Printed Marketing Materials frequently consist of mass-produced brochures, booklets, or pamphlets designed for a general population audience. Although this one-size-fits-all approach might be appropriate under certain circumstances and even produce small changes at relatively modest costs, it cannot address the unique needs, interests, and concerns of different individuals. With the advent and dissemination of new communication technologies, our ability to collect information from individuals and provide feedback tailored to the specific information collected is not only possible, but practical. The purpose of this article is to: (a) distinguish between tailored print communication and other common communication-based approaches to health education and behavior change; (b) present a theoretical and public health rationale for tailoring health information; and (c) describe the steps involved in creating and delivering tailored print communication programs. Studies suggest computer tailoring is a promising strategy for health education and behavior change. Practitioners and researchers should understand the approach and consider the possibilities it presents for enhancing their work in disease prevention.

This ubiquitous marking tool has been popular since the 15th century (when they were known as calling cards), and theres no reason work at home professionals shouldnt make use of them. Professional printing companies often offer business cards as a matter of course. The business card should contain the name and contact information of the professional, as well as a job title. This could be anything like self employed professional, work at home professional, freelance writer, etc.

Online advertising for printed marketing accessories is getting more affordable all the time, making this a viable route even for individuals. Through programs like pay-per-click, entrepreneurs can drive more traffic to their sites and achieve great link placement on popular search engines. Online banner ads provide yet another option for spreading the word through the Internet.

Dont underestimate the continuing value of print media – or at least, printed marketing materials. Professional printers can also help individuals create eye-catching postcards, flyers, bookmarks and many other mail-friendly promotional devices that help spread the word. We have wide list of goods in this category such as Brochures and Sell Sheets, Door Hangers, Letterheads, Post Cards, Full Color Letter Heads, Wedding and Ceremony Cards, Gardening and Landscaping Cards, Real Estate Letterheads, Political Door Hangers and more with user friendly design and print.

Print4Half.com works with the intention to bring high-quality, low-cost design printed marketing products to global market and to other customers . As a small business we know first hand the importance of receiving quality printed marketing goods for all business needs. The goal is to provide an online supply of designed printed marketing service to customers that are easy to use, high quality, at a reasonable cost.

One of the most common products in every office is the A4 or letter sized notepaper and if it is customized its called Letterhead. Since personal computers and domestic printers became so popular – modern housekeeping include A4 sheets too.

There is an international standard for wording a business like document. It goes like this:

Firm name and “Logo”.

Department / Branch / Sector

Sender

Title, Name.

Phones and E-Mail

Recipient

Firm, Title, Name, and other details.

Address

Topic: So and so

(reference of correspondence)

The letter text

Greetings

Signature

Name, Title

Means of getting contact with

The Bold letters are repeating in every letter. Working with word processor enables us to prepare in advance a blanked model (template) of such a formal document and upload it to our screen each time we want to fill it with various contents. Then we’ll save it under a new name in order to use the template again for other letters, and so on. Such working mode has two disadvantages:

The sequence of actions described above is cumbersome and inconvenient. It will do once or twice but then, in the heat of intense office burden, one will make the “finger mistake” and save a letter under the template file name and will have to design the template from scratch.

We all know how expensive are the ink heads of ink jet printers or the toner and developer of laser printers. The more you’ll use them to print constantly repeating information the faster you’ll have to replace them with new ones. There is much less expensive solution.

Because of the reasons mentioned above administrators prefer ordering letterhead templates from an on line printing site. It’s cheaper when it comes to a lot of letters and heavy printings like we have in big organizations. Designing such a template is an art of itself:

Using the right paper. Simple every day letters can be printed on simple standard 100 gr white paper. But special letters can be printed on much more reach materials. Environment preservers can find recycled paper and so on.

Backgrounding. Generally we’ll use white background, especially for the wording section. But there are organizations which ask for single pale color to let the printed words be clearly readable. The color will be associated with the firm “Logo” or its recognized flag. Some ask for “water printing” of the firm “Logo”. Few ask for special backgrounding like sea waves, gray forest, desert dunes, and so on.

The headline. Designed like the firm’s business card: “Logo”, name, slogan and then the specific official, rank, status, department, title, duty, job or whatever the letterhead user, the one who is going to sign his name below, is doing. Add means of communication and how to get contact and you gained a “free business card’ because the receivers probably will file the document and keep all your details if they’ll need your services again.

At the bottom it is customary to mention all the firm departments or branches with their phones, addresses and E-Mails.

Letterhead is a trivial, elementary and taken for granted product and yet, if you want to turn it into another mean of advertising and promoting – spend some time, money and efforts – visit an online printing site and order some.

Choose The Right Design. It is best if you choose a design that reflects your nature of business. Make sure to keep your business card and letterhead design as simple as possible. Exaggerated graphics and fonts should be kept away as much as possible for easy referencing and readability.

Create A Logo. Whether you’re running a big corporation or simply a small entrepreneur, it is always important that you create a custom logo to represent your business. All you need to do is to hire a professional creative designer to do the job for you or if you don’t have the budget to do so, you can always create a simple design yourself.

Design Consistency. For a more professional approach, it is recommended that you keep all your business materials such as business cards, letterheads and envelopes in a consistent design. Colors, graphics and logos should be in a standard form and compliment each other.

Business Attributes. Unnecessary business attributes should be kept away. Important business details such as phone number, address, email and company’s website address should be arranged and highlighted in the most suitable order so that people can easily get in touch with you.

Double Check Your Design. Before sending your business card and letterhead for print-jobs, make sure to double-check your design for accuracy. You do not want to distribute a business card or a quotation to your client with inaccurate or outdated business details.

Of course it’s not usual that applicants have a personal letterhead. But that’s precisely the point. It’s unusual. And it stands out.

I first got the idea from a friend who works in the Human Resources Department of a prominent multi-national company. She says it’s tiring to go over the cover letters of applicants almost every day, with each letter almost containing the same phrases and the same plea for employment. I don’t think it’s an arrogant comment. It’s just merely being human. When you are flooded with letters every working day, you’d surely want to see something that would give your eyes some kind of a feast.

And so I thought, what would make my cover letter stand out? I have no choice but to place more or less the same content as the other applicants. But what would allow me some space to show off some of my character? Personality is the key, my friend would always say. Your letter would show some degree of your character. And what better way to do that than to place some color and style in my cover letter. Hence, I worked on a personal letterhead.

My template does not contain much really. Just the usual names, contact details, address, a personal URL to my website slash blog. But I did some minor design work on the letter. A semi-transparent box with the details inside it, and some color (that actually matches the company’s colors, of course). I made it a point not to make it appear too excessive, so the Human Resources Department won’t think of me that way. I made it formal and stylish. And then I wrote my cover letter as followed by my resume.

When I finished writing the letter, I printed out a sample so I could have a gauge of my magnum opus. Of course it’s not much. I just wanted to be someone different. I suppose, everybody wants to meet someone who dares to be different, who has enough courage to stand out without being intimidating. I understood that companies invest a lot on employees who show potential, who exemplifies a certain dynamism that would bring the company forward as times go by. I want to be that person for the company where I was applying for. I did not want a job. I wanted a career.

As so it happened. I submitted my application (in the letterhead, of course) to the company. I waited for a response for a week, then two weeks, then three. I was nearly out of desperation, and I was planning of moving on to the next phase of my job hunting, but at that point, the good news arrived. I got a call from the company asking me to report to their office for an interview. The rest, so they say, is history.

I am now very contented of that small out-of-the-box effort I did in order to stand out in the application process. Looking back, the letterhead did some sort of magic for me, and it upped my confidence a bit as I faced the people in the interview. And true enough, it’s a worthy story to tell. Stand out. Be creative. Be the person they want.

So your company has a letterhead that you could use on your own choosing. So you have your personal template for a letter as an officer of your organization. But sometimes, people get intimidated by having too many details affirming your credibility in your letters. Sometimes, you might make them feel too unequal to deal with you, which defeats the purpose of communication. Sometimes, you have to write your letter as you, not as an officer, not as a member of your organization, but as you. So when do you draw the line? How do you draw the line?

The letterhead is a representation of your social position. It connotes some degree of power and credibility. It gives the impression of dignity and respect. These are good things in themselves, that is of no doubt. So the first thing to consider in deciphering whether or not to use your template is what hat you are wearing as a writer of the letter. Are you writing as a professional or a family member? Are you writing from the mind or from the heart? As much as it sounds mushy, letters have the power of conveying your most intimate thoughts, and you must find the proper means of saying them.

But there are some instances that you might be able to use the letterhead as a twist to your personal note. Let’s say, to your husband. You write a note using your template saying something like, I am in the middle of work, but all of a sudden, I was bedazzled by a fascinating thought of you.? That would surely bring him to his knees in love of you. Now would not that be something. That’s called strategic use of a simple letter template.

The key to understanding the use of your letterhead is to determine the private and the public space. The private space is supposed to make the people in it comfortable and unconditionally driven to dealing with each other. The public space is where social expectations and conventions operate. Imagine yourself as stepping and jumping in interlocking spheres of interaction. When you have a clearer view of yourself wearing different hats, you will be a more effective communicator.

The letterhead is only a tool. You are not always your job, as well as often you must project yourself formally as it is needed. Strategy and consciousness must take precedence in knowing when to use your formal template, or when not to use it.

So your company has a letterhead that you could use on your own choosing. So you have your personal template for a letter as an officer of your organization. But sometimes, people get intimidated by having too many details affirming your credibility in your letters. Sometimes, you might make them feel too unequal to deal with you, which defeats the purpose of communication. Sometimes, you have to write your letter as you, not as an officer, not as a member of your organization, but as you. So when do you draw the line? How do you draw the line?

The letterhead is a representation of your social position. It connotes some degree of power and credibility. It gives the impression of dignity and respect. These are good things in themselves, that is of no doubt. So the first thing to consider in deciphering whether or not to use your template is what hat you are wearing as a writer of the letter. Are you writing as a professional or a family member? Are you writing from the mind or from the heart? As much as it sounds mushy, letters have the power of conveying your most intimate thoughts, and you must find the proper means of saying them.

But there are some instances that you might be able to use the letterhead as a twist to your personal note. Let’s say, to your husband. You write a note using your template saying something like, I am in the middle of work, but all of a sudden, I was bedazzled by a fascinating thought of you.? That would surely bring him to his knees in love of you. Now would not that be something. That’s called strategic use of a simple letter template.

The key to understanding the use of your letterhead is to determine the private and the public space. The private space is supposed to make the people in it comfortable and unconditionally driven to dealing with each other. The public space is where social expectations and conventions operate. Imagine yourself as stepping and jumping in interlocking spheres of interaction. When you have a clearer view of yourself wearing different hats, you will be a more effective communicator.

The letterhead is only a tool. You are not always your job, as well as often you must project yourself formally as it is needed. Strategy and consciousness must take precedence in knowing when to use your formal template, or when not to use it.

Are you at least in middle management? The good way of measuring your position in the company is if you have a unit or team to manage. This means that you are at some level of authority, with some degree of command to distinguish yourself from the blue-collared jobs. Of course if you are still in the bottom ranks you would not have the audacity to make your own letterhead when in correspondence to your boss, it would be an utmost sign of disrespect. But if you are at least in middle management, you have a leverage to play with.

Are you in constant communication with external entities? If you answer yes, then you might want to venture into getting your own letter template. It only means that you are a face that represents the company in many aspects, and you speak with the credibility of your company. In this case, your personal letterhead should not be far from what the company is using. You might even want to ask them to draft a template that you could work with, so at least you would not surprise your bosses that you have your own template. But fact of the matter is, if you are coordinating with external entities, the company trusts you. The company believes in your capacity to speak in behalf of them. This is credibility enough, and a blank letterhead would not be suitable when you convey your correspondence in writing.

Are your contemporaries really up to having their own personal letterheads? If it’s just one of them aspiring to have his own, then it might not really be a good stimulus that you have to respond to. And what do you think of the character of these people who have their letter templates? Are they the formal type or they are just trying to build up some credibility that isn’t really there? You have to choose the people you will follow. Because it’s not just your impression at stake here, also how your colleagues and bosses view you. You have to play the salient politics of the workplace. You don’t want to stand out in a bad light. Be conscious of the decisions you make.

Given all these, you would somehow reach a decision whether or not it’s time for you to have a personal letterhead for work. It’s of no rush. If you think it’s not yet the time, sooner or later you would be in a position to have it. Timing is the key, and perhaps, a lot of hard work to get the credentials.

Below is a primer on the details that go into letterhead printing projects.

Content

There are not a lot of texts to play with in order to come up with a very unique look. Instead, most of the aesthetics would come from the design elements that go with these texts.

Common letterhead contents are the company name, its address, contact numbers including landline and fax, email address and website, if you have one. It would be best to limit the texts to these since you have to maintain sufficient space for the letter itself.

The most suitable graphics to add is your company logo. Keep its size proportional to the size of your texts. It should definitely be bigger but not too much that it gets the spotlight.

Some people want to get the watermarked look for their letterheads and this is made possible by printing an almost translucent printout (some require at least 5% color density) of your desired image. This faint print is usually an enlarged and faded version of the company logo.

Typeface and font

If you cannot decide on which typeface would go best with your letterhead, you can try creating several letterheads bearing different typefaces so it would be easier to visualize. Play with the effects such as bold, italics and shadow. For the company name, you can also change the spacing between the letters so it would not appear too cramped.

Color

Aside from the contents, colors help set a tone. Choosing dark and solid colors convey a more professional look while vibrant colors and unusual combinations create a more casual impression. If you intend to include your logo, make sure that it does not get lost in the background color. It should stand out.

Also, be careful with the colors you choose since some do not go well together. Make sure that each hue you add helps create a unified design. When you opt for several strong colors, each one would compete for attention and hence, become compartments instead of elements that make up a single design.

Layout

Letterhead layouts follow a somewhat standard format with the logo and company name printed on the topmost part of the paper, followed by the contact information. However, you can also vary the conventional look by placing some of the texts details at the bottommost part of the page. This way, it creates subtle borders that mark the start and end of the note.

Same with typefaces, it would be best to create different versions of each element so you can decide easily on the look. You can ask a panel to pick the most suitable design or get the opinion of a professional designer before you proceed to letterhead printing.

It didn’t matter if that letter was to a prospective customer, to pay an account, or to the Prime Minister, any correspondence leaving our premises had to be on a letterhead and neatly presented.

So the question I pose – as a business owner would you, or do you, allow your staff to send out company quotes, mail outs, or even general correspondence on a plain piece of paper – or not on company letterhead? I thought not…

In today’s fast paced world – email and computer generated correspondence are fast replacing the old, print, mail and post scenario common from yesteryear.

Thus it comes to a great surprise that a number of small and medium sized businesses and their owners have not adapted their circumstances to suit the modern cyberspace world and continue to allow their staff to send out plain paper mail, in an electronic format, otherwise known as email.

Plain paper email – messages, correspondence, quotations, and letters without any company logos or references.

True Story

My girlfriend was recently sourcing quotes for some customised shutters at home.

She had asked 2 companies to quote – and they both came in approximately $10 000, (shutters are expensive these days).

She brought the two quotes home for us to both make the decision on which company we would choose to install them. The first quote I looked at was professionally presented on company letterhead and came with colour brochures and diagrams of the shutters.

However, the second quote (the least expensive quote) was on a plain piece of paper with no logos or company description. At the bottom it simply read – Thanks Craig.

My immediate and gut reaction was to go with the more expensive, better and professionally presented quote – as the shutters were costing a small fortune, I wanted quality work and needed to deal with a reputable company.

I was then informed that the second, cheaper quote had come via email.

That may have been the case – but how many people are judging you and your company on the initial presentation, like I did with my shutter purchasing decision?

Worse still – how many $10 000 jobs was this company losing because of the way they were presenting their quotes – via a very plain email format?

Email has come a long way since its inception as a plain text form of correspondence.

Today’s email can be a combination of visually rich images and interactive elements, clickable links and interactive forms, which engage the receiver. Even the more exotic things can now be done in an Email, such as embedding sound or video data.

Thus I pose another question? Do you or your staff currently have a signature file at the bottom of every email correspondence generated in your business? If you are asking what is a signature file? – Then I am assuming you don’t.

A signature file is the set of text that you attach to the end of all of your emails that identifies you, your company’s products and services. A signature file generally contains the name of the person who is writing the mail, the business or company name, preferred means of contacting the person or the company, and the information showing the benefits of contacting the person or the company.

Dynamic Emails however are the next generation of signature files. A dynamic email is principally a 21st century letterhead, incorporating the basics of a signature file into a fully interactive letterhead for your business.

Dynamic emails let you and your staff

send personalised and professional emails that are company standard and consistent

have visually appealing messages that make your company stand out from your competitors.

incorporate interactive forms or clickable links to your website

keep your brand, service or product top of mind with your clients (become on-sellers of your business)

load automatically for ease of use and control of company branding

give you an electronic letterhead for every email message you and your staff send.

Consistency and standardisation is the key when you and your staff are communicating your message to the outside world.

You could probably build a dynamic email or letterhead for yourself by putting a few logos or images on an email in html format.

Chances are though that either you will make the resulting file way too large and it will take forever to download on the other end (upsetting the end user) – or the look and design of your email will not look the same on the other end (due to different email applications).

As well there is a good chance of your email getting picked up by the SPAM filter.

There are a number of techniques a professional will use in ensuring that your companys’ dynamic emails are consistent modern day letterheads.

Is it time you invest in some online stationary?

A letterhead is often part of a stationery package. This package will include the letterhead itself, along with envelopes, business cards, and labels. The idea is to coordinate these items so that no matter how you contact a client, you are always putting a professional foot forward.

Letterhead Considerations

When you are designing your letterhead, there are some considerations that you need to make. Thinking about these will make it easier to come up with a logo and a design that will portray the correct message to your reader. These include:

What type of business do you run? What are your main products and/or services? Who are your competitors and what are they doing to attract clients? Do you have a letterhead now, and what do you like and dislike about it? How will the letterhead be used (mostly for printing, fax, handwritten, etc.)? What type of budget do you have? Do you want to use color?

With these considerations in mind, you can start to work on a design that will give you a professional image.

Establishing an Identity

It is important to keep in mind that you will not meet every client of yours face-to-face at least not initially. For this reason, your letterhead should create your professional identity. Therefore, it is important to choose graphics and text that are clean, simple, professional, and portray exactly what you do.

The most important part of this is your logo. If you do not have a logo yet, you may want to design one. There are numerous graphic artists that can help you to come up with an image if you do not have the skills. If you are on a budget, you can use the combination of clip art symbols to create an image that portrays your business. Make sure that you choose images that match your business and branding strategy.

Sharing Your Benefits

A letterhead instantly shares what you have to offer. A small slogan or benefits tag line will allow readers to see exactly what you have to offer, even if they have never heard of your business.

Keeping Designs Simple

Remember that your actual design is part of your professional image. This means limiting the number of fonts and colors that you use in your letterhead and other stationery. Keep fonts in the same family, and limit the colors to one or two basic ones that tie in with your logo.

A professional letterhead will do many things for your business. It will help you to keep up the appearances that your small business is professional and successful. In addition, when tied into your other forms of stationery, it can help to advertise your business to people that you have never met.