I'm a graphic designer with 30 years' experience and I love my work. Right now I'm doing work primarily for self-published authors and independent publishers designing books (covers and interiors).

I have had a business idea in the back of my mind for several years. I'm always dismayed when I see small businesses using marketing materials that look like their child created them.

I know many small businesses don't have the budget to afford professionally designed work, so I would like to offer them a course in using sound design principles to create their own materials that have a professional look. I have some experience in presenting workshops for association newsletter editors and those were well-reviewed.

I even have an outline of what I'd like to include in the course:
Make Your Own Layout -- Basics for Designing Marketing Materials
1. Design Basics
2. Typography
3. Writing and Editing
4. Production
5. Distribution
6. Logos
7. Business cards and Stationery
8. Flyers and Brochures

So, would small business owners be willing to pay for this course?

Brenda Lewis
Ubangi Graphics
Designs that Work
http://www.ubangi-graphics.com

Hi Brenda,

To begin with, the easiest question to answer is "would small business owners be willing to pay for this course?".

I would gladly pay for such a course, assuming I was certain to get value for the price I would be paying. I would not be pleased to spend a lot of money and walk away feeling like I'd been ripped off. So, you're going to have to be able to prove to me BEFORE I sign up my hard-earned money for your course, that you will be able to deliver that value.

That said...

Very popular these days are teaser webinars. These courses are short information sessions designed to teach parts of parts of your outlined course. Usually they are free or there is a minimal price, $10-$20 per session. When they are done in conjunction with a group, the attendees tend to walk away with more than just the information. Often there are giveaways, videos or sound bytes or text documents with valuable information for any visitor.

These teasers are designed to show off the expertise of the "marketer" so that attendees will jump at the chance for an intense training course that is much more expensive or comes with a monthly mastermind group & fee etc.

So, yes, SBOs will pay for it. You just have to package it and price it correctly.

Now I bet you have a bunch of questions?

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

Hi Tina,

Thank you so much for your response.

What I had in mind was an ebook, a CD product including a workbook and a Webinar for groups of 10. I already have an ebook on designing flyers in a before and after format that will be available for free but I also really like the idea of a teaser Webinar.

You've given me a lot to think about and as I work through product development I will be back with more questions.

Thanks again,
Brenda

Brenda Lewis
Ubangi Graphics
Designs that Work
http://www.ubangi-graphics.com

I like the idea. Honestly, any type of information that is designed for beginners in topics like these, can make good money on the net. Don't forget to have affiliate marketers sell it for you too. That way you'll get a lot more people into your product faster.

Each of your points above can be a course in and of itself if you think of it. You could do this by "email" membership course. The members would pay a monthly fee to have all your lessons emailed by pdf or the link emailed to them... you could make this last a year with all the information that could be included in the course.

Let me know if you get it going.

Stephanie

Hi Brenda,
I'm not sure how far you've already gotten on this idea (which seems to be a good one by the way), but I always suggest to SBO's that you conduct a market survey. It can be done quite cost-effectively and there are even online tools that you can use. Whichever way you decide, it's important that you get a good understanding of what business owners would be expecting from a product such as yours.

The more input you can get, the better.

Good luck!

Hi Brenda,

I'm new to the board and trying to get some insite myself on starting a senior based business or a senior educational consulting firm. Here is some food for thought for you.

If you have been in your industry for at least 30 years, I'm guessing that you are probably in your 50's or nearing it. Have you ever encounted problems yourself in reading certain marketing materials because the print is just too small or the background is way to busy and opening the darn thing may even present challenges? Imagine what it might be like if you were 75 years, who had arthritic fingers and failing eyesite. How easy would it be to turn the page of a flyer or even read if you were looking at extremely small print. That expensive advertising might not reach this audience.

I bring this up because it is projected that by 2020, 1 in 6 Americans will be seniors over the age of 65. By the way the fastest growing population of that group are the 85 year olds. By 2050 on a GLOBAL scale it is estimated that there will be 2 billion 60 year olds. That is a huge number not to market to.

I say all this, because this is definitely a target group that all businesses should be marketing their products to.

I have a background in Social Work but I am currently taking this certification course to be a Certified Senior Advisor. It is no substitute for professional credentials in gerontology, but the one thing the program does do is make you aware of the health, financial and social issues that impact our growing senior population. They even discuss how to market to seniors the fonts to use fonts, using only contrasting colors, and how even you can insult seniors in your presentation if the print is TOO BIG. All industries could benefit from this understanding of our elderly.

What is my point...any person that is thinking about going into a business should have in the back of their minds that Seniors comprise a huge growth industry and that they should gear their marketing to it. Failing eyesight, limited abilities and failing hearing, are considerations when communicating with this audience.

That's my two sense. Good luck to ya!