I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago and there was a wonderful sharing of resources.  I wanted to pass along one that I am currently testing.  I think it may be helpful to those of you that need inexpensive graphic design work done. 

The website is www.99designs.com.  Here is how it works.  You go to the website and set up a “contest.”  I did that 2 days ago.  You can see my contest here:  http://99designs.com/contests/12932

My contest is to create a logo for “Legal Marketing Cafe TV.”  I have a designer that I LOVE, however, I wanted to test this venue, so I thought this was a good opportunity.  I described my project and then 99designs recommended a range for the prize.  They suggested that I award a prize to the best design that is between $100 and $700.  It was made clear that the bigger the prize, the more likely one is to get high quality designers.  I set my “prize” to be $350. 

Within an hour I had submissions.  It has now been 2 days and I have had 43 designs submitted.  There are several that I like a great deal.  As I rule some out, I actually “eliminate” them.  I also rate the submissions on a 5 star rating.  I have also had 3 designers withdraw their work from the contest.

One thing I do want to caution you on is that this is a “community.”  It’s important not to offend the community or you will get blasted.  One of the things I did the first day is I gave 5 stars to an image that I really liked.  But it was more of a banner than a logo and 2 designers blasted me in the comments.  I simply responded kindly and moved on.  If you want to see what they said - you can check it out on the contest page. 

The contest will be finished on Tuesday morning, Oct 21.  I’ll update my blog with a link to the winner.