Masuga Design, LLC

One cool thing about running your own show is you have an excuse to make fun stuff. I read somewhere that one of the most overrated, expensive, and underused things for new businesses is letterhead and envelopes. I can see how that could be the case, especially in my line of work where almost everything is digital. I have very little to do with paper. I send out my invoices as PDF files via email, and can (and do) accept payment via PayPal.

Although I have very little use for letterhead, I do have to send out the occasional letter. Rather than springing for envelopes that I know I’ll never use, I went and had a stamp made for about $12. I set up a one color version of my logo at actual stamping size, printed one hard copy, and took it down to Richmond Stamp. I got a traditional rubber stamp, as the self-inking ones he had only came in certain colors (the typical red, black, green, and electric blue). I wanted to at least match the blue in my logo (PMS 3025) which is a blue with a very slight hint of green. I headed over to Stamp On It on 29th ( I would link you to their website, but it is a horrendous mess and almost brought my browser to its knees with a stupid Java applet text effect. I don’t want to be indirectly responsible for crashing your browser.) and found a custom ink color that was close enough to my blue. I think it’s safe to say I was the first male in his early 30’s to ever set foot in that store. The owner was eyeing me as if I were an alien life form. The ink and pad came to $5 or 6 dollars.

Now, all of my project folders, outgoing proposals and web contract packages, and regular envelopes are stamped. I feel just a little bit more professional, and spent very little doing it. The money I saved from having to print any letterhead and/or envelopes is going right into my Intel Mac fund. I’ll keep you posted.