Audio Sales May Depend on VISUAL Identity
5 Affordable Places to Begin Your Graphics Search
While people have to LISTEN to your audio to get the benefit (duh!) the first impression your products make is VISUAL.
Quite a paradox!
So product creators face a double whammy: not only creating terrific content, but packaging that content in a way that’s attractive and visually exciting.
That usually means a professional identity: logos, web graphics and CD packaging.
Now if you’re a household name, you can sell on reputation alone. If you’re not, you have to overcome buyer skepticism, AND package your products and your business so that you LOOK like you’ve got a higher profile than you actually do.
A recent issue of Wired Magazine tested 6 budget studios for creating logos. The following three rated the highest for quality and customer service:
- TheLogoCompany.net -- $75 got them 4 decent relevant designs with a turnaround of 3 business days.
- TheLogoLoft.com -- $99 bought four options in only 4 business days
- LogoDesignCreation.com -- The quickest in the test, 3 designs were delivered for $69 with an astounding overnight turnaround.
A colleague also alerted me to a company called Ferngully Graphics that will create very simple business logos for $50 each.
Now unfortunately, companies change their prices all the time without letting me know (hate when that happens!). So don’t send me nasty notes if you don’t find the exact rates quoted here. But I think you will find a good place to start your graphics search if your budget does not yet include a full-fledged personal professional designer.
While these are logo prices, you can also inquire to see if they can help you with your CD cover designs and web graphics for your downloadable and streaming audio programs.
Of course, another great source for finding budget graphics is using eLance.com. It’s the place you can put your product out to bid and have designers all over the world bid for the right to design what you’re looking for.
A quick "heads up': eLance now also has their own agency, whose design fees look to be a bit higher than what you might be able to get by bidding the job out.
Beware that putting your job through the bidding process may take a little extra work on your part (drawing up a clear job description, sifting through the bids).
And you may decide to go with a bidder whose work is more expensive but fits you to a T.
Still, its an alternative (along with the ones we’ve listed above) to get you started on the road towards professional looking audio products. Because first impressions are crucial. And no matter how hard to you work to create terrific content, how you look may be just as important in getting customers to buy.
