Printing Lingo: What are Sell Sheets?

Printing Lingo: What are Sell Sheets?

The front of this two-sided Sell Sheet uses colorful images along with a bulleted list of features and benefits


A sell-sheet acts as the tangible counterpart to an elevator pitch, often labeled as a "one-pager." This concise document efficiently presents your product or service, highlighting its solution to a specific problem. To create a compelling sell sheet, prioritize visual appeal and clarity, ensuring it's straightforward and easy to digest. It should succinctly communicate the core message and include a clear, direct call to action.

Sell Sheets are Simple yet Effective

The function of a Sell Sheet is to stimulate consumer interest while conveying a quick "snap shot" of the product or service being offered. Also referred to as Sales Sheets or Promo Sheets, Sell Sheets are almost always produced as an 8.5" x 11" sheet with printing on one or both sides.

Sell Sheets frequently include "beauty shots", which are colorful photos that display a product or concept in an appealing way. In addition to imagery, a Sell Sheet uses brief yet highly-descriptive wording to convey its marketing message. And Sell Sheets usually include the specifications of the product or service as well as some concise technical data.

Like a promotional brochure, most Sell Sheets are printed in full-color on glossy, high-quality paper. However, because a Sell Sheet is created from a single sheet of paper, its content is generally less in-depth than a brochure. Additionally, a Sell Sheet is usually distributed flat (unfolded) for a straightforward presentation to its intended audience.

Sell Sheets are Very Economical

It is common for a company to produce a separate Sell Sheet for each of its products or services. By having separate Sell Sheets for each offering, a salesperson can provide a more focused presentation to the client, thus enhancing the decision-making process. This makes Sell Sheets a practical and economical supplement to the more comprehensive forms of sales literature, such as brochures and catalogs.

Also, because Sell Sheets are generally printed in the popular 8.5" x 11" size, they can often be produced in a gang run to keep the cost as low as possible. Full color is usually recommended for a Sell Sheet, but they can also be produced with a 1-color or 2-color layout on one or both sides to reduce the cost.

If you'd like to explore the many benefits of printed Sell Sheets, give Formax Printing Solutions a call. Whether you need a short run of 500 or a long run of 1,000,000, Formax has the resources you need to produce your Sell Sheets economically.

Take care! Rick