Because your business will look tacky. Good design is priceless. Bad design is expensive.

Imagine showing up for your first business meeting wearing a cheap suit. Or, imagine eating a chef's excellent preparation...on paper plates. It might not seem like a big deal to pay as little as you can (or can afford) for your logo, but it will affect your business, in the short term and the long term.

Good, Fast, Cheap
This is the quality triad or project triangle. Pick two, and only two. The thing with these $99 logo services is that they are focused on convenience rather than quality. A logo is the quintessential tailor-made thing. It doesn't have to be expensive or exorbitant to be good. But you can't expect greatness and speed (at least not without something else kicking in).

A great designer is NOT a specialist. Design is all about developing a precise solution for a particular challenge.

Affordable vs. Cheap
This is the most important distinction to remember in getting your new logo. You may be able to use a cheap service to develop a great logo for you. But that most likely will require you to train your eye to what makes a great logo.

It's very possible to make a great deal with a designer. You can even pay them off over time. Think laterally and negotiate for a win-win.

What you want is an expert on your side, not some seemingly high-powered tools in the hands of a non-expert, you. You've got much better things to do. A good designer will know that.

Not you, your customers
While it's great that you fall in love with or even just like your resulting logo, the more important question has nothing to do with liking. Does your customer get it? Do they get what your business is? That's the ultimate goal of your logo.

What is good design?
Look for three things in portfolios: Legibility, Readability and Tone.

A logo should be technically legible, up close and far away, in print and online, on paper and on the side of a truck. That's the price of admission.

Your logo should be readable. It should make you want to look at it. It should feel as if you didn't even have to try to read or, worse yet, decipher it. It should feel as if it was already in your customer's head when they glanced at it. The phrase "Ooh, what's that?" should quietly be heard in your customer's mind.

Finally, the tone of the logo should be appropriate to your business. That seems obvious, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen graphic design mixed metaphors, something that would be great for a children's clothing store on a bank or vice versa.

Choosing a font and typing out your company's name while adding some drop shadows, colors, and embossing and then putting a swoosh over it...or under it...or through it does not a logo make.

Cheap logos do the opposite of what your logo should do. They actually blend into the background with the rest of things clamoring for your customers' attentions. Louder is not always better.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Be clear on what you need to communicate with your logo or corporate identity. Come up with adjectives and verbs. Use the help of a business coach to develop this Key Message if you can. Leave colors, shapes and styles mostly to your designer. They might surprise you and if you lock them into parameters that are too strict, you may miss out on a perfect solution (i.e. "It has to be in a box," or "I like purple").
• Don't have them work for free. Professional courtesy and respect will get you more of what you want and need.
• Create a sample file. Find other logos that you think express similar concepts, emotions or notions that you want your logo to communicate. But keep it loose. Don't lock your designer into your sample file. A good designer will take your file and put it through the blender of their mind and come up with the perfect solution that communicates to your customers.