A logo (short for logotype) is a symbol or design used to identify a company, group or event. It's a shorthand, visual symbol of who you are, what you do and, sometimes, even your entity's personality or attitude - whether deeply serious or fun, conservative or trendy.

That's a lot for a few lines and letters to accomplish, which is why - traditionally - getting a logo has been an expensive proposition. The big branding firms typically charged hundreds of thousands of dollars to come up with strong icons for big companies.

But no more. Like everything else, the Internet has changed all that and, today, you can create a great logo for your entity for under $400. In our One Grand Smart Marketing Plan, we've budgeted $350 for this phase.

(But I'll show you ways to get a logo for free, too.)

Here are some great options:

2 Crowdsourcing Sources

If you can budget $350, here's an amazing way to get a world-class logo - literally, from a world of superb designers.

Crowdsourcing is a relatively new concept where you post an assignment on the web, set a price you're willing to pay, and have suppliers all over the world compete to win your business.

For logo design, two of the best crowdsourcing services are crowdSPRING and 99designs. The process couldn't be simpler. You set up an account, write a short description of your company and your wants and needs. You set a reward that you're willing to pay for your design.

($300 is about the minimum you can bid and get much response.) The crowdsourcing company will charge you a small fee for their service - usually about 15% of what you've set as your reward.

You set a time limit - I recommend one week as being neither too long or too short. Then you sit back and watch as designers from all over submit finished logos for your approval.

Usually, you'll get over 30 options. (If you get less than 25, you typically can get your money back.) Sometimes you can get as many as 100. The higher you set your reward, the more options you'll probably get. But I promise, for about $300, you'll get so many good options that you'll have a real challenge choosing your favorite.

At the end, you pick the logo you like best, have the designer tweak it if necessary, and assign the reward. The other designs get nothing. While that seems like an unfair system for designers - all that work for no sure reward - the system lures upwards of 50,000 of them to participate.

It's an incredible opportunity for you, getting to see LOTS of finished options before you decide.

4 Online Logo Sources

If you can't spend $350, here are some online logo design services that range from $100 - $200:

YourKLMN has a $149 logo service at: http://www.yourklmn.com/

http://thelogoloft.com/samples/index.html - Packages run from $99 - $1,500.

http://www.logocare.com/ Unlimited designs and revisions, five designers- $189.

http://www.infinitylogodesign.com/ Four designs from two designers, unlimited revisions. $195.

Check them out, then come back on Wednesday when I'll show you MORE low-dough logo options.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites