A logo should be thought of as a living design. As times and styles change, the logo design should keep up. Otherwise, a logo starts to look old and tired - not things you want to portray to your customers. Mild changes can make a big improvement while still helping retain the image your customers have come to recognize and trust. The changes can be simple - think of it as a graphical facelift. Lightening or darkening of colors, slight changes in font type or size, and variation of the overall shape are little things that can make a big difference.

When customers look at your logo, they automatically associate your logo with what it’s like to do business with you. A old, tired logo might make customers feel like your business is old and tired too. That’s why some mild updates can go a long way. Too many changes can alienate your customers, but smart, subtle updates will help them feel like your business is improving and staying "with it."

Every once in awhile I’ll come across a logo that includes several icons, several fonts, taglines, and more. I suspect most of these logos are the result of a CEO not being able to decide the one thing his company stands for. So he throws in everything, hoping his customers will recognize something that appeals to them. But the result is exactly the opposite. These logos are so crowded and complex they are impossible to remember and appeal to no one - except the CEO. The best logos are simple. A single icon and easy-to-read logotype. And often no icon at all. When you’re ready to create your logo, keeping it simple will help your customers recognize and remember who you are and what service your provide. And that is critical to the long-term success of your company.

Jonathan Munk writes articles for major Logo Maker companies such as http://www.LogoWorks.com and http://www.LogoMaker.com

For more information about LogoWorks visit Statesman.com

Designing a logo can be an exciting process, and with an infinite array of logo design possibilities, it’s easy to forget to think about how your logo will look when you’re actually using it. No matter the nature of your business, you want to make sure your logo will look great no matter where you decide to use it.

It is important to remember that complex logos, although they may look great on a large sign or on the company website, may not look so hot when shrunk down to fit on business cards and company pens. Logos will need to be adjusted when they are applied to stationary, t-shirts, business cards and websites. Aside from having access to the different file forms of your logo (jpg, eps, Tif.), keep the logo simple, avoid using too many colors and think about how you will be using your logo down the road. This can save you a lot of trouble down the line.

A good logo is one that will fulfill all your needs, and part of that means being able to make it look great no matter how and where you choose to use it, whether that is on a billboard, on coasters, jackets, hats, or on your company’s vehicle, so keep that in mind as you design a company logo.

Jonathan Munk writes articles for major Logo Maker companies such as http://www.LogoWorks.com and http://www.LogoMaker.com

For more information about LogoWorks visit Statesman.com

It’s very upsetting to find someone using your business name, or one that is “confusingly similar.” If you’ve taken legal steps to protect your name, you are in a much better position to protect your interests.

* If you are successful, you will be copied.

I learned this lesson the hard way. When my business partner and I started Tables to Teapots (a retail store in Acton, MA), we had no idea how successful we would be. After several years of hard work, a TV feature on Chronicle and a story in Inc. Magazine, our business was booming. Then one day, a customer came in and said, “I didn’t know you’d opened up in New Hampshire.” Well, we hadn’t opened up in NH. But, an enterprising copycat had opened a store and called it NH-Tables to Teapots.

We were lucky. While we had the rights clearly established in Massachusetts, we had not filed a federal Trademark protecting the name in other states. By taking an aggressive position, I was able to convince the NH copycat to change the name of his business.

Legally, our “rights” to the name attach from the time we used it in commerce. However, we would have been on stronger footing if we had registered the Trademark.

Trademark/Service Mark Registration

Any word, phrase, name, symbol, sound … that identifies or distinguishes your product or service from those made or sold by others, is eligible for Trademark Protection. (Trademark applies to products; Service mark applies to services.)

Check to Confirm that Your Name is Available.

Before you invest in applying for a Trade/Service mark, it’s important to search and see if anyone else is claiming the name or similar name. You can search online for the Internet domain name (www.networksolutions.com). You can also search on the Web site of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov). These searches do not guarantee that the name is not in use, but they are a good indication of availability.

Steps to Protect Your Name

1. Reserve the Internet Domain name.

2. Use TM or SM symbols.

Put the Trademark ™ or Service mark (SM) symbol on your materials. This puts the world on notice that you are claiming the mark.

3. Register in your State.

In Massachusetts, the filing fee is $50 and lasts 10 years.

4. Register in the US.

The Federal filing fee is $375 and once approved you can use the ® (stands for registered mark), and the protection lasts so long as the mark is used in commerce.

5. Register Internationally.

International registration has become much easier with the Madrid Protocol (effective November 2003), which allows a mark to be protected in several countries by filing a single application.

In conclusion, if your business name, tagline or brand is important to your business, then it makes sense to take steps to legally protect it.

Jean Sifleet is a practical and experienced business attorney whose career spans many years in large multi-national corporations and includes three successful entrepreneurial ventures. Jean has extensive experience in dealing with intellectual property matters in the large and small companies and as a small business owner. She has authored numerous books and publications on avoiding legal pitfalls in doing business. This article is excerpted from her new book, Advantage IP – Profit from Your Great Ideas (Infinity 2005). For more information, Jean’s website is http://www.smartfast.com

The world of business is a very competitive one with each executive competing with the other to get the best of sales, profits and customers for their business. This means that all businesses interested in becoming successful have to concentrate in developing their corporate image and identity to improve in their business. Corporate identity is actually the image or identity by which the business wants to be perceived by their customers or the physical manifestation of the brand.

Corporate identity is very much achieved by the brand building and marketing strategies of the company. So how actually is a brand built? It is done through the help of branding tools like logo designs, business cards and brochures. Brochures and advertisements are the most powerful communication branding tools as you get to distribute them to anyone around your locality. you can make brochures describing your company, it’s specialties and services to the public, thus making them aware of your presence! Once more people get to know about your services and facilities, more people come to you to try them out, thus making your company a better success!

It should be made sure that all marketing communication material has the corporate logo on it, thus enhancing your credibility as a professional enterprise. The reason for the need of all marketing communication having a corporate logo is that this is the thing that will be handed over to the public as an advertisement. You hand out business cards for potential clients for them to remember you and your company, there will be incidents wherein you have to send letters to different companies. If you send these letters through letters using letterheads with your company logo, the recipient company will remember you better for future correspondence and dealings. Therefore, it can be seen that to enhance the corporate identity, the brand has to be enhanced or built. We do this through marketing strategies, thus incorporating that corporate identity is a very powerful communication-branding tool.

When getting the corporate logo done, it is best to have it done by a professional, as logos made by amateurs may ruin the credibility of the business in no time, while a logo done by a professional logo designer helps to add value to the business. A professional logo designer is not only a graphic designer, he is one who has idea about your branding and positioning of business. He is one who creates a logo for you based on your requirements to exude the nature of your business and to meet all modes of your usage of the logo, on web, print, TV commercials or in a mixture of all of this. It should be remembered that logos and marketing materials are very important parts of a company’s brand building strategy. Logo designs are such an important communication tool for the corporate as it can make people perceive your company to be a large corporate house, when in fact; only one man runs it!

This article was written by Thomson Chemmanoor a search engine optimization expert and webmaster who operates websites like http://www.articlenetworks.com To read more about this coporate identity article visit You can republish the articles without changing the content and the bio box.

A corporate logo is actually a part of a brand entity. It is something in which it’s shape, color and typeface are all different from others in a similar market. An effective logo has to be one that is recognized instantly, while evoking some emotional response to the public. The well-designed or professional logo always works well in different sizes, and even in one color. Take for example Apple computer’s logo of an apple with a bite out of it. It started out with many colors, but now is still recognizable throughout the world in a single color, red. Most think that a logotype is just a graphic symbol or sign, while it actually consists of either a name, or a sign and a name. Sometimes a slogan too is included in the logotype.

When it comes to creating a professional corporate logo, there are two approaches to adopt from. One says that you should maintain your own business identity close to your competitors’ while another says that you should stand out from your competition. The better one is the image you project of your capability of giving a competitive advantage over your competitors. Hence, you should create an identity to prove that you are an innovator, and something different from others. Many things help you establish your identity, but nothing is as critical as your logo. You may feel that you cannot afford the services of a professional logo designer. However, in the long run, an inefficient or amateurish professional corporate logo costs you more in terms of lesser sales in your company, than a professional corporate logo!

While working with your professional logo designer, it is best to notice other company’s logos to ask yourself what kind of image they project and why. Keeping this in mind, you too can get an idea for the proper logo for your establishment. Avoid a complicated logo. The simpler and more understated your logo is, the greater the impact it gives. not only that, simple logos are easier for the public to remember. Take for example the golden arches of McDonald’s. Choose the colors wisely for your logo design as it is a significant element of the logo. Bright colors are always the strong attention getters, and can very much excite people. If you want to project the image that your company is hot and trendy, it is better to use the color red, yellow and orange.

Bold blocks used in the typestyle of the logo design invoke the image that the company is a strong and large one. For a classic or upscale image, it is better to use italics to evoke the image of the company. Once you determine the color and typeface of your logo, you may consider embellishing the logo with a single element like a line or border. Taglines too play an important part in the promotion of a logo. A tagline is the short and snappy group of words found underneath a logo. While you may stick with your logo permanently, the tagline may change as the company grows. In addition, the last point to remember in making your corporate logo stand out from the rest is by creating a unique logo as this avoids confusion in the marketplace, suppliers, clients and to the general public.

Thomson Chemmanoor Writer of this articles is a Professional Coporate logo Designer. To read more about this article and my website visit Article Submission and Affordable Logo Design

You might just use your logo on your own computer in Microsoft Publisher, or you hired a designer to create your logo that will be deployed across your web site, apparel, brochures, banners, advertisements and more. In either case, I promise you that taking a moment to internalize this article before you really settle on a logo will save you loads of time, money aggravation in the long run.

Knowing a little about logos ahead of time will save a lot down the road.

There are essentially two main categories that logos, and for that matter, graphics can be designed in: raster and vector. Both have pros and cons, and you’ll ideally know what format the logo is going to be in before it’s created for you. Having the logo designed in the right format will allow you to easily transfer it to a t-shirt, a business card, a trade show banner, whatever you want - this format is called vector.

In order to get the most out of your logo, you’ll want to ensure that it’s designed in a vector format. Vector logos and graphics are comprised not of tiny pixels like raster graphics but mathematical equations. Logos designed in vector format can be enlarged to banner size and beyond. As the graphic enlarges the mathematical equations and relations change and the logo never experiences loss of quality or degradation. This means your logo will always look crisp and clear.

I know, who cares?

Well, if you or someone you hire creates your original logo in a raster format, you may run into problems down the line. Take for example, Mindi, she’s a good friend and client who had a designer create some DVD cover art for her a while back. In the process the artist quickly created a sort of a logo for her and slapped it on the DVD cover. The logo was designed in a raster format.

On the DVDs her logo looked fine, so Mindi didn’t think anything of it. Recently she made a decision to have a trade show banner created and wanted to use the same logo. That’s where things got complicated. Mindi’s logo was created in a raster format, and when you enlarge it to banner size it doesn’t look so good. In fact, it looked "fuzzy" or "jagged" - not the professional image she was shooting for.

Mindi was faced with a difficult decision because her logo was not created correctly in vector format. She could just not use the logo or have the logo recreated in vector form, which will cost her some time and money. Either way, the decision was not a fun one.

If you intend on using your logo for more than just business cards you print out on your computer you want to ensure you know your logo is being created in vector format so you can avoid the quandary Mindi found herself in. So remember, even if your logo looks good on the computer screen it may not look as good when printed, this is especially true when printing a logo in what they call "large format" printing (banners, etc.).

The best way to ensure your logo will look good on whatever you place it on is to work with an experienced, savvy graphic designer. He or she will create your logo so you can use it, your staff can use it, and it will be welcomed and accepted by any printing professional. You will have the peace of mind knowing your logo will look outstanding whether it’s on a business card or a banner. If you have any questions about your logo or feedback about this article, give me a call at 480-391-0704, or email me at comments@candographics.com. I would be happy to talk to you about your logo and how to get the most out of it.

Jeremy Tuber runs the only business savvy graphic design firm who helps companies build more confidence and credibility into their business identities. “I help you take your business’ vision and shape it into a company identity that will make you look better, feel better and have more confidence about your business.”

He is an atypical designer with a passion for marketing as well as design. Jeremy infuses solid marketing expertise into design projects that he guarantees to bring satisfaction and results. Clients often remark that he brings a terrific enthusiasm and a “can do” attitude to each project. In 1st quarter 2006, he will introduce his first book aimed at helping aspiring artists run a more profitable and more enjoyable design business called, “Being a Starving Artist Sucks”.

Learn more about Jeremy and how you can gain a competitive advantage with a better brand by visiting http://www.candographics.com

.jpg, .gif, .png, .eps, .pdf, .tif; file format options or a bad accident involving alphabet soup?

Every time a graphic file is saved on the computer, the program saves the artwork with a specific file format. Some formats are high resolution, some are low; some are specific to the native application (like .doc files are MS Word), while others can be used by different computers and different applications.

Just as different software programs are good at performing different tasks, different file formats are good for different purposes. You wouldn’t use MS Word to construct a large table of financial data; you’d use MS Excel. The same principle goes for file formats, some are suited for lower-resolution web graphics and email, and others are high-resolution graphics for printing.

Who cares? You should…

This can be down right confusing for a non-expert. In fact, it can be disastrous to spend hours working on a file and have it in the wrong format. Artwork in the wrong file format might be:

* Rejected by a printer
* Incompatible with a computer
* Result in slower download times
* Reproduce over the Internet or on print with unpredictable or awful results.

All of these will result in costing your more time and money. The good news is: experienced business savvy designers will know from experience exactly which file type to use for each specific circumstance.

For those looking for a little extra knowledge, or gluttons for punishment, here is a quick synopsis of when to use which file type:

.jpg - "jay peg", great for web sites and email, this file format compresses continuous-tone images (like a picture with millions of colors) down to a size that can be downloaded of the Internet quickly. The downside to this format is that compressing the image too much will cause it to visibly degrade and look jagged.

.gif - "gifs", pronounced with a "G", not a "J", also a terrific file type for the Internet and emailing. Gifs do an incredible job of compressing images and making them suitable for fast downloads. In contrast to the .jpg, the .gif is not suited for non-continuous color images, but solid colored images (some cartoons or clip art is a good example of this). One added bonus is that the .gif images can be placed on a web page with an clear background, so you layer them on a web page. Sometimes the artwork has a sharp, unattractive border when the image’s background invisible, when this happens, go with the next file type, the .png.

.png - "pings" or "p.n.g’s:, this format can act as a hybrid between the .jpg and the .gif, it allows users to compress either non/continuous-tone color images, and allow you to put the on a web page with a clear background. .Pngs are usually larger in file size than the previous file formats but they allow people to save artwork to be layered on web pages or other artwork without any sharp or disruptive border. .Pngs are extremely versatile, but they usually result in larger files and longer download times.

.eps - "encapsulated postScript", these files can be vector or raster - which makes them extremely powerful, this goes beyond the scope of this article. Professional printers and printable advertising media, like a magazine, will typically ask that the artwork be saved as an .eps file or perhaps a .tif. Recently the .pdf document has made some headway into certain areas of printed media as well.

.tif - "tagged image file format", a versatile color space file format (CMYK, RGB, Grayscale) and cross-platform between Mac and PC. The .tif file format was originally intended for scanning, and a lot of scanned images are saved as tifs. Printers and advertisers will often request or permit final artwork to be designed in a tif.

.pdf - "portable document format", Adobe’s native file format that is read by a program called Adobe Acrobat. Most computer users have Acrobat on their system, if they don’t they can download Acrobat Reader for free. The .pdf has a wide range of uses, including a lot of usage on web, interactive forms and they can even be used for printing.

Top 5 Indications You’ve Used the Wrong File Format
* The printer you are using starts to laugh at you
* The printer you are using starts to cry in front of you
* Colleagues complain that you are filling up her/his mailbox with large image files
* Prospects visiting your web site indicate your company logo looked out of focus and more like a blob of mustard and relish
* You’ve decided on which file format to use based on a novel magic 8 ball

Did you like this article? Email me at comments@candographics.com, feel free to share it with a colleague that would benefit from it. If you need advice or assistance with determining the right file format to use, give me a shout at 480-391-0704, I would be a happy to walk you through it.

Jeremy runs the only business savvy graphic design firm who helps companies build more confidence and credibility into their business identities. “I help you take your business’ vision and shape it into a company identity that will make you look better, feel better and have more confidence about your business.”

Like the article?

Email Jeremy today at comments@candographics.com for your choice of a free insider’s bulletin: “How to Choose the Right Marketing/Design Firm for You” or “Top Ten Questions Designers Don’t Want You to Ask Them”.

You’ll also want to check out the “Can-Do Confidence Builder”. Emailed weekly, the Confidence Builder provides you with essential marketing and design insights that help you get the most out of your marketing/design investments and help you to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Remember to include in your email your name, which Insider Bulletin you would like to receive and any additional feedback.

Learn more about Jeremy and how you can gain a competitive advantage with a better brand by visiting http://www.candographics.com

How does a small company or individual eBay seller who wants to get big one day do it? The answer is easy - they work hard to stand out from an already crowded field to have their product, service and name recognized before the others.

This can be acheived several ways:

First, is to simply have a better product than your competition does.

Next, is to do it better and faster than the other guy.

Yet another way to separate yourself from the crowd is to deliver your merchandise in a way that stands out and is remembered by the receiver.

An example of this might be who’s box of widgets is more likely to be remembered first at re-order time, the one that arrives in a plain brown box with clear tape or the one that arrives in a white box sealed with red, blue, green or yellow tape? Obviously the white box will be remembered because it is different from the rest and provided the net cost to the customer is relatively close, chances are the better remembered package and company will come to mind first therefore getting the next order.

When it comes to gaining repeat customers, it’s not always the best price that brings people back for more. You may charge a little more, but if your overall service is superior and you get name and/or product recognition, you will get quality customers coming back as oppossed to the ones only looking for the rock bottom price and who tend to complain the most as well.

If your selling over the web, the first "hands on" impression your customer gets is when the order is delivered. That’s where the the first impression truly takes place. If the package arrives looking right, it extends an aire of quality, professionalism and attention to detail that leaves an indelible mental impression on the customer regardless how ordinary the product might be.

Once you have the customers attention when the package arrives, they can’t help but open yours first to reveal its contents. The customer never expected such an eye catching package usually get fixated on it and just have to open it. In doing so not only is the packaging remembered, but so is your name. Chances are good that your name will come up in conversation as well and possibly generate more business.

Depending on your particular market, further lasting impressions can be made inside the package as well. Matching or contrasting color tissue paper can highlight the item as can packing peanuts. Instead of white, pink or green alone, you can mix pink and green together for a different look.

If your products are shipped in cardboard tubes such as posters, artwork, blueprints or fabric, a great impact can be made with colored tubes instead of plain kraft for little extra expense.

It goes without saying that no matter how colorful and impressive your packaging may be, it means nothing it is not packaged properly to arrive in one piece.

No matter who the carrier is, UPS, FexEx, USPS, etc., you can be sure that your packages will ride a myriad of conveyor belts, get tossed around some and will fall down at least one mail chute along the way. You can also rest assured that in all likelyhood, the "Handle With Care" label won’t make a bit of difference to a package sorter if it is even noticed at all.

With said, you need to pay attention to what is in the inside of the package as well as the outside. Be sure to package things with the above paragraph in mind. Bubble Wrap, loose fill peanuts, tissue paper, foam, and the other various types of inner protection that are available make it easy to do a good job and get the customers order delivered in one piece.

A stand out splash of color will get you and your product remembered and proper packaging will get it there safely so everyone is happy at the end of the day.

About the author - Steve Madsen is the owner of Pac-n-Seal - http://www.pacnseal.com, a supplier of packing, shipping and moving supplies both on the web and in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area. The website can be found at http://www.pacnseal.com and he can be reached by email at steve@pacnseal.com

Coming off the holiday season, I feel like packaging is getting a bad “wrap”. I have been inundated with stories about how packaging is a bad thing: People getting cut trying to open a package: adults spending the hours wrestling with opening a package, families members hauling bag after bag of non-recyclable packaging materials to the curb and so on.

Interestingly, I did a segment for NBC TV about toy packaging and illustrated why toys are packed in a particular manner. It proved to be quite fascinating. Unfortunately, the producer wrapped up the segment with angry consumers trying to open toy packages. The consumers were hacking, ripping and tearing away at what they deemed were over packaged products. If you had seen this segment or have read some of the articles I have seen since the holiday you would believe that packaging is the scourge of the modern world. Can those who are not involved in the industry begin understand the role of packaging?

Don’t get me wrong. I know there are examples of excess and bad packaging in every category, but the searing question is where would we be without the package. The package is essential. Getting product from point A to point B in good condition sounds simple enough. But who thinks about that? More importantly why should you care?

I know I do. Sometimes I get carried away at the store. I have been known to turn over the box and spill the contents to see who made it or open the package at the store to see if I can get into it. I’m an avid reporter of damaged goods to the store manager. I feel it’s my civic duty to report when I see that a packaged is damaged at the store. I anxiously walk the store isles hoping I can find a failure. (A package that didn’t do its job.) I use these as examples when I speak about the role of packaging. It’s much easier to make the point about the package when you can show that something is broken or damaged. Then people understand.

An interview for an upcoming Forbes article about the most important package innovations in the last 30 years got me thinking about all of the packaging innovations we take for granted. Where would we be without the aluminum can, the PET bottle, the toothpaste tube, the pizza box, the milk carton, the juice box, the zip lock bag and so on? The list is endless. These packaging innovations impact the way we shop and eat every day. Packaging drives 10% of every dollar we spend at retail. This is a hidden but necessary cost that we never consider.

Packaging is so commonplace, i.e., the corrugated box, that people think it just exists. Maybe it is the fruit of some exotic tree. Little do they know how complicated the process is to get that product from the tree to the finished result.

This pencil analogy is the best example I can come up with when explaining to people the intricacies of packaging. Simple pencil manufacturing is very complex. Someone shapes the wood, another one extrudes the lead, another one provides the eraser and another one provides the wire thingy that attaches the eraser to the pencil. Finally, someone assembles it all. (Get the point?)

Every day I see new and incredibly innovative new products (many of which couldn’t exist without the package). Take the fresh produce category for example. Pre-washed, ready to eat carrots in a bag are not produced by a simple process. People are astounded when I explain to them exactly what makes this product work. Kids especially just take it for granted. Carrots plus bag – for them, it’s a fact of life. This entire category didn’t exist 10 years ago, now it’s one of the most important and profitable supermarket areas. This category works because the package makes it happen.

When speaking at a university recently, I mentioned the Tylenol package incident. Guess what I got. I got blank stares from a generation of students too young to remember pre-tamper evident lids. They did not realize the Tylenol incident spawned a whole new category of tamper evident materials and packaging. Again, something the average consumer misconstrues–products have seals and tabs to make them difficult to get into. Product integrity drove the innovation packaging that makes up this entire category of packaging materials.

As I travel the world, I am reminded that many of the packaging innovations that exist in the U.S. aren’t available in other countries. In fact there are many countries where the whole foodservice category simply doesn’t exist. Imagine, No Grab and Go, No Ready to Eat, No Ready to Serve, no HMR-Home Meal Replacement…. Where would we be without this category of packaged products? We’d spend much more time in the kitchen for sure, so cooks should take notice.

We expect things packaged to be “PrePared.” When you examine the supermarket, this category is exploding. Preseasoned, precooked, premeasured, the list goes on. Pre-something foods have surpassed the plain meat category. Once again, it’s the packaging that does all the work to make this category possible and successful.

Next time you visit a supermarket, consider what products couldn’t exist without a package. One of my favorite tricks with students is to send around a bag of smashed potato chips or a broken egg. That opens a lot of eyes. A simple egg carton, mull over how that has evolved over the years. The materials, the shape, the number of eggs per carton have all evolved. It’s amazing. Even the most common items require a package of some sophistication.

Many of the latest packaging innovations have been developed as a result of a need. Tamper evident and anti-counterfeit are two examples that come to mind. All those holographic seals and packages you can’t get into exist for a reason. That’s what most people fail to realize. The inherent problems in opening a package exist for protection – the product’s or ours. Consider where we would be in any disaster relief effort without packaging, no food no water no medical supplies. All of these items are transported in some type of packaging.

So the next time you want to give packaging a bad "wrap” think about how you would shop, eat and just plain exist without packaging.

Got "packaging" problems? Did your products sell at Christmas? The first priority is to get a consumer to pick up your product on the shelf. Packaging makes this happen. It’s the first "moment of truth" whether your product will sell or not. So if you haven’t revised your packaging to reach the hottest target markets drop me a line at PackagingDiva@aol.com Get your product packaged right, so consumers will buy.

If you own or operate a website in conjunction with your business, consider posting a Visa logo, or even Visa / Master Card logos on your website. Visitors browsing the site will be more apt to linger and shop when they know you offer the convenience of buying on credit cards.

To display Visa or Master Card logos on your site, you will need to apply for a merchant account. This is a special account set up by a financial lender that allows you to accept credit payments via credit and debit cards at your point of sale. For website owners, this is a terrific way to get customers to buy now and pay immediately to avoid the risk of losing a sale or late payment. While some website operators simply have customers dial a toll-free telephone number to make automated purchases, more and more vendors are choosing to open a merchant account to facilitate customer sales online.

It’s easy to apply for a merchant account so you can use visa and credit card logos on your website. Simply work with Merchant-Account-Quotes.com so they may find the best merchant account provider for you. Many are merchant service providers are waiting to accept and approve your application. When approved, you can start promoting the fact that you now accept credit payments by posting a prominent ad for a Visa logo or combination Visa and Master Card logos. Customers are conditioned for this uniform display, and they will be looking for it when they visit your site.

Make it easy for visitors to find the Visa and Master Card logos. Place them in an prominent area of your website. Depending on your site layout, this area for credit card logos might be somewhere near the top or side navigation bar. Or you might want to put the logos at the bottom of the page if the page is not terribly long, and if you are reasonably sure customers will read to the end and thus find the Visa and Master Card logos.

Another way to promote this service is to feature it in a box somewhere at the side of the home page, or on each page of the site. It shouldn’t be too large, as though a Visa or Master Card logo were the most important detail of the page. But neither should it be too small, where many hurried customers could easily overlook it. When copying it onto your website page, check before making it live to ensure the graphic image is clear and well defined. A sloppy credit card logo can be a total turnoff for customers in search of professional vendors.

Adding Visa and Master Card logos to your company’s website marks you as someone who cares about customers’ needs and technologically competent. Find out how you can add these credit card logos to better enable your business to conduct e-commerce while observing contemporary payment trends. Your customers will appreciate the courtesy of credit payment options, and may show their gratitude through repeat business or positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Shane Penrod is the founder of http://www.Merchant-Account-Quotes.com Specializing in allowing merchants the ability to shop and compare multiple quotes from national merchant account providers. For free credit card logos, please go to Credit Card Logos