The principal prop of most businesses in marketing their products and services is the catalog. Of course, its preparation and creation is a matter of more than passing care and study. If your business is to create a saleable catalog, you must analyze first the good points of your business. You must write down all the important information and study catalog design over and over again, adding a fresh thought from time to time, eliminating an unnecessary paragraph or sentence and presenting the facts desired to complete the catalog.



Understand that the foundation of a good catalog is the idea. The idea is the basis of the advertisement. It is the prime and primeval requisites of ads. Without the idea nothing can be stated. Remember that the better the idea the better the statements and the stronger the advertisement. Thus, is it important to study, absorb, and think out the ideas carefully. Words are the vehicles of ideas and when you are able to conceptualize a good idea you may as well be able to use creative and appealing words.

Ideas may consist of facts related to the business together with out-side thoughts – thoughts that have indirect bearing to the business. Ideas come from many sources. You pick up a newspaper and your brain receives a score or more of ideas. You pick up a book and the author's ideas are tincturing your mind. And when you come in contact with other people and you are at once inoculated with their thoughts. Thus, a mind that is trained in ad writing can study a business and pick out the best advertising phase and the best set of ideas. So as a business owner seeking to create an effective catalog, you should study your readers with great consideration. Advertising, in a sense, may be defined as the influence of mind over mind, thus, the psychological element in advertising is the most important one.

After devising the idea, you are now ready to write out your catalog. Your first draft may be satisfactory, the second better but still not up to your expectation, and the third is near perfection and the fourth and fifth feels that you are ready for the printing press. At this point, it is vital to emphasize the importance of giving the catalog a good printer. Keep in mind that a poorly printed catalog is a poor salesman – it misrepresents instead of represents. Thus, aim for a printer that offers a dignified, business-like and impressive printing.

After having gone through with producing your stunning catalog, you are now ready to put your ad to the test. This is the time you will know whether your idea and creativity works.