Lesson 3: Name, Logo, Business Cards, Letterhead, Website
Designing and producing business cards
Business cards are your portable little ads which you can distribute everywhere and which people can keep in case they need you. It's important to keep this universality in mind when you decide on your business card.
From the point of view of your customer, your business card should unobtrusively fit in with his other business cards but be easy to find when he needs it. That means odd sizes are out but colour or special paper is acceptable. Also, your customer will not want to hunt around on the card for contact information. Stick to a standard arrangement for your contact information - address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address/web page should be either under the company name or the bottom left and right corners.
Getting business cards printed is not that expensive, but, aside from the cost, it is likely that some of the things on your business card will change and then you have to get it re-printed each time. I originally had 1000 business cards printed up when I started my first business. I found I didn't use as many as I thought and, two years later, our area code changed. Now I print up my own as I need them and I can do so in full colour.
Let's get down to specifics:
1. Simplicity - put your logo top left; company name beside it; your name and title at the centre of the card; address bottom left; telephone numbers, fax number, e-mail address and web site bottom right. Leave a quarter inch margin around the outside and use a standard 2" x 3.5" card. You can balance the appearance by moving items around a bit but this kind of arrangement will work for just about any business.
2. If you have your card printed you can just go with the kind of instructions above. If you're printing them yourself, as needed, you'll be creating them in a word processor and printing them on an ink-jet printer. Make sure your ink-jet printer can do at least 600 dot per inch - lower resolution looks bad. Stay away from the pre-serrated business cards which feel cheap and rough. If you're not going to have them cut, use "Clean Edge" Avery or equivalent cards which come stuck to a backing for running though your printer.
3. Get a little folder or something similar in which to carry your business cards. Don't just carry them loose - they'll get bent and dog-eared. You want them to make a good impression with potential customers even when you're not there.
Take care of getting your business cards right after you decide on your name and logo. Whether you print them or have them printed, it will take a bit of time and you will need them as soon as you open for business.
