Creating Your First Set Of Business Stationery

Every new business needs business stationery.  Letter heads, compliment slips and business cards should form the basis of your paper based marketing and as such need to be right from the start.

People will see your business stationery regularly so it needs to be able to promote a clear brand and provide a professional image.

Quality is a key issue with all business stationery.  Letter heads should always be at least 120gsm or you might as well just use plain paper.  Same with

Business cards should be at least 400gsm and should be double sided to include details of what you do rather than just contact details of specific people within the business.  It doesn’t cost a lot extra for this and makes better use of the business card.

It means that if someone finds your business card in their wallet after a few months and can’t think who you are, the card will tell them, decreasing the chances it will be binned and increasing the chances of future business. compliment slips, keep them good quality as these are the items customers will use to judge you when receiving information from you.

Design is also a huge issue.  Business stationery does not need to be packed with information all over the place that will confuse people.  Keep it clean, clear and simple.

The company logo should be clearly displayed at the top of the letterhead and should be tidy and easily readable.  Full contact details should be given, giving people at least 3 different ways of contacting you – this will allow customers more choice in their methods of communication rather than only allowing post or phone contact.

Awards and accreditations can be put on business stationery but  keep them relevant and current and try to stick to 3 or 4 rather than lists and lists – consumers really don’t want to know about the certificate your company got for passing a quality standard back in 1990.

The design needs to incorporate the brand as well.  Colour can go a long way to making the stationery look the part but make sure it’s not splashed about too much.

Use company colours and make the design say something about the values of the business – whether it be ethical, young and fresh or professional, try and get this across on the stationery.

You need to get the design right from the start – customers will not like branding changes – so spending some time getting samples and working with a designer to create these items is well worth the investment.

Thinking differently is always going to give you an advantage.  Instead of sticking to conventional stationery, why not try something different such as postcards, posters, calendars or door hangers.

Try and personalise as many of your regular items as possible.  Invoices, receipts, appointment cards and notepaper can all be used as business stationery and the more ways you can get your business name out in the world the better.

There is no point in paying for second rate stationery that has no customer impact.  You need to get your message across in every piece of information you send out so they type of business stationery you use needs to reflect this.

Its not just the letters you type on your business stationery that should be getting the message across but the business stationery itself should provide a message to consumers as well.