Susan Berland with A Picture’s Worth

Susan technically doesn’t even have a logo, which is sad considering her business is all about telling stories through pictures. So I think it’s fitting that Susan won and hope to bring her passion into a memorable, story-telling logo.

Here’s a little bit more about Susan and her business (in her own words) and why she wanted to win a new logo.

A brief description of her business

I help people organize their photos, whether stored on their computers or  under the bed and then find a way to bring them back into their lives so they can enjoy them and share them with their family and friends. I believe in the importance of printing your photos and telling their stories, leaving a legacy of memories for those we love.

Why she wants a custom designed logo from Signature Worx

Because I don’t have a logo. Currently on my blog I am using copies of my album pages and my photos. There is no consistency except for my photo. I don’t even have business cards because I don’t have a logo. I need serious help here!

Why people should vote for her

Maybe no logo is better than a really sucky logo. But maybe not! I recently launched my blog and my individual branding is in need of some serious help. I need something that expresses my passion for telling the stories of our photos. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words but if we don’t tell those stories those pictures will be lost forever on our hard drives, our smart phones or end up in the flea market. With a logo to match my passion, I believe I will reach more people and save more photos from extinction. Many creatures have become extinct over the years – don’t let our photos join them. Help me help them. Vote for me to get a new logo!

So there you have it Worx fans! A perfect outcome to a perfect situation…but it’s not the end just yet.

Susan and I will be getting to work on her logo later this month and will unveil the finished masterpiece sometime in June.

And the Winner of the Suckiest Logo Contest is is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

If you own a business, you know that running one is hard work…really hard work. At least it is in the beginning because many of us hold back. We let fear stand in the way of our ideas, our growth, and even our dreams . This holds true especially if you’re a solo entrepreneur.

We all need a little help sometimes, but many business owners don’t seek the help they need…or when they need it most. You know who you are. You do everything yourself, either because you think you have to or because you don’t know where to find it or because you think you can’t afford it or because you just really hate to relinquish those reigns to someone else…can you say “control?” See I know all about these reasons – I had the same issues early in my business and I still deal with the…ahem, control issue at times.

How many things have you put on the back burner for any one of those reasons? Maybe you’ve outgrown your brand. Maybe you’re a brick and mortar who hasn’t realized the enormous value of utilizing social media to grow your business. Maybe you’re not good at marketing but refuse to admit it (admitting you have a problem is the first step you know!?)

Whatever your reason, send out your distress signal and declare that TODAY is the day you eat that fear for breakfast! I dub this week as your personal MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY Business Rescue Plan.

Starting today, May 1^st through May 6^th, this is your chance to set forth on a journey and make your business better, move it in a new direction, or maybe even just to move full steam ahead on something you’ve been putting off. And the best part is, you get to choose your path AND your price! What? Did she just say that?

Yep! Here’s the thing. Some of you have oodles of money, pay what I ask (because I’m totally worth it!) and never complain…or at least not to me. And some of you may have been affected by the crappy economy…and who hasn’t when you’re paying what seems like a gazillion dollars per gallon for gas. It doesn’t really matter. This is your chance to create your own business destiny by telling me what you think its worth to you.

So here’s how this is going to work. Sit down and make a list of your most stressful business activities, all the things you’ve wanted to do, to start doing, to stop doing. Go ahead…I’ll wait.

Now stop thinking so small and think BIG. Imagine your business outside the box, outside the realm of possibilities. Got it yet?

Good. Now think about what it would be worth to you to have/do/implement those things in your business.

Do you desire a new or revitalized logo for $200? A sexy business card design for $30? A complete identity package at a 50% discount + that $100 Amazon gift card you’ve been holding onto for over a year?

Want to launch your very own info product for $357.23 because that’s the available balance on your credit card?

Do you dream of a smashing new website that isn’t being held captive by someone else and that you can update yourself and can only afford to pay in $200 installments? Perhaps even an e-commerce site to sell your products and want to pay me in commissions from your sales?

Want to launch your local business into the 21^st century and leverage the awesomeness of social media to get more business and pay me in weekly deep tissue massages (you realize this is of course providing you’re a massage therapist in the Jackson, MS area, right)?

Want 10 hours of my Marketing Plan of Attack Consulting for $350 buckaroos?

Dream of me designing everything for your business from your logo to marketing materials to social media planning and just want me to be part of the team for a very long time to consult and strategize with for $ENTER YOUR AMOUNT HERE?

Want to set up a payment plan over time for something? I can probably make that happen.

Don’t let my suggestions skew your thoughts and ideas. These were just a little taste to get you going. Think BIG. Dream BIG and you just might get everything you want and more.

What’s the Catch?

No catch. You make me an offer and I’m either going to accept it or I won’t. I do reserve the right to refuse an offer, after all this is my party and my rules. I’m a Leo and that’s how it’s done with my kind.

But remember. You can’t get what you don’t ask for in life and this is one of those times. I’m feeling quite generous at the time of this posting so even if you do offer me some half-baked, insulting offer, the worst that will happen is I very politely (in my southern belle way) say no and possibly make you a counter-offer. Again, it’s my party…well, you know the drill.

What’s Excluded?

Copywriting is excluded from this offer because well, that’s the one thing I offer that I don’t actually do myself. And where I can justify entertaining you at a ridiculously low cost, I can’t ask Jaime [the copywriter] to do that.

Anything Else?

You may be thinking that I’ve lost my mind or maybe I’m just desperate for work. I can assure you the latter is not the case. I’m busy and I have happy clients – what more could a girl ask for except maybe a free flowing margarita machine on my desk, but then there wouldn’t be any work getting done.

That being said, I do have an unhealthy need to help make other business owners successful. Seriously, it’s an illness. So keep that in mind when making me an offer.

Be creative. If you’re just naturally uncreative, then at least make the offer enticing to me. I love a good challenge (remember, I’m a Leo).

This is a ONE TIME deal and ends at midnight, Central time, May 6, 2011 so all offers must be submitted by then. If you submit your offer at 12:01 am on the 7^th you’ll be out of luck.

If your offer is accepted, you and I will discuss timelines and deadlines BEFORE you pay. I’m pretty over-swamped for May so dates beginning June or after are optimal, but we can discuss if your timeline is different.

Oh yeah, I’d love a glowing testimonial after you’re so ridiculously thrilled working with me.

So that’s it. This week only, I am making it my personal mission to answer your business MAYDAY calls. All you have to do is either leave a comment with your offer (I’ll respond via email), fill out my contact form HERE or email me at info [at] signatureworx.com.

Got your wish list done yet? What are you waiting for?

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

If you like grunge, you’re going to like this. If you’re a font junkie like me, then you’re going to LOVE it! Today’s freebie is 105 Free Grunge Fonts for Web Designers and Logo Artists that InstantShift posted way back in 2009 that I’ve had bookmarked forever.

In addition there is a list of more than 300 grunge type fonts over at Fontspace. One of my favorites is the 321Impact font.l

Freebie Friday: Grunge Fonts is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

So today’s Creative Spotlight is especially satisfying. A local attorney contacted me a few weeks ago because he needed a new logo…or should I say to start one? It isn’t that he hadn’t used a so called logo before, it just wasn’t built for him and his practice, and he had used several in the past. He had originally tried to get one of the local commercial printers to design one for him, but they just weren’t up for the task. And why would they be? They’re a printer, not in the business of branding. Sure they have people on staff to help clients do layouts and set up files, but that’s the extent of [most] their abilities.

After discussing his ideas and needs, which changed mid project, and several rounds of logo concepts, M. Devin Whitt PLLC, located in Ridgeland, MS, now has a new logo.

If you’re wondering about the lion, this was the one thing Devin never wavered about: he wanted a lion…a fierce lion to represent his practice. It was my job to make sure it wasn’t overpowering or too intense for his target market. After all, as a divorce, family law and criminal defense attorney, his job is to help people, but he wanted to communicate his personality and style in the courtroom.

Devin has since hired me to design his entire identity package so look for that update coming soon!

Creative Spotlight: M. Devin Whitt PLLC is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

Win a 100% custom designed, one-of-a-kind logo tailored around you and your business. This ain’t no template or clipart mishmash. You’ll receive the same tender loving care, thought-provoking process, and 436 questions from Signature Worx as does paying clients. No favoritism here!

Submit your current, crappy logo so I can look at it and use some of my patented non-scientific methods to determine just how bad it really is. Once all submissions have been received, we will post the absolute worst ones to our blog where our readers will point and laugh and vote on which one they think is the worst logo in the entire world. The logo that gets the most votes is the one that will receive the logo makeover which will include a completely new, 100% custom-designed Signature Logo. That’s a $349 value!

But wait – there’s more.

Rebranding your business with your new logo is bound to get expensive – even with a fancy schmancy new free logo. Think about it. You’ll need new business cards, stationery, maybe a new brochure, and possibly a better looking website to match your spiffy new brand. Plus, you should be compensated for having been mocked by your peers after submitting your crappy logo.

The winner of the 2011 Suckiest Logo Contest will also receive one of the following (should you choose to accept the mission):

• 50% off any of our Creative design services including custom quotes (does not include copywriting services)
• 30% off any of our Website design services including custom quotes (does not include copywriting services)

Note this is NOT a requirement for entry or to win! The winner can take his or her fabulous new logo and disappear, never to be heard from again, if he or she so chooses.

If you know someone who needs a brand boost, then be sure to send them here to submit their sucky logo for a chance to win!

So let’s get this party started! Here are all the lovely details and how you can enter.

What Do I Have To Buy?
Nada. Zilch. Zip. Absolutely nothing. There is no purchase necessary, past or future, to enter.

Who is Eligible?
Pretty much anyone. The only requirement for entry is a really bad logo.

How Do I Enter?
Submit your own embarrassing logo (with ALL the information listed below) by email to
info [at] signatureworx [dot] com with the subject “Suckiest Logo Contest”.

What needs to be included in your submission?

• Logo or other file in any of the following formats as an attachment: .gif, .jpg, .png, .bmp, .pdf, .doc
  Note: If a logo does not exist, we will accept an electronic copy of your business card or other collateral such as brochure, letterhead, etc., and/or the URL of your website.
• Your name AND phone number (phone number will not be made public, only for our use in case we cannot contact you by email)
• A brief description of your business
• Tell us why you want or need a custom designed logo from Signature Worx
• Tell us why you think people should vote for you

What is the Deadline for entry?
Submissions must be received by 11:59 pm Central on Wednesday, April 27, 2011

When Will the Voting Open?
Voting will begin Monday, May 2, 2011 and end Thursday, May 12, 2011

How Will the Winner Be Selected?
The logo with the most votes will be determined the winner.

When Will the Winner Be Announced?
The winner will be announced on Friday, May 13, 2011

Are There Any Other Rules?

• Only one logo may be submitted per person. In other words if you have multiple businesses, you can only submit one for consideration.
• The contest is open to any business entity around the world, but let it be known that I only speak and understand English…just sayin’
• Creative agencies are not eligible to enter.
• Signature Worx reserves the right to use the finalized logo of winner in our portfolio…we think that’s fair.

What Is Required Of The Winner?

• The winner must complete our Logo Design Brief within four (4) weeks of notification.
• The logo design must be completed within eight (8) weeks of initial notification, unless otherwise agreed to by Signature Worx.

What Will The Winner Receive?

• A consultation so I can get an idea about what you’re looking for in a logo
• A 100% custom designed logo
• Web and print-ready files in color and black & white
• Logo will be provided in the following formats: AI, EPS, (2) JPGs, GIF, (2)PNGs, & BMP
• Commercial PMS, CMYK, and RGB color equivalents provided
• Original design file and total ownership of final logo. You own it, it’s yours, we don’t hold the source file for ransom

Anything Else?

• Submissions (this includes ALL submission details) will be made public on our website, and announced in our Social streams (Facebook page, Twitter, etc.). We will not publish your email address or phone number, nor will we share it with any third party.
• The winner will be announced via our blog, our Facebook page, and Twitter accounts.
• Winner will be notified by email and/or phone as well.

If you aren’t sure about whether or not your logo is bad enough to win, or if you (or that friend) might be in the market for some other design solutions, check out our services.

Don’t want to wait to win a free logo design? Hop on over to our logo design page to get started right away!

Any questions?

Suckiest Logo Contest Reloaded is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

There’s no excuse for having a bad logo in this day and age. Once upon a time when businesses had one or two local artists to choose from, that was one thing. But today there are approximately a hundred million places in the world where you can go to get a great design.

Maybe when you started your business you decided to scrape up your spare change, after you spent all your money on what you thought were most important areas of your start up, and found the cheapest logo designer you could. Or did you make your own logo in Microsoft Word? Maybe you bought a canned template or found a free logo somewhere.

Whatever the reason, you ended up with a sucky logo, now that you’ve been in business for a while, you’re almost embarrassed when you see your logo staring back at you from your website, letterhead and business cards and you’re sick with logo envy when you see your competitors’ cool brands and awesome designs. Yours just doesn’t even compare.

My secret mission with Signature Worx is to make the business world more attractive, one brand at a time so to help kick off the launch of the fresh new Signature Worx website, I’m holding an exciting contest to help at least one of you get rid of your sucky logo.

I’m going to give one lucky business a professionally designed logo for absolutely free.

So if your business sports a logo that makes you hang your head in shame, or know someone who is in desperate need of a fabulous new logo (and they’re just too ashamed to admit it), then check back here this Wednesday, April 6, on how you can win one Signature Logo from Signature Worx!

Get Ready for The Suckiest Logo Contest is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

Anyway, if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s a quitter. It’s just not in my nature. And if there are any lessons to be learned here, it’s that greatness mustn’t be rushed. The same holds true in all businesses. You cannot rush a brilliant concept, a new product development, or a big launch because it would likely be doomed to fail. And well, just as I’m no quitter, I also refuse to fail. It just really is not an option. So I chose to take my time and let my re-launch happen when it was supposed to instead of delivering something half-assed. (Yeah you guessed it, I don’t do that either.)

And to answer one question I seem to be asked a LOT:

“You’re always talking about how businesses should outsource what they don’t have time to do, so why aren’t you following your own advice?”

My answer to this is:

“There’s a difference between outsourcing your contact database, writing your website content, or formatting your ebook for distribution…unless this is actually your bread and butter. If I outsourced the design of my own website, what would that say about me and my abilities? It wouldn’t be real…it would be totally fake and a misrepresentation of me, my integrity, and my brand, right?”

So for all my loyal followers, clients, friends, and even family who are sick to death of hearing me say, “The launch is coming soon. No, really, really soon!” well, “soon” has finally arrived…4 months late, but as they say, “Better late than never!”

Behold…the NEW Signature Worx!

P.S. You’ll want to stick around and pay attention. I have super cool goodies coming your way and the first announcement will be this Wednesday. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Greatness mustn’t be rushed. Welcome to Signature Worx 2.0 is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

But you’re going to have to spend a little more time on your page design as Facebook recently made some major changes to how Pages are viewed.

So here’s the low down and remember, these changes take effect on March 10th whether you want them to or not so start working on your Page now.

Profile Picture

The new size for the profile picture has been reduced to a maximum of 180 x 540 pixels.

Categories

Your business category is now displayed on your Page, just under your page name. You can adjust this if needed by clicking the Edit Info link right next to it.

Tabs

Goodbye Tabs, it was nice knowing you. As a Facebook Page designer, I don’t like this change at all. The tabs that used to be at the top of your Page are no more. Instead we get links on the left hand side of the page where they get…well…in the immortal words of Charlie on the hit TV show, Lost, “Guys, where are we?” The links are so much less prominent that people may completely miss them.

Photo Preview Pane

Whether you like the Photo Preview Pane or thought it was a ‘pane’ in the arse when it showed up on your personal profile, the Preview Pane is now part of Facebook Pages. A couple of things to note here is you cannot turn the preview pane off and any images you upload to the page may appear in the pane. You can remove an image from the pane by hovering over the image and clicking the ‘x’ to remove it from the pane. The one caveat to this is if you do not have any relevant images, you’ll be stuck with a very boring preview pane with blanks which doesn’t look good. One thing that has not been determined though is whether or not images uploaded by fans or tagged photos of your company will show up in the pane…I’ve seen reports that they will not, but then I’ve seen some that say they will. If they do, you will have to monitor your Page regularly for photos that may be deemed as inappropriate.

Liking, Commenting & Notifications

This one you’re going to LOVE! Remember how annoying it was NOT to be able to send a message from your Page? Well, now you can! Just remember to be smart about this and don’t overdo it as it may turn off your fans…and losing fans is not the goal here. In addition your Page can now ‘like’ other Pages. Again, remember your fans will see this so be selective about the pages you ‘like’. Posts from Pages you ‘like’ will also show up on your newsfeed. You switch back to your personal profile or another page you administrate, by simply clicking on the Account button at the top of the page and select the profile you want to switch to.

If the above features don’t get your heart racing, you’d better sit down for the next change. You will now receive notifications when fans interact on your Page.

I repeat…you will NOW receive a notification when fans interact on your Page! So when someone ‘likes’ a post, makes a comment, etc., you’ll be notified just as you would on your personal account rather than having to check your page several times a day to see what, if anything, was going on. Oh, the Gods were listening on this one!

Fans

As far as I can tell, the pictures of your fans are no more. Instead it just shows the number of fans with a link to view a list, but only to admins. However, now admins can click on a fan to go to their profile AND post a message on their wall.

Recommended Likes

This is somewhat promising and I personally think this feature will help you get to know your fans just a little bit better. Facebook added a Recommended Pages box based on the Pages your fans like.

Wall Filters & User Actions

You have the option to filter your Page’s messages: either only display messages posted by the Page or by Everyone.

If you happen to find yourself getting spam posts, now you can not only remove the post, but you can ban the user as well (I’m giddy with power). To do this, hover over a post and click the ‘X’ in the top right corner and select an option from the dropdown menu.

FBML

Before, in order to get swanky, custom designed tabs (which are no longer), you had to integrate a Facebook application or use FBML (Facebook Markup Language). FBML was like HTML, but it was limited. Why am I talking about FBML in the past tense? Because FBML is no more.

Now Facebook has implemented iFrames instead. An iFrame allows you to embed an external web page on your Facebook Page. Because it’s a web page hosted on your own hosting server, you can use HTML, CSS, and even JavaScript just like you would on any other web page. The downside to this is some folks, we’ll call them non-techies, could somewhat figure out how to use FBML at a basic level. Now, however, you will need to know a bit more in order to benefit from having cool looking tabs.

Besides knowing HTML, CSS, and setting up iFrames, you’ll also need to be familiar with uploading these files to your hosting server via FTP.  In addition, you’ll have to install the Facebook Developer Application and integrate it with Facebook Integration.

Sounds like a good time to hire an expert to take over the design of your Facebook Page, huh? (hint hint)

BIG Improvements (mostly) to Facebook Pages is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

The copy was ready, the design was almost finalized and everything was looking good.

Then a nasty gastro bug invaded my home and I was tending to two sick little girls and their sick father for days, using every spare second I had to tend to client work.

So much for my big plan!

On December 1st I felt terrible, not only because I had spent over 6 hours the night before in the emergency room with my baby girl or the fact that I was coming down with it myself, but because I was sorry to have missed my big launch date.

But guess what?

Nobody died because my site hasn’t been launched yet!

Sometimes your plans will get foiled and it will be for reasons completely beyond your control.

When something like that happens to you, my best advice is to remember to keep things in perspective.

I’m re-launching a website and a new brand for my graphic design company. I’m not saving lives (not directly, anyway) so the worst thing that can happen is that it looks like I fell behind schedule.

Not exactly earth-shattering, is it?

What do you do when life gets in the way? Do you panic or ride the wave?

When Life Gets in The Way is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

How do you show your clients that you’re thankful for their business? Do you send out holiday gifts? Do you offer frequent buyer incentives? Or perhaps do you actually say thank you by way of a phone call or handwritten card?

To show you, my faithful blog readers, my thanks, I would like to give you three easy to implement small business marketing tips:

• Have your business cards professionally printed. Why ruin your first impression by presenting a cheap, flimsy business card that was clearly free or printed on your personal ink jet printer? It probably cost you more for the paper and ink, not to mention the possibility of your reputation, than to have them professionally printed. You just have to know someone with the inside scoop (ahem, hint hint) and the best prices around.
• Make promos prominent! If you’re running a promotion, spread the word! Put details of your promo on everything you send out! Your invoices, letters, emails, envelopes, faxes, receipts and so on and so forth.
• Cross promote. Carry around other people’s business cards and hand them out at cross-marketing opportunities. Just because someone doesn’t need your business right now doesn’t mean you can’t help out other people in your network – maybe someone will do the same for you. If nothing else, handing out referrals shows you as someone who can be trusted and it just might come back around to you in the future. Karma, baby!

Have a restful holiday!

Gobble Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving from Signature Worx is a post from: Signature Worx If you liked this post, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.