By Tom Ogg

I was constructing a couple of .php Web sites that I am going to use in a viral marketing program and needed to find a .php expert to design and construct the sites, (FYI: PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML).
Knowing that the existing Web developers I have worked with do not program .php, I started my quest with Google using the keywords “php Web designers.” This was May 2006. I contacted several folks who just didn’t understand what I was after and gave me price quotes all over the charts. One guy offered to develop three concepts and then finalize a Web site to my satisfaction for a mere $10,000. I must say that I became quite discouraged.
I finally found a guy who completely understood what I wanted to do. He created a mock banner of the product that I wanted to design and seemed like a “can-do” kind of guy. He was based in Bangkok, Thailand and his partner was based in Barcelona, Spain. They committed to accomplish the finished Web site for $3,500. As luck would have it, I was picking up a cruise in Barcelona in a few weeks and arranged to meet with Angel (the partner) before boarding the ship. After talking with Angel, I was unsure if my concept could or would become a reality. Angel’s expertise was building the backside administrative panel of the Web site and his questions left me with the distinct impression that what I was after could not be done. I put the project on the back burner.
Given my natural curiosity about technology, I started hanging out in .php discussion groups and studying sites such as PHPBuddy.com, php.net and DevShed.com. I became more familiar with the capabilities of .php and the realities of evolving php-driven Web sites. That is when I stumbled across a world that I did not know existed before then. There are numerous programmers in countries all over the world who are looking for work and are capable of doing a top-notch job for not a heck of a lot of money. The question was, How could I contact these developers and communicate with them?
Enter GetaCoder.com. I found several Web sites that connect Web site developers worldwide with those who want to get Web sites built. While GetaCoder.com is the site that I used, other sites that do pretty much the same thing, such as GetaFreeLancer.com, IfreeLance.com, RentaCoder.com and Elance.com. I am sure that there are lots more.
Armed with a little knowledge of php and a very descriptive outline of what I wanted built, I signed up with GetaCoder.com and posted my job for bid. Within 12 hours I had received over 20 bids from all over the world. One guy in India bid a total of $350 to do the job and sent me private E-mail with links to jobs that he had done that used the exact technology that my job required. I was blown away by both his price and the quality of the work he had performed. I awarded the job to him.
GetaCoder.com worked so well that I have done a couple of other Web sites in the same fashion and with the same results. I thought I would share some tips that I have learned along the way should you be looking to have a Web site developed. While I was looking specifically for a php expert, all variations of Web sites can be bid for. BTW, submitting a job for bid to GetaCoder.com is completely free of charge and you will only pay $3 when you award a job.

Know What You Want Before Bidding the Job
This is critical. You should be able to submit all of the details of the Web site that you want built. Include links to sites that are comparable to how you want your site to look and work. Learn basic technology nomenclature so that your job description reads as if you know technology, and expect a fair and honest price for quality work. Remember that a poorly written job description will lead to problems down the road. Anticipate everything possible in your original description.

Understand That English Is Likely the
Web Developer’s Second Language
Never use anything but straight business English, as many of the people bidding on your job live in countries where English is a second language and may be using a Web translator to determine what you are asking for. Never use slang and avoid any use of words that might not be understood by the person with whom you are communicating.

Beware the Cheapest Bid
In an environment where labor is available for pennies on the dollar compared to having Web sites built within the U.S., you should always look toward reputation and past performance more than price alone.
Never Award Your Job to a Developer That Is Not Established with GetaCoder.com
GetaCoder.com allows buyers to rate their experience with the Web developer. This is one way to insure that you will receive quality work on time. Newcomers will always bid on your job, but you are much better off awarding it to a developer who has dozens of satisfied customers who have posted their testimonials.

Always Use GetaCoder.com’s Escrow Service
While shopping for coders globally is a fantastically wonderful evolution in global trade, be aware that people out there that will your money and run. One of the things that I personally like about GetaCoder.com is its free escrow service. Here is how it works. You first deposit funds into your account. When a job is awarded, the developer starts on the job. To prove that you are serious, you might deposit a small amount into the escrow account for the job. As the job progresses, you might deposit a little more. Once the job is finished, the developer will want you to deposit the full job amount into the escrow account before the job is delivered. At this point you cannot reverse the deposit into escrow and the developer cannot access it. Once the job is delivered and you are happy with the results, you then release the money in escrow to the developer.

Best of luck on getting your Web site(s) built!

Tom Ogg is editor and publisher of www.homebasedtravelagent.com