If you’re like most budget-conscious companies, any opportunity to grow your business while saving a few dollars is a win.

These tips will help you create professional business stationery that builds trust in your brand, promotes your company, and helps market your services without breaking the bank.

Explore cost saving DIY options

As you consider your business stationery options, if you’ve already got your brand’s visual identity down, you’re halfway there.  (If you haven’t invested in your brand’s visual identity, this blog post can help you get started.)

With your trademark colors, fonts, and logo ready to go, you can easily print business cards or company letterhead using free customizable templates – or by creating your stationery from scratch.

• Microsoft Office Suite includes simple design templates for business cards, letterhead, newsletters, invoices, and more.
• The paid version of a G Suite account allows you to create customizable business letterhead using their Template Gallery.  This article walks you through the DIY design process using Google Docs.
• If you’re confident in your design skills, you can draft a template in your preferred word processing application.  Be sure to include all the key elements – your logo, business name, and contact information.

Once you’ve got your business stationery templates, you’ll need to choose whether to use the services of a local print shop for professional quality printing or decide whether to invest in a high quality printer so you can print on demand any time.

Look into low-cost online designers

Thanks to the gig economy, business owners can find affordable design expertise by choosing among global talent in the online freelance marketplace.

• Fiverr helps connect graphic designers (and a host of other freelancers) with the entrepreneurs who need their services with pricing as low as $5 per project. Start searching for a designer for your business cards and stationery project here.
• 99 Designs helps business owners find the perfect match for any stationery project.  Find a designer to create your logo and DIY the rest, or get help with every aspect of your stationery needs.  The easy-to-navigate platform lets you narrow your search by categories, industries, preferred language, and experience (i.e. entry, mid, or top level designers).
• Creative Market offers 6,000 low cost stationery template sets you can quickly customize, available as downloadable digital files.
• Moo makes it a snap to create unique designs using their customizable templates – or level up with a custom design package created by a professional designer.  This affordable all-in-one solution quickly takes you from inspiration to printed product, delivered right to your door.

With these creative cost-saving business stationery ideas, you’ll be set to make a professional impression on your clients, colleagues, and customers in no time.

And the best part?  You’ll save a pretty penny you can re-invest back in your business for greater growth and success.