Business Cards
The New Stationery.
There was a time that having a business card and some letterhead meant that you had all the collateral necessary to do business. No longer. With today’s emphasis on electronic interaction, you also need appropriate electronic collateral.
The minimum materials today.
If you’re starting a business today, it’s a good idea to have the following items ready to support your business conduct:
- Business cards
- Minimum website
- Email signature script (e.g. name, title, website URL and phone number)
- Letterhead
- Mailing label
Needing more materials however, doesn’t necessarily mean more expense. An email signature takes 10 minutes of your own time, mailing labels can be produced on-demand and printed onto Avery pre-cut label stock, and 250-500 business cards might have cost you $100-$200 ten years ago can now be produced on your own computer, printed and cut at the local speedy print shop, in color, for less than $40.
The function of letterhead (which is rarely used in today’s fast-paced, Internet age communications) is now performed via your word processor, saved to a non-alterable PDF document and delivered electronically via email. But if you do have occasion to use paper letterhead, even that can be produced at your local print shop at a fraction of the cost 10 years ago.
But the website...
...is a different matter. Probably the most important piece of business stationery to have today is a website. It doesn’t have to be a large, elaborate site with many dynamic visual effects. It can be just a simple site with minimum art. But like the art on all your business stationery it should be done well. Like other business collateral these days, your website doesn’t have to be expensive, but you should expect to pay a monthly fee of about $15-$35 a month for the website and Internet hosting.
Tie it all together.
All you stationery has the same purpose – it acts as a means of reinforcing your business identity and portrays a clean, professional image. Make sure it does just that. Use quality art, get it properly laid out by a designer if at all possible (or use pre-made templates available from many sources. And then, don’t forget to tie it all together by including all your contact information on all your collateral – particularly make sure your website and email address are included everywhere.
