Archive for March, 2010

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Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Find Me Buy Me

Friday, March 5th, 2010

I know everyone has heard of this little thing called the Recession… well it has restricted our wallets too long! Now you don’t have to feel guilty about buying the new Guitar Hero and playing all night until you reach the hard levels instead of doing that work you brought home… err… I mean… Now there’s Find Me Buy Me a website dedicated to bringing you movies and games at a discounted price.

Anyway, I got a chance to talk to Sam, the founder of Find Me Buy Me, and his mission is to bring movies and games to everyone at an affordable price at the click of a button. They have everything from XBox 360 to Wii to Blu-Ray DVDs all at amazing prices that won’t break the bank and will provide entertainment for hours.

Sam has used crowdSPRING for his web banners and a press ad and he loved his experience so thanks, Sam! We’re glad we could help!

I asked Sam a few questions familiar to the Small Business Spotlight of the Week posts and he has some very valuable information to offer to you small bizzers out there so listen up!

1.  How did you get things designed before crowdSPRING?

Being a new business i needed a cost effective method to produce creative. I do have an agency who created my TVC and handle my media bookings, however having them create banner ads is very costly. Therefore crowdspring was the logical decision, I have access to a pool of designers all who pitch for a project.

2.  Why in the world did you decide to use crowdSPRING?!

My website developer pointed me to crowdSPRING. He used crowdSPRING for design work on some of his web design projects. I logged onto crowdSPRING and and saw that I could submit projects for pitching on just about anything for Tshirt designs through to, press ads and web banners and I controlled the expense. Its a great tool for start up business who have a limited budget.

3.  What’s the single best small biz resource that you’ve found (magazine, website, blog, etc.)?

The web is a great source for information for new businesses. One particular site i visit regularly and subscribe to is Inside Retailing. Since I am a new online retailer I find this site useful in providing information on what other similar companies and doing and the site also provides expert advice  on Technology and Marketing that can help better my site.

4.  If your best friend told you they were going to start a business, what’s the ONE piece of advice you’d give them?

Take it slow!…. my one mistake was thinking that setting up an online business would be quick and easy, but its not! It can become very expensive, especially if you do TV commercials, my first TV commercial cost me $7500 ( production and placement), which is why using crowdSPRING was a no brainer for my future design work. Also being an online company, i should have placed more emphasis on online advertising, TV advertising is great for branding but I needed to get to my target audience who where online.

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Twitter Link Roundup #30 – Design, Copywriting, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media And More

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

40 Creative Skateboard Designs You Would Love To Have – http://bit.ly/99CwWe

Designers: How to Search For, Hire, and Work With a Web-Developer – http://bit.ly/bWDQrK

5 Reasons Why Landing Pages & Forms are More Valuable than Homepages – http://ping.fm/5j3eI

19 Creative and Unusual Bus Stop Advertisements  – http://ki.am/aYaZmQ

80 Extreme Advertisements That Will Challenge Your Mind – http://j.mp/bslmni

60 Creative and Inspiring Festival Posters – http://bit.ly/arvLIS

15 Fresh Logo Design Processes That Teach Volumes – http://bit.ly/9BKo7M

90 Creative Back To Top Links and Best Practices – http://bit.ly/bIu3M5

Scientific Design: Images Of Faces and What They Communicate – http://bit.ly/9yfPyD

Showcase of 53 Creative and Exquisite Package Designs – http://bit.ly/b51A1g

55 Inspirational Original White and Light Web Designs – http://bit.ly/boi5Oc

The User Centered Design Conundrum – http://bit.ly/bA913A

Web Design Criticism: A How-To – http://bit.ly/a6MUa0

How to stand out and get noticed as a designer – http://bit.ly/cFs1lW

Massive Textures Showcase – Creative Examples of Use, Premium Packs and Tutorials – http://bit.ly/d0o5Q2

Showcase and Tips: How to Create Effective Landing Page Designs – http://bit.ly/9tqlRC

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »

crowdSPRING On ABC7 News

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Like Conan O’Brien, crowdSPRING recently made a brief appearance on NBC. Unlike Conan, we also were very fortunate to appear on ABC.

Tonight, ABC News, in a special report, covered crowdsourcing. We were thrilled to be included in the story – big thanks to Ross Weidner and Cheryl Burton. Here’s the special report:

You can also read the transcript of the special report about crowdSPRING and crowdsourcing.

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, Interviews, marketing, social media | 4 Comments »

A pottery competition to end all pottery competitions

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

In case you haven’t been following the riveting saga of Chia Lincoln’s hair do, it’s been a real nail biter.  First it wouldn’t grow, then it did grow and now, well, it’s still growing, I guess.  But, contrary to his picture on the penny, he seems to have developed a bit of an, umm, combover.  Oh, it’s a Presidential Combover for sure but there’s really no getting around it.  It’s a combover.

In any event, if a combover isn’t something worth celebrating in this crazy mixed up world then I don’t know what is.  So, I give you, the first annual Chia Lincoln Combover Celebratory Extravaganza.  Just swing by our Facebook page and answer this one simple question: if Chia Lincoln could talk, what would he say?

To commemorate this joyous occassion, one lucky winner will take home a Chia Lincoln of their very own (Sorry, you can’t have ours – you have to grow your own combover.  Or French braid.  Or beehive.  Or…).  The person who posts the best answer – as voted by The Supreme Court of crowdSPRING – by midnight this Friday (for you procrastinators) will be crowned champion of this pottery competition to end all pottery competitions. So, hit us with your best shot.

A word to the wise: Chia Lincoln doesn’t take kindly to Confederate sympathies or theater jokes so pick your words wisely…

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Posted in Awesomeness, community, inspiration, marketing, social media, Strategy, Technology | 2 Comments »

New crowdSPRING policy in LOGO projects!

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Hi All,

For a long time now, many Creatives in our community have wanted to submit entries to logo design projects showing their design on various “collateral” items, such as tee shirts, hats, packaging, business cards, etc. Until now, we have not permitted this, because we felt it was unfair to other creatives who could submit ONLY logos.

After listening to our community, we’ve decided that all our creatives should be able  to illustrate their logo design using it in a “real life” application. In order to keep this fair and the playing field leveled,we will make available to everyone a package of templates which can be used for this purpose. The package includes a template for a stationery, a van, a baseball hat, a shopping bag, tee shirts and a lot more…

The templates are also available in the Participate Now page and  in the Creative Tips page.

Here are the new rules:

1) Entries in logo projects may be presented on “collateral” materials as a way of displaying how it would look. For consistency, we prefer if you use the templates we provide, but we don’t mind if you use your own template.

2) Creative may not imply or explicitly offer extra work outside of the scope of the project.

3) Buyers may not request additional work outside the scope of their projects as long as the project remains unawarded. If they wish to do request additional work, buyers can now increase the award directly in the wrapup tab and a price for the additional work can be negotiated between the buyer and the winning creative at that time.

4) Please do not flood a project by posting the logo on each and every template. Make sure it fits with the buyer’s project.

Of course, because we are now allowing collateral to be submitted in projects, please do not report violations for collateral used in Logo projects….

We hope this will help you win more projects and interact even more professionally with your great buyers!

Jerome cS

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Posted in business, community, How To, Strategy | 30 Comments »

Startups and small biz at SXSW: ideas on how to spend your time at the conference!

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Ross and I will be speaking at South by Southwest again this year and hope that you’ll join us there for our talk titled “Third Coast: How to Be a Startup Outside of Silicon Valley.” We should have a really nice crowd of entrepreneurs, designers, and funders there and expect a great discussion. It is scheduled for Saturday 3/13 at 12:30pm and will be held at the Convention Center, Courtyard Rio Grande B. [Last week, I posted a short podcast on the topic and you can hear it here]

Other than that 1 hour session, I intend to stay VERY busy at SXSW this year and wanted to share some of the other talks and panels I will try to attend. Here is my list for 2010 -I hope to run into you there; I’ll be the really tired looking guy moving fast from event to event. Enjoy the list and see you in Austin!

Friday, March 12th

  • Time TBA: Recession 2009-2010: The Best Time to Launch Your Startup  – While it may seem counter intuitive, economic hardship is the crucible from which great businesses emerge. In fact, more than half of the world’s largest and most successful companies were started during an economic recession or depression. What does that mean for today’s would-be entrepreneurs? It means now is the best… (http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/7433)
  • 02:00 PM: Is Innovation Fair? Hilton E – Andrew Keen, author of Cult of the Amateur, discusses the impact of social media and technological innovation on culture, society and economic justice. (http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/562)
  • 03:30 PM: A Touchy History of the Future Ballroom C – We pinch it, tap it, shake it and poke it. We’re so enthralled with finally getting to touch our products. But there’s so much more to direct manipulation than just tapping it with our fingers! Let’s explore some progressive interaction models that go beyond touch and into movement, infrared, wearable computing, sound and ambient data to really give us an idea of what our immersive interactive future may hold and how we might curate that future now. (http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/7498)
  • 05:00 PM: Eight Ways to Deal with Bastards – If 99% of your customers are fantastic, you’re still going to deal with bastards. And even the best of us make bad hiring decisions. But there are time-honored approaches to defusing crises, deflecting attacks, and denuding d-bags. This panel of seasoned pros will discuss and advise. Hilton A/B (http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/4521)

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, inspiration, start-up tips | 6 Comments »

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