Thread

Hello all,

I was reading the blog at phpdeveloper.org when I read this entry about finding freelance php developers.  It outlines a problem where php professionals don’t know where to go to recommend a developer to complete a client freelance project.

I Just found out about Ning, a site that lets users set up social networks very easily.  I put 2 and 2 together and created a PHP contractor network.  This network will facilitate contractors helping other contractors by referrals or general business process suggestions.

If you’re a contractor, freelancer, or small development shop, please help the community by visiting the site and adding some content.  At the very least, please set up a quick profile.

Now stop reading this and help out other php contractors here!

ning is like a *semi* social version of wordpress.com or blogger.com. It doesn’t seem very much like a true social network like a facebook group or something like that. I don’t think this blog you created is going to solve this problem he talks about.

If you are looking for a php programmer there are a lot of places to find them.

craigslist.org
sologig.com
odesk.com
jobs.freelanceswitch.com
crunchboard.com

This probably won’t be a perfect solution.  But it is a solution nonetheless.  Ning provides quite a few facilities that I’ll add as membership grows. Right now users can post to the forums, write blog entries, create a detailed profile outlining their experience and expertise, etc… 

The problem that I’m trying to solve is two-fold:

1) How do we make it easier to be a PHP freelancer/contractor?
2) How can we establish relationships with others that we can trust to recommend to clients?

The forums and blog entries explicitly bring contractors together to solve immediate problems and make suggestions.  At the same time, they implicitly help establish relationships that allow others to feel comfortable recommending them.

I’m sure other/better solutions can be provided but Ning is my quick and humble attempt to solve these problems.  The good information you provided above would be a perfect entry in the forums to help others find sub-contractors.

Thanks for the feedback.

no problem. good luck with your ning site.

If I may I have a few suggestions…

Until you get a strong readership, drop the adwords, you wont make enough and people like me look at it and think you are just out to make a buck rather than actually help… Maybe fill that space with a poorly done mockery of adwords done as an image maybe using comic sans… humor would help.

Secondly, change your image, the first thing I notice is your image in a suit all over the page… most people you are trying to attract flip the bird to those in suits and it seems kinda pretentious.

Third, that color scheme is quite blah… I have seen some very nicely done ning site… Developers love clean and organized code and obsess over it. Maybe a clean and minimal site design would help attract members.

The concept is good, it has been done before and will be done again, however there is room for you to grab your piece of the pie.

Good luck!
-Lee

Lee: The site was free for me to set up.  The only caveat is that they (Ning) keep adwords on there.  Those aren’t mine.  It would cost me $19.99 a month (I think) to have them removed.

As far as the image is concerned, I’m really quite ugly so I use some other guys stock photo. 😊  Actually, it’s the only one that is sized right and I didn’t want to waste any time looking for another and cropping it. 

I’ll take the color into consideration. 

You mention grabbing my piece of the pie.  I’m not really trying to gain anything from this other than knowledge.  I’m trying to give.  I did just see that I can use my own subdomain name for $4.99 a month so I did that and maybe I’ll get some traffic to my company site, but to be honest, I can’t take on any more work at the moment anyway.  By you assuming I’m trying to gain something, you clearly made your point about the adwords. 

Thanks for the feedback!

Hey Larry,

If you are looking to share some knowledge and drive some traffic to your company site you might consider a blog that entices reader participation. Also there are a few people on this forum who often guest write on other established blogs, if you have knowledge to share there are people who will pay for it.

And as for the image, by displaying visual items that appeal to your demograph you instill a sense of belonging that is quite powerful, I am not in anyway knocking the appearance of the person in the image, just you might want to appeal to your prospective reader.

-Lee