How do I produce a letterhead?

[geek84]

Good Morning folks

I am self- employed and want to send out letters to potential clients via email or post, as a way of introducing myself. I already have the body of the letter written out on Word and just need to produce a letterhead to make it a bit more professional.

Is there a facility online where I can download a free letterhead and change the wording across the top of the page with my details on it? Or would that be cheating?

Once I have customised the letterhead, can I then just copy and paste the body of the letter so that it appears underneath the letterhead?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BusinessDeli]

Sure you need a letterhead? Plain and simple can be just as effective and especially for an email.
If you're set on a letterhead for posting then find one you like and emulate it and do as you suggest. Just make sure it doesn't look cheap and nasty - if you want to present a professional image then it HAS to look professional and ideally you would buy printed letterheads to post out.

 

[Scalloway]

There are plenty of tutorials online on producing letetrheads. Here is one from Microsoft

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/word-help/create-company-letterhead-using-word-HA001034899.aspx

You should save your lettrhead as a template then use it every time you produce a business letter.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Good Morning folks

I am self- employed and want to send out letters to potential clients via email or post, as a way of introducing myself. I already have the body of the letter written out on Word and just need to produce a letterhead to make it a bit more professional.

Is there a facility online where I can download a free letterhead and change the wording across the top of the page with my details on it? Or would that be cheating?

Once I have customised the letterhead, can I then just copy and paste the body of the letter so that it appears underneath the letterhead?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think it's money well spent to get professionally produced and printed letterheads for most businesses.

Once you've got your letterhead have a read up on mail merge - it's a great mail to send a large number of letters, and emails. Some Google searches should find something explaining how they work.

 

[That Bates Girl]

They aint necessarily the cheapest, but moo.com have just started doing letterheads. It might be worth looking over there for some inspiration, even if you do decide to diy it.

(on a slight tangent, I've just started collecting vintage and antique illustrated letterheads - I'm rather obsessed with the the number of companies that had drawings of their factories/warehouses/machinery lovingly reproduced at the top of every page)

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

.....
on a slight tangent, I've just started collecting vintage and antique illustrated letterheads - I'm rather obsessed with the the number of companies that had drawings of their factories/warehouses/machinery lovingly reproduced at the top of every page)

Sorry OP off topic but I too think some of the old letterheads are super.

Back in the late 80's I used to work in a very traditional old style accountancy practice and we had a lot of clients who had been with the firm for several generations and I actually even now remember some of the lovely old letterheads - one especially springs to mind, it was a farming partnership that had a pedigree herd which could be traced back for some 50 years I think it was and they had a lovely old black and white letterhead with a picture of the cows on.

 

[That Bates Girl]

they had a lovely old black and white letterhead with a picture of the cows on.

Nice.

 

[zaen__]

Just search on Google, you'll find something

 

[14Steve14]

As you have word, use it to design your own, using the internet and what you can find for inspiration.

 

[Paul Brooke]

To be honest I see nothing wrong with the OP's original idea. I just went onto Google Images, got myself a logo, then pasted it into a word doc, added my details with some nice colours and Bob's yer uncle, Charlies, yer aunt....sorted

 

[Pish_Pash]

I designed mine in photoshop, pasted it into a word doc - job done (there are normally more pressing matters when you first need a letterhead!)

 

[Andy Anderson]

I asked myself this question a few weeks back and whilst looking at advertising material i saw x amount of letterheads designed for you at £x . I was tempted to go ahead with this but then I thought why? Money is tight and I saw this as a none essential item when I can do it my self. I spent a few moments on google images, decided what I like and created my own letterhead. I've used it a few times now and I use the template all the time. As long as you have your logo on jpeg, pdf, png or another you'll be fine.

 

[Ritesh Sanghani]

It will be more beneficial to get it designed for you. Because using a predefined template of letterhead that others are also using is not advisable in the long run.

 

[Andy Anderson]

I understand that having one designed will help you long term however that depends how creative you are. For my business short term i'll stick with what i have! my budget say so!

 

[HBR Business Consultants]

I use Solopress for all my stationery needs where you also have the use of a designer should you need one. Request a sample pack if you are unsure.

 

[geek84]

Thanks for all your replies, folks.

 

[Donna77]

In microsoft Word you'll find a lot of templates at the opening page where you look for your last files.. You just open your favourite and type over the text area and stick in a jpeg logo. Save it and keep it as a clean master to open each time (saving as a template would be better but not strictly necessary).
Generally dark grey text in a header looks better than black I think.Why spend money on this when you've got so many other expenses at the start of a new business?
By the way, I'm not sure of your industry, but most people don't open attachments on unsolicited emails - too many virus spreading spammers/scammers. So consider putting the info in the body of the email instead for cold mailouts.