Written tools

These short tips and news items cover the following:

• great brochures
• reaching older readers
• persuading on paper

Disney wants longer copyrights

The United States is planning a dramatic change to its copyright law. Right now, your work is protected for 50 years after you die. But if it's "work for hire," meaning work you wrote it as part of your job, then the work is protected for 75 years after publication.

This is worrying Disney, because we're getting close to the 75th anniversary of some of its flagship characters. So many big publishers are asking for another 20 years. And in 20 years, they'll probably ask for 20 more. The ironic part is that almost all of Disney's famous full-length cartoons were based on works that had passed into public domain.

Creating great brochures

The key to any great brochure is a great marketing strategy. Specifically, decide what you do better than anybody else, and make that the focus of both your strategy and your brochure. Skew everything in your brochure to your key strengths.

Once you have defined how you are better than other people, be specific. Back yourself up with a sprinkling of facts and figures. Barring that, use testimonials. Borrow the credibility of your best clients.

But be careful. The number-one mistake many brochures make is to talk about features (descriptions of the product or service) instead of benefits (how the product or service can help your client). You're not selling widgets. You're selling efficiency, or ease of use, or status, or any of a number of other benefits.

Next, remember that space and attention are both at a premium. Busy people don't read. They skim. So use headers and bullet points, as well as short sentences and paragraphs. Use a judicious amount of bold type. You'll also need to have some graphics, as well as plenty of white space to convey prestige.

Finally, insert a call to action. "Phone me today." "Visit our Web site for more information." "Drop by for a two-for-one deal."

Reaching older readers

Not only do older readers need larger text but, according to American Demographics, they prefer more white space and find it harder to see subtle colour contrasts such as pink on red.

Persuading on paper

Marcia Yudkin's Persuading on Paper ($11.95, 375 Hudson Street, NY NY 10014) offers these tips.

• Answer a prospect's number-one question, "What's in it for me?"
• Fill in these blanks: I'm the only one who ___.
• Asks "Says who" of your marketing claims and replace any that are answered "Says me," "Says no-one," or "Says someone my audience doesn't trust."
• Write copy with quick readers in mind.
• Choose emotional words over intellectual ones.
• Don't skimp on white space.

Cornerstone is a writing and editing firm that uses marketing and PR principles to create "words you can build your business on."

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