What marketing materials does a small business need first?
Start with the pieces a buyer meets first and that cost little or nothing: a Google Business Profile if you serve customers in person, a website with five essentials, an email signature, and a one-page sales sheet. Add business cards, a case study and a proposal template next, and signs last. The order below follows when each piece gets used in a sale, not how good it looks.
| Priority | Material | Used when | Typical cost (checked 5 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google Business Profile | Someone searches your name or your service nearby | No charge to add or claim |
| 2 | Website essentials | Anyone checks you out after a referral, email or search | Your time plus hosting |
| 3 | Email signature | Every email you send | Free in Gmail |
| 4 | One-page sales sheet | After a first call, or left behind at a meeting | Free as a PDF; print optional |
| 5 | Business cards | In-person meetings and events | From about 5 cents a card at 500 |
| 6 | Case study | When a buyer asks who else you have helped | Your time and the customer's approval |
| 7 | Proposal template | Every quote you send | Your time |
| 8 | Signage | You have a shopfront, a site or an event stand | Yard signs from $13.65 |
A business that never meets customers in person can skip items 1, 5 and 8 at first. Google's Business Profile guidelines say a profile is for a business that has a physical location customers can visit or that travels to customers, and that a rented mailing address where you don't operate isn't eligible.
What should each marketing material include?
Here is what each piece has to contain before it is worth printing or publishing.
Google Business Profile. Your real business name, category, hours, phone, website and service area. Google's help page on adding or claiming a profile says you can add or claim your business at no charge: on the web you go to business.google.com/add, click Add your business to Google, enter your details and choose a verification option. Google's guidelines say the name should reflect your real-world business name, and that a service-area business should hide its address from customers.
Website essentials. Five things: one sentence on who you help and the result, three proof points (numbers, named clients who agreed, or a short case study), prices or how pricing works, one clear next step (call, booking link or form), and contact details that match your Google profile. Our guide on turning your website into a lead source covers the next step in more detail.
Email signature. Name, role, company, phone, website and one line on what you do. Skip quotes and large images. Gmail's signature help page allows up to 10,000 characters and says images count toward that limit. On a computer: open Gmail, click Settings, then See all settings, add your text in the Signature section and click Save Changes at the bottom.
Business cards. Name, role, phone, email, website and the same one-line description. Print on both sides only if the back says something useful, because back printing can cost more (see the price table below).
Case study. The customer's situation before, what you did, the result with a number, and a short quote the customer has approved in writing. If you don't have one yet, our guide to making proof before your first case study shows how.
Proposal template. Their problem in their words, what changes, the price on page one, the first 30 days and a dated next step. The full structure is in our post on writing a proposal that gets signed.
Signage. Business name, what you do in three to five words, and a phone number or web address large enough to read from the street.
How much do business cards and print materials cost?
At the four starting prices below, listed on 5 Nov 2026, business cards cost from about 5 cents to 46 cents each, depending on quantity and paper. Each vendor states its price on a different basis, so the table converts them to a cost per card.
| Printer | Listed price | What the price covers | Cost per card |
|---|---|---|---|
| GotPrint | $24.85 for 500 | 2 x 3.5 inch, 14 pt gloss, full colour front only, no rounded corners | $24.85 / 500 = about $0.05 |
| Staples | Starting at $21.99 for 250 | Traditional cards, 14 pt, 16 pt or 38 pt stock, matte or gloss | $21.99 / 250 = about $0.09 |
| VistaPrint | 50 standard cards for $10 | Offer to try 50 standard cards | $10 / 50 = $0.20 |
| MOO | 50 cards from $23.00 | Original cards, 16 pt paper, matte or gloss | $23.00 / 50 = $0.46 |
Two things change the real total. VistaPrint's standard business card page says that unless stated otherwise its prices exclude delivery and product options, and that printing on the back is an extra fee. GotPrint's listed offer is front-only, and its page doesn't state shipping costs. Check the cart total before you compare.
Worked example: a starter print order. 500 cards from GotPrint at $24.85, plus one 12 x 18 inch yard sign with metal stakes from GotPrint's listed starting price of $13.65, comes to $24.85 + $13.65 = $38.50 before shipping and tax. Adding tri-fold 8.5 x 11 inch brochures at GotPrint's listed starting price of $59.15 brings it to $97.65. GotPrint's page lists the brochure price as a starting price without stating the quantity in the text, so confirm the quantity before you order.
If you only need cards for one event, 50 cards at $10 costs less in total even though each card costs four times as much as the 500-card order ($0.20 against about $0.05).
Do you need a one-page sales sheet?
Yes, if anyone other than the person you talked to has a say in buying. The sheet is what your contact forwards to the person who signs, so it has to make sense without you in the room. Copy this template, fill the brackets and save it as a PDF.
Rules for the sheet: one page, real text rather than a picture of text (so it can be searched, copied and read by a screen reader), and the same one-line description you use on your cards and signature. If a section is empty, cut it rather than padding it.
How do you make digital marketing materials accessible?
Digital materials should meet a few W3C basics: enough colour contrast, text alternatives for images, and a structure people can follow with a screen reader or zoom. The W3C publishes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This isn't legal advice on the ADA; it is what the W3C's own pages say.
| Check | What the W3C says | Where it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Text contrast | WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text, and 3:1 for large text (at least 18 point, or 14 point bold). Text that is part of a logo has no contrast requirement. | Website, sales sheet PDF, email signature |
| Image text alternatives | The W3C's alt text decision tree says decorative images get an empty alt attribute, a linked image's alt text describes where the link goes or what it does, and text shown only in an image goes into the alt text. | Website, signature logo, social images |
| Page title, headings, zoom, form labels | The W3C's Easy Checks (updated 21 March 2024) include checking that each page has a title, headings show the structure, zoomed content stays legible and usable, and form fields have labels. | Website and booking or contact forms |
A quick test for this week: put your brand colours into any free contrast checker and confirm body text reaches 4.5:1 against its background. Then open your contact form and check every field has a visible label, not just placeholder text.
What can you get done this week?
Spend one afternoon on the free items before you order anything printed. A realistic split for a small team:
Day 1: Google profile and signature
Add or claim your Business Profile if you meet customers in person, then set the same name, phone and one-liner in your email signature.
Day 2: sales sheet
Fill the template above from your last three sales calls and save it as a PDF. Check the text contrast.
Day 3: website check
Compare your homepage with the five essentials. Fix the next step and contact details first.
Day 4: ask for a case study
Email your happiest customer, ask for one number and a two-line quote, and get their written approval.
Day 5: print, if you need it
Order cards only once the one-liner has survived a week of use. Waiting a week costs nothing; reprinting 500 cards because the wording changed costs the whole order again.
Materials help people say yes once they know you exist. If your problem is that too few people know you exist, our guide on marketing your business when you hate marketing picks one channel to start with.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important marketing material for a small business?
For most small businesses it is whatever a buyer checks right after hearing your name: a Google Business Profile if you serve people in person, or your website if you don't. Both should state who you help, show proof and give one clear next step. Printed pieces matter less until those are in place.
Are business cards still worth it in 2026?
They are worth a small order if you meet people at events, on site or in shops. At the prices checked on 5 November 2026, 500 basic cards started under $25 at one online printer before shipping, so the risk is low. If you mainly sell by email or video call, a good email signature does the same job for free.
What should go on a one-page sales sheet?
A one-line summary of who you help, the problem in customers' words, three outcomes, how it works, one approved piece of proof, a starting price with its billing basis, who it isn't for, and one next step with contact details. Keep it to a single page and save it as a text-based PDF.
How many business cards should a small business order?
Order the smallest batch that covers the next few months of meetings. Per-card prices drop with quantity, but a 500-card order is wasted if your phone number, role or one-line description changes. A 50 or 250 card order lets you test the wording first, then move to 500 once nothing has changed for a month or two.
Do marketing materials need to meet accessibility rules?
Digital materials such as your website, PDFs and forms should follow the W3C's WCAG basics: at least 4.5:1 contrast for normal text, text alternatives for meaningful images, clear headings and labelled form fields. Whether a specific law applies to your business depends on where and how you operate, so ask a lawyer for legal advice.
Sources
- GotPrint, business cards order page (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Staples, business card printing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- VistaPrint, business cards (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- VistaPrint, standard business cards (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- MOO, business cards (US) (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, add or claim your Business Profile (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, guidelines for representing your business (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Gmail Help, create a Gmail signature (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- W3C, Understanding WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- W3C WAI, an alt decision tree (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- W3C WAI, Easy Checks: a first review of web accessibility (updated 21 March 2024) (checked 5 Nov 2026)