I wish I were more of a nerd/geek than I actually am. Sure, I work with computers and enjoy talking about SEO, WordPress, CSS and other geeky things, but when it comes down to the crunch, I really don’t know as much about computers as I’d like. If my internet connection isn’t working I wouldn’t have a clue what to do about it (something I really should learn at some point…) and while I love all the wonderful things that PHP code is capable of… I don’t know how to write anything in it.
So when I was starting out and building my first sites, I was always frustrated because I had all kinds of big ideas and plans, but I didn’t have the mad skillz to pull anything off. I knew what would make a really great website, but didn’t have the knowledge to build it myself or the funds to get someone to build it for me.
In the past year or so I’ve been outsourcing some SEO tasks and a bit of graphic design but I recently made my first foray into finding someone to program something major for me. Well, that’s not true… I did have a guy build this handy dandy little currency converting page that gets the day’s exchange rate from somewhere and converts the local prices into various currencies, but that was a pretty small and cheap job.
My recent project was a WordPress plugin that lets me add Google maps to my sites. I know, I know… there are already a whole bunch of plugins to do this job but I’m picky and I couldn’t find anything that was the perfect fit. To add maps to my sites in the past meant creating new templates for each page that would have a map (for my Africa site this would have eventually meant thousands of template pages which is ridiculously unruly) and hand coding all the coordinates and stuff. Because of the scale of my projects, this old way wasn’t realistic. Plus Google updated the way their mapping system works and I had no idea how to code in the new version or if/when the old version would be phased out.
So I posted what I was hoping to do on Elance and had a reply pretty quickly from a guy suggesting he make a plugin for me. My favourite part of this whole experience (and probably the most frustrating part for him) has been going back and forth with new ideas once I do some testing. It’s amazing to me how new ideas spring up and how, with a bit of testing, it becomes apparent how to improve on things. He’s been able to make all of my requests happen, which is amazing to me. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything I can think of that isn’t possible.
The plugin is amazing and it’s going to save me loads of time and now I’ve started thinking of other ideas. I can’t find the perfect events, directory or reviews plugins and I know now that my guy can probably create whatever I need. It’s exciting to know that whatever you dream up can be built. Obviously for a price and I’ll need to weigh the advantages of having perfect plugins with the price, but I’m in a lucky position to be able to write these expenses off. I’ve got to spend money on something!
So if you have some grand idea and don’t know how to make it happen, rest assured that someone out there does. Just chuck the job up on Elance and get some quotes. Your great idea could turn out to be cheaper than you expected. I’m super excited to have found a great programmer (now that’s definitely a nerdy thing to get excited about…) and now my imagination is running wild with new ideas (also very nerdy).
Have many of you had programmers do work for you? Were you happy with the results when compared to the price you paid?
I’m fortunate enough to be married to a programmer who is always happy to help me with the creation of solutions for the non-profit I work for. I haven’t really gotten his help with my blog, maybe one of these days. What other sites do you run?
Great to hear that you are expanding your outsourcing Kirsty. I started out doing all of my programming, but my skills weren’t quite up to it. So these days I pay for any complicated programming. For the amount of time it would take me to figure it out, it is much better to pay someone for it. Basically any work that can be done on a computer can be outsourced. So if you don’t have the skills or time for something, consider hiring someone else to do it.
This post is a great message to people who think that they can’t get started because they aren’t ‘computer people.’ I have to admit that I am a farce when it comes to programming. I know just enough to be dangerous, but I really should be outsourcing a lot of stuff.
I’ve outsourced graphic design work in the past, but never tried programming. I was happy with the work compared to the price I paid.
I am a programmer myself and could work on many projects.
But I have the bad tendancy to start too many things at the same time and then have a hard time finishing… so whenever I think of something to program I think twice if it worth doing myself or outsource.
It can be very hard to decide to outsource something you actually know you can do! But I think it can be very beneficial : you will have it done for sure and you can focus on something else.
Concerning pricing vs the results, I think most of the time you can get really good price. It can take a few times to find the good provider though. For any job outsourced, and particularly programming, I think the key to save money is to provide super detailed requirements to the developer… make sure he/she gets your correct vision for the job. Communication is key.
This will avoid re-writtings, re-doing stuff and save money.
I have two people working for me from odesk.com – very good, mainly blog posting. Make sure you double check people’s English if they are not from an English speaking country like Australia ;o)
I totally agree that the Google maps WordPress plugins are lacking. I finally just gave up!
Hi Kristy,
I am a webmaster and I always have 100 projects in my head or on my desk, luckily me have a good friend who is a fantastic programmers to help me with my crazy program ideas or stop me in time. For me it was not money that decided the election by programmers for a few years ago, there was trust and understanding for my ideas.
Delegating jobs is very convenient especially to those people who have tight schedules. However, it is important that the remote staff understands the tasks given. Thorough assessment of credibility and remote staff’s ability must be done.
without a dream one cannot be something new
Sourish
I am a big supporter of outsourcing ever since I realized it was hard for me to do everything and do it justice too. Just have to make sure you outsource to the right people, as I found out also, otherwise it could be for naught if they are unable to do in time what you paid them to do.
Great to hear that you are expanding your outsourcing Kirsty. I started out doing all of my programming, but my skills weren’t quite up to it. So these days I pay for any complicated programming. For the amount of time it would take me to figure it out, it is much better to pay someone for it. Basically any work that can be done on a computer can be outsourced. So outsourcing can be great if you don’t have the skill set or the time yourself.