Jim Hlavac
Brochures
Between 1985 and 2000 I created hundreds of brochures for companies, groups, organizations and other entities
across the states that border the Gulf Coast. You know, those three panel folded brochures that companies give
out to give a brief overview of themselves. I worked in Southeast Texas, which means Houston and vicinity, not
west of Katy, nor north of the I-10 Corridor, but down to Texas City and Pasadena, and up to Port Arthur and
Beaumont, and a slew of tiny places in between. I worked in almost every parish of Louisiana. I did a bunch of
things across Southern Mississippi's I-10 Corridor and through Mobile. And I also did a bunch of stuff down in West
Palm Beach Florida. In those 15 years I traveled hither and yon, into industrial zones and manufacturing parks,
and into shopping centers and business parks, going door to door to sell advertising, promote trade shows,
distribute magazines and get all those small jobs that kept me going until I got to the next one. I did them for
industrial companies, musicians, food companies, service companies, medical people, a funeral home, and more.
There was no shortage of work, really. What there was, was a shortage of imagination and daring on the part of
the folks who operated all these companies. No matter, there was enough business to make a living of sorts. It was
hectic. It was a lot of travel. I've been down country roads and major interstates. I crossed bridges and ferries. I
went to plantation homes and chambers of commerce. I did the 9 to 5 slog and then I went home to shave again,
re-suit up and head out to those networking meet and greets beloved by the entrepreneurial class. The idea is
that you never know who you'll meet. I went to trade shows by the dozens for the same opportunities. About 1 in
100 contacts results in some sort of earnings. It could be just dinner. It could be $50 in cash. Or a few hundred
bucks with an invoice. There were as many ways to do it as there were folks to do it with.
I did not keep copies of all that stuff. Somewhere beginning in 1997 I started to chuck stuff. It was old. It was stale.
It sat there and did nothing in the corner of the room in several file cabinets. It took up too much space and it took
too much time to deal with it. It went to the trash by the boxful. Somewhere in all my stuff I did keep, now very
secure out of the way, there are some examples of what I considered my best work, or at least the most important
in terms of doing business in the future. Most of these things would take me a day to write and perfect, even just a
few hours. It was simple stuff. Nothing fancy. That's why I really didn't charge much. And a lot of it was through the
magazines I worked for, or through advertising agencies I contracted with, though half was surely direct with the
client. Often they were part of a package of promotion and marketing tools I created for them. Sometimes it was
just updating existing materials, though with a little better flair of language, and a streamlined design.
In the process I went to nearly every town between Houston and Mobile along Interstate 10. And thus I can safely
say I was on almost every road in a zone 20 to 30 miles north of the freeway to the shores of the Gulf.
across the states that border the Gulf Coast. You know, those three panel folded brochures that companies give
out to give a brief overview of themselves. I worked in Southeast Texas, which means Houston and vicinity, not
west of Katy, nor north of the I-10 Corridor, but down to Texas City and Pasadena, and up to Port Arthur and
Beaumont, and a slew of tiny places in between. I worked in almost every parish of Louisiana. I did a bunch of
things across Southern Mississippi's I-10 Corridor and through Mobile. And I also did a bunch of stuff down in West
Palm Beach Florida. In those 15 years I traveled hither and yon, into industrial zones and manufacturing parks,
and into shopping centers and business parks, going door to door to sell advertising, promote trade shows,
distribute magazines and get all those small jobs that kept me going until I got to the next one. I did them for
industrial companies, musicians, food companies, service companies, medical people, a funeral home, and more.
There was no shortage of work, really. What there was, was a shortage of imagination and daring on the part of
the folks who operated all these companies. No matter, there was enough business to make a living of sorts. It was
hectic. It was a lot of travel. I've been down country roads and major interstates. I crossed bridges and ferries. I
went to plantation homes and chambers of commerce. I did the 9 to 5 slog and then I went home to shave again,
re-suit up and head out to those networking meet and greets beloved by the entrepreneurial class. The idea is
that you never know who you'll meet. I went to trade shows by the dozens for the same opportunities. About 1 in
100 contacts results in some sort of earnings. It could be just dinner. It could be $50 in cash. Or a few hundred
bucks with an invoice. There were as many ways to do it as there were folks to do it with.
I did not keep copies of all that stuff. Somewhere beginning in 1997 I started to chuck stuff. It was old. It was stale.
It sat there and did nothing in the corner of the room in several file cabinets. It took up too much space and it took
too much time to deal with it. It went to the trash by the boxful. Somewhere in all my stuff I did keep, now very
secure out of the way, there are some examples of what I considered my best work, or at least the most important
in terms of doing business in the future. Most of these things would take me a day to write and perfect, even just a
few hours. It was simple stuff. Nothing fancy. That's why I really didn't charge much. And a lot of it was through the
magazines I worked for, or through advertising agencies I contracted with, though half was surely direct with the
client. Often they were part of a package of promotion and marketing tools I created for them. Sometimes it was
just updating existing materials, though with a little better flair of language, and a streamlined design.
In the process I went to nearly every town between Houston and Mobile along Interstate 10. And thus I can safely
say I was on almost every road in a zone 20 to 30 miles north of the freeway to the shores of the Gulf.