Where do you go if you want a site created that performs a specific function?
You don’t need to know how to write HTML, ASP, C+ etc… For small projects with simple HTLM, ASP and Java you could use school, college, or university students. Some of them have a wealth of ability; lots of free time and will charge you very little for their time. Alternatively, if you want to take a more professional approach and your requirements are more complicated you can use one of the online programming resources.
These sites allow you to specify your requirements by way of an outline project plan and developers from all over the world can vie for your business. These sites give you access to some of the best developers money can buy, at extremely competitive rates. If you are happy to tele/email-communicate with your developers, you will have access to highly professional Eastern European or Asian developers who will charge less than ‘minimum wage’. Most of the sites allow you to rate the developers’ work, which means you can look at previous comments to make sure they have completed previous projects in a timely and professional manner. It also means the developer has an active interest in doing a good job. That said, always ask for the web addresses of previous developments so you can make sure you like their development style and the techniques they use. Don’t necessarily use the cheapest tender, use a developer with whom you communicate well and whose programming style meets with the agenda you have for your development.
Two of the main programming resources are:
http://www.Elance.com
http://www.CodeLance.com
We had http://www.up4abuck.com tendered in this way and our hourly programming rate was set at $6.50 per hour. We also negotiated a maximum project completion of 800 hours; meaning, unless we asked for any unreasonable extras our maximum final bill could not exceed $5,200. This included the following:
- 32 page front-end & back-end design and development
- Database development, tables & stored procedures
- Payment system and integration with WorldPay & Nochex
- Template design
- Solving security issues
- Debugging and testing etc
It’s great to know that you can hire excellent web-savvy professionals from all over the world at hourly rates less than ‘minimum wage’. This really does give you the freedom to conceive or copy any idea and have it constructed to your exact requirements, by highly professional web-developers. You really can let your imagination go wild in the knowledge that if you can conceive an idea there are people out there who can inexpensively turn your concept into a functioning reality.
I think it is also worth mentioning that all sorts of technical and creative work can also be tendered on
Elance in the same way. There are sections where you can post project plans for the following work:
Website Development
- Design and build a new website to promote your business
- Create a custom Ebay or Yahoo Stores template so your business stands out from the crowd
- Program your website to do things like register visitors for newsletters and events
- Create Flash animation and banner ads
Graphic Design & Art
- Design a logo, business cards and stationery for your new business
- Design and print brochures and catalogues for your products and services
- Illustrate your newsletter or magazine article so it's more interesting for your readers
Writing & Translation
- Write your website content
- Write the text for your catalogue, brochure or advertisement
- Ghostwrite articles, newsletters and books (print or
ebooks)
- Proofread your reports
- Write your speeches
Software & Technology
- Design and build your software product or IT
system
- Setup and manage your network and email, web and database
systems
- Write user manuals, install guides and user
training
This allows you to have experts create your web environment or even develop the product you intend to sell for very low hourly rates. Elance also allows you to set a budget total so you can limit your maximum spend, this lets potential developers know how much they should bid if they want to complete the
work.
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