For many of us independent Realtors and agents who’d rather brand yourself, not the broker. Here’s a simple and quick DIY tutorial on how to make a modern looking letter head template in Microsoft Word that you can use and reuse for your entire career.

What you’ll need:

• Microsoft Word (Any version will do. I’m using MS Word 2011)
• You’re contact information
• Photo (optional)

Total time: 10 minutes

Here’s is what we’re trying to create. This is a sample letter head I made for my company:

Okay, now on to the tutorial:

The first step is to open a new Blank Document in Word. Now, access the “Header” section. Either double-click the top portion of the doc or select Insert > Header. (Be careful here, Word tries to force you into their ugly template layouts. Just choose the text header. You’ll get 3 [TEXT] fields just select them and hit delete or backspace to eliminate them). This is what it should look like when you’re in the Header access area:

Next step is to add your contact information. The secret to making the text align in a cool way is by using “Cells.” So insert a 2 column cell (side by side). Either use the Table tab or go to Insert > Table (Cells).

Now that you have your 2×1 cell. It’s time to get creative. First add your name in Cell 1. Then your contact info in cell 2.

Now that you have the structure and content, it’s time to start adding some flavor and style. Play around with font and size.

I prefer a more clean look so I’ve used Ariel Font and varied the sizes. The business info area, I’m using a 7 point font. Size is a matter of preference; but 7pt for the details is common. What we have do now is “clear” the cell border so the header looks clean. To do so simply select the two cells and go to the cell formatting tab and choose “No Border.”

After adding a dab of color here’s what my letter-head looks like:

But, I still want to add just one more detail. So I’ll add a spacer between my name and company info. I select my Company information then go back to the cell formatting and choose border LEFT. Now I have a space detail that really makes my header pop.

At this point you’re done! Simply exit out of header edit mode and you’re got yourself a sleek, clean, and modern letter head. BUT, let’s say you want to add a photo or logo!

All you have do is Add an Image or Photo. Got do Insert > Photo > Photo from File. Find your logo or photo and select it.

This is where is get slightly tricky. Try to arrange your photo in the place where you’d like it to go. Play around with a few of the Photo settings to get the right fit.

Once you’ve got it in place, your header should looks something like this:

One final step: SAVE YOUR WORK! Here’s a quick tip, save the file as a Doc/Docx AND a Word Template .DOTX

Now YOU ARE DONE! And ready to send out self branded letters to your clients.

If you’d rather not hassle with creating the entire header from scratch, you can download my pre-formatted Word Template file for free. Click here to go to the download page: TurnKeyFlyer Clean Letter-Head Template DOC

I hope this helps!

Reuben

The Template Master