When developing your business, one of the biggest things to consider is you brand. A brand as defined by Wikipedia is “a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey the essence of a company, product or service. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer. A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols and sound which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality. The key objective is to create a relationship of trust.”

So when thinking of your business, how are you going to brand yourself? Your company? Your logo is probably the biggest part of branding so you want to get it right. I know what your thinking… it’s difficult to find a good designer and it costs a lot, right? WRONG!

This month, I decided to share with you a little secret we use for almost all of our clients- www.crowdspring.

crowdSPRING allows you to post your project (much like a craigslist or Elance), set the price you want to pay and watch as designers from all around the world actually bid for your project by submitting their designs to you! However, unlike craigslist or Elance you won’t get a proposal- you’ll actually get the logo for you to see! You can then give feedback as you go to give people the chance to tweak the design to your liking and when it’s all said and done, you just pick the best design!

Better yet, crowdSPRING GUARANTEES that you will get at least 25 submissions or you get a refund!

We have found that you can get fantastic results with as little as $300 dollars. Trust me for full rights to the design and people actually bidding to have the job that’s nothing!

You hear us talk about celebrity branding and the philosophy that “people buy people” over and over again- having a great logo is the first step…what better way to get a great logo than to let a bunch of people pitch you!