Then the internet came, and new services were born to make our lives easier and the world truly flat. Services like Elance.com let you to submit a logo request — or any other project — and see dozens of designers bid on it from all over the world. You could choose the designer based on his or her portfolio, reviews and bidding price. When people from India and other developing countries joined the fun, the bids really started to fall. Now you could get a logo for $150-$500 easily. You could work with the designer until you got the design you want, and pay only when you were happy. Elance changed everything. Brilliant!

Fast forward a few years and 99designs.com has changed everything again by adding crowdsourcing to logo outsourcing. Dozens of designers don’t simply bid on your logo project, they actually create the logo for you. For $200 you get over 50 logos to choose from. You’re not stuck with one designer who may or may not do a good job and you know exactly what you’re getting. You can even set the project so that designers can’t see what others are doing, and have to come up with their own ideas.

I’ve found that 99designs.com is perfect not just for logo creation but also with the concept. I’ve always found the idea stage the hardest so why not let a few dozen designers do this for you? Just tell them about your business or site and let them struggle for an idea.

Within a few days, you will see designs starting to roll in but wait until the week is over to get them all. The best often come at the end! Look for logos that are clean, simple and powerful. If you see something that comes close, just ask the designer to tweak it for you. They’ll be happy to make the changes.

Here are some logos I ordered through 99designs.com. As you can see, the quality is excellent.

Logos created by 99designs designers

And now another player has joined the game. Fiverr.com is a highly entertaining site that allows users to say what they would do for $5. You are not going to believe what people will do for a fiver. Some of those things are very bizarre.

But some are logos. I ordered a few logos from Fiverr and got a mixed bag. Some were pretty good. Others were… well, what you might expect for five dollars.

But hey, it’s only five bucks so you’re not losing much if you don’t like it.

I ordered a few logos from Fiverr and got a mixed bag. Some were pretty good. Others were… well, what you might expect for five dollars.

If branding is super important to you, then Fiverr is not the right choice; stick with 99designs.com and Elance. However, if you need a logo and budget is more important than branding, then the Fiverr crowd might just be enough. The risk is minimal!

Who is creating your logos? How much do you usually pay? Would you consider any of these services?

Charles Chiu:

Great animated video with what sounds like a professional voice over talent.

Salma Jafri:

This mom found that she can make great money writing in English! Did I mention she is from Pakistan?

Viralogy:

I like this entry because it explains some of the difficulties of working in a virtual environment with the solutions they’ve found.

Muhammad Ahmed:

When it comes to working virtually, religion, political opinion, etc. don’t matter one bit. The only thing that matters is: can you do the job well, and on time?

Mike:

Good story, very familiar. We all wear a lot of hats, don’t we?

Austin Evarts:

Austin is traveling the world while creating some exciting start-ups for thrill-seekers such as himself. A fantasy life? Not anymore. Today, this kind of lifestyle is a reality to many of us. I hope to see you somewhere around the world buddy!

Mina:

Another last-minute video that looks great. I’m not sure what technique they have used to create the cartoon effect, but I like it!

And of course, I still think my own video rocks the most:

Merav Knafo:

The New Way to Work to me means: “Upgrade Your Life!”. I created this video using my iPhone with a couple of my friends, and as you can see, they really got into their characters!

What do you think? Who should win this competition? Did you read any of the blog entries or just watched the videos? Who is your favorite?

For entrepreneurs, business owners and managers who use Elance.com, those days are over. I’ve been using Elance for almost eight years, and it’s changed my life.

Outsourcing through Elance has allowed me to start my own businesses online and with a very small budget, and expand at a rate that I could afford. I’ve created three companies with the help of the talent I found on Elance and I consider it an essential tool for success.

These are the benefits that I’m getting out of using Elance:

1. No office politics and no drama.
   When you work by yourself, you can focus on managing work instead of massaging egos.
2. Short meetings.
   I spend maybe 5-10 minutes a day on Skype meetings with my developers. Shorter meetings means more time getting things done.
3. Easy firings.
   If someone doesn’t do a good job, I simply don’t hire them again. That’s much easier than handing out a P45 to someone who works with you at the same office.
4. I get to be picky.
   When I post a project and get dozens of bids, I can be as choosy as I want to be and hire only the best talent.
5. I get a lot more done.
   I hire people to help me with the dull, time-consuming stuff, so that I can focus on my highest income producing activities. For me, that’s product development and marketing.
6. Working with talent around the world is fun!
   I’ve had the opportunity to virtually meet and work with a number of great, talented people from across the globe.
7. I’m free to make my own schedule.
   I can punch 16 hours on one day, and then put in just one or two hours on another day. And if I don’t feel like working, I don’t need to call in sick. I get to choose my time off.

There is an art to outsourcing though. I’ve learned to identify which types of work fit suppliers from which countries best. And, in time,  I got better at hiring the right people.

When there is so much talent available at my fingertips, I can achieve more and save more, giving me more time and money to invest back in my companies. To me, Elance has meant a much better lifestyle,  an upgrade to first class. If you’re looking to start working at home either as “talent for hire” or a “buyer”, Elance is your new best friend.

Special thanks to Tina and Giles for helping me create this video, we all had a great time!

Merav Knafo
Founder
iJoomla.com

meravkn @ elance.com

Contact me at merav @ ijoomla.com