Recommendations for creating professional letterhead template

See also:

• Basic Letterhead Template
• How can I get a different header/footer on the second page?
• Letterhead Textboxes and Styles Tutorial

You could start at http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/LetterheadRibbon.htm, which will provide the technical details on creating a letterhead template that will work. But it doesn't address the design of the letterhead, which would be up to you. As a management consultant, you may not need anything more than your name (or the name of your company), address, phone number, email address, etc. If you have a logo, you'll want to include that.

You could hire a designer as a one-off to create the design (though I've never used the service, I've had numerous recommendations of fiverr.com), but keep in mind that artistic designers usually know nothing about how Word works, and what you get may not be useful. My suggestion would be to look at the letterheads of other people in similar occupations. Or you can use Google Image search to search for "letterhead" and get ideas. Most of the examples will have colored swooshes or shapes. Unless you plan to print all your letters on a color printer (and be aware that these shapes won't print to the edge), that sort of design is probably not a good idea.