After Half Million Dollar Purchase, Logo.com Now Live

Logo DesignIn early November of last year, it was announced that Logo.com had been acquired for a half a million dollars by two Internet entrepreneurs. After months of business planning and website development, Logo.com launched softly a couple of weeks ago.

As you would probably expect, Logo.com is a site that sells professionally created logos. In addition to the logo work, the company also has web designers, branding experts, copywriters, illustrators, and other experts who can help companies enhance their presence online.

For those of you that might have web development or logo related domain names, a blog or a site dedicated to small business, their  affiliate program might be of interest to you. I don’t have the full details of the program, but I understand the company is currently offering a $50 CPA for every new customer (for a limited time). You can leave your contact information, and the company will be in touch.

Under the leadership of eCommerce industry veteran, Alan Townshend, and Internet entrepreneur, Adam Strong, I expect Logo.com will soon be one of the leading websites for logo design.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

57 COMMENTS

  1. just dont put in a frequently used pw when signing up for their affiliate program, as, when you get a confirmation email that you applied, your password will be in the clear – not encrypted, like a prudent ecommerce company would do

    not very confidence building move by site owners

    Under the leadership of eCommerce industry veteran, Alan Townshend, and Internet entrepreneur, Adam Strong, I expect Logo.com will soon be one of the leading websites for logo design.

  2. @Shiphouse

    Just because it’s stylized letters doesn’t mean it’s not a logo.

    One of the most celebrated logos in the history of graphic design is the IBM logo – just styled letters.

  3. @tom Thanks for pointing it out. Hasoffers.com, the affiliate software company that seomoz, shoemoney and many other companies use, has the password set to send in your confirmation emails. We notified them of your concern.

  4. @Shiphouse

    I like their logo. It’s very clear and very simple. It shouldn’t have to compete with the logos that are show prominently elsewhere on their site. Too busy and it would get lost.

    Sometimes simple is good.

    • One thing I’ve learned is that logos and designs are generally a matter of personal taste. Back when I was just building sites, I would send the final four logos for a site to a bunch of close friends and family, and inevitably, the votes would all be split amongst the four. It’s tough to agree on a consensus when a logo is first presented. Over time, logos tend to grow on people.

      What type of concept would you use for the design if you don’t like it?

  5. Logo.com is a great brand name. I understand the need of a newcomer to the game to present samples of work, especially after spending 1/2 million to get the domain. However, out of five pages of logo samples, I only found 2 that were used on actual web sites. Displaying a bunch of generic creations – perhaps by associates – as current client work in order to fill a void is not the proper approach.

  6. Thanks Rob Clarke designed it. You can see more of his work at RobClarke.com We had very specific instructions on what we were seeking and think he delivered. Rob is one of our favorites.

  7. Thanks Acro for your thoughts. As someone that does graphic design services I understand how you’d have a sharp eye to be critical.

    Our designers have been doing this for years and have worked with thousands of clients. These are logos designed for paying clients by professionals. Feel free to email me directly if you’d like any more insight or to see more samples that would meet your expectations.

  8. Adam, I am not criticizing the logo samples at all; simply stating that I could not find the actual clients these were created for. A simple search, even for complex names returned only 2 samples.

  9. I love iogo.com! 🙂

    Only problem I see with the logo.. since different fonts can make a capital I look like an l.

    Somebody may “see” the Logo, Logo.com and may think the l is a capital I and visit iogo.com instead of logo.

    I would for sure make the L and L with a leg!

    JZ

  10. I like the site but there is already tens of thousands of logo/website design sites out there. Trying to join them and recoup half a million and then turn a profit is a big task.

    I would have liked to see something like what 99designs does. This I believe is the wave of the future. For a few hundred I get to see 50-150 different designs to choose from from numerous different designers.

    While this might not be that great for designers it’s great for the buyers and we are the ones spending the money.

  11. I have to agree with WQ on this one. 99designs concept is the way of the future. The current Logo.com is very similar to Logoloft who this year closed up shop after 12 years of business (in the middle of doing my logo) and sent a mass email blaming it on the likes of 99designs and similar services.

  12. They will need to sell/produce literally tens of thousands of logos for clients just to break even.

    Somehow, I do not see that happening… Too much work, margins really aren’t there either. But would love to be proved wrong on this. It is a nice domain! 🙂

    There is no money to be made doing logos or custom design in the $xxx range…. Anybody who knows anything about custom web development and design knows that it’s nowadays dominated by Asians/Europeans who are able to do the works at a fraction of the cost.

    And yes, crowd-sourcing is a big thing that changed the design/development game forever… 99designs and the likes rock.

    • “There is no money to be made doing logos or custom design in the $xxx range”

      @ wanna

      Adam and Alan didn’t just fall off the back of a turnip truck. I am sure they have a plan.

  13. @WQ Thanks for your thoughts as well. There are hundreds of crowd source sites like 99 designs. We took the stance that might seem a little hard to believe, but we very much believe people should be paid for their work and expertise. http://www.no-spec.com

  14. “There are hundreds of crowd source sites like 99 designs.”

    I’ve only heard of 2 but haven’t searched for any others.

    You have something they don’t have though, the killer domain. Some might say that makes no difference, I say it does.

    “we very much believe people should be paid for their work and expertise”

    I do too but unfortunately the game has changed. Many have got left behind for not keeping up with the trends.

  15. So let me ask you Elliot… You think that the LOGO.COM company will be successful with this new venture? How confident are you, and why exactly. Please elaborate. Would love to know.

    Now if you ask me, they got a 1 to 2% chance at most making some money if they manage to break even but 98% at failure and it will hit them much sooner rather than later.

    Once again, it does not matter who is running the show over there… Adam, Alan, Mike, John, Obama… The entire business model is shit concerning logos. There is no money to be made in the $xxx range with design/development because the mid market is dominated by freelancers from Asia and Eastern Europe.

    They charge 5x to 10x less and the quality is much better as well VS. the expensive US guys…. And these guys are flooding the market with their services everywhere you look.

    Whatever happened with RSS.com btw… Really looking forward to seeing that gem get things popping… NOT!

    • @ wanna

      I don’t know anything about their biz/marketing plan or the logo design market, but I know the people running it have experience with ecommerce sites and have managed successful businesses. Have you seen Alan’s background? Google him if not and you’ll see that he’s been a success with his companies. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut when it comes to judging people’s chances of success. If you had a chance to invest in a new Steve Jobs venture sight unseen, I bet you’d do it.

      Do you think Doughmains.com will be successful? I bet I could find a bunch of people who are experts in the domain industry who would say there’s no chance it will be a success… point being is that it’s easy for outsiders to pass judgments without having a clue about the actual business and operations plan, which is something that only you have with respect to your project.

      I have no skin in this game, but I know two successful entrepreneurs sunk a lot of money into the project, and the odds are good that they will make it work. If not, they still have a salable asset in Logo.com and would likely see a positive return on the actual domain investment.

      RE: RSS.com, I have no idea what happened to it. I also don’t know anything about Ron Sheridan’s background aside from the fact the he was the person who planned/managed the first DomainFest. Nothing personal against him, but I don’t have any idea about his track record.

  16. @E

    Fair enough… You made some good points.. But being $500k in the hole isn’t the best start. They could of went with just a random catchy domain and made things work if indeed the “talent” is there, but really, only time will tell I guess.

    I do know a little about the design/dev game and it’s not easy to turn in a profit because things are so competitive and tons is expected of you… Whether you got a cool domain, the best category leading domain, or whatever, this business is ruthless and it won’t really do you much good.

    Being a service provider is a bitch, especially in the mid-market. Barely any money to be made, and that only comes from when you are able to upsell some additional products/services.

    We’ll see how they do in a year or two…. Always nice on having the domain to fall back on to get some money back but you can’t do that with time… That is why you gotta be highly selective with what you get involved with.

    So much to do… So little time. That is what every internet entrepreneur nowadays is faced with.

  17. “So much to do… So little time. That is what every internet entrepreneur nowadays is faced with.”

    Best to spend it pontificating on what others do I guess ? Appreciate your thoughts though Mike but I GottaWork

  18. Naysayers; it’s not about the logos.

    Because the logo is one of the first things a new (or rebranding) business works on, Logo.com should be the gateway to an entire range of business related products and services.

    Though I personally wouldn’t have paid more than about 250k for it, I’ll bet Adam & Alan will follow such a path to make this the nice success it can be.

    Think along the lines of Business.com; but done right.

  19. @wanna

    For a name like “wanna develop?”, you seem short sighted.

    First of all… how the hell do you know if this is going to go or not? You sound like someone who has a problem with someone involved in the startup, not a well thought replier.

    Secondly, you’re leaving out an essential piece of the genius of this business. Logo.com is a goldmine in itself. These guys could 1) make a go of it and make you look silly. 2) Create enough buzz to sell the biz for a loot and make you look silly. or 3) Go bust, and STILL sell the domain for a steal… and make you look silly.

    Either way, I like the outcome.

  20. The 500k might leave them in the whole. But on the other hand there is the upside of getting mainstream publicity and also doing deals with larger companies as a result of having logo.com name instead of, say “logoexpert.com”. If they can pull that off (it is an “if” of course) then the purchase price will have paid off. Mainstream media brings non price sensitive business and the name brings legitimacy.

    While I can’t say that it is the case today back in the dot com boom days I received tremendous publicity in the main stream press from a particular domain name that still pays off to this day over 10 years later. I found that reporters (back in the day) took me very seriously because of the domain name that I had and printed stories which ended up giving me plenty of business.

    Plenty of this depends on how much money they have. If you are HP (that’s right the printer maker own of all things logomaker.com) spending a little more is no problem. It’s not their last dollar. Since I don’t know how much money the buyers have it’s also hard to say if they made a mistake or not. If you have plenty of money it’s hard to say you made a big mistake by buying a better domain name and paying to much.

    I would tend to agree with this statement by wanna:
    “There is no money to be made doing logos or custom design in the $xxx range”

    I was in the printing and graphics business for many years and you don’t make any money on the business card orders you make money when you land a whale of a repeat business customer that spends other people’s money that brings you rush jobs that you don’t have to even bid on.

  21. Troy, those options listed are nothing but a dream… Now, when you decide to come down back to earth and live within reality and stop fantasizing all day long.. That is when you can start making some real money in this business. I’d suggest you stop with your non-sense bullshit theories everywhere you post.

    Adam, what is your e-commerce background? Service provider background?? If you’d like to share, go ahead… Stage is yours! Would love to know.

  22. hey guys, there’s no need to get too excited here…

    i maybe wrong, but i think Elliot is getting paid to do this post about logo.com

    by the way, logo.com is a nice name worthy of the price tag. successful or not, the 2 guys should get their money back at least imho

    good luck

  23. Nice fresh looking site. I think it’s a lot they paid for the domain considering the plural is probably just as good. But they seem to know what they’re doing and have developed it well so hopefully it turns a good profit for them.

  24. “I maybe wrong, but i think Elliot is getting paid to do this post about logo.com”

    @ Max

    Yes, you are wrong. I have never had a paid post, nor do I intend to ever have one.

    Further, if I ever received enough money to warrant a paid post, I would obviously have a disclaimer at the bottom.

  25. The short sided view that this venture will fail before it gets started astounds me. I agree that with large start up expenses – it will be tough going if the only plan is to provide logos and custom design for @$xxx – but there seems to be multiple revenue streams other than just that. Additionally, we may only be seeing phase one of their business model right now. Building the brand, forming strategic partnerships with the right companies, and innovating incrementally through solid management/leadership and attention to customer feedback is how this business will succeed. Logo.com has already established the framework to compete with not only standard design firms and crowdsourcing outfits such as 99designs but also with companies like Queensboro & vistaprint.

    I have been using 99designs since before they were called 99designs – I am happy with the logos I have received and the prices I have paid, but there are lots of problems with that business model which needs solving. For many years, I have wanted some sort of a hybrid between a 99designs type site and a standard design firm…maybe logo.com can be the answer.

  26. Pretty comical thread. I actually have nothing against the logo, in fact I like it, just figured the comment would kick things off. The reality is, they don’t really need to make back the $500K do they? If they can make $100K in the first year and $150K in the second year and then sell the business for 5x earnings they will doulbe their money. Not a bad annualized ROI in two to three years time.

    People out there think they are going to become millionaires selling cheese curds and cuff links (which they do) so why can’t this succeed? Why is it so unfathomable that logo.com will succeed? When every schmuck with an idea and a domain needs a logo? Yes $500K is tough to stomach, but their business is scalable from here and probably can drive itself.

    @wanna develop – didn’t you make “millions” off a low margin/fad business that is now dead (i.e. mini-sites?) Maybe this is a low margin business, but it isn’t going anywhere, ever. To that end, what does it matter what the margins are if you are farming out the work to contractors. If you make a $1, its a $1 more than you had yesterday.

  27. >>If you make a $1, its a $1 more than you had yesterday.<<

    Let me fix this for ya…

    If you make a $1, its about 50 cents more than you had yesterday.

    (Uncle Sam)

  28. I would also like to add to my post that while I have never met either of the logo.com guys, I am sure they are thinking much bigger than the numbers I laid out. This thing really is a slam dunk, its just a matter of whether its your run of the mill I have just enough hops to grab rim kind of dunk or Michael Jordan from the free throw line kind of a dunk.

  29. The site is quite nice, for wordpress. I love how guys now claim as site development. The logo itself is average at best. The portfolio they have on file after being live for a couple of days, oh well, just samples that never made it onto anyones website I guess. If as you say these are logos done by your dev crew, why not put some on that are actually in use or are your designers working thier way up to actually sales. As far as the owners having great ecom backgrounds would love to hear about em. Flipping domain names hardly qualifies as ecom experience. There are a number of sites out there offering similar services and some are cheaper, so not sure how or why people believe that the domain name alone is gonna make this fly. The blvd is littered with sites that had nice generic domain names behind them so you need more than a domain name to make things go and thats proven. What does Adam bring to the party besides a history of cybersquatting? BTW if you are interested in minisite development I amdoing a blow out 10 bucks for 10 sites with logo included

    • @ Nogo

      Based on the bredth of your previous posts, you sound like quite the bitter person. Maybe you should talk to someone about it.

      You also seem to think highly of your own opinion, yet you choose to stay anonymous. Very interesting.

      Here’s Alan’s ecommerce background:

      “Alan Townsend most recently served as President of Ecommerce at Personal Creations, a leading retailer of personalized gifts. Personal Creations was acquired in July 2010 by Provide Commerce, Inc., the parent company of ProFlowers, RedEnvelope, Cherry Moon Farms and Shari’s Berries. Prior to Personal Creations, Alan was CTO at online toy retailer StuffedAnimals.com which was acquired by Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company in 2008. Prior to StuffedAnimals.com, Alan served as Vice President of Marketing at PersonalizationMall.com. Alan has also developed and managed some of world’s leading domain names including Christmas.com, ValentinesDay.com, MothersDay.com, FathersDay.com and many others.”

  30. “quite the bitter person. Maybe you should talk to someone about it”

    If I am bitter, which I am not, (care to tell me what was bitter in the post) its likely because of morons like you who go around spewing mouthfulls of crap about the other “so called” leaders in the industry.

    So Alan “developed and managed some of world’s leading domain names including Christmas.com, ValentinesDay.com, MothersDay.com, FathersDay.com” huh. Not sure what you mean by “managed” and really unsure what you mean by “developed” as all of the domains mentioned above are PARKED.

    Like I said throwing up a word press site ain’t development and from my perspective parking those names qualifies as MISmanagement not management but heck what do I know next uber domainers such as you and Alan.

  31. In fairness to novo
    You claim Alan to be a manager and developer of great domain names like fathersday mothersday Christmas and others all of which are parked on pay per click so by your standards every domain registrant on earth is a developer slash manager

    Maybe its you that is bitter and needs help, needs to talk to someone likely about development seeing as you seem to have no idea what that means or is all about

  32. @ Contrarian

    I am not claiming anything. I am re-posting a quote from the press release. April has been a fantastic month for my business so far, and bitter is one thing I am not right now…

    BTW, DogWalker.com is built on WordPress and has over 400 advertisers @ $49/year, but I guess it wouldn’t qualify as a “developed” website. I guess my blog wouldn’t either.

    LOL

  33. @NOGO

    A site using WordPress isn’t a developed site? What year you living in?

    Don’t worry about what Adam brings to the table, what do you bring to the table besides your negativity?

    Maybe we should all just quit until you give us the go ahead.

    I’d guess you weren’t given much attention as a child. I feel for you on that but it’s no excuse to act like a prick.

  34. “Alan has also developed and managed some of world’s leading domain names including Christmas.com, ValentinesDay.com, MothersDay.com, FathersDay.com and many others.”

    Developed and managed means PARKED in domainerese
    Get a grip!

    • @ Bitter

      It’s amazing how people can dedicate so much time to something that has absolutely no impact on their own business. At least I am getting paid for my time with this blog 😉

  35. If this Adam Strong has no experience and brings nothing to the partenrship thats sounds like he’s one smart guy to me haha A guy with the record you quoted for Alan Townsend sounds solid though. and Provide Commerce doesn’t buy wordpress sites http://www.providecommerce.com Sounds like there is just something wrong with people. There’s so much hate. Why not encourage people making a go or just let dumb people be dumb. Is there some reason for attacking people Does it do you some good in life?

  36. I hope Logo.com does well. If you take a category defining domain and mix it with a good business plan, your odds for success improve greatly in my opinion. It’s certainly not easy, but great to see more domain investors taking an honest shot at building real businesses with their domain assets.

  37. Here’s some companies I’m sure were told by many people the space was crowded and they would fail:

    Facebook
    google
    Flickr
    diapers.com
    Techcrunch

    And on and on…anyone knocking logo.com is just jealous.

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