Outsourcing content & software creation

Hi Darren, I do take your point as I too have been a developer for many years (but not in internet related stuff)

However, there are times when you need some help with..........well, ideas! Sometimes I have so many thoughts running through my head about what I could do for my next project, that I need someone else to do the focusing for me. In this case, it makes sense to hire someone to do the market research and write the spec for you before you then hire a second person to do the coding.

Let me explain:

I am the entrepreneur - the idea creator.

I hire Freelancer No. 1 to explore my ideas further, look at competition, analyze the market and come up with a plan.

This plan then needs to be turned into a spec for a developer (this could either be myself or again I could even outsource this stage).

The programmer then gets given a comprehensive spec and brings it altogether.

.........now that's maybe an extreme case where I could be hiring 3 different people, but its not far off how larger companies work. The difficulty is always finding the good people and then retaining them.

One thing I cant stand seeing on Rentacoder is when you post a project, freelancers simply place a comment (or even a bid) where they simply rattle off:

We are X certified company
and have skill A, B, C, D, E, F, G blah blah blah
We will do a very good job
Look at our profile ........ for examples of our work.

Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

They didn't even read my project. They just cut and pasted their standard response they place on any programming job.

Everytime I post on Rentacoder, I can guarantee I'll get at least half a dozen "spam bids/comments"

I wish Rentacoder would tighten their rules.

I like the idea about the secret word Charles, I will have to try that next time.

The problem with freelance sites like Guru or Rentacoder is that developers just bid on anything they come across. They only get selected maybe 1 out of 10 bids, so they just make as many bids out there as they can.

If they read every project description word for word they would spend all day reading leaving not much time for anything else. So they just ballpark their bid based on your estimates and go from there.

If it turns out the developer made an error and under bid, you won’t get free work; instead you will get a very poor or incomplete job.

Every time I place a project on Guru there is one company that I know bids every time and they always bid the same amount no matter how big or small the scope is.

If you are lucky enough to find a quality company that you can build a relationship with going forward I would recommend giving them a nice bonus at the end of the project. They won’t forget it and they will definitely go the extra mile for you next time.

We have had good experiences with Elance.

Here area a few tips:

-You can post a project but also explain that you will pick 2 (or 3) service providers. This way you can let them compete against eachother. You will have to pay a little more the first time but you can be sure that you will end up with a good job and you can choose that person in the future.
-You can also split the job in parts. And let a few service providers compete against each other for the first part. You can then take the best of them for the remaining parts.

Eric

I've got some good writers from Get A Freelancer. Haven't tried Elance yet..

I like Get A Freelancer's escrow system. Neat and protects both parties :)

Fabian

If you are following this thread and are interested in the software side of things, I have made another post on this forum that may be of interest to you:
http://www.jvnotifypro.com/community...pic,857.0.html

Darren

I guess there are quite a few guides that tell about how to outsource..I haven't gone through any yet.

I have only used Scriptlance and have only had one bad experience with a programmer. Good communication with all bidders before accepting a winning bid is key.

I think at one point we all get the bad end of the stick. 3 weeks ago I asked a designer to dress up one of my sales letter. I sent here the page that I liked and told her what I wanted. What I got back was bad. I mean in a very bad way. It seemed that just giving her a example was not what she needed.

We all work in different ways ands sometimes we need to spell out every little detail for people to see.

We can see the big picture but it is our job to help others see it as well.

Charles

outsourcing and getting fantastic results is a very precise process, and has nothing to do with luck.

I was fortunate to meet delavera a long time ago, and when he offered his turbo class 1 on outsourcing, i jumped at it.

If you haven't seen john and his "product launch per week", you should study it...a blueprint for mega profits.

Cheers,

Jack Sinclair