Inquiry Monday: What In The World Is A Sell Sheet?

The sell sheet is like a birth announcement for your business. Just as you would like to share the news of a new addition to your family, your product or service deserves the same fanfare. The actual definition is a one or two page flier or brochure that is used to describe your product or service. It can contain a short summary of your sales pitch, along with images and pricing information. This will most often be the first introduction to potential clients, consumers and investors. A sell sheet can also be included in a press kit to be released to media outlets for advertising purposes. Do you have to have one for your business? Maybe. Will a sell sheet be advantageous for marketing your business. Most definitely, yes!

Here are some key suggestions to keep in mind when designing your sell sheet:

1. Place the name of your product and website in a prominent place, in a font that will stand out.

2. Use colors and fonts that represent your product or compliment your website.

3. Insert clear, colorful and meaningful images to show off your product or service.

4. Keep text short and to the point. Rambling leads to people putting your sell sheet down or worse, throwing it in the trash.

5. Use catchy words and phrases to grab the reader's attention. Tell them why your business is better than the competition and back it up with facts.

6. If you are including prices, lay them out in columns and rows so they can be quickly and easily read.

7. Make it look professional and print on nice paper. If it looks cheap, people will think your company is of a lesser quality too.

8. Have fun with it. Play around with layouts until you are happy with the final product.

The image I have posted with this article is the sell sheet I have used when approaching companies to license my patent. I provide it as a sample only, not an example of what yours has to look like. Yours may be totally different, based on your product and audience. Many examples of sell sheet are available on the internet, along with printing businesses who can print up your sell sheets at a reasonable cost. Type "sell sheet" into Google to find all this information.

As you develop your marketing materials, a sell sheet is something you really should consider including. First impressions are very important and a sell sheet will allow you to introduce your business in style!