Not one to remain standing still, Vaynerchuk has opened a media company called VaynerMedia with his younger brother. They are currently representing the NHL and Forbes amongst others.

‘Crust It!’ is written in the same style as Vaynerchuk’s podcast, it is confident and to the point. Vaynerchuk inspires readers to build a personal brand and build a fan club around whatever it is you love the most no matter if you are an entrepreneur or an employee. In this book he talks about his life and development as an entrepreneur and he also tells stories of those people he’s influenced who are, in his words “crushing it”. Vaynerchuk does give some good tips about how to build a personal brand with specific steps, but I still think the biggest value of his book is that it lifts the reader out of a negative mindset and leaves them with the notion that anything is possible if you want it bad enough.

The truth is, this is not the way to get a good logo. There is so much that goes into making a logo; it is impossible to do it in just a couple of hours. Don’t believe me? Keep reading!

To begin with, any respectable designer is going to take the time to get into the mind and vision of your company: what you do, what your workplace culture is, who your competitors are, and how they have branded themselves. The whole idea is to start the process of creating a logo that fits seamlessly with the business, the people in it, and which is unique. After the designer has a good idea of what your company is like, they will go back and start sketching. Lots. Most of these will never see the light of day, but eventually little pieces from each one will come together into half a dozen different designs which actually look like they might be getting somewhere.

It is only at this point that the designer even opens Illustrator. They then take their ‘best’ sketches and turn them into proofs for the client, starting to think about things like colour and making sure that the shapes and text work nicely together. After the proofs have been submitted, the client will often come back with suggestions for changes – maybe different colouring because they painted the office reception wall. This involves talking with the client again before returning to Illustrator and reworking the logo – sometimes this process involves going right back to the sketchbook!

Now, every designer has their own way of progressing through a project. Some will skip certain steps, others will break some of them down into a collection of smaller steps but as you can see, however you complete this process, it is not a quick one. Every step along the way is hours of work, and it adds up quickly. If you put your logo in the hands of a cheap $60 design ’studio’, you’re not going to get a good logo at the end. So, why is this a problem?

Your logo defines the identity of your business: who you are. It acts as a visual short-cut to convey the company’s character, personality and attitude. It is one of the first thing new clients see, and leaves a lasting impression on them. It needs to be original and instantly recognizable so it can stand out in a crowd of your competitors. It also needs to be – in short – a good design, so that it can be used for many years, giving birth to a concept and image that can be recognized everywhere.

Do you really want to leave this in the hands of a designer who is going to spend maybe a couple hours working on it, only to wind up using some lack luster clip-art that is used elsewhere, or who will base it off of an existing logo and get you into trouble later on?

There is no hard and fast rule as to how much a professional logo design should cost – every designer will charge differently based on their reputation and on how large your company is (it stands to reason that a designer will charge a startup less than a Fortune 500 company.) But the old adage applies to logo design, as well as it does to anything else – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

As I’ve grown older I’ve begun to look at things like work, after work, exercise, eating, and spending time with friends and family in a totally different way. Just out of University and for many years following I really sectioned my life. I was one person on the job and when that ended I could start my other life, which included aspects such as friends, family, exercise, etc. In our society today this is how most people function: in essence they become two people, following the rules of business and the professional sphere during the day and then being themselves at night.

Take a moment to imagine what it would be like to just stop being your work persona and just being the real YOU all the time, embracing your idiosyncrasies and taking the time to develop real relationships with co-workers and clients from a mindset of caring and interest. This change is a matter of a very simple perspective shift, but also a very powerful one. What I suggest is using the real you as your secret weapon that makes you stand out. The real you will attract like-minded peers, partners and clients, providing you a real personal brand that will help you succeed whether you are an employee or business owner. This is not a new concept, some of those who have embraced this idea have been very successful such as Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library, Rick Mercer of the Mercer Report and Oprah Winfrey.

As for me, I try to build real relationships in my life without discriminating between work and play. I make sure that my house, my office and my whole life reflect my personality so that there is congruency among them. When I spend time with those around me I am truly interested in their success whether they are loved ones or even my competition. I try to not merely base decisions on the bottom line, but listen to my gut as well. When I look back (and I encourage you to do the same) my best decisions were made by listening to what feels right and what is in alignment with who I am, rather than just the basic facts.

A good book on this topic (although a few years old) is Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders.