Product sell sheets bridge the gap between what you’ve told your prospect about your new product or service and what they’ll remember. Usually offered at trade shows, face-to-face meetings, as part of a media kit, or included in mailings, these letter-sized gems can really pack a punch. Or they can bore the socks off your prospect!
What makes an effective product sell sheet?
Strong copywriting and eye-catching graphic design create attention and interest, the first two elements of making a sale. Let’s talk about copywriting first.
Begin with the questions, “why would anyone want this product or service?” and “who is my audience?” Use the answers to position your product or service as a solution to your market’s needs.
Now consider the features: colors, sizes, specifications, available accessories, etc. Keep it easy on your reader and use bullets, not blocks of text.
Add your call to action. What is it that you want your reader to do? Call? Visit your web site? Join your mailing list? Visit your store? Guide your reader to that next step with clear instructions and contact information.
Designing and printing your product sell sheet
Product sell sheets come in many sizes and shapes, but for today, let’s focus on the 8-1/2 x 11, letter-sized sheet. Whether printed on one-side or both, this size provides the greatest flexibility as to how it will be used because it’s equally at home in a brochure stand or folded and inserted into a standard #10 envelope.
- Design your product sell sheet to emphasize the benefits and features of your product or service.
- Use high-resolution photos of your products or find some quality stock photography to illustrate concepts.
- Base your overall color palette on the images you choose.
- Stay away from dark backgrounds with light text. This combination is hard on the eyes and performs poorly in every test of advertising response.
Use full-color printing. This is not the place to sacrifice color due to printing costs. Think about how many sheets you’ll realistically use before you’ll want or need to make changes, and consider a smaller print run on a color laser printer. Yes, you’ll pay more per sheet, but often it costs less than printing on press in the long-run, since you eliminate the waste of leftover boxes of obsolete flyers.
Finally, choose a quality, heavyweight paper such as 100# gloss or matte text stock. Photos tend to have more pop when printed on gloss stock, but fingerprints can be a problem if your product sell sheets will be handled by the public.
If you need help with copywriting, graphic design, or the whole package including printing of your product sell sheets, please use my contact page to get in touch with me.
How are you using product sell sheets to introduce your products or services? Do you have any tips to share on this topic?
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Nice Site. I am new here but will be visiting more often as you have done a good job.
Thanks
Nice article .. what are the various types of product sheets that you can design?
Randy, Mick – Thanks for your comments.
Mick, I’ve designed b2b sell sheets for manufacturers within the hobby, electronics, and food service industries. One of these days I may actually get these posted to my copywriting and design portfolio!
Would you say that sell sheets are for print only or can they be used for pdf download as well ?
hey, love the blog – i will try and keep up with it!! please keep more coming
I wish I could start a blog but I don’t have much time 
Thanks, nick
web design – Why not offer them for PDF download?
nick – Thanks! I’m finding it challenging to keep up with as well. So many ideas, but so little time available to write!
Hey, thanks for the info. I find that one of the biggest things is the quality of the photo for the item being advertised. It attracts attention and really makes a difference.
Excellent advertising tips… as it is said, the first impression is the last impression. thanks for sharing.
This is great information. I designeed sell sheets for a summer internship and concisely these are the steps i followed… Its very good. .
Good stuff! I’ll definately be visiting again. Nice work.
Good Information. I really like this Topic.
I wont comment on blogs, but i cant be stop myself in ur blog mate.. really a nice blog..
Hey, I’ve been visiting the site for a while but never commented. Keep up the good work! Drop me a line on my blog sometime, Online Movie Reviews. Later.
Thanks for posting about this, I would love to read more about this topic
This is a great post. It covers the concept very well. Sometimes the importance of color palette and color printing are not emphasized enough when companies produce product sell sheets. Equal empasis on design and content is paramount!
Product sell sheets bridge the gap between what you’ve told your prospect about your new product or service and what they’ll remember.
Daniel and Lisa, I agree. It’s important to leave behind something more substantial than your business card. Professional design and color printing get your product sheet noticed, and provide the opportunity for your words to sell.
Thanks to everyone who’s commented!
How to Create a Product Sell Sheet.its really good article.This is great information. I designed sell sheets for a summer internship i follow this steps…
Nice article .. what are the various types of product sheets that you can design?
@staryorkie – Thanks! I’m not quite sure how to answer your question as to the types of product sheets. We’ve created them for manufacturers, a magazine publisher, and service businesses. I really do need to post them to a portfolio so that I can show samples. Send me a note with your looking for via our contact form and I’ll get back to you with more information.
By the way, the Teacup Yorkies on your site are the cutest things I’ve ever seen, especially that little Heidi Klum!
This blog is great, because it quality and not quantity.
What program do u suggest to design a sell sheet?
Andrew, I use Adobe InDesign. It’s a professional level program, comes with a pro price tag, but it’s easy to learn and use. Our graphic designer relies more heavily on Photoshop for fliers that he designs for our clients. A less expensive, less user friendly option is MS Publisher.