, with high-quality printing, expensive photography and so on all working together to create an image of professionalism that the customer will, ideally, buy into. The design, consequently, is every bit as important as the words. For the copywriter, this usually means brochure projects will involve working closely alongside a designer or, at least, having a good idea of what the layout will look like, and writing to fit in with the themes and word counts dictated by the design.

When taking a brief for a brochure, find out who exactly the publication is aimed at and how it will be used. If possible, talk to the sales force directly to find out what they need to help with their work; it could be a very different animal from that envisaged by, say, the marketing department. If you can, why not go a step further and talk to a few customers, too, to get their views on what will work. On large projects this kind of research may already be factored into the production process.

Check to see what response mechanism needs to be mentioned. Will customers be directed to a website, a freephone number or something similar? And finally, query any information, such as price lists, which might be time-sensitive. Brochures are notoriously costly to produce and your client will not be pleased if their investment is outdated within a few weeks of publication. (For the same reason, be extra careful about checking for mistakes in your copy. You certainly will not be thanked if grammatical or spelling errors crop up in the finished product.)