Every business in Santa Rosa wants to grow. We have been talking about how businesses in Sonoma County have been using business referral marketing, newsletters and postcards to attract new business. Often after the initial contact a follow up written on your letterhead is the next step.
With your letterhead and business card you begin building the relationships that will make your business a success. The image that others form about your company will be influenced by the stationery that you use. Following are some design secrets that will aid you in creating and using fine business stationery.
Choose a good quality paper
Don’t skip on the paper. The paper is a small part of the overall business stationery package, usually less than 20%. Trying to save money here may be penny wise and pound foolish. Choose a paper that has some cotton content. The cotton makes the paper feel warmer and appears more professional.
Create a strong logo
Make sure that your company name and logo communicate clearly who you are and what you do. You don’t want somebody guessing at what you do after they see your name. You don’t have to spend a lot of money creating a logo. Your business name, set up well, can do the job.
Use a tag line
Your name alone may say it all and your logo, if you have one, may present you as a professional, but using a statement that explains what you do and communicates how that benefits your customer can keep working for you long after your initial contact.
A gardener in Sebastopol had the phrase “Expect Excellence” as part of his business stationery. I always felt this set the groundwork for what his customers could expect in dealing with him. A simple tag line can be powerful communicator when used properly.
Create your personal identity
Communicate the appropriate message to your prospective clients. Do they want to know you are licensed, insured, professional, new or old, creative and innovative, a larger, secure corporation or a nimble start up? Give some thought to the image your real customers will be most attracted to and build that into your letterhead and envelopes.
All businesses communicate with their business stationery. You want to do it well and appropriately. Whether you are in Windsor or Rohnert Park, you have competition in your business, use your business card, letterhead and envelopes to distinguish you when you get to that all important presentation of a proposal to do business together.
Written by David Walrath
Ajalon Printing & Design
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