Pay Day Hawaii

An essential part of starting your own side business is letting potential customers that you are IN business! Word of mouth and referrals are vitally important, of course, but you must be prepared to present your business and your products or services to the outside world.

Just where do you start?

As we’ve talked about in previous blogs about marketing, you must get your business presented where your potential customers are looking.

• Your customers will be looking at social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
• Interested customers will want to see more details about your business on your website.
• Your customers will be looking at where your competition is marketing: Perhaps local business guides, tourist guidebooks and publications, magazines, websites, shopping areas online or brick-and-mortar, etc.

After you’ve decided on where you need to target your business listings and marketing, you will need to create all that content! Don’t worry, though, it is easier than it sounds! Below, and in Part Two, we have put together quick guides to some of the basics you’ll need to create great materials to present and use in your business.

LOGO DESIGNS
You will need a logo for your new side business. You have three choices:

• Create a logo yourself
• Pay someone else to design a logo for you
• Purchase an appropriate logo design and adapt it for your specific business.

Creating a logo yourself can be surprisingly easy.
Type-only logo:

• Open the word processing program on a computer, such as Microsoft Word.
• You’ll see you are starting off with a blank page. Save this file with the name of your business and the word logo.
• Choose an attractive typeface (or font) from the drop-down Font menu, and use this typeface to write the name of your business. Save the file again.
• A typeface is the specific style of the lettering, and it can be in several styles, or fonts, like BOLD, italic, or regular. There are many, many, typefaces available.
• If you are not satisfied with the fonts or typefaces that your word processing program offers, you can download free fonts from a number of sites on the Internet.
• You might want to add a short line that further describes your business:

Amy’s Tailoring
Hand-Sewn Repairs and Alterations

• Once you are finished creating your logo, you should be able to save a copy of your file as a PDF file that can be used as art, and be uploaded to social media, or be used in printing. Use the Save As selection from the drop-down File menu.

Hand-drawn logo:

• If you are good at lettering, try taking pen and ink, or a paintbrush, and draw or paint out the name of your business.
• Include a little flourish or small illustration that conveys more about your business (a line drawing of a needle and thread, a flower, etc.).
• You’ll need to have someone scan your drawing to turn it into an electronic file, so you’ll be able to upload it to your website, social media, and so you can use it in print materials. Any office supply store that offers printing services should be able to do it, and also most small desktop printers come with a scanner.

Adapting a pre-created logo design:

• This option is good if you are comfortable with Photoshop or other image or design software.
• Open your pre-created logo design image, and decide how to make it your own. Change the color? Change the size? Delete or cover up part of the logo design?
• Replace the original text with your business name and message. Identify what typeface you want to use, and then use it consistently throughout your marketing and communication materials.

What kinds of logo files you will need:

• A file that has your logo in color, and a file that has your logo in black-and-white.
• You’ll need your logo in a few different file formats. Different uses may require different file formats. Most common to have are: jpeg or jpg, png, and PDF.
• You will also need your logo in different file sizes:
  • A high-resolution image: 300 dpi (dots per inch) is for use in print
  • A lower-resolution image: 72 – 150 dpi is most commonly used for webpages and social media.

A word about designing a logo
Think about where your logo will be used, and what kind of logo format would fit best. Vertical and horizontal formats have their individual challenges and benefits.

• Will it be used on a business card? How will the logo fit in that kind of layout?
• Will it be used on stationery? A large bulky logo will take up a lot of space on your stationery paper.
• Will it be used in ads or ad listings? What are the design requirements for that publication?

Don’t rush when creating your logo
Experimentation is part of the process, and will help you better define your business. Try out different designs with friends and co-workers, and see what their reactions are. Try your logo out in a few different layouts and see how it works. Does it effectively convey your business and your name? Is it easy to read? After this review process, you will be ready to use your logo to identify and promote your business!

You can do it!