99designs – very many contests running at the same time, that’s over 600! The count of contest hints that there are really many designers – over 30.000. The contest winners are highly awarded. That’s from $150 to $1000 or even more. And most of contests are guaranteed (that means a winner will be chosen for sure). There are really many talented designers to compete with but you can also find a contest which you may feel that you can win! I mean you see the designs submitted and think for yourself if you can beat them. Quite a good strategy for newcomers. You can also browse through folios of the best designers there and see their work. Most of them are really impressive that make you say “Wow” automatically.

logomarket – logos shop with extremely high prices, mostly they are 300€ or even 1000€. Does it sound attractive to sell a logo for such a price? For me it does, but there is one thing – you have to pay one time fee and it’s 75€. But you get profit from your first illustrator logo sale. Actually the competition is quite big because there are really many submitted logos, but it is worth a try I think. So if you decide to join this site, don’t give up too early.

DigitalPoint forum – register to this forum and enter this link. There are quite many running contest at the time. The rewards aren’t that big (~$15-$150) and running time of one contest varies from one day to a week or so. But the rivalry isn’t that big. Many entries are made unprofessionaly and not chosen by contest holders, so you have a great chance to win if you have some skills and talents! Some of the contests holders do not choose a winner but I wish you good luck to make an impression to them and choose your design!
By visiting this link you can make your own thread where you can offer your design services. You will get customers for sure even if your designs aren’t that professional, but your prices shouldn’t be too high then. All I can tell you this is a guaranteed income. There are really many people who need design servies.

DesignContest.net – this website/forum holds good rewarding contests. They give like $150-$500 (mostly over $200) to the winners. The designs provided are quite professional because they have to see your folio and you must be at least 18 years old man to create an account there. If that’s not a problem, then you really should join this site. There aren’t so many designers to compete with, so your chances are quite huge to win this kind amount of money. The money for a contest is paid to site admin and then he pays for the winner so there can be no scams or so. The key is: make a good design and win the money!

BrandStack – again, a good website where you can upload brands and wait untill someone buys it. But unlike logomarket, you don’t have to pay any joining fee. The prices are really high here, so you can profit from this site easily. There are even over $3000 costing brands that are quite simple at the first look, so I think it’s a chance that you shouldn’t miss, upload and earn! For the buyers, you can find great and creative brands that will meet your needs, company, expectations.

Elance – a great and with wide community website where you can post a job or be a provider and submit proposal for a job and get some work. You have to pass a test if you want to be a provider. That means you have to know the rules, TOS, how the website works and so on. There is also a place for your portfolio where you can show your works. The rewards for works are good. There are many designers who have made from $1000 to $50000 and even more (Lifetime earnings). This website has so many features to list so you should see them on your own. Have a great stay there!

Firstly, even if the logo is very simple it has to have a link with the company. Many of the logos might be done only just to look good, but  there is no benefit for you to have only a good looking logo which is not even relative to your company? Think of what will people think when they see your logo for the first time and have no clue what is your company doing.

Then, look at the logo carefully. Check it’s details and see if they are well done. I mean look if the logo looks professional. Sometimes people buy a cheap logo with a cool concept. Well, you might think there is nothing wrong but they are mostly made by a beginner which doesn’t know some of the techniques and make the logo not to look professional. They make some mistakes that are visible and that is not good for you.

Designers mostly put very common icons like leaves, globes, arrows, people. Well, if you want something more original then you should choose something else even if the logo looks quite ok. Try to look for alternatives. But if it is okay with to have a very common sign in your logo then go for it.

The other thing you should check is the text part in the logo. People show you enlarged logo to see the details clearly. But the buyer doesn’t always imagine how the logo would look when it’s sized-down and placed on web or somewhere else (i.e. t-shirts, stationery). I think the most common problem is that text becomes illegible when you make the logo smaller. If you use a tagline, imagine what can happen with it this way!

Okay, this step is quite important. You have to be very careful if you choose a logo from contest. Some people try to rip other logos and submit them to you. They aren’t original so if you buy such a logo then you are in risk to have a problem with recognition from people and you might copyright problems with that company. My advice: try to type in search engine keyword like FF for let’s say Friends Finder company. This is what many of the “designers” do. They also sometimes use clipart so you should search for these too.