Not Just Pretty | Building An Effective Small Business Brand

How to Design Mailing Labels in Microsoft Word

Small businesses might find designing a set of mailing labels to be a cost-effective way to brand their business mail and packages.

If you send business letters only occasionally, then printing mailing labels in small quantities on an as-needed basis is usually less expensive than printing a batch of envelopes.

Mailing labels are not only less expensive, but they're less of a commitment to create and use. The smallest quantity of envelopes many printers will print is 500 — and if you don't send mail often, then it can take quite a while to go through that many envelopes. Instead of printing up 500 or 1000 envelopes with your business address on them, and then possibly not using them up before you have to move, you can print just a sheet or two of mailing labels at one time. That way, if you wind up moving, as many small businesses do during their first few years, you'll have minimal waste.

The third big advantage to mailing labels is that you can use them on many sizes and types of envelopes and packages — not only on #10 business envelopes, which is the most common size for small businesses to have printed. You can even use them on Priority Mail envelopes.

To cash in on these advantages, you need to know how to design mailing labels in Microsoft Word. Here are the steps you'll need to take, along with instructions on how to lay the labels out.

1.Gather the design elements you'll need. For many mailing labels designs, this just means that you need a copy of your company logo. If your logo is laid out in a horizontal orientation, you'll have the best results on many mailing label types, since they tend to be horizontally shaped. You can use a vertical logo, but make sure that you don't scale it down so much that your company name is illegible or that the design elements bleed together. You'll also want to use a high-resolution file of your logo — I recommend a 300 DPI, TIF or JPG format file in RGB color mode.

2. Gather your other marketing materials to use as reference material. In many cases, it's most important that your mailing label match your letterhead the most closely, so it can help to have a copy of your printed and/or digital letterhead nearby as you create your mailing label design. You won't have a ton of space on the mailing label for design elements, but making sure that the designs you do use match will ensure that your communications are cohesive.

3. You'll also need your address to appear on the mailing label. Decide if you're using your physical location, or if you will be using a Post Office or UPS Store mailbox address for greater privacy.

4. Decide what kind and size of mailing label you'd like to create. The first question is which brand to go with. I recommend going with a standard Avery label as the base sheet for the mailing labels, because they are widely available at office supply stores, they are easy to print, and they peel and stick well, with no frustration. You can also get them for either inkjet or laser printers, depending on what you have available.

The next question is size. Standard Avery Label sizes that work well for #10 envelopes, catalog envelopes and packages include:

5160	1" x 2.63"	30/sheet
5163	2" x 4"	10/sheet
5164	4" x 3.33"	6/sheet

Choose a label size that will allow plenty of space for your logo. If your address is long, you may want to choose one of the larger sizes. Also, if you ship more packages, the larger labels will stand out more on those, while still working for #10 envelopes. You may even consider designing a couple of different sizes for different uses.

5. Once you have these elements together (your logo, your other materials and your contact information), use them to design your mailing label. You can have a professional designer create a graphic file to insert into Microsoft Word, or you can just use Word to create the design using the following steps:

a.	Make a new Word document to act as your mailing label template using the "Tools > Labels" command, and go through the dialog box to select the right size of label. This will pop up a page with a grid on it the size of the labels you've chosen.
b.	Now we'll design one mailing label, and later we'll copy and paste that label into all of the label boxes.
c.	Take a digital copy of your logo and embed it into the file by using the "Insert > Picture > From File" command. You'll want to insert a high-resolution file (300 DPI) and to use an EPS, TIFF, JPEG or some other file format that Word accepts.
d.	If needed, scale the logo. Click on the logo to select it. Click and drag on a corner point to make the logo smaller or larger. Hold down "shift" while you do this so that you can constrain the proportions of the logo and so that it doesn't get stretched out.
e.	Use Word's Drawing toolbar to add in shapes, color bars, background colors, lines or other visual elements to match your other materials. You can access the Drawing menu through Tools > Customize Toolbars/Menus and then selecting the Drawing menu. It has a variety of tools for creating shapes and coloring them in.
f.	Create a text box (also available in the Drawing menu), and insert your address there. Choose a font that matches your address font on your letterhead.
g.	Once you are happy with your design, select all of your design elements and copy and paste them into the other label boxes to create a full sheet of labels.

6. Now it's time to print. After you've followed these steps to design a mailing label, just grab a box of Avery labels (make sure you get the right size for your design) and start printing. You can print as many or as few sheets as you need, and easily reprint on demand from your saved file. 

If you follow these steps, you'll be able to create a mailing label design in Word that will allow you to easily brand your postal mail and packages. This will make all of your mailed communications look more professional and appear consistent with your other marketing materials. 

Another Option For Printing Envelopes

This is a follow-on to the last article I wrote on "Envelope vs. Mailing Label: Fight!". In addition to printing envelopes professionally, or printing mailing labels, you could try printing directly onto the envelope with your laser printer or inkjet printer. I've had varied results with this method - depending on how well your printer works and feeds the paper. Also, it is time-consuming to have to stop what you're doing, feed the printer an envelope and then wait for it to finish before sending your mail. But, it is a third option for printing your envelopes, and may make sense if you need to print a very few envelopes and your printer works well.

Rebranding and Logo Design

Does rebranding your business mean that you need to – or should – redesign your logo?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine whether you need to redesign:

• What is the purpose of this rebranding? What changes are you making in your business, and does your old logo match the new brand?

About the logo:

• How long have you had it? How much have you used it?
• Do you like the logo? If you do, it might be worth keeping. If not, this might be a good reason to change it.
• Do your clients react well to your logo? If they do like it, are the clients you're working with now your ideal clients for the new brand?

About whether redesigning the logo is appropriate or if it should be started over:

• How much are you changing what you're doing in your business with your new brand? If you're moving too far away from what you used to offer, then you would be better served by starting over with a fresh logo, to visually signal that you've made a change.
• How well does the logo print/ reproduce on your marketing materials?

Get More Leads From Your Website

Here are a few quick ideas in that area:

• Including more calls to action and making them relevant to each page/offer.
• Putting your newsletter sign-up box on every website page (all your clients won't come in through the home page), and possibly improving that offer to make it more appealing (do you have a free sample you could give away?)
• Distributing your articles online with links back to your website to improve your search engine results and to get a wider audience base.

Follow Up To Yesterday's Post: Landing Pages

I was thinking more about yesterday's post about Following Your Print Pieces With A Website.

I think I should have been more specific. Instead of just following your printed pieces with just a link to your home page, you should create a customized page as a follow-on to your specific offer for the most impact. This is called a landing page.

A landing page allows you to talk exactly about the offer you're making. Instead of referring your new client to the vastness of your website, and making them look around for something that they're interested in, you can make sure that you send them to the precise page that you want them to land on and then give them more information about your offer.

Follow Your Print Pieces With A Website

You can make your marketing materials more effective by including a call to action and a website address on your print and emailed materials, and then creating your website to offer more information and help the sale along to the next stage. Depending on the offer, your client, and the price point, the website may - or may not - be able to make the sale for you.

You've probably seen this in action on postcards and flyers. But, don't forget to use it on brochures, and even on your business cards (the back side is perfect for that). And, you can put a call to action on the bottom of your email, and use links in your email newsletters.

Types of Logos for Consultants

There are 3 main types of logos that a consultant can choose to use for their business. Each has advantages and disadvantages for the consultant. Here are explanations and samples of each type, to help you choose the best match for your consultancy.

Combination logo: The most effective option for creating a consultant’s logo is to make a logo that contains both a graphic and your company name. This approach is called a combination logo. This type of logo contains both a memorable logo graphic that tells the story of who you are, what you do, and what makes you different as well as spelling out your business name for easy identification. One big advantage of this type of logo is that it combines an image and text – and having both combined will make the logo more memorable for viewers.

 

Text logo: A logo can be as simple as having your company name typeset in a unique font. The company name can have a small graphic embellishment – like an underline, or it can appear on a colored background. This is a simple approach that can work for many consultants. If you do go this route, you’ll miss out on some of the benefits that you can get by including a graphic in your company name – namely, that your logo won’t have an image in it to help clients remember it. However, if your company name is long, this approach will help you to keep the logo as clean and simple as possible. And, if your consultancy’s services or goals may change over time, there is no danger of your icon becoming inappropriate – since you don’t have one.

Symbol-only logo: You can design a logo that’s a symbol only (think Apple Computers or Nike). This approach is not recommended for consultants, though, because this type of logo takes a big investment in brand education to build up the association of your business name with the logo. Without that association, the logo will not have any meaning to the viewer, and will not help to build your brand.

 

Envelope versus Mailing Label: Fight!

In this corner, weighing in at 50 cents each, we have: custom-printed, #10 business envelopes. In the other corner, weighing in between 6 cents and 20 cents each (depending on size chosen), we have custom-designed mailing labels. How do these two opponents stack up on matters other than price?

What custom-printed envelopes have going for them:

• They look high-end. The very fact that you've printed your logo and return address on the envelope makes your marketing look good. 
  
• You can print on more of the envelope's surface. Instead of limiting your graphics to the upper left corner for the return address, you can include designs all around the envelope—even all the way to the edge if you're willing to have the envelopes themselves custom-cut and made after printing (however, this is an even more expensive option). Do check with the post office as well on their requirements—they need some areas of the envelope not to have printing for their processors to scan and route your mail correctly.    
• You can match your envelope to the color of your letterhead. Not to say you couldn't do this with mailing labels as well, but if you have, say, green letterhead stock, the white labels will stick out on them. There are clear Avery labels, but they don't print as well as the white ones, so I don't recommend using them. 
• Putting the mail together becomes very easy. There's no hunting around for your mailing labels—just grab an envelope, stick your letter in, seal, stamp and go. 
• Custom printed envelopes are really great for high-volume mailings. This is one place where the investment in money can outweigh the investment in time. If you're mailing out many individual pieces, such as a business introduction campaign, form letter, or even a mass holiday mailing, consider having your return address printed on the envelopes. This approach can save you hours of peeling and sticking work.

Custom-printed envelopes' competitive disadvantages:

• They are, as previously noted, expensive. Especially in "low" quantities like 500 or 1000, the price per piece to print an envelope can be large. Add even more to that price if you have more than 2 colors in your logo—the standard envelope printer only handles 2 colors at a pass, so 3 or more colors will mean that the printer has to run the envelopes through the press twice. This takes more time, and can be difficult to align the envelopes a second time to get them printed right—so there's likely to be more spoiled pieces. 
  
• You have to print a lot of them at once to get the pricing to make sense. This makes you wind up with a lot of envelopes to go through. And, to throw out if your address changes before you've used them all. 
• Once you have your 1000 envelopes, you need to dedicate a corner of your office to storing them. If you have a home office or a small workspace, this can be inconvenient. Mailing labels stack flat, and take up very little space. 
• You'll only have one size of envelope—so choose wisely. Many businesses wind up printing the standard #10 envelope. But, what happens when you have to send out a thick report? Or a booklet? Or even a thank-you card? You have two options: either print out envelopes of multiple sizes (which will turn out being even more expensive, and needing even more storage), develop a mailing label as well, or go to hand-writing those materials. If you already have a mailing label, then you can just use a larger envelope. You can use mailing labels on Priority Mail envelopes and packages as well. 
• Some clients may never notice the difference. If your clients have an assistant handling their mail, they may never see the envelope you invested in. Or, if they're busy, they might not pay attention to the printing in their efforts to get the mail processed.

Now, on to the stats for the mailing labels. The pros:

• You can print them on demand. If you only need a few mailing labels in a month, there's nothing that says you can't just print one sheet at a time. If your address changes, or your logo gets updated, then you won't have hundreds of labels floating around that are suddenly outdated. 
  
  
• If you have a color printer in your office, you can even print them out yourself. No going to a professional printer, or even heading in to Kinko's. You can just open your document, load a sheet or two of label stock into your printer, and have a new set of labels in just a few minutes. 
• You can choose the size, and easily customize to fill your mailing needs. Say you really only send out mail in envelopes—then it would make sense to go with a small sized label like Avery 5160 (1" x 2.6"). If you send out packages as well, you could either add a second label (Avery 5164, which is 3.33" x 4") or if you send out more packages than letters, you might go with only designing the larger 5164 labels and using them on your #10 envelopes as well. 
• They are inexpensive. Though you do have to buy the label stock (and I strongly recommend the higher-quality Avery brand labels), which is a bit more expensive, in addition to purchasing some blank envelopes, the price per piece is still much lower than printing envelopes. 
• They're easy to design and lay out in Microsoft Word, which even has a "Labels" design tool that lays out all the standard Avery sizes for you. It couldn't be any simpler than that.

What mailing labels have stacked against them:

• They require a bit more manual labor. This is usually not a big deal unless you're sending out hundreds of pieces of mail, but it does take a few extra seconds to reach for the address labels, peel one off the sheet, and attach it to your envelope. This is probably a worthwhile bit of work unless you send out a lot of mail. 
  
• They don't look as finished. If your clients are style-conscious, or have a keen eye, and are likely to pay attention to the way your communications are packaged, then printing an envelope instead of going with mailing labels can have the added benefit of making your materials look sharper. 
• They can occasionally misalign in the printer. Especially if you're printing them at home, you might find that your printer doesn't always feed the label stock through evenly. It may even be bad enough on a sheet that you have to throw it out and start over. This doesn't happen often, but it is something to keep an eye out for.

Now that you have all the facts on envelopes and mailing labels, choosing which one you'll use in your company should be easier. Next time, I'll tell you how you can go about designing your own mailing label, in case you decide to go that route. 

Send the right message

An article of mine from a while ago - still true!

Here's the link to it:

http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/articles/18972/1/Send-the-right-message/Page1.html#

Send the right message

3 easy ways to create a clear, uncomplicated logo

Have you ever come across a company logo that looked like a jumbled mess of drawings? Where there were so many elements competing for your attention that you didn’t even know where to look or what it all meant? The job of your logo, says brand identity expert Erin Ferree, owner of Elf Design, is to communicate what your business is all about in an instant. But if you try to say too much in that instant, Ferree notes, it’s more likely your customers and prospects will either not get the message or get the wrong message.

The key to avoiding a confusing logo is to keep it simple. Ferree offers these easy steps to create a clear, uncomplicated logo as part of a corporate identity development strategy — a logo that communicates your key message to your target audience:

1. Don’t try to say too much. Your logo should tell the story of your brand. That story is made up of four parts:
   
   • Your company’s personality
     
   • The type of services or products you offer
     
   • What distinguishes you from your competition
     
   • Who you can best help
   Once you develop your brand story, scale it back to one or possibly two main ideas that you want customers and prospects to instantly see in your logo. If you’re trying to tell a complicated story, then your logo design will reflect that and have little impact. Again, simple is best.
   
2. Don’t include too many details in the icon. A logo that contains a lot of visual elements may turn out to be too complicated. Keep the number of shapes, lines, and other design elements at a minimum to make the image as clear and clean as possible. If you include too many design elements, it’s more likely that when you scale the logo down, some of the finer details will be blurred, and it may not print well.
   
3. Keep the icon and the name of your company separate. If you layer your company’s name on top of the icon in your logo, it can be difficult to read. Moreover, if you include text on top of the icon, the concept may get lost. Separating the image and the company name will make both easier to read and understand.
   

Car Marketing And Cell Phones

I was driving to a meeting yesterday, and got stuck in traffic behind a landscaper's truck.It was nicely branded - logo, phone number, and landscaper's license number all there on the truck. 

While I was sitting there, I started wondering whether the new cell phone laws in California have affected the effectiveness of having your phone number on your vehicle. People can't see a number and pick up the phone immediately - they have to make sure they have a headset and all that sort of thing. Does that result in the companies that have on-car branding getting fewer calls?