Logo designers:

1. customlogographic
2. vinSLëv
3. Krishna99
4. Athenabelle
5. Janks
6. Marry
7. DeAngelis Designs
8. bluehat
9. ilegit616
10. DanaG

Website designers:

1. Ryan Mitchell
2. Divine Style
3. Carey Creative
4. RT Design
5. T-Bone
6. PradG
7. Michhael Bei
8. 7ocean
9. MaxPro
10. Fourth
11. FusionIdea
12. ssmita
13. CH-Webart

If your winning design is from any of these designers, you can’t lose.

If you are looking for a website or logo and are picky or not sure what you are looking for then 99Designs.com contest might be right for you. You post a ‘contest’ where people can submit logos and website designs to you and you pick the one you like. If you don’t like any then you would get your money back.

The contest cost have risen recently and while hiring a professional designer might cost less now, what you get is choices. Another thing to keep in mind is that you get to give direction and get what you want but it does require some time to communicate with the designers.

Here are 10 tips for you to get the most out of your contest:

1. Contact Designers
   The higher your reward is the most submissions you will get. However in both of my contest which was at different tier prizes most of the top designs were from designers I invited. If your award is the lowest one it is important for you to invite many designers.
   The best I find is to give them a compliment. Pick designers that you like and tell them which designs you like and why. Don’t waste time with designers you do not like.
   See below for my list of top designers.
2. Provide full supporting documents
   Provide as much supporting documents as you can to help the designers. If a designer ask for something, attach it publicly so everyone can see.
   Here’s a list of what you should provide:
   1. logo – both with transparent and dark colour background
   2. pictures
   3. fonts
   4. other design elements such as brush strokes or icons
   5. company brochure, posters, or business cards
   6. images of similar designs you like
   7. website that you like (if you are designing a website)
   8. mood board (if you use an agency before or a designer, they might have created you a mood board which is a collage of images to create the ‘mood’ of your design)
3. Write full details in your description
   Remember to write as much detail as you can on the direction you want but keep your mind open for better solutions.
4. Provide timely feedback
   Designers are like humans (because they are actually humans!), they can lose interest quickly and lose the ideas in their mind. Keep them motivated and ideas fresh in their mind. They might need 4-5 revisions before you get what you like so the sooner you provide feedback the more revisions you can get before the contest ends.
5. Tell them what you like
   The best way to avoid wasting time is to communicate what you like publicly. When you respond directly to the designer people can’t see so you might need to tell each designer over and over again. The best way is to post reviews on the main area so all the designers can see.
6. Guarantee your prize
   Guaranteeing your prize will build confidence from the designers and get you more submissions. I recommend you doing this as soon as you know you will go with a particular designer. The design does not need to be perfect, usually the designer is more than eager to provide changes to make you happy.

   The sooner you guarantee your prize the more time you will have with motivated designers. That’s why it’s important to provide as much feedback at the beginning as possible so you’ll get a design you like and guarantee sooner.

7. Sort out the details as soon as you can
   Think about your whole project.
   It is expensive and time consuming to organize these contests so likely you would like your winning designer to more work in the future. If not then you should consider this, finding a good designer is hard and providing a consistent theme for your brand is important. I would recommend you sort out the pricing and other details as soon as you feel that the designer is right for you. For example tell him what you need, ask him about his skills, and what prices does he charges. That way you will feel confident in investing your time in coaching him along.

   It is also important to make sure the communication styles match. Make sure he responds quickly and answers your question clearly. For me I look for response within 24 hours and that each point I brought up is addressed. If you find that some of your points are missed or if they do not understand you, this could be a red flag. Communication could also be your issue too, if you see that many designers are not understanding you then it’s probably you and not them.

   The worst is if you find someone you like then realize that you guys can’t come to terms with designing additional pages to your site. As well as before you select the winner you have the negotiating advantage.

8. Show them what you want
   Pick sites you like and explain why
   Graphic designers are visual people it is a easier to communicate with them in pictures then in words. Before you start your contest discover what you like and compile it. You can send them links to your favourite sites. But I recommend that you browse through template sites, it has a larger variety; you can browse a lot quicker; and you’ll eliminate those dreaded moments when you think, what site should I go to now.
   1. Template Monster
   2. SiteGround – templates
   3. Free web templates

   When you attach the templates, note what you like about it such as the colours, how clean it is, the layout, the cool icons etc. It is important to have a direction first and show only consistent ideas. Don’t pick one that is nice clean and conservative with blue and also pick a funky one with red and orange and add it. Only pick the ones where you can envision that being your site.

9. Don’t forget to remind them-If you forget, they will too
   If there are designers that made a version or couple of revisions and did not finish don’t be afraid to remind them. Also if there are designers who promised to submit a contest but have not done so, do not hesitate to remind them but most likely if they haven’t been active in making a design your reminder will not help.
10. Prepare for the busy last 24 hours
    You can expect a lot of things happening around the last 24 hours
    I suggest you book some time in your calendar for the last 24hours, that’s when a lot of things happen. This is crunch time and many of your designers are many final changes to you, it’s important that you are available to give feedback and accept revisions. While your designers can be from anywhere in the world you don’t need to be there for the whole 24 hours, just make sure you check in throughout the day.

    With this in mind I suggest you start your contest on Tuesday so that the last 24 hours fall on Monday. This is good for you because you will be in the office (if you have an office). As well as the designers can work on Monday to finalize it, Monday is more likely chance that they are free then on Sunday. Also recommend starting your contest earlier in the week as people get more busy later on.

11. After the deadline
    The deadline is over but the contest is not. You can still communicate with the designers and get them to email you designs but don’t use this as an excuse for not communicating and providing feedbacks.

These are the tips I have for making your 99designs.com contest a success. Please provide your feedback and come visit often as I will be adding more tips from my experiences.

Was listening to Christine Comaford on Mixergy today and she bought up a good point and technique for handling leads. It’s a waste of time and energy trying to make someone who doesn’t want to buy into a customer. It’s better to find the right type of customers that do want to buy. Here’s her amazing tip:

1. Put your product or service into a benefit statement and ask if they are interested.
   i.e. “Are you interested in making money off your website while you sleep?” If no then say thank you and good bye. If yes go to 2.
2. Ask for a meeting time
   i.e. “Would you be able to meet for 45 minutes where I can explain to you how my service can make you money while you sleep?” If no then say thank you and good bye, they are not serious. If yes go to 3.
3. Ask for the decision makers
   i.e. “Will you be able to get all the decision makers there? And if the product/service is able to meet the needs I promised, would you be able to make a decision then?” If no then say Thank you and good bye. If yes then set a meeting.

This technique makes so much sense. This is natural and easy. You are not trying to manipulate the person. As well you prime them and is able to get all the decision makers in one spot. This is absolutely brilliant.

The goal is to find the right type of customer instead of trying to convince the wrong type of customers, you can do it but there is a lot of resistance. Also be careful, the script may not be right so you’ll have to playing around but the idea is there.

See the interview here.