Business Stationery Printing

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Tips & Advice to help you make your decision on Business Stationery Printing

With business correspondence, it's important that you identify your company with every piece of mail sent. The best way to ensure this is to use personalized business letterheads created with a professional business stationery printing service. Whether it's a bill or a pricing list, you want to make certain that those you mail know at a glance that the letter is from you.

Your letterhead need not be particularly complicated. Including the name and address of your company is usually sufficient for adequate identification. Adding a company logo goes even further to differentiate your letters from other mailings. While you wish the letterhead to be noticeable, you should keep it subtle. One or two colors at the most will grab a viewer's attention without distracting them from the contents of your letter. You also want to keep the letterhead small enough to avoid dominating the page. Keep the type font to 12 or 14 in size, and make sure it has a businesslike appearance.

With email quickly taking over correspondence activities, a letter conveys professionalism in ways that the convenience of email cannot. It's a professionalism that shows through with your having had your official business stationery created by a business stationery printing service, rather than using plain white paper to convey your messages. For further information on printing services, follow the links on Business.com.

Getting Great Business Stationery

Your business stationery is often the first impression you make on prospects, clients and vendors. The more professional your stationery looks, the better you look. To create a professional library of business stationery, you have to:

Know what pieces of stationery you need.
Know how to design your stationery for easy, cost-effective printing.
Determine how many pieces you should buy.

Start with the basics and keep the look consistent

Standard business stationery includes letterhead, envelopes and business cards. You may want additional pieces, like second sheet letterhead, invoice and receipt sheets, labels and note cards. Each piece of your business stationery should have a consistent look to reinforce your company name and brand.
Try: My Print Shop Online offers a complete Business Stationery Guide to help determine what pieces you need to start your business.

Choose appropriate paper weight for a professional look

Standard weight for letterhead is 20-pound or 24-pound, while business cards are commonly printed on 65-pound or 80-pound "card stock” type paper. Your printer will be able to recommend what paper weight you need and the best print process to support your stationery design and layout.
Try: MacMillan Graphics, Ltd. has an online cheat sheet to help determine the paper weight for a variety of stationery pieces.

Determine how much to buy

You'll receive more bang for your buck when you order in large quantities. But, if you foresee your business address, phone number or any other contact information changing in the near future, order only what you need.
Try: Hillside Printing provides a Top Ten List for Saving Money on print orders (see Tip #9 for ordering appropriate quantities).

Where to buy your business stationery

There are thousands of online printers delivering professional business stationery for affordable prices. Keep in mind that the vendor relationship you have with your printer is one of the most important.
Try: You can easily upload your print files and have your business stationery delivered to your front door when you purchase from VistaPrint, KoolPrint or PrintingforLess.

While most businesses design their stationery before going to the printer, it is actually more cost-effective to talk to your printer first, then design your stationery around what fits your budget.
Make sure the paper you choose for your letterhead is compatible with your office laser printer and copier.