Before I get into the meat of this post, I first want to say this isn’t an affiliate promotion. I’m not earning anything for this. Okay?
A friend of mine called Jason Anderson is running a special deal where you can kick start your internet business and have your own software developed by a team of people he’s assembled. Why? Because they’re looking to make their name known in the industry. They’re a new start up and need a bit of publicity.
I won’t go into the details here, you can read all about it at:-
http://www.prosoftwaredeveloper.com/
(They can develop in PHP – ASP – ASP.NET – C# – C++ – JS – AJAX – JQUERY – DBASE – MySQL – SQL – Access – Oracle – Flash.)
I promised I’d do a promotion for Jason when he launched PromoCodeSoftware.com (developed by the same team that will be developing your product), but I forgot because I was “busy” and I’m a pillock sometimes… and he was too polite to keep reminding me, which is all I really needed.
Jason doesn’t know I’m doing this, and it would be nice if you at least took a look at his offer.
Now I know I might be creating my own competition here, but the way I see it is it’s a big world, and there’s plenty of room for us all. I’ve just had an email from him as I’m on his mailing list, and 4 of the 10 slots have already gone. You can read why there’s only 10 slots on the site.
So if you’ve got this great idea but you’ve been having problems finding a developer (it took me months to find the two guys I have working with me), go take a look at his site.
http://www.prosoftwaredeveloper.com/
-Frank Haywood
Frank, strangely enough I saw this last night and was very interested.
The service pricing is very good. But I wish I’d known about it before I committed to 2 separate applications I’m having developed. I suspect this team would finish the job quicker than the 2 different guys I have currently engaged.
Guess I should keep my ears to the ground more often!
I like the concept but I hope you don’t mind me talking straight.
If I saw Jason’s promo anywhere else other than a recommendation by someone I trust I wouldn’t give it a second glance.
We all know the state of play on the Internet with programmers and using Elance or similar on a number of occasions we quickly learn not to pay a single cent until the job is finished.
I have to admit that in the early days some of the problems were of my own making because I didn’t know the right questions to ask. However, once you learn how to check out a programmer, compile a full job spec and use an escrow service you greatly minimize the risks.
For myself there is no way I would hand over $400 for a block of time to someone I didn’t know for a project. I would want to see the product working and tested first. Obviously for larger projects I understand the need for stage payments.
Additionally, I am having an issue with your use of the term “billable hours”. To me it smacks of lawyers and ambulance chasers and nobody trusts those. There is a trust issue here. I would be thinking, (remember I don’t know you), that maybe the job only took 25 hours and they are lying to me. How would I know how long a project is meant to take because I am not a programmer? Definitely a trust “thang!”.
Having said that there is a huge need for trusted programmers who can deliver the goods and you will do well in time but I suspect it will be from direct referrals rather than someone finding your web page.
When I have another large(ish) project to do we’ll talk but remember the only reason for that is a recommendation by Frank.
You Don’t Need Luck If You Do It Right,
Ade
P.S. My comments should be read as being positive and encouraging. I can’t abide negativity and that is not my intention. I love it when people get off their backside and take action as you have done.
Frank!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey man, you’re right. I didn’t know you were doing this. Obviously I’M on YOUR list so I saw the email come across the line.
Thanks so much for writing about this. You KNOW that I really appreciate you posting about it.
Quick correction about your reference though…
I’m didn’t do Promo Code Secrets.com (that’s an ebook on ideas of how to market with promo codes)…I did http://www.promocodesoftware.com which is the software which allows you to actually make and use promo codes on any site… LOL!!
It’s been a WHILE since we talked about it and it’s easy to mix up I’m sure…just wanted to clear that up.
You are first class man. You could have asked for an affiliate link and I would have gladly given you one but you didn’t.
Thanks.
Oh, and I agree with you. It’s a BIG ole’ internet out there. I don’t think you are creating any competition for your self what so ever. Especially since I only have the capacity to take on 10 clients at a time.
Anyway, just wanted to come here and publicly thank you for talking about my Pro Software Developer service.
Take it easy you crazy Britt!!!
First of all………
Thanks Frank for making this blog post. You KNOW I really appreciate it. Since I’m on your list obviously I found out about this post……Thanks….Really!!!
Hi Ade!
In response to your post above, surprisingly I agree with you.
Except that you forgot to mention that allow you to escrow also make you pay upfront contrary to popular belief if you’ve never outsourced that way.
It sounds risk-free because the escrow company holds the money until you approve the project….but you still have to deposit the funds once you accept a bid.
Larger projects are generally more than $400. Say it’s $1000 for argument sake. Well, even though you have to approve the project in order for the coder to be paid, you are still out of $1000 up front and if you can agree with the coder you’ll likely need to go through an arbitration process. All the while, your money is still held up and if you actually win the arbitration process it’s not likely that you will get your full $1000 back. Usually, an agreement will be made to at least satisfy the fact that the coder did take time to work on your project. Who knows how much you will lose in that arbitration process.
But…….more to the point……..
At least with my service, you’ll have a couple things working in your favor.
First, my main business is NOT coding and programming. My main business is internet marketing. I’m not going to risk my good name for your $397. I’m looking for your business at ProSoftwareDeveloper for the back end if you would like me to be completely forward.
How much money could I personally be making off $397 and still have money to pay the coder for 40 FULL hours of work.
The math just doesn’t work out.
The benefit of working with someone like me (if you are English speaking) is the fact that when you outsource to non-english speaking coders you can really run into communication problems. At least with me, there is some sore of in-between when a problem arises.
Like I said….I’m not going to let people who do projects with stay in the dark or get lost in a bunch of support tickets. Since I’m only taking on 10….I can handle everybody personally.
Second, by using my service instead of getting a new one every time you need something done allows you to build large projects but in smaller chunks. It’s really hard to have one coder work on a project and then getting another coder to take over where they left off!
In fact many coders would rather just start from scratch because they won’t have to sort through lines and lines of code to see what’s already been done.
So, those are a couple of reasons why someone may want to do business with me based on Franks announcement.
Gotta say though….if it were me looking from the outside in, I guess I’d be a little hesitant to.
Well, I gotta go.
Thanks Frank for making this post. That was very VERY kind.
Jason Anderson
Ade:
Good points. With any business there’s an element of risk, and it’s almost a hallmark of successful people that they take those risks.
I take risks, some pay off, some backfire, some sort of do both. (Maybe I’ll discuss *that one* another time.)
Wherever you get your contractors or staff from there’s always going to be a risk. Do you have the right people or are they just yanking your chain and taking your money with no results?
Case in point. Another friend of mine (Alex Jeffreys) has just been let down badly by someone who’d agreed to sort out his site for a product launch he has coming up. I’ve now agreed to do it for him over the next couple of days as he’s stuck and frustrated.
Lucky for him he had me to turn to. For most people it would likely be a show stopper.
If you can find good hires, it’s like finding gold. If Jason is saying these are good guys with him, then I believe him. 🙂
Jason:
I got your message as you can see. 😉
The funny thing is, I *knew* it wasn’t Promo Code Secrets. I *knew* that was Jordan Hall’s product (equally impressive).
In fact I looked your site up to make sure it was PromoCodeSupport.com, and then typed secrets. Ah, the wonders of the human mind and how it loves to play tricks on us…
-Frank
If I had the know how or ideas I would look into that a little farther – that’s a really impressive price (single digits per hour x 40 hours = less than $360!)
Good luck to your friend, I’m sure those spots will go fast!