Printing Services for Businesses - UK

Business printing advice - how and where to choose products that suit your company...

It is important to choose the right printing service for your business, as this will have a direct effect on the marketing and image of your company. Take care to choose designs and styles that represent the type of public profile you would like to develop. Also think carefully about practicalities and simple, generic, memorable designs before favouring out-and-out personal taste.

It is impossible to underestimate the effect that print designs and applications can have on the way your company is perceived. The chances are that your small business will be represented in print in a number of different ways, these may include the following.

Business Cards – Most business printing companies offer a broad range of business card packages. For obvious reasons the more basic the package the less you will have to pay, and in many cases a simple format will be perfectly adequate in which case Vistaprint is offering a basic business card package for free. In order to customise the design – perhaps with personal graphics or a photograph there will be a small increase in price, however this is often worth the improved quality of finish and all-important personal touch.

Letterheads – Another vitally important consideration. Letterheads work best when the design is professional and consistent with all other promotional and marketing material. The closer it resembles the rest of your business printing – such as business cards, brochures, stamps and so on; the more you will demand respect as a company with a strong and well developed self-image.

Personalised Stationery – Writing pads, folders, rubber stamps, note cards and so on. Once again keep the designs consistent and relevant to the type of industry you are in. If you are a building firm for example, the distribution of mouse mats embossed in your company logo will do little towards reaching your target audience and will more likely appear thoughtless and unprofessional.

Promotional Material – Flyers, postcards, brochures and the like. Particularly with Brochures which can be quite costly to print remember to keep it simple and representative. Business brochures often work best as general insights into the workings of a business – perhaps with examples of previous work and information about the history/future of your company. Unless you are a wholesale supplier for example, in which case full stock catalogues might be needed; complex and over designed brochures could become an unnecessary drain on your finances, particularly in an age when you can upload your company’s details onto the internet in minutes.

Your audience will get wider as it is represented in more and more ways. Having said that be cautious about spending excessive amounts on small business printing and stationery that will generate more interest than your company can manage. If you do decide to go down this route it would be best to have an idea about how to distribute all the marketing material before you make any orders.

It would also be a good idea to consider the environmental implications of printing on a large scale. Weigh up the benefit it will have to profit margins before making any impulse purchases and perhaps then consider eco-friendly printing companies. This is particularly advisable if your company is directly involved in environmentally friendly action, or if you are keen to counterbalance any unavoidable side-effects your area of business might provoke.