Let’s break it down…
We will compare an 8 page printed full color brochure with an 8 page full color web site (electronic brochure).

Design
Cost is a variable in both media due to the many options available.
Color, Text & Photos is available in both media.

Production
Cost is variable in the Printed Brochure. There are always costs for such things as color proofs (Chromalin, Match Proof, etc,) and “set-up” costs which include the negatives to create the printing plates.
Cost is fixed in the Web Brochure. You pay a monthly fee to your “Web Host” to rent the space to store your Web Site (Brochure). The pages are “published” to that space after they have been designed/created at no additional cost.

Changes to final product is NOT an option in the Printed Brochure. Once it has been printed it is a “done deal” and the only way to make changes is to manually make the changes in every brochure, insert a “Changes” sheet or have the brochure reprinted with the changes.
Changes to final product is ALWAYS an option in the Web Brochure. You will probably have to pay your designer to make the changes, but you will not have to recreate the entire brochure. Changes are “published” to the brochure as soon as they are completed.

Number of Units is fixed in the Printed Brochure. Basically, it is determined by the number of copies your contracted to have printed.
Number of Units is unlimited in the Web Brochure.. Here is where the difference begins to become noticeable… your site (brochure) is available to EVERYBODY who access to the Internet!

Distribution
Cost is variable in the Printed Brochure. Depends on whether you mail it, ship it or hand it out.
Cost is nothing in the Web Brochure. Your site (brochure) is available to EVERYBODY who access to the Internet!
Potential Readers… I think you get the idea!

Let’s give you some numbers to work with.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that it costs the same to have a Printed Brochure and a Web Brochure designed and ready to publish. Therefore, the Design Costs are equal for both media.

For our example we are going to have 15,000 8 page full color brochures printed. Based on current print industry averages, 15,000 brochures will cost about $5,000.

Now we have to get those brochures to our potential customers. Lets say we decide to mail 2,000 brochures and hand deliver 1,000. We will keep 12,000 available for future use. Using 33¢ stamp for each of the brochures we will mail, we will need $660.00. We hire a couple of college students to hand deliver 1,000 brochures locally and we pay them $40.00 (they are really broke!).

So… we’ve spent $5,000 to print the brochures, $700 to distribute three fifths of them and we are back at our store looking at the beautiful brochure we have just invested in. One of two things happens:
1. We notice an informational error that somehow escaped us in the proofing
OR
2. a supplier calls us with a major change in their pricing structure

Either way… “we have a problem, Houston”. We have spent more than $5,700 (don’t forget the design costs) in a brochure that is incorrect as well as 12,000 of them sitting in the back room!

If this were a Web Brochure you would:
1. NOT spend $5,000 for printing
2. NOT spend $700 for distribution
3, NOT have an inaccurate brochure (well, not for long, anyways)

With the Web Brochure you would typically pay @$50 per month (12 X $50 = $600 per YEAR).
AND any mistakes and/or changes can be corrected within minutes!

There are obviously other concerns such as how do people find out about your Web Brochure. The simple answer is “You TELL them!”. Business cards, advertisements, flyers, etc…. but that’s another document.