Name of your website?Logo Design Advisor
Your name?
Mark Hanson
Your Location (city, etc)
Kanawha
Please give us a short summary of your website?
The Logo Design Advisor website provides free information and tips to help people get a custom logo designed.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
There is a lot of misinformation about logo design on the internet. I felt it was necessary to create a website that would cover all of the necessary info a consumer would need to make a good choice about getting a custom logo design done for a reasonable price.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My first website was BestBusinessCardDesign.com. I launched it in 2005.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I explored keywords to match what online searchers were looking for.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
My business card and logo design websites are very similar in that they provide free tips and tutorials to help people correctly design their business cards and logos. Most websites just want your business, getting your money tops the list, helping you is secondary.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My preliminary goal is to become a trusted advisor/counselor. I believe that if I provide helpful information that saves business people time and money I will achieve that goal.
My secondary goal is to connect customers with quality businesses that either print their business stationery or design their logos for them. I would receive income through affiliations with these companies.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
So far my investment of time and money is heavy and my success is light. I keep learning and chipping away at the things I know I need to be doing. Eventually things should work out.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I am the webmaster/designer of all of my websites. I intentionally keep them simple. If I had an unlimited budget I wouldn't trick my site out with flash animation or other unnecessayr clutter. There is too much of that stuff polluting the internet already.
If I could afford a good writer I would commission him/her to write a blockbuster book! If I could afford a good software engineer they would create a smash hit software program.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes, because my sites are purely informational. Most of the people visiting my sites just need a little helpful advice not my design skills.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
I have spent the most amount of money on knowledge. I have purchased dozens of reports and books on all aspects of internet marketing. There really is no end to the amount of knowledge one needs.
My headaches are my fears that I don't know enough, that I'm still missing important puzzle pieces.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Admitting I was wrong on a certain marketing venture and then cutting my losses when it was obvious that it wasn't working out. It's not easy to decide to chuck a ton of work you've done and then start all over again.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Producing how-to videos. It's amazing how quickly traffic arrives at your site with a well done video.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I'm like the old time gold miners who's expectations were always high. I haven't unearthed the solid vein of internet gold yet but I'm getting closer.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
First of all I don't need each site to rake in millions of dollars per year for me to consider successful. If they make a few hundred dollars per week that would be great. As long as the website successfully covers its own expenses and then some I won't give up on it.
What is your website address?
Logo Design Advisor
