So you know I’ve switched to Thesis Theme last week and it’s definitely a great theme that I never had seen before, I can have whatever design I like, I can customize it to the design I want, but one thing I can’t do will be the banner design. In fact, I’m poor in designing banner (If I’m good in banner design, I’ll be working as a graphic designer instead of quantity surveyor, and you won’t be seeing the current banner design in this blog) so I have a poor banner design in this blog right now. Sometimes outsourcing a graphic designer would be good if you’re not a good designer, but most of them are too pricey.
Last week, a net buddy of mine, Doug Dillard who is the owner of the killer domain name MakingMoneyOnline.com had an awesome interview with a graphic designer guru, Tuan Nguyen, who owns 20DollarBanners and has been making money online for many years now. Tuan has been online since 2003 which is 6 years from now and he has made over 35,000 banners, that’s a lot if you ask me. He used to spend more than 16 hours a day just to designing banner, I appreciate his attitude as he just rested a few hours a day but it didn’t affect the quality of his design.
So you know most of the graphic designers out there charge higher price for a banner, they kill customer who has minimum budget. Tuan offers people who wants to get an affordable price for a banner, which is $20 for a banner. I believe that he has a pretty good design’s brain and pretty sharp imagination, as he is able to finish your graphic banner design order (says 5 banners in the Starter Package) within 48hours upon your order confirmation, he even provides a Rush 24 Hour service if you want the banner immediately, but there is a little charges applied.
I’m going to grab the Starter Package since I’ve yet to have a killer banner design for my blog. Before this, I’ve joined the blog contest from Doug Dillard blog and stand a chance to win the $109 Starter Package from 20DollarBanners. The contest will end on Wednesday, September 3rd at 11:59 PM (PST), so take your time and read the contest page, complete all the required actions and wait for the winner announcement on Monday, September 7th.
So you’ve seen the banner design for this blog, I know it’s poor but I do like to listen your comment. Please leave a comment below and tell me how do you think about this banner.
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{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Very cool like your post on this. I am also in need of graphic’s did let hope one of us wins. How well do you like the thesis theme. Looks pretty good, I want to switch soon myself testing themes out right now before I go all in the themoneycult.
Jared P Little´s last blog ..Best Wordpress Design 2009
@Jared,
That’s great! Thesis is a great theme and I recommend you to grab one copy for yourself too. Also, wish you luck on the contest in Doug’s blog too!
Hello Lee, I think you should run a contest on DP forum, you can even run a $15 Logo contest, and get some great design… but if you have a $20 logo design contest, you’ll certainly get a Logo as good as mine. Your logo is quite good but doesn’t look like a “Making Money Online” Logo… but I can’t deny I really like it, just like your new theme!
Benjamin Cip´s last blog ..New Discount Coupon For OIOpublisher!
BTW, you should use the Ninja Affiliate Plugin to look more professional… I mean I can see all of your affiliate links… as you use a lot of affiliate link on your blog I’m sure you’d get interested in the Ninja Affiliate Plugin!
Benjamin Cip´s last blog ..New Discount Coupon For OIOpublisher!
Yes it is a poor design. That being said..It is original so that gives it more appeal. Your design gives your blog a brand that most cookie cutter designs do not.
@marcus,
Yes I admit that this is a poor design, I’m going to hire a graphic designer if I don’t win the contest (Prize : Graphic banner design package) from Doug’s blog.
I agree with you, design gives a blog a brand, when people sees the banner and they know who is that.
If you hire a good designer then ask him to design a logo for you as well. Your website , logo and banner should use the same color scheme. Your blog will be cool then.
@Custom Essays,
Yeap, I’m going to hire one if I don’t win the Graphic Banner Design Prize in the Doug’s contest.
Looking forward to see the result. I’m also in the contest but I’m guessing the odds of wining are pretty low. Thinking about ordering the service by myself though since this is something I can use for my eCommerce-site.
Stefan´s last blog ..Change Colour of Sidebars in Thesis
@Stefan,
I think so Stefan, but I just gave it a try. If I didn’t win the contest, I’ll be hiring someone to design the banner for me as my current banner is really poor and I dislike it too.
I think you can improve by using some better fonts and color combination…
Compute Live´s last blog ..Nokia X-series : Nokia X6 and X3 unveiled
@Compute Live,
I’m poor in graphic design and I won’t be doing good even though I have better fonts. Anyway, I’ll be outsourcing a graphic designer later on.
Lee, it is really interesting. I was just on another blog before this where I read about the same to sites – MakeMoneyOnline and 20DollarBanners as you mention above.
I will try the 20DollarBanners as I have few blogs and need banners for some of them. Thanks for the informative post.
Ravi@How to Make Quick Money´s last blog ..Backlinking Strategies that Work
@Ravi,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment here Ravi. I’ve seen their works on 20DollarBanners, they had really great design and fast response too. I recommend you to try them as they offer a few package with cheaper price. I would really appreciate if you can order under my affiliate link too. Keep in touch Ravi!
I plan to order end of this month or early next month. I will surely order under you affiliate link
Ravi@How to Make Quick Money´s last blog ..Backlinking Strategies that Work
@Ravi,
That’s a great head up Ravi! Also, thanks for planning to order under my affiliate link! Let me know if you need my help.
By the way, have you tried to log on DP forum to run your contest? I don’t know what’s happen recently, but it seems I can’t connect to this site anymore! I was about to run another logo contest for my other blog!
Benjamin Cip´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Blog Traffic
@Benjamin Cip,
No Ben, I’ve yet to run my contest over there. I’ll be waiting the announcement of Doug’s blog contest, the prize is a professional graphic design package, I will save a lot of money if I win the prize. Great to hear that you’ll be getting another logo for your other blog, don’t forget to share with us the new blog logo design.
lucky me , i design my own banner .. i am designer and blogger as well..
EarningStep´s last blog ..My monthly report – EarningStep dot com august report
@EarningStep,
Wow great! I like to design banner or logo for my blog, but I don’t have a designer brain, so my design is always poor.
have i wrong to thought that the ” Myblog2day ” logo is create using photoshop by yourself.
EarningStep´s last blog ..The easiest way to increase page views from your visitor – Boost pageview tips
@EarningStep,
No dude, I didn’t use photoshop to design the logo. I’m using normal Paint tool that’s ready in our pc. I don’t like the logo, but I can’t design a better one. I’ll hire someone to design it later on if I don’t win the Doug’s contest.
All the best for the contest! I thinks it’s a cool attitude to work towards what you want through as many ways as you can. That’s a strong desire to win. It gives you a right footing for winning.
Chris Peterson´s last blog ..August month 2 Websites made $2686 with Kontera & Adsense
@Chris,
Yes I agree with you Chris, we should always try all the ways to achieve our goal. The most important thing is..never give up!
I am sure would make it. All the best!
Chris Peterson´s last blog ..Tips for Building High Value Links for Your Site
We will be having the raffle over the weekend and announcing the winner on Monday. You definitely have a good shot Lee as there are really not that many people entered and you have several entries. I believe you completed every action to earn the maximum amount of entries.
Site is looking great! We are still thinking about grabbing a copy of Thesis to play around with… but want to give some others like yourself more time to play around with it and see how you like it.
Doug Dillard´s last blog ..Making Money Online Promoting Affiliate Products in Your Blog Posts
@Doug,
That’s great Doug! I love the prize as I want a professional graphic banner design for this blog, you can see how poor is my banner design skill in this blog. Don’t forget to email me next monday to say that I win the prize okay? lol!
Thesis theme is really a great theme and I recommend you to grab one, I saw a lot of people said that their ranking improved after using Thesis theme, I’m waiting for the result.
I would really appreciate if you could order a copy in coming days using my affiliate link? 
Unfortunately for me I was not able to catch up with the contest..
Melvin´s last blog ..My Info Product Has Gone Really Far
@Melvin,
The contest had been closed and I’m waiting for the announcement on next Monday. Perhaps next time?
So you need banner for your blog with unique logo.Right?
mail me all your requirements I’ll help you about your banner and all things about Thesis theme.
Cheers
Surender Sharma
Surender Sharma´s last blog ..How To Make Your Blog More Social
@Surender sharma,
Thanks dude, I’ve emailed you and waited for your banner design! Thank you very much and I appreciate it a lot! Awaiting for the banner.
Everyone is shifting to Thesis, it has got to do a lot SEO help i guess.
-Shanker Bakshi
Make Money Online with a blog´s last blog ..Get $20 Off on OIO Publisher Plugin Plus eBook Worth $12 for FREE
@Shanker Bakshi,
Yea, I saw a lot of people using Thesis too, most of the MMO niche blog use it because of its’ well SEO optimized framework. I personally like this theme a lot because it has a lot of things to do when it comes to theme customization, we can customize it until it’s different with anyone else out there. I recommend you to get one for your blog as well Shanker.
Great banner (both of them),and thesis theme is awesome.
GuruMonetizer´s last blog ..Google Adwords Account History And Quality Score
@GuruMonetizer,
Thanks dude, I hope you like the theme as well as the content.
Just to let everyone know… we have a winner (actually 3).
http://www.makingmoneyonline.com/custom-banner-package-giveway-winners/
Doug Dillard´s last blog ..Custom Banner Package Giveway Winners
Well you actually won one custom banner from Doug’s blog contest. Congrats on it
Typhoon´s last blog ..Content vs Marketing! Which is King?
@Typhoon,
Yea, I’m waiting for the banner design. Doug made the order as per my request already, awaiting Tuan to complete the design.
Good points and I agree with you about the flexibilities of the Thesis Theme. I can find it running on lots of business related blogs nowadays and handling its columns plus widgets seem to be very user friendly.