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What You Need to Know Before You Spend Money on a Logo or Business Cards
By
Janis Pettit | Follow me on Twitter
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Solo Entrepreneur Articles > Marketing Essentials Articles > Brand Building Articles
Whether you're just getting your
business started
or you're thinking of a
logo facelift, you'll want to consider these tips
before you proceed.
As I've often mentioned, all offline and online marketing and materials
need to be coordinated Here's what you
need to consider
before plunking down a nice payment to a graphic designer.
Think about your target market and what type of visual image you want to project.
Images invoke emotions and reactions. Do you want yours to be light and fun,
or serious and weighty? If you're updating your company
logo, why
are you doing so? Be clear about your objectives, because any good
graphic designer will want you to tell them who your target client is,
what type of image you had in mind, and some examples of existing
logos that appeal to you. So do a bit of research
before you proceed.
Make sure that your domain name and e-mail addresses are the best they can be for
your
business.
Finding and buying a domain name that directly describes what your
business does is important. For
example, even though my
business is called SmarTrack, and I bought the smartrack.net domain name some years ago
before I realized how important it was to have a dot com, I now also own a host of other domain names, including smallbusiness-bigresults.com which is my
business tag line. This new domain name describes my
business much more clearly.Also make sure that you set up an e-mail address with your
business domain in it - so instead of sue@hotmail.com (unprofessional) you have sue@mydomain.com (looks good).
Decide which color scheme will work best for
your type of
business. This involves doing some internet research to see what colors
your top competitors
are using and finding
logos and websites that appeal to you. Remember that certain colors
elicit certain emotions. Dark blue, for example, represents stability and trust. You'll want a color
palette of two
or three colors
that can be easily matched by a printer and which you can carry over into your website.
Decide if you
need stationary and envelopes.
Not every
business
needs these. But if you do, you'll
need to have them designed as well. Before choosing colored paper f
or your stationary
or
business card, consider the extra cost involved each time you print them. White paper is less expensive and the easiest to find.
Consider whether you want the colors
to "bleed" off the page
or card.
Bleed costs considerable more to print. Because the color
goes all the way to the border, printers must use more paper to print them.
If you're on a budget, don't be talked into the highest
or thickest grade of paper.
Having the thickest, most costly paper will rarely have any impact on your customers decision to do
business with
you. You want your marketing materials to look professional and meet
the standards of your industry, but you don't have to agonize over
getting the fanciest paper
or card stock.If you already have a website, consider how you will make the website match your
logo and
business card design If you make a drastic change you'll
need to factor in the cost of doing a website makeover as well.
Shop around! I can't tell you how many clients have gone to the first
graphic designer they found, then ended up paying too much for
a design they were unhappy with. Shop around for
graphic
designers. Ask to see their work. Ask how many different renderings
they're willing to give you. Here's what I recommend to my clients when
they
need a new
or updated
logo,
business card
or stationary design. I've gotten rave reviews about the pricing and quality of the work www.dpbolvw.net
Shop around for
printers
as well. Online printers generally charge much less and often do a
decent job. If you decide to go with a local printer, prices vary
widely, so talk to several and ask for
recommendations.Here's the online printing company that I use. I've been quite happy with the
business
cards they've printed for
me.
www.anrdoezrs.net
When you're starting a
business and searching for
vendors
, NEVER sign on with the first one you meet. A little research can save you lots of
money and disappointment.
Like this?
Visit Janis Pettit's website for more!
About the expert:
|
Janis Pettit is known as the Big Results Business Design coach and marketing expert. She’s owned four successful small businesses and, since 2002 has coached hundreds of small and solo business owners, helping them discover the most direct model and strategies to convert their ideas and knowledge into a high income lifestyle business. Register for her
FREE webinar: How to Get and Keep All the Clients You Need which includes a complimentary copy of the
Create a Client Windfall Quick Start Guide at http://smallbusiness-bigresults.com. Blog: http://janispettit.com. |
© Copyright 2007, Janis Pettit
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