Business Stationery & the Perfect Business Card

The printed image should still be an integral part of any company’s marketing strategy, whether that is a leaflet, a booklet or a business card.

Over the past few years computers and the Internet have largely negated the need for instruction manuals, compliment slips and to a certain extent letter headings. Recently the use of carbonless paper has fallen by the wayside as handheld computers have replaced delivery notes, advice notes, invoices and purchase orders.

This still leaves a large market. This is what marketing consultants call the ‘tell’ market. You will know what is meant by this if you image you want your printing to “tell” your customers and potential customers something about your company … be that prices, your services or even the new extension you have just had built.

This is the market where you use printed material and business stationery to tell, persuade and coerce customer of your products and services.

Couldn’t you just put all this information on your website? Well, yes of course you could, and probably should. But people have to find your site first and then not everyone will bother clicking on that particular page. Did you know that most young people only use a website to find out the contact details of the company they are interested in – and, according to a study by HubSpot, the average time spent on a website page is less than 15 seconds!

Really getting your business stationery noticed

So, if you want to really get your message across, with something that can’t be ignored, a cleverly designed piece of sales material could and should be the answer.

The more ways you spread your message the more chances you have of attracting your new client or relaying your message to existing clients. Of course, that said, you need the right product for the right occasion.

If you are selling wedding dresses or something that benefits from being visually demonstrated you are probably going to need some form of brochure or at least an expansive leaflet, a postcard simply won’t do the trick. See our article on printing materials for more descriptions of the options available to you.

And just because you have spent a great deal of money on your product or service development, please don’t get the cart before the horse by scrimping on the design. Get a graphic designer to prepare a professional and useful piece of print. You wouldn’t do your own plastering and expect to get the same results as if you had called in a professional plasterer would you? Wallpapering over your own DIY plastering really would be plastering over the cracks!

A quick thought on what your perfect business card should look like.

Like any sales person, your business card should be dressed for the occasion. No point on putting Evening Dress on if jeans will do.

You need to decide from the start, is your card meant to be a thing of beauty that is to be kept as a work of art for future reference, or is a sprat to catch a mackerel?

If it is a thing of beauty, perhaps you will needs super thick card (at least 450 gsm) with a laminate or a bit of foil or perhaps UV varnish.

Or is it for a one-off exhibition where the vast majority are going to end up in the bin or the bottom of a carrier bag? In this case why invest in all the whistle and bells when a thinner stock and a less intense design will do? You could use a 300gsm card and still “big it up” with an eye catching and relevant design. The difference in cost could be a much as 30p a card … on 500 cards that is £150.00! Now, think of how much use you could make of that cash in your marketing budget!

Perhaps 10 networking events or perhaps 5000 flyers or even a set of A2 posters which will reach dozens if not hundreds of people. So produce your business cards the “Proper Yorkshire Way” by printing for the occasion rather than having one card fits all.

Working with a professional, Yorkshire based printer will mean you get genuine advice and experience as well as your business stationery … seek a skilled printer to support your marketing needs and get the materials that really get you noticed!

Blunt advice on buying business stationery – that’d be the Yorkshire Powerhouse

Have you any questions?

Here at Yorkshire Powerhouse, we’re happy to help as much as possible – is there anything else we can do to help you, do you have any further questions or can we help introduce you to an expert – please let us know: