I’m a Do it Yourself kind of person. Part of it is that I think I can do just about anything I put my mind to it. Part of it is why not do it myself and save a buck. And the challenge is often a huge part of it. Can I pull it off and gain a little more experience.
For the last year I’ve looked to change the SONARconnects logo, creating a range of designs. Scott Dunn, the founding partner was happy with the existing logo and more than anything put up with my logo suggestions I think to amuse me.
Here is what the original logo looked like:
Here are two of the mock designs I created changing the presentation and trying out some different color schemes.
In December I won the Blogoff 2 blogging competition and one of the prizes was a free redesign of my blog courtesy of the Yaffe group. When I spoke with Mike McClure at Yaffe I asked if we could substitute some log work instead and he was happy to oblige.
Scott and I jumped on a planing call with Mike and his team and discussed the thoughts and key points behind SONARconnects. The call ended with Mike saying they would have some ideas to look at in the next two weeks. At this point I wasn’t too enthusiastic simply because while Scott was involved, changing the logo wasn’t high on his list of to-do’s
Within two weeks Yaffe came back with three sets of designs that included color variations. Here one logo from each set.
The first set was really a tweak on the existing logo changing the fonts, colors, and tweaking the waves a little.
The second set took my designs and blended it with the original design, once again changing the fonts and colors.
The final set threw everything out of the window and started from scratch. They created a new design, brought in a new font, and a new color scheme.
Looking at the site you can tell that we chose the third option. After a year of working on getting Scott to agree to a logo change, Mike and his team at Yaffe accomplished my goal in two weeks.
The design keeps the SONAR reference intact by using the waves, but done in a more polished and professional manner. If you’re interested in a logo design I would recommend that you contact Yaffe for help.
So getting back to when do you DIY and when do you call in the experts, here are a couple of thoughts when its maybe time to outsource the work:
- If you don’t have the skills to do the work
- If you don’t know what the best way to get from point A to point B is
- If you don’t have the proper tools to accomplish the task
- If its more profitable to spend the time driving new business – remember it will take you 2 to 3 times longer than someone who knows what they are doing.
- If you want it done right the first time
I still suffer from DIY periodically, but as the business continues to grow I find that I’m a little quicker to pick up the phone and reach out to my various resources .
**I have recently left SONARconnects to focus on Social Media Sonar.
Social Media Sonar provides the following four resources for FREE… 1. The Blog, 2. The Online Marketing/Social Media Blueprint, 3. Conversion Rate Optimization Guide, 4. Resource Center. If these help you implement your own online marketing program, great. We love helping people. If you decide you need some help, great. We love new clients. Contact Us if we can help you.
