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9Apr/100

The Logo Creator – Getting Yourself Into Retail

I've always had the 'entrepreneurial' spirit. I remember, being 9 years old, going down to the local pottery shop and buying a dozen un-kilned coffee mugs. I drew cartoons on them (I was a wanna-be cartoonist back in the day) and brought them back to the pottery shop to have them Kilned (baked).

I then took them to the local fire department and my school and tried to sell them. I did sell a few of them ... but I never made enough to compensate for the cost of the cups, kilning and paints! This is the SAME problem I have with the retail world when trying to sell my logo design software. I've been selling The Logo Creator, in large retail stores like CompUSA, Fry's Electronics and Office Max since 2004.

The software boxes cost about $3.00 to build. This includes the box, the CD and it's sleeve, and the burning of the CD disk. There's also a 'filler' that the retailers want you to include (this makes the box appear stronger on the shelf).

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You can hire a local designer, or find one on the net from companies likes elance.com or moonlighters.com. A designer may charge upwards of $2,000 to $7,000 to design the box! (I'm lucky enough to be able to design my own boxes). A good rule of thumb is that you'll most likely spend $3,000 for 1000 boxes.

Most times, 1,000 is the smallest amount you'll be able to print. This can really add up when a large chain (Office Depot for instance has 1200 stores nation wide). Each store may want a minimum of 5 boxes on the shelf. That's 6,000 boxes. At $3 a pop!).

Once the boxes are manufactured, you have what they call "Shelf Space" to deal with.

Not all ... but some stores don't just take a product and put it onto their shelves. They need cash. ...They always need cash.

Sometimes, shelf space can go as high as $5,000 for one product! You need to sell a boat load of software to make up this 5k. Then, the retail chain takes it's cut. Sometimes up to 10% ...It can all get a bit nutts.

Why the net is taking over

This is why the internet is so great. There's very little overhead other than your own time and talents. I even use an external eCommerce company to handle my transactions. They take 17% of my monthly sales. ...but it's WELL worth it.

This is the beauty of downloadable software - or anything you can create once and have others purchase multiple times. An eBook for example. Retail used to be king, but I'll put my money into Net any time.

It's harder to market yourself online since there's a ton of competition, but that's where SEO and SEM come in (Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing). A great topic for a future Article.

Marc Sylvester - CEO of Laughingbird Software. Home to the Logo Creator, logo design software for Mac and Windows. Visit http://www.thelogocreator.com for more details!

9Apr/100

Want Your Own Logo Design Studio ? It’s Easy!

Every now and then, it's a good idea to create new graphics for your newsletter, social network club or website. In the past, I've personally gone looking for a few new newsletter graphics. I was amazed at the cost of getting these from other designers. I didn't have a really large budget, I only needed to create a few page header images that I could use on my site and newsletter.

I looked around the internet checking out many design companies ...but never found much that I liked. The images that are included with products like MS Word or Publisher just don't look all that terrific. Lot's of clip art.

What I found, however, was the realization that I could technically be my OWN design studio ...with the help of a 3 or four different software products! I could download products like a logo design creator, a business card tool and perhaps some animated logo creation software. And I found the cost to be FAR less than what a designer would charge me.

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With the help of these great software tools, I created what I wanted in roughly 2 hours and got back to work writing my newsletter.

These software products offer me different look and feel from the clipart that comes with programs like Word. They contain Nice looking images like large colorful Orbs or unique fonts. Some of these software products allow you to select a template as a "jump off point and experiment with placement and color. You can adjust and move the images on the canvas anyway you like. You can replace the template text with your own! The sky's the limit.

Sometimes, I actually do use a Word template to get my ideas on paper. But when it comes to a blank PhotoShop canvas I glaze over. Software like The Logo Creator is perfect. I get a "jump off" point to get my brain working.

When you're ready to export your graphics, most of these software products can create JPGs, GIFs and even PDF files.

The software is inexpensive, especially compared to what a professional service would charge you, and the results are impressive. Most of them are easy to use -- you may even find experimenting with the designs addictive. The templates offer a good variety of themes and basic designs. There's also enough flexibility to let you create logos for clients! Start your own logo design service.

I'm really happy to have discovered this route. You download some of these products and play around with them. Creating quick image for your forum or newsletter is actually pretty easy. Doing it yourself is quicker, you have more control ..and it's often far less expensive when you simply need a page header or a blog image.

Learn more about these logo design studiotools and find out how you can benefit with your own logo design studio.

25Feb/100

Things To Remember When Choosing A Web Design Company

Web design is the art of developing an appealing way of presenting the content of a website to the end users. Features like creating graphics, and creating layouts and navigation schemes are all included in web design.

Getting the design right is absolutely critical if you want to attract committed visitors to the site. Thus looking for a good web design company is important, and here are some points that must be focused on while making the selection.

Firstly, don't think local. The internet helps you to reach a global market, so you can hire a firm that has its base in another city, or you may even go for an overseas firm if you consider it suitable for your needs and if their rates are affordable.

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A quick web research will yield names of many good web design companies. Comparisons of benefits and drawbacks of some well-established firms can be studied in different online blogs and web forums. You can also try to investigate who created that fabulous website that you might have suddenly chanced upon while surfing the net.

Get in touch with the 3 or 4 companies that you have short listed after filtering out the majority, and ask for information about their previous experience in web designing. Carefully study the web designs of all these websites and see if they are in sync with what you have in mind both in terms of how they appear and how convenient they are to use.

Among the technologies used to develop attractive web designs, Flash, JavaScript, and HTML are the most well-known. Therefore it is essential that the company must be proficient in handling all these technologies. How true they are in their claims can be verified by analysing their past projects on the net.

Then you have to check if the web design company has the capability to finish your assignment within the given time limit. An indication of how much they would care for your time frames can be taken from how the company's employees talk with you, and how quickly and professionally they reply to your queries.

Finally, you must carefully consider the budget involved in appointing the web design company. The present rate can be found out by conducting a comparative survey of rates charged by various companies, and you can also drive a hard bargain with the company as competition in the market is quite intense.

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