Logo design goes wired
By BART MILLS bmils@limanews.com
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Photographer KELLI CARDINAL
The Lima News
Joe Daley, of Columbus, started a Web site,
logomyway.com, bringing businesses and logo designers together.
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COLUMBUS - In a time
when Twitter is top of mind and Google rules the world, the next
great idea for making millions online seems like easy pickings. Joe
Daley may have found that idea, but it certainly didn't come easy.
The Lima native and 1990 Lima Central Catholic High School
graduate has been plugging away for more than a decade trying to
come up with the perfect idea for a Web site that would fit that
most exigent of niches — making money while actually providing a
service people can use.
After more than 70 tries and his share of failure, Daley thinks
he's hit the mark with his latest site: logomyway.com.
"I built my first site in 1998, selling wholesale products. Like
everyone else that sells them, I thought I could just sit back and
the sales would just come flying in. It didn't work out that way,"
Daley said from his Columbus home.
That first Web site led Daley to others. Along the way he began
to study search engine optimization and industry trends. Some sites
proved more successful than others. At one point he had
spyware-removing software that sold 120,000 copies at $30 a pop, but
as soon as Microsoft and other platform providers began offering
their own versions free, the business went away.
Then, one day earlier this year he ran across an article in a
trade magazine about the number of laid-off workers starting
businesses. He started thinking about some of the things those new
businesses might need. By April, logomyway was born.
"I know from experience that with opening a new business you
need a logo design. I also know that can get expensive, so I wanted
to come up with a site that would help this new businesses find a
logo," Daley said.
Logomyway is that site, a sort of facilitator that connects
businesses in need of a logo with the thousands of amateur and
professional graphic designers and artists looking for customers.
Businesses in search of a logo post their information at Daley's
site and choose how much they are willing to pay. Then it becomes a
contest with designers submitting their ideas for consideration.
Once the business owner decides on a logo, the winning artist
gets the prize money.
The prize amounts can range from $200 to $1,000 or more,
depending on what the business wants to put up. A popular contest
can draw anywhere from 70 to more than 400 submissions. Daley
collects the prize money upfront to ensure the artists are paid and
takes a 10 percent fee for operations. The whole deal can be managed
through Paypal or credit card.
"It's really 1,000 different minds working on a project as
opposed to just one company," Daley said. "It works out for
everyone."
The site is an easy way for business owners with more than one
operation to get a good logo without a huge commitment. Jim Kukral,
like Daley, considers himself a Web entrepreneur, meaning he runs
multiple sites and online businesses, all of which need a logo.
He recently drew more than 100 entries for a contest for his
business, TheBizWeb-Coach.com.
"I think the reason it's attractive for people like me, being a
Web entrepreneur and launching a new blog or a new business every
week, you have a lot of need for new creative. The old way, hiring a
professional agency, you're talking about a minimum of $500 to
$1,000. That gets expensive fast," Kukral said.
Daley hopes his latest site will be around for awhile. Between
the growing number of small start-up companies and the trend among
businesses to change logos on a fairly regular basis, the need
should not go away anytime soon, Daley said.
"Once I build this up, it definitely has some staying power. I
am hoping for a lot of repeat users and word of mouth," Daley said.
"I think this one will last."
You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com. |
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