To follow up on my previous post on logo creation, I thought it’d be helpful for me to list a new, and very interesting option for B&B owners who are looking to create a logo for their inn, and prefer to outsource the work..

It’s called 99designs.com..

what’s 99designs.com? It’s a site that offers design contests, basically…

here’s the description pulled directly from their site:

Whatever it is you want created, post your requirements in our Design Contests and let our massive community of designers from around the world compete for your prize.

so as an inn owner, you can jump in, create a contest, post your requirements, list a monetary prize ($100 to $200 is usually enough..), and let the army of graphic designers pump out samples for you. All you have to do is pick your favorite and award the winner..

how cool is that?

take a peek at some existing contests to get a feel of the site … then dive in and give it a go!

here’s the link direct to their logo section..

http://99designs.com/categories/logo-design

Tags: Tips & Tricks by Peter Askew
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It might sound like a non-issue for most inn owners, but - in my opinion - it’s one of the most important.

Your domain name.

“What’s a domain name, Peter?” It’s your website address, or - sometimes called - hostname, or URL (For me, it’s ‘planetbnb.com‘.)

Domain names are odd birds, though. Folks, or businesses, can register domain names, but they truly don’t “own” them. They’re simply renting them - so to speak - for a specified amount of time. As long as you continue to re-register your name, you’ll continue to control it - and control where users are lead. They’re kinda like cell phone numbers - you’re assigned your own unique id, and if you fail to pay your bill, your account will get canceled and the number released for re-registration.

Domain names are registered at what are called ‘domain registrars’. Registrars have the authority to register and house your name, keeping it safe and sound over your registration period. (Sample registrars I recommend are Go Daddy, Moniker, and eNom)

So, with all that in mind, here are some important aspects to keep in mind regarding your bed & breakfast domain name:

• Your domain name can expire. If you manage it yourself, or entrust a 3rd party, ensure they’re on top of the registration period. You’re able to register your domain name, typically, for as long as 10 years. If anyone falls asleep at the wheel, and fails to re-register, your domain *will* expire, and will be re-registered by several aggressive domain acquisition companies. If they get their hands on it, expect to spend thousands of dollars to re-acquire.
• If you have the interest or ability, consider controlling the management of the domain yourself. You never know when you’ll encounter a website management company that runs out of cash, goes bankrupt, or disappears. Or worse, a company that changes their business practices, charges more money, or provides less value. In these cases, if you control the domain name, you’ll simply be able to re-point your name to your new management company, with little or no effort.
• Consider registering mis-spellings, or alt versions of your domain name. Personally, I own PlanetBedandBreakfast.com, for the rare instance when users might type my site name in full. It only costs around $10 a year to do this, and tends to be a wise business decision in the long run.

Still confused about domain names? Have any follow up questions? Drop me a line in the comments, or shoot me an email. I’ll be happy to try and help.

: )

Tags: Tips & Tricks by Peter Askew
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I like logos. Website logos, specifically.

It’s amazing to see how that one small element can change a website design so dramatically (in a good way).

My impression, when I originally researched designing a logo for Planet BnB, were that, creating a logo involved hiring a web designer and dropping an armload of cash.

After some lengthly online research, I found this wasn’t the case. There were actually several websites online that rendered logos, for free. (Our original Planet BnB logo, in all it’s glory, was created online using one of these sites.)

The process was as simple as visiting a website, typing in my site’s name, choosing a typeface font design & color, and clicking ‘Render Logo’ button.

Here, let me give you an example..

Let’s say a guy named ‘Ho Hum’ owns a B&B. And he wants a logo, but nothing fancy. Here’s an example logo he could create online, for free:

it’s that easy.

Some sites offer more font faces than others. And some even throw in alt graphics into your logo, if that’s something you’re into.

For your reference, though, here are a few sites we played around with, originally, to create our ours - hopefully it’ll help you add a neat design element to your site, if you’re looking to snazz it up a bit:

• Cool Text Graphics Generator - where our original logo came from
• Cool Archive Logo Generator — note, site has a few pop-ups
• Web 2.0 Free Logo Generator — where the example above came from

Tags: Tips & Tricks by Peter Askew
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