Brochures are an important part of any business’s marketing plan. They are portable, inexpensive to create and offer credibility to a business. Brochures can be used in any part of the marketing process, either to generate leads or to close a sale. Because brochures are so important, you should create a brochure for each product you offer, or each category of product you offer. A brochure needs to be focused, which means creating multiple brochures instead of lumping your products all into one brochure.
The easiest way to create a brochure is in Microsoft Word. You have two ways of making a brochure in Word: download a template and fill in the blanks, or create a brochure from scratch. Neither way is better than the other; it depends on your time commitment and your design abilities.
You can easily go to Microsoft Office Online and download any brochure template you want. Then you just replace all of the text and images with your own.
If you want to create your own brochure in Microsoft Word from scratch, follow these steps.
Step 1
Decide on your layout. The most common layouts are the bi-fold and tri-fold. The bi-fold has one fold, creating four panels, front and back. The tri-fold has two folds, creating six panels, front and back. Your layout will determine how your brochure is designed.
Step 2
Go to File – Page Setup to set the margins. You should leave at least 1/8-inch margins around all sides for a clean look. 
Step 3
Set your paper to print in Landscape. No matter which kind of fold you chose in Step 1, your brochure will print on 8.5 x 11-inch paper and will be folded from there.
Step 4
Add columns to create your brochure panels. If you decided on a tri-fold, you’ll need three columns on one page and three columns on the next page (the back of the brochure). If you want to create a bi-fold brochure, add two columns to each page. You can alter the spacing and width of the columns as needed, but the default spacing should be okay for most layouts. 
Step 5
Add breaks between the columns so that each panel of your brochure will hold separate paragraphs of information. Place your cursor in the first column (the one way to the left) and go to Insert – Break and choose “Column break.” Your cursor should now be at the top of the next column. Insert another break if needed, if you have three columns. 
Step 6
Add a page break for the back of your brochure. Place your cursor in the right-hand column and go to Insert – Break and choose “Page break.” Now you’ll be on your second page, or the back of your brochure. Insert column breaks here as well by repeating Step 5. 
Step 7
Add graphics and text to your columns. Be sure to insert text on the panel where you intend. You might want to print out your two pages and number the columns and then fold the papers back to back so you can see which column will be where (the back panel, front panel, etc.).
Step 8
Save your brochure once you’re happy with the design. 
Step 9
Print out a test copy. If you’re happy with the design, send your file to an online printer or to a local printer and print out as many as you need.
Tips
- Many printers will also print the recipient’s addresses for you if you’re mailing out the brochures. This will cost you extra, but will save you a lot of time. If you’re going to be handing out brochures or leaving them in a holder in your store, you can skip the addressing step.
- Be sure to save your brochure so that you can go back and alter the content but keep the layout for product updates. You can also tweak the colors or font for different products so that your brochures have the same basic look and feel for each product. Consistency is key when advertising with brochures – you want recipients to know that they’ve gotten multiple brochures from you rather than think that they’ve gotten a single brochure from multiple companies. This will give them a sense of familiarity with your products and your business. People buy from businesses they know.
