Confession: I Use Fiverr & 99Designs
As an entrepreneur I’m constantly working on projects and starting new ventures that need graphic design work.
I can design websites and do a little damage in Photoshop, but I’m no designer. When it comes to creating a logo, icons, and other custom graphics, I outsource.
When budget allows, I’ve paid $1000 on average for a logo from professional designers. In most cases I was completely happy with what I got, but in a few cases I hated spending that much on something that I wasn’t completely satisfied with.
The process of working with designers has never been a pleasant one for me. It’s a broken system in my opinion. Typically, for about $1000 you get a couple of options and if you aren’t happy with them it’s a struggle to get more work out of the designer, and you risk hurting their fragile artistic feelings. In the end, if you don’t like it, you still have to pay for it.
Overall, working directly with a designer you trust is the way to go when the budget allows for it. Some designers are easier to work with than others, and are adapting to provide better value for their clients. Because of that, I’m pretty picky who I work with.
However, for some projects I just can’t afford to hire a designer at those rates so I’ve turned to services like Fiverr and 99Designs and I’ve been just as happy.
Now if you’re a professional designer, you probably just cringed at the mention of these “value design” services. So let me explain where I’m coming from.
What we’ve seen in the past few years is a major shift in the marketplace for services. These new services have really disrupted a broken system.
I can now hire a housecleaner for $100 using Handy. I can get a legal document notarized for $25 via video chat with the app Notarize. Yesterday I hired someone to mow my lawn for $40 using an app called UMOW.
When it comes to graphic design, I can get anything from social media images, to book covers, and logos on Fiverr for $50 to $250 (Yes services on Fiverr start at $5 but the necessary add-ons cost extra). With design contest service, 99Designs, you can also get a logo for about $300. I’ll share about my experience with them in a minute.
The marketplace now favors the consumer, not the provider. As a consumer that has been amazing for business. For service providers, that means they can’t continue doing business like they always have.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As the marketplace evolves, you have to evolve with it. Only those who are willing to adapt will survive. The rest are whining about how these services are killing the industry and forcing them to work for less than minimum wage.
Honestly it’s the fault of designers that we are where we are. I struggle to show empathy for people who aren’t willing to hustle and adapt their business as needed. I’ve run into too many freelance designers suffering from entitlement and pride issues. They should be putting their brilliant creative minds to work figuring out how they can provide better value for their customers while still making money.
When I hire a designer I want to be sure that I’m going to really love what I pay for. Now that I can get guaranteed good work for $300 that’s where I’m going to go first.
A bad designer sees that as a threat since their hourly rates drops dramatically with each set of revisions. So they only guarantee a few revisions, then they expect you to pay for what you get whether the job is finished or not. Not every designer who charges that much is worth it.
A good designer sees this as a challenge to work hard and get it right the first time. If you’re good you’ll be able to pull a clear scope out of me from the beginning and knock it out of the park within the first one or two revisions. If something goes wrong, a good designer will continue working until they get it right or they’ll walk away without charging you for something they didn’t actually deliver.
There will be bad clients who just don’t know what they want and can keep you going round and round with revisions. That’s why a good designer is also a good project manager, or has one working with them. You have to get a clear scope from the beginning, choose your projects wisely, and if things go wrong, know when to cut it off and fire your client. Accept the loss before you put more hours into the project.
A good designer who knows how to hustle can create 3 logos for $300 each with the same amount of effort and quality as 1 logo for $1000. In my experience there are very few designers good enough to make that work, but they are out there. I’m happy to refer you to my guys, just ask.
If you can command $1000 logos and stay busy then more power to you. This is America, go get ‘em. But don’t complain when people like me go get a $300 logo and am happy with what we get.
My experience with 99Designs
When I first started Shirt Refinery, a little side project printing t-shirts, I needed a logo. The project has no budget and at the time hadn’t started generating any revenue yet. I didn’t want to spend more than $300 on a logo so I tried 99Designs for the first time (they sent me a coupon).
I received about 25 logo designs to choose from, and was able to request as many revisions as necessary of each design during a period of two weeks. At any time the designers could have stopped work, so it was up to them how many hours they were willing to put into it.
At the end of the project, the designer I chose received about $200. I asked him for one additional version of the logo before I chose the one I liked. I don’t know how much time he put into it, but he was really good so I can’t imagine it being more than a few hours. I had the option to pay him more, and can reach out to him directly if I want to work with him in the future. I also had the option to pay for any of the other designs that were submitted from other designers.
I got a great logo for an affordable price and was guaranteed to receive something I liked. Had I not liked any of the options I could have walked away and paid nothing. The designers, in that case, would have received nothing for their time, but that’s the cost of doing business. If they can make more money elsewhere, then they should.
The designers on 99Designs that I talked with we’re happy for an online marketplace that provided them constant work. Had it not been for the site they would have never been able to get work from me.
I have similar experiences on Fiverr. There’s a lot of crap on there but only choose providers with high ratings and lots of completed projects and you’ll be just fine.
