In some ways, there is something excellent about the decline in formality in America. It allows us in the corporate world to be more direct with each other, to communicate more effectively, and to really understand what is going on at all levels of business among our underlings. In some ways, however, it is a real shame. Certain facets of decorum which could be a great corporate asset are systematically ignored. Things like business card design and letterhead design are neglected by companies that, in all other ways, have a very sleek corporate branding strategy. In the age of lightning fast communication, they are so unconcerned with writing letters that they allow their letterhead design to fall hopelessly out of date.

To me, good business public relations starts with good letterhead design. Although in theory it is possible to design your own letterhead and have it look professional, it will never be quite as good as professionally designed letterhead. If you have the budget to hire someone to do it for you, designing your own letterhead is always a mistake. When all other aspects of your business are handled professionally, letterhead designs should not be relegated to people who have no experience with them. Although there are many letterhead design templates in most word processing programs, they tend to suffer from a lack of originality. Hundreds of thousands of people use those programs, and they have all seen those letterhead designs. In order to have your own original letterhead design, you had best hire some else to do it.

That doesn't mean they can't create a design to be incorporated in the letterhead. Letterhead design is like any other aspect of marketing or public relations – it requires careful collaboration between business executive and public relations professionals. The best letterhead design schemes are collaborative projects, handled not by one person but by many. If your letterheads design is good, you should take pride from it. It should make you feel good about yourself, your business, and your business's mission. If you don't care about your letter head design, you should spare a thought or two as to whether or not it is outdated and needs to be replaced. I know dozens of the most respected businesses that could benefit from a new letterhead design. In the short term, their letterhead designs will not affect sales, but they will affect public relations. And public relations always ultimately has some economic effect.