I ran into a service called Blurb at the SXSW Interactive Conference this March and think they have a tool that has some great small business marketing applications. The service lets you take written words and images and turn them into very professional looking hard bound books in small quantities.

Blurb originally developed a bit of a following among bloggers wishing to memorialize their writings in a nice printed form. (I know, we’re kind of geeky.) Looking at the final product however gave me some ideas of how small businesses could employ these books – blog or no blog.

Imagine a real estate agent snapping photos of your current home and your new home and putting together a scrap book. Or, what about a home remodeler chronicling a project before during and after and presenting the homeowner with a memory book to show their friends – of course, one page might have some information about the contractor and designer too. (Looks like a nice referral tool to me.)

What about a financial planner wanting to stand out and impress high net worth investors with a hard bound storybook. The technology is useful for anyone who can envision a beautiful presentation book in very small or personal quantities. The cost is so affordable I could see using these for specific proposals and presentations.

The printing process is pretty straightforward after you get the hang of the custom software and layout tools. Check them out here – Duct Tape Marketing readers can get free shipping too.