Many small business owners have tight budgets for the advertising and promotion of their business these days. Some business owners may believe that they can't even afford a good quality, basic marketing vehicle such as a full-color brochure. However, a professional brochure should not be viewed as an option for a small business owner, but instead it should be considered a necessity, just another cost of being in business .

A big obstacle to getting a brochure together to promote a business is that some business owners just aren't aware as to how the process works , how to get it done or who to contact to get it done for them.

There are more than a couple of ways for a small business to get a good brochure developed.

You can contact a local advertising agency or design firm and they can complete the whole process for you, but they will be your most expensive option. For a lot of small businesses, hiring a professional design or ad agency is going to be beyond their advertising budget.

Another potential option to try is to locate a freelance graphic designer to work on your project. You can look for freelance workers around your city at various online sites such as Craig's List or in local newspapers.

Before you hire a freelance designer you will want to check out their past work and consider their experience. Artists will have samples of brochure design work that they did for previous clients or examples of designs that they may use as inspiration in developing your brochure.

A freelance designer will probably come up with some different designs to show you and have you choose your favorite . Once you decide upon the direction of the project, your designer will develop the brochure and take it all the way up through the printing process , delivering you a box of ready-to-go marketing materials. If you're concerned about having a written contract with your freelancer, you can draw a simple one up, but it usually isn't necessary.

Another option, and a good one, is to find a graphic design student to create the work for you. Talented design students will often take on your project for only a small amount of money , because they need the work experience and they want to have some completed projects in their work portfolio to show potential employers one day . You can usually find a talented, willing student through a local design school or graphics department at a local college.

Finally, you can go ahead and just make the brochure yourself. However, most business owners don't have the necessary talents to get a really good finished product, I recommend business owners just concentrate on doing what they do well and working on their business. They should leave the design to someone experienced in the field. Plus, having a poorly designed brochure could have a negative affect on how customers view your business for years to come.