A third option is to pay the printing company to do the design work for you. There are two advantages to this option; the first is you keep the entire job in the same hands from the creation of your business logo to the final printing of the marketing products. You also get the benefit of the extensive design experience at the printing company–you won’t wind up with a logo you must revise because the colors, size or design is incompatible with your printing project requirements.

If you choose to keep the logo design work in-house, you can monitor the progress and development of your business logo personally, and this method cuts costs when it comes time to hire the printing company to reproduce your logo on custom hats, custom t-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains and other products.

The one thing many logo creators can’t do in the early stages of the logo design process is predict how the image will look when it is actually printed on a t-shirt. It’s one thing to take the logo and superimpose it over a digital picture of a t-shirt; it’s another thing altogether to actually print the logo on a tshirt and see how it catches your eye.

The good news–there is a way to test your logo with t-shirt printing that doesn’t involve a trip to the printing press. Are you trying to get an idea of what the logo should look like on the t-shirt before paying for a full print run? Purchase some inkjet or laser printer t-shirt transfer paper and print out your logo. Iron these transfers onto a tshirt and you will get a look at your business logo as it will appear in that size on a t-shirt or baseball cap. If the fonts are too small, you can tell right away. If the logo design is clunky or doesn’t quite work, it will be much easier to tell when you see it actually printed on the t-shirt.

A baseball hat logo should be re-shaped to conform to the shape and design of the hat, to include accommodation for any seams or other breaks in the fabric. You may wish to have your logo creator re-shape the logo so that the upper portions of the letters are rounded and sized to compliment the contours of the baseball hat.

Logo design for polo shirts may be small and boxy. People are used to seeing large logos printed across most of the available space on custom t-shirts, but on a polo shirt this concept can be distracting. Polo shirt designs are typically smaller and tend to be placed in the same area as the pockets. You can also consider adding an additional logo or website address to the back of a polo shirt. This may not be as commonly done as the “pocket logo”, but it isn’t nearly as distracting as an “all over” design on the front of the polo shirt.

Another important consideration when trying to design a logo is the color of the fabric that logo will be printed on. Black and white nearly always complement one another. Orange and black, yellow and black and other combinations of lighter colors and black are safe bets, but if you want to experiment with the color of your company logo on custom hats and custom tshirts, it’s best to ask the advice of your Vistaprint representative before committing to a color scheme that seems interesting, but may not work when it’s actually printed on the fabric.

Your sales rep can tell you a great deal about what colors traditionally don’t work together well. People in the printing business are well-versed in the art of color combinations and can tell you from experience which ink colors might be incompatible with which fabric color choices.

When choosing mailing labels, the first consideration should be the types of envelopes you want to use. If you use white standard-size envelopes, your address labels can be any color you choose. If you have custom colors for your direct mailing envelopes, choose your address label colors carefully so that they complement the envelopes.

Does your company logo use a specific font? Don’t overlook this opportunity to further brand your product or service. Choose the same fonts for your address labels, and make sure the company name is printed larger than the rest of the text on the return address labels. It seems like a small thing, but this subtle touch is very effective.

If you do business on the Internet, consider adding your web address to the mailing label. This is a tactic that works much like the larger font on the company name, it’s a subtle reminder of who you are and where you can be found online. The more times your clients see your company logo and website address, the easier it is to remember both.

Are you trying to decide how large your return address mailing labels should be? It’s a common question best answered with common sense. Don’t use a label so large that it overwhelms the envelope or makes the overall presentation too “eager”. For most direct marketing purposes, a simple design with a businesslike presentation is appropriate. If you have a more flamboyant style associated with your brand, it may be good to use it in your direct marketing concepts for mailing. If your approach is more conservative, your return address mailing labels and other direct marketing materials should reflect that style.

Your mailing labels should be a reflection of your company. By using your company logo, or at least the same fonts and appropriate colors, you can reinforce the brand and make your mail outs as attractive as possible. The U.S. mail system handles thousands of direct mail materials every day; a distinctive envelope and label combination can make your direct mailing campaign more memorable and unique.

One of the most important aspects of good logo design is your budget. Do you know how much you have to spend on custom marketing products over the course of the next year? Believe it or not, the amount of money directly affects logo design and the type of custom hats, t-shirts and other items you want to order. Single-color designs are by far the cheapest, but if you require a more elaborate logo design, the additional colors increase the complexity of the printing process and your final price tag. If you have a small budget, simplify your custom logo where possible and try to reduce the amount of colors. The more money you have to spend on printing, the more elaborate you can make your designs.

To properly set your budget for custom printing projects, don’t just calculate how much a single-color or multi-color business logo will cost for the current print project. Anticipate running out of the first batch quickly and decide how much you want to re-order in the second and third runs. Don’t forget that you will save money by printing fewer large runs than multiple small print runs of the same items. You may also be able to keep your print setup on file for future projects, eliminating setup fees or other first-time printing costs.

Be sure to tell your customer service rep that you plan to do multiple runs through the year rather than a one-off printing job. That way your information will be stored and the second print run of your custom business logo on t-shirts, custom hats and other products will go much faster when you need replacements.

The problem for some new business owners is keeping track of it all. From the first tank of gas you use to promote your business to the latest batch of business checks, you should save every single receipt and record every purchase. Getting into the habit is difficult, but once it becomes second nature you won’t think twice about where the receipts should go.

One of the most important tools you can use to keep a record of those early expenses is a business checking account. When you order checks online, you aren’t just purchasing a custom-printed set of mini-advertisements for your company. You also give yourself a way to go back and pull up a record of your expenses paid for with those custom checks. Some banks will provide a comprehensive list of all your cancelled checks for a specific time period, proving that you spent money on a particular item or set of purchases you can’t find receipts for at tax time. Your bank may charge you for this service, but it is an alternative to simply not taking a legitimate deduction just because you can’t locate a receipt.

The paper trail issue is so important that some people delay making critical business decisions in the early stages until they can pay for their equipment or essential services using their business checks. If you have a business account but are still waiting for your checks to arrive, you can always use a business ATM card for purchases in the interim since they too have a record and a way to track the purchases. The only difference in this case is that, unlike your custom ordered business checks, there may be only a date and an amount showing–the actual items or services purchased may not reflect in the record. Your checks will reflect much more detail, especially if you are diligent about filling out the “memo” section.

When you order checks for your business, you will need to provide a tax identification number or your Social Security number. For security reasons, it’s best to leave this data off of the checks itself, but there is plenty of information that should be included when you order checks online. Start with the company logo, name and address. Be sure to add your website address and phone number. You may wonder why it’s so important to include all this information, but when you have a new business and need to order goods or services, you want people to be made aware of who you are and what you do when you pay them for those business-related expenses.

Some people would rather get an ATM debit card or corporate credit card and pay that way; by ordering checks online you get your name and website in front of people in ways paying by credit card never could. It’s a shrewd marketing technique especially useful for service-based businesses or websites. You should keep the colors and designs of your business checks simple and easy to read, just like any other type of marketing. In the early stages of your business growth, any chance to expose your brand to a potential customer is worth its weight in gold.

The key to making a business checking account work for the business is to get in the habit of using your business checks every time you need to spend money to make money. It is difficult for some to get used to the second set of checks, but over time it becomes habit. Ordering checks especially for your business needs will keep the IRS and your tax preparer happy.

The way you celebrate the day isn’t quite as important as how it gets promoted and making sure you have adequate preparation on the day in question. Have some birthday invitations printed up that detail your special event. Do you want to give all visitors to your e-commerce site a special discount? Put a special coupon code in your invitation which can be redeemed on the day of the anniversary only. You can also use the birthday invitations to expand your mailing list simply by requiring people to sign up for your newsletter in order to get the special discount code.

Send out cheap invitations to a small on-site party in honor of your one-year anniversary, promising a special discount to anyone who shows up with a party invitation in hand. By putting a small sign-up form on the invitations you can add more names to your physical mailing list for direct mail. Regardless of what incentive you offer, your birthday invitations should include your company logo, address, operating hours and any special hours for the day of the going-into-business anniversary. The level of detail on your party invitations should be kept simple, just like a regular party invite.

Any special event which takes place at a business may require extra staff and possibly some hired security, depending on the nature of your business. A car dealership may not experience the same problems as an independent book seller, so it’s best to evaluate your needs ahead of time and plan accordingly. The success of your event depends on having the right number of staff to continue business as usual, plus make sure your guests feel wanted and attended to.

The first step is to examine the design and layout of your custom postcards. Just because you have found a resource for cheap postcards doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay strict attention to what goes on them. Are your current designs too busy? Is there too much text cluttering up the landscape on your custom postcard? Simplify the design and make it easier to read.

What is your postcard telling your customers to do? If you have an effective layout and a simple message, you need to be prepared to respond to whatever it is your postcard is asking the reader to do. Do you have enough customer service to handle a rush of customers all responding to your call for them to come visit your shop or operation? Have the people power on hand to address the need created by your marketing postcards if the campaign goes as planned.

The same tactic applies to your website and phone numbers as well. Are you asking your readers to visit your website? When was the last time it was updated? A common mistake some beginning marketers make is to give an Internet address out with no new content to read. Your postage stamps are wasted if you send people to a site they won’t browse because nothing new is offered. Update your website before mailing out the custom postcards and you’ll be prepared for the new wave of visitors to your site.

Do the marketing postcards used match your other marketing materials? If you aren’t using the same fonts and graphics from your website on those cheap postcards, ask yourself why not. Standardization is an excellent way to give a uniform, professional appearance both online and in the local community.

Finally, remember that the job is never finished, even when you have applied the last postal stamps and dropped the cards in the mail. A call to action may not be heeded until weeks later, so be sure to remind your staff that your campaign is still active until the expiration date passes or you decide to discontinue that plan.

You can make the most of a car magnet by taking into consideration how people will see your logo and web information, and structuring the graphic design of your car magnet accordingly. If you want people to see it while you drive down the street, keep the wording simple and make the logo, phone number, and website information large enough to be seen at a distance. The more complex your car magnet message is, the harder it will be to read while in motion. Letters should be large and in a simple font, phone numbers should be placed last.

If you want your magnet to be viewed while the vehicle is at rest, you can add more information to your magnetic car signs. Do you plan to use the vehicle and car magnet in a trade show or parked outside an event? Any message you place should be simple and easy to read, but you can include additional details on your company when the magnetic signs are designed to be viewed while the car or truck is parked. Any colors you choose for the car magnet aside from your logo design should be complimentary to the vehicle where possible. Neutral colors work best for most situations.

Custom magnets should be applied to your vehicle carefully, and should fit within a single panel of the body where possible. If your car magnet doesn’t fit snugly against the metal, you risk losing your car magnet when the vehicle gets up to speed on a highway or city street. Always measure the length and width of the area you need to place the magnet in to get the proper dimensions for the best fit.

Consider the value of a custom printed 2009 calendar, complete with your website and logo on every page. Your customers will keep this posted on the wall for an entire year, giving you brand reinforcement and a small marketing edge every time they need to mark an important date. A 2009 calendar is a miniature billboard for your business and a very effective way to stay top-of-mind.

If you work as a salesman, company rep or in any capacity where your customers need to remember you personally as well as the company, try ordering a run of business card magnets. These are very useful as they often wind up placed in one of the most high traffic areas of the home–the refrigerator. Every time someone goes for a cold can of soda, your name and company logo is there to remind them. If repetition is the key to marketing, the business card magnet could be one of the best promotional tools you have.

You can combine these two ideas by printing a miniature calendar on an oversized magnet. Place your company logo and website address at the top, and include the 12 months below. The calendar magnet is popular because the larger size makes it handy for refrigerator reminders. The business card magnet is a handy fridge enhancer, but the larger size of a calendar magnet makes it handy for storing menus and other items you can’t get to stick on the refrigerator with a small magnet.

All of these ideas are ways to keep your business in the minds of your customers through repeated exposure to your logo and web address. Use these together with your regular direct mail campaigns and other advertising for a powerful combination.