The Next Big Thing

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-02-22 View Comments

The next big thing will probably have to get two things right:

1. It will have to include people who are not Internet or computer savvy. Right now the Internet business sphere is still predominantly by and for nerds. Call them intellectuals if you like. I’m not talking about Hotmail users or the average receptionist who knows how to use Facebook, but the relatively few who actively buy and sell online.

2. It will have to refer to the Facebook way of doing things. It does not have to be a social networking gizmo, but it has to make sense to the Facebook user. Whether we like Facebook or not, people know it and understand it. If the next big thing is going to pull the masses, the next big thing must “feel” like Facebook.

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Logo Recycling

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-02-20 View Comments

It sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Recycling or re-using or selling old logo concepts that the client did not want. It has a hand-me-down feel to it. It is however a necessary reality in logo design.

I recently pitched 5 logo concepts to a client. He rejected all of them. I’m now working on the next batch of 5 concepts. He did give some meaningful feedback so these should be much closer to the mark, but there is of course the possibility that he will reject these as well. This would be extremely discouraging if those rejected logos went into the bin. They are good logos, dammit. Lots of time and thought went into each of them. Every one of them could potentially grow to represent a household brand.

There are design firms who do not recycle rejected concepts, but they charge much higher rates. Effectively the client is paying for many logos, not just the one she approves. I think it is better to charge her for one logo. The ones she did not like can be offered for sale as pre-designed logos – either on the designer’s own site or on a third party logo seller like LogoGround.

And there is another benefit to the client, apart from the price: The designer is now motivated to spend more time on each design. To make it as good as it can be. He now knows that each logo he makes will become someone’s brand some day. He will get paid for each logo eventually – and the better the logos, the more he can charge for them later.

Logo recycling benefits the client, the designer and the clever shopper who picks up a great pre-designed logo at a fraction of the cost of a custom logo.

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Money-Back Guarantees in Logo Design (3)

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-02-20 View Comments

I’m bitching about logo design money-back guarantees again.

The best money-back guarantee is an unconditional, unlimited one.

Second best: Unconditional but limited to x number of days.

Third: No refunds, but a satisfaction guarantee which means we will keep at it until you are happy.

Fourth: Nothing.

Fifth: Pretending to offer a money-back guarantee.

I found a logo designer today that claims to offer a money-back guarantee, but when you read the fine print it states: “…once the initial logo designs have been delivered to you, we are no longer able to provide a refund”. Huh? So your money-back guarantee does not apply if you send me crappy logo concepts? Why do you have a money-back guarantee then? Oh, wait, I know this one. People think you have one so they feel OK about ordering – and then there is no way they can get their money back, even if you don’t deliver. Sneaky!

I feel sorry for their clients, but I can’t complain when my competitors shoot themselves in the foot. You can’t build a business on deception.

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The Long Tail and the Little Guy

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-02-09 View Comments

Google is constantly making the tail shorter by getting better at search – and that allows the tail to grow. As more results turn up for long, specific key phrases, so searchers learn to become ever more specific when searching.

I’ll bet the average length of search phrases has doubled over the past decade.

That opens the door for the little guy. Or rather, it keeps the door open. It’s always been open on the Web.

So focus on differentiating your business/products/services. Make yourself the perfect destination for a tiny fraction of the online community and you will be doing very well. We offer logos for sale. Sure we do custom logos too, and some stationery and web design. Right now that helps to pay the bills. But selling pre-designed logos is what we shine at. Thanks to the long tail it has become possible to do away with the other stuff and sell only pre-designed logos – and it will one day be possible to build a business purely on selling pre-designed logos within a specific industry.

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Surprise and Delight

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-02-01 View Comments

It’s one of the most important concepts in business.

This past Christmas, instead of the normal Christmas stuff, I bought my wife a ring – just to say that I still love her as much as when I married her. She was almost in tears. For a week. It’s now one month later and I still can’t do anything wrong.

It worked because she was surprised and delighted. (I’m usually an unromantic old fart.)

The same applies in graphic design – and in business in general.

No matter how great your work is, if you only deliver what I expect to receive then you are only delivering. You are not making my day, only giving me what I paid for. Hurry up and hand it over. There are millions of people delivering every day. You are replaceable.

Make yourself irreplaceable by promising less and delivering more. Get a “wow” response.

It requires more effort, but that is exactly why it works.

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New Search Feature on Biz-Logo.com

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-02-01 View Comments

We should’ve done this sooner!

Biz-Logo.com now has a logo search feature to help you find pre-designed logos for sale.

It’s still very much in beta, but working flawlessly so far. Give it a whirl.

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Multiple Logo Designers

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-01-31 View Comments

For $__ you will receive __ concept logo designs by __ logo designers.

But do you need/want multiple logo designers working on your logo?

No. You don’t.

It is a logo design sales gimmick, invented when competition in online logo design started to heat up. It’s one way logo design companies can differentiate themselves – without any benefit to the client, we should add. It just sounds good.

The basic selling point here is that you receive more variety. In logo design however, developing a “style” is a bad thing. One good designer would be expected to offer variety anyway. Experienced logo designers leave no style-fingerprints that can identify the design as theirs. A logo should speak to the client’s customers, not conform to the designer’s tastes or style.

Sites that offer multiple designers working on one project are either misleading clients, using inexperienced designers or they are blindly following a trend.

If everyone is doing it, it must be a good thing, right?

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Note to Self (Focus, dammit)

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-01-25 View Comments

Being busy is not the same as being productive. Stop patting yourself on the back when you get all your work done every day.

It’s not the people who work hardest that are successful, but the ones who take a step back, plan, work out how to channel their efforts to achieve optimal results – and then work hard.

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Shouting at Logo Designers

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-01-25 View Comments

Bad idea.

Logo designers are creative souls who need to be “in the zone” to do their best work. The best logo designer in the world will deliver mediocre work if she thinks she’s mediocre.

If you don’t have the patience to work through many revisions of your logo or the patience to allow the designer to take her time, delegate the task. That guy on your team who never gets upset. He’s the one. Have him deal with the logo designer. He will get far better results than you will.

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Alternatives versus Substitutes

Posted by Andre le Roux on 2012-01-23 View Comments

Alternatives? Sure.

Substitutes? There aren’t any!

That should be the answer when your prospective client searches for alternatives/substitutes for your service.

An alternative is something that accomplishes more or less the same goal as the thing being replaced.

A substitute on the other hand is “as good as” the thing being replaced.

Big difference.

At Biz-Logo the combination of experience, quality and speed means there are no real substitutes for what we do. Sure there are great alternatives, but you will have to lower your expectations or up your budget.

But as soon as a viable substitute enters the market, a price war ensues. What else is there? Price the other guy to death – and he will of course be doing the same to you.

Much easier to make yourself un-substitute-able again. It’s not that hard.

(Tip: See the previous post.)

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