Selecting a Graphic Designer for Business Endeavors

Whether you are creating your business’ webpage or producing top-notch printed materials to market to your customers, choosing a graphic designer that works for and with you should be the first step in your endeavors.

A great graphic designer should work with you and your company to understand your needs, and create killer visuals for you to utilize within your business. We know the search can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips to help you find the graphic designer of your dreams:

• Keep local. Search local business listings and reviews on sites like Yelp. It will be easier to determine which graphic designer will work best for you based on others’ experiences.

• Ask for referrals. Trusted friends and businesses will guide you in the right direction. If you see a piece of graphic art from another business that you are drawn to, don’t be afraid to ask who their designer is.

• Search design directories and browse designs from contests and competitions.

Your designer will help boost your brand or business by implementing your business persona within your business graphics. Awesome websites, mail pieces and more will draw your customers in and keep them coming back for more!

Great business logos make lasting impressions…

What’s the first thing you think of when you think about the electronic retailer Best Buy? For most, it is a giant yellow price tag that features the words “Best Buy” in bold black letters. A successful logo should represent your brand and give customers something to remember without knowing anything about your business.

Business Stationery Shows Professionalism

Do you make good and lasting impressions on your customers, even if you are only communicating on paper? Whether you are sending a quick note or mailing out an invoice, your business stationery will leave consumers remembering your name or brand.

Your business stationery begins with your business logo designed with care and precision. If you cannot meet with your clients and customers face-to-face, give them a great logo to look at in the meantime.

From there, equip yourself with business stationery that everyone will see.

Business Cards

Your business card is the most basic tool in your marketing arsenal. Utilize your awesome business logo along with contact information. Be sure to give your customers and clients extra cards so they can pass them along to friends.

Letterhead

Great letterhead works wonders to keep your name in your customers’ brains. Short notes, invoices, reminders and more should be sent with your business logo or information on the page!

Envelopes

If you are mailing marketing content to clients, be sure to utilize your logo within the return address of your envelopes.

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Ajalon is here to help you create the perfect business stationery—from logo design to letterhead printing, we want to help you spread the word about your business. Contact us for more information or place an order today.

What is your website color scheme?

Building business websites take a lot of work, but with some common sense and a keen eye for design, you can create a site that stands up to the competition and beyond. Something as simple as your color scheme will work wonders to attract new customers and keep your former clients returning for more.

City of Santa Rosa

The City of Santa Rosa uses an olive and burgundy color scheme, reminiscent of the bountiful grape vineyards within Sonoma County.

E-Myth

E-Myth employs a black and blue color scheme that stands out in a crowd.

Zazu

Zazu Restaurant and Farm’s simple design is paired perfectly with an offbeat yellow, red and black color scheme that we just love.

What colors are you utilizing within your own business website?

Can your customers find you on the web?

Let’s just agree right now that a website is absolutely necessary for every business owner. The world wide web is where consumers are doing their research, making comparisons, and spending their money. Without a killer website, how will your business get noticed on the internet?

A lot of businesses already have websites, but fall short with minimal design and content. Here are a few strategies to help amp up your business’s webpage.

Relevant Content

If you’re in the field of medicine, your clients probably do not want to read about your summer vacation. Be sure your content is what prospective customers are looking for, and be sure to have enough of it.

Superb Design

Humans are visual creatures. We respond to colors, photos, animation and videos much more than text, so be sure to design an eye-pleasing homepage.

Powerful SEO

You have some great graphics and engaging content on your site, but can search engines keep track of it? Ensure your website is found by consumers by analyzing your SEO (search engine optimization) and improving keywords, titles, tags and more.

Share Buttons

Now that you’re awesome website is being found on the internet by old and new clients alike, be sure they can share it! Social media share buttons will engage your readers in a way that transforms your small business into a growing community.

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Business websites can be improved upon in the simplest ways. How have you improved your business website in the past?

Yahoo Local Listings Basic Is Free

Yahoo offers a free listing with your basic information for free, but charges $9.95/month for all of the features that Google Places includes for free.  I would still advise you to use their basic service.  It is free and it puts you in front of people who are using Yahoo and looking for local businesses.

With your free business listing in Yahoo Local you can display your address, phone number and web site URL if you have one.  As Yahoo says, this is just basic information, but you can put your business in up to 5 categories.  This is helpful.

For example, at Ajalon we could be under printers and we could also put an entry into copying, graphic design, wedding invitations and letterpress.  That would mean that if a person searched for any one of those terms our business would likely come up in a Yahoo search.  You can do this for your business also.

You may sell flooring. But you could have listings under carpets, hardwood floors, floor refinishing and commercial flooring.  All of these additional listings would be available to you if people were searching for these items.

Included in this basic listing is the ability to list the products, services or brands that you have.  For example if you carried garden equipment who could list all the brands like Toro, Black and Decker, Stihl, Snapper and other brands.  Or if you were a spa you could list all the services you offer such as facials, manicures, pedicures, massage and other offerings.

People from your area are searching every day for the products and services you offer.  Yahoo knows this and has built a service to help them find what they want.  Yahoo invites you to cooperate with them in meeting the needs of people searching.  For free.  This is really unprecedented.  When was the last time the newspaper, tv or radio asked you to advertise your business for free, so that their patrons could satisfy what they were looking for or needed?

If you would like help in setting up this free service from Yahoo give us a call.  707.528.0288.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design