How to Make Money with the Creative Skill of Choosing Names
SquadHelp Pays You at Least $100 for Your Business Naming and Logo Design Skills
Thousands of startups are launched every single day. What if you could earn money simply by providing creative brand names for all those new companies?
SquadHelp is a new website that will pay you for your brilliant ideas about company names and logos.
This unique startup was recently named by Inc. Magazine as one of the six most innovative companies on its annual Inc. 5000 list.
Here is what you need to know before getting started with this free service…
How It Works
For just a few hundred dollars, a new company can submit a proposal to SquadHelp that includes details of their business plan and request crowd-sourced branding ideas.
Once the request for proposals is processed, the word goes out to a network of 75,000 SquadHelp “creatives” to submit their name ideas. (In fact, that is the idea behind SquadHelp’s own name; there is a squad or group of people working to come up with the best possible brand for your business.)
Contests typically last about a week and usually attract several hundred entries. At the end of the contest, one name is chosen by the startup that launched the contest. The winner receives a prize of at least $100.
It is that easy!
Contest Availability Will Be Limited for You at First
When you sign up, you will initially have access to a limited number of assigned contests:
What caught my attention in particular was the brand name contest for an insurance business, since I write a lot about insurance for Clark.com.
So I read the company brief – which details what their brand is about, who their customers are, what their idea of an “on-brand” name would look like, and so on.
The cool thing about SquadHelp is that their system will automatically check your name idea to verify URL availability, meaning it confirms that your suggested name is not already in use by another website.
I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Some Contests Pay Up to $200 or $300
After you enter more of the initial contests open to you, SquadHelp gradually grants you access to its full range of contests. Some of these pay more than $200 or $300.
Is Squadhelp a site worth joining? That is probably the question on your mind right now. It is a worthwhile question to ask, and I will answer it by the end of this Squadhelp review.
Squadhelp claims you can earn money just by writing names. They even claim you can earn up to $300 by doing so. It is certainly an interesting offer. But before signing up, we first need to examine whether this site is truly legitimate or just a scam.
So, let me address that concern right away so we can move on to the other aspects of the site. Yes, Squadhelp is indeed a legitimate site that will pay you for writing names (among other things). But the question of whether it is worth joining cannot simply be answered with a yes or no.
We first need to examine everything the site has to offer so you can determine whether it is a good fit for you. So, let us go ahead and begin this review.
What Is Squadhelp and What Does It Offer?
Squadhelp is a company that offers naming services to its clients. It is actually the first company I have encountered that provides this type of service.
Now, in order to earn, you need to be one of the “creatives”.
This means you will be the person who submits names for Squadhelp’s clients. Here is a short video that explains what Squadhelp does.
Option 1 – Coming Up with Names
As mentioned above, Squadhelp is essentially a naming service. One of the ways to earn is by coming up with names for their clients’ businesses. The main way to do this is by joining any of the naming contests that are held.
As you can see in the image above, if you want to participate in their naming contests, you will need to pay a subscription fee of $10. By doing so, you will now be eligible to join any naming contest, provided of course that you receive likes from the sample contests that Squadhelp assigns to you.
Now, if you are interested in a contest, simply join it and submit whatever the contest requires from you. Make sure to read the contest brief carefully so you understand what the contest is asking of you. Also, the number of entries you can submit for each contest will actually depend on your percentile ranking (see the image below).
Also:
Keep in mind that the number of entries allotted by Squadhelp will not be limited to just one contest. The actual number of entries will be taken into account for all the contests you have joined. So, it is up to you how you want to distribute your entry count across the contests you have entered.
When you submit your entry or entries, simply wait for the contest to end, as that is when the winner will be announced. If you win a naming contest, the prize will be awarded to you and added to your Squadhelp account balance (I will discuss later how you can withdraw your earnings).
The downside of this opportunity is that you are not guaranteed any earnings when you participate. You must win a contest in order to earn. So, if you are looking for a more reliable way to earn, this is not for you.
Another thing to keep in mind is that some naming contests will also require you to include a tagline. It is a bit more work, but the prize is usually higher.
Finally, some contests are exclusive only to Tier A designers. These are designers who have built a good reputation on Squadhelp by winning contests or submitting high-quality entries.
Option 2 – Creating Logos and Videos
You can also earn by creating logos and videos. Note, however, that Squadhelp is very strict about this earning opportunity. They only allow graphic designers to participate in logo or video contests.
This means they will need to test you first so they can determine whether you are truly qualified to join their logo and video contests. The one good thing about this earning opportunity is that you do not have to pay the $10 fee to join the contests.
Also:
But again, if you are not a graphic designer, I would recommend you not even bother participating in this earning opportunity. However, if you are, the process will be the same. Once Squadhelp recognizes your skill, you simply need to join a contest and submit your entry.
If you win, you get the prize. If not, simply move on to the next contest.
Option 3 – Submitting Domains
Finally, you can also earn by submitting domain names in their domain marketplace. You can do this without paying the $10 subscription fee. So, if you do not want to spend your own money, this is the best option available to you, in my opinion.
Also:
There are two options for submitting domains in their marketplaces. You can choose to submit domain names you already own, or you can also submit names you do not own. They have specific guidelines you need to follow when you choose to submit domain names to their marketplace.
But the bottom line is, if the domain has not yet been registered, Squadhelp will register it on your behalf (they will pay for the registration) and list it in the marketplace for you. If a customer buys the domain, you only receive a percentage (around 20% to 35%) of the price.
If you own the domain name and you are the one who registered it, Squadhelp will only deduct a nominal commission fee. So, you will earn more this way compared to the other method.
