The Pros and Cons of Online Brochure Printing

When you decide to print business brochures, you will have many choices between printing companies - within your own city and within specialties. Another choice you will have to make is whether to go with an online brochure printing company. Before you make the decision, consider the following pros and cons to online brochure printing.

Pros

Less decision-making. When you order your business brochures through an online company, you can browse through a collection of templates and then just pick one of those templates to plug your information into. It can be much less time-consuming (if you can make a quick decision on the templates!) than designing a brochure on your own.

More choices. Along with less-decision making, you have a plethora of choices between online companies and you also have many choices in the template collection at each online company. Also, many online companies are starting to specialize in certain industries, so you can work with people who know your industry best.

It is less expensive than traditional printers. The costs you pay for with a brick-and-mortar building, like storage, travel expenses, and employee pay can be minimized with an online company. Many times, the same person who prints the brochure can be wrapping up someone else's order at the same time, which eliminates a paid shipping position.

Cons

You could choose a scam site. Choosing a reputable business online is sometimes hard. Many Web sites look legit, but are actually scams. When choosing a brick-and-mortar business, you know it is real, but it can be hard to tell if an online business is real. To check, look for a street address - be weary if you cannot find an address or a phone number. Look for an online reliability seal, given by the Better Business Bureau.

A lack of this seal (which is still somewhat new) does not necessarily mean it is bad news, but you can take comfort if it's displayed. Also, when you go to the page to check out and you put in your credit card info, make sure there is a little lock icon in the corner of the URL or Web page to show it is secure. In lieu of the lock icon, the Web page address could have "SSL" or "TLS" in the address to show it is being encrypted.

You do not have as much creative control. When you work with someone in your city, you can sit down with them and design your brochure together. That is not usually the case with online companies. You can have a phone call to discuss options, but the set of options you have to choose from are limited by the company. You cannot easily personalize templates online because it can be a time-consuming process. Personalization is best left to the face-to-face experts who can work with you in the same room.

You risk being a "copycat". With many companies using online printing services, you run the risk of choosing the same template as your competitors. A little competitive research can alleviate this risk though.

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