Why businesses and professionals should gift the story of their client’s journey in a branded book

Every business professional and freelancer knows the pain of the digital overload we’ve had to deal with this past year.

Everything’s been online, on screen, and no-contact. There are no handshakes, client coffees, or working lunches. We think it’s long overdue: bring back the personal touch!  

We spend all day looking at our screens. So do our customers. Our eyes are strained and our brains are burned out. 

We want to see a revolution - going back to having physical things to share and to hold. 

Namely, we’re talking about printed portfolios, case studies, and bound brand books. 

We all go on journeys with our clients: ranging from the short and sweet, to the businesslike, to the highly involved, and even the emotional. In many cases, we’re bringing about big change in peoples’ lives.

No one will know this better than lifestyle entrepreneurs. If you’re a trainer, instructor, coach or mentor of any kind, you’ll get to witness major transformation firsthand. The same goes for those involved in building, renovations, travel and charity sectors.  In fact, anyone providing an emotive or life-enhancing experience for their clients, you’ll understand just how transformational the journey can be.  

So, what if you could present the journey of that transformation in a beautifully bound and printed book? Something completely bespoke and personalised that your client can share with others and keep forever.


Some examples might be…

• Personal Trainers and Nutritionists Memory Book: Capture the story of a client’s fitness journey, or a journey to health and wellbeing. Whether their story is losing weight, overcoming injury, or overcoming confidence and anxiety, celebrate their 12- or 16-week transformational programmes with a book that champions your client.
  

• Architects, Property Developers and Interior Designers Portfolio Book: Anyone who's undertaken a self-build, Grand Designs style project or total renovation will understand how all-consuming it becomes. Remind your client of their journey with a ‘before, during and after’ transformation. Include technical drawings, mood boards, notices of planning, demolition photos, construction photos through to interior design and staging. Don't forget to include any hurdles and how you overcome them to create a wow-factor property transformation.
  
  

• Wedding Planner’s Memory Book: As a wedding planner, you become a trusted friend and confidante that guides a couple through one of the most important events in their lives. To be able to create a parting client gift that includes details from their initial mood boards to meeting suppliers (photos of the cake tasting in particular come to mind), to setting up the venue, a bound book of the planning journey will banish any post-wedding blues and leave a lasting impression that will stick with them forever. These books complement the wedding album and are a lovely reminder of the run up to the big day.

• Training Schools and Courses Summary Book: From cookery to baby classes, art classes to performing arts classes, as your course takes place, you could capture photos of your attendees in action, recipes or important guidance, and collate into a special end-of-course leaving book.
  
  

• Events Companies Portfolio Book: Events provide a whole wealth of memory-making material. Perhaps your client hosts an annual employee awards night, or perhaps they hold an annual Christmas Ball? Or if you work in the performance sector, perhaps you have a client who tours? Capture behind the scenes content and compile photo, dates, quotes, and tickets as a special memento to remember the event or tour by. 
  

• Marketing and PR Agencies Project Book: When you have a large brief land, it’s the perfect time to stand out from the competition. Whether it’s a marketing rebrand or product launch, or whether it’s a communications campaign to raise awareness of a special cause, replace the old end-of-campaign PDF with a bound book that details the journey and results.
  
  

• Fundraisers Memory Book: Maybe you have an employee who's gone the extra mile for your chosen corporate charity by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or swimming the channel. Showcase their efforts in their own photobook and include messages of thanks from the charity, coworkers and senior leaders. 

• Sport’s Team Season Memory Books: A team’s journey through a season is full of heartache and jubilation, laughs, blood, sweat and tears – capture the drama in a stunning memory book featuring all the team members, the key matches, the quotes and the jokes.
  
  
  

Bound and printed books can make exceptional gifts for customers and clients, so the next time you complete a large project, why not create a project overview book for them to cherish as a keepsake? They’re bound to pass it around, and them doing so might land you your next big job!


Top 3 reasons to gift your clients the story of their journeys in printed form:

1. Enrich your interaction. As humans we like to share things. Passing food, gifts, and items is a way of connecting. Given the choice, which sounds more meaningful: presenting a bound book, or emailing a PDF? As far as we’re concerned, this one’s a no-brainer.
   

2. Upgrade your professional image. Bound books carry a certain prestige. Premium paper and high-quality imagery create the impression of a higher standard for your organisation. When your delighted clients show their books to others, your brand will be represented - and remembered. 
   

3. Social media exposure. Nobody can resist sharing personalised items on Facebook or Instagram. If your client is undergoing a big transformation, like a weight loss journey, new skill, or self-improvement program, they’re likely to be sharing their journey online already. A gift like this is a perfect way for people to mark and celebrate their success. It provides the perfect “I did it!” material for them, and great brand exposure for you.  
   
   

Ultimately, a heartfelt and personalised gift is an amazing way to reward loyal clients. It’s always nice to receive a bottle of bubbly or a box of chocolates as a thank you. But do you know what’s even nicer? Something different. 


A sustainable gift

We all have a responsibility to make sure our marketing efforts are sustainable. And it’s something our customers are picking up on more and more. If you’ve ever ordered a batch of leaflets or business cards, you’ll know the difficulty of minimum order quantities.
When printing houses only allow you to order 200 or 500 printed items at a time, even if you only need 50, huge amounts of paper get tossed in the bin (or sit on the shelves until they’re out of date, and then get tossed in the bin).
The beauty of print on demand is that it cuts out this issue entirely. Even better, everything we print is on FSC certified paper. This means the paper comes from managed forests that are specifically planted and replanted for a renewable paper supply. No deforestation, and no destruction of natural habitats.


Start your new print initiative now - visit us at Memory Books to explore the possibility of crafting something branded, professional, lasting, and totally unique.