So, I find you guys are excellently helpful when it comes to wanting to do things myself.

In other words, I'll ask "does anybody here do this?" and I'll get a list of resources I can use if I want to learn how to do it myself.

That's handy and all, but what I'm really looking for is support.

I want to grow my business, start offering more cutting-edge solutions, and don't know any folks who are more bright, talented or capable than the ones in this community. I've got some large and excellent clients that I want to start serving better, and I can only do that if I have a staff -- or a collection of people that would at least be willing to help me on a regular basis (for real cash money, of course).

I've found that my 12S Creative Network hasn't really been the great thing I was hoping it would be, so I'm just wondering... when I ask for support, am I not doing it clearly? Or is everyone just apathetic?

Fankyu!

You haven't called me for ages, you liar.

I don't think you're clear.

Our typical thread on needing somthing is more in the lines of self-help and not a direct request for someone's time in exchange for dollars. Perhaps you need to be more explicit.

Originally posted by: BOBBYLOVEVILLE I don't think you're clear.

Our typical thread on needing somthing is more in the lines of self-help and not a direct request for someone's time in exchange for dollars. Perhaps you need to be more explicit.

Color me "available."

DO YOU WANT SUPPORT OR SWEATY MANHUGS?

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

Is this about jogging or freelance jobs?

I think your intention is on point, but if you break it down a bit, I think you'll find that the path is pretty clear.

• Clearly and concisely, what are you trying to do? Answer: Grow your business.

• How do you want to do this? Answer: Hire staff.

• What roles do you need filled? Sales? Development? Creative?

• Even before that, do you have a business plan? If not, hire a Biz Dev person on contract or something to flesh that out first.

With those pieces in place, it's a lot easier to spot where and when you need something done because you have the bigger picture clearer in your own head.

ie: "I need a developer to build out this thingamabob for client X, a strategy person to help with a pitch for client Y, and a sales guy to keep knocking on doors."

Or.. what BLV said.

another thing ... cattle calls tend to attract the desperate ... and those who are not would rather not paint themselves as such - or deal with the uncertainty of a selection process, especially in an open forum.

if you have a task to contract out, i'd suggest contacting ONE of the folks in your 12S Network and offer it to them ... if they accept and the result is positive, then awesome ... if the result is crap, then you know that you should probably avoid that person in the future.

not saying this is the only way to go, but i know from experience that the quality of respondents is typically quite low for the type of postings you generally make.

just my .02

what do you mean by support?

There are a few freelancers on here ... cough ... perhaps you're all served up with Flash dev support though? Throw me a goddam bone... god knows the General hasn't made me rich yet!

Originally posted by: oregondave ... cattle calls tend to attract the desperate ...

MOO!

Our typical thread on needing somthing is more in the lines of self-help and not a direct request for someone's time in exchange for dollars. Perhaps you need to be more explicit.

This.

Also - to date, I don't think you've asked for anything in my skill-sets.

What I'm hearing is:

"I want to have people on staff with skills that I don't have so I can market those people's skills."

However, to make that happen, you'd have to hire someone, and pay them money, before you could start marketing their skill set. Are you looking to hire people? Do you have a job description?

When you come here and say "I want to sell an iPhone app to someone, who here does iPhone apps", that's not the same as "I would like to hire an iPhone app developer, and I can pay you $100/hr, are any of you looking for a job?".

Originally posted by: RobotDeathSquad When you come here and say "I want to sell an iPhone app to someone, who here does iPhone apps", that's not the same as "I would like to hire an iPhone app developer, and I can pay you $100/hr, are any of you looking for a job?".

You have a good sense of where people's particular talents lie. Consider approaching them directly via PM, Facehole, etc. Sell us your idea - don't just put it out there and see who shows up. Most everyone here is down with taking on side projects, but we still like to be courted a little bit.

Fuck! So I gotta flirt with you too? I can't just get you drunk and take advantage of you?

Sweaty manhugs are so much easier.

Bogart - I'll be contacting you shortly.

Originally posted by: X-DUD!!!11~~ Bogart - I'll be contacting you shortly.

When it comes down to it, the part that I really love to do is the marketing side of things and making stuff look pretty.

I "can" program, and there's definitely a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that I get whenever I program something that WORKS, but if I can just stick to what I'm good at, and have people I can depend on to take care of what I'm not so good at, there's nothing holding me back from offering clients really amazing stuff (and earning amazing dollars for all involved).

With that said, I have been asked by a very excellent client whether or not I can do car racing games, shooters, and iPhone apps. If that's you, let me know. You could be doing work for Hollywood projects, if that interests you at all.

I do the same thing x. My full time work (totally not creative work) takes up all my time so I outsource everything except for design in my creative part time venture, the part I actually enjoy. I even comp sites in photoshop and outsource the chopping up and pushing into css/xhtml...it just makes sense for me to do that. I have been doing this with database programming for over 7 years, works fantastic, I have them build it with no styling and then I incorporate the styling, again, the stuff I like. Its the stuff that requires the marketing guy in me to get sales and make nice stuff for clients and keeps me away from stuff I know how to do, but is not worth my time for the money.

You need to build you own book of reliable people to do this with. I know you want to try and offer it up for everyone to get a piece of the action, but this may cause you more frustration than its worth in the end.

Where did you find your peoples? How do you typically work your pay structure?

X-DUD contact me about the racing game with budgets we are looking for funding on a particular project that we maybe doing without a budget.

I found a guy in the US on rentacoder about 5 years ago for DB programming and I give him what I equate to be about $20 an hour to program backend. I do it job to job and bring him on the quote process with me and I tell him to give me a number of what he would take to get this done and then I take that DB programming number and I add a fee to the top of it for my time to design around it and also to bulk up the rates to something the clients will pay (he may have it at $20/hour, ill say its $50/hour). At successful completion of every job I ALWAYS toss him a bonus out of that buffer money it I didnt consume it with time usage.

I also use groups in India to do work for me when the ask is TOTALLY clear and concise, they will fuck up a wet dream if you dont have an S.O.P. for them to follow - fact. I usually use them for taking comps and making me CSS/XHTML pages, Im just really clear on the expections and I have them do 1 page if the site uses that as a template or a couple if I have a couple different looks throughout the site. I pay $100US tops for this service with a 1-2 day turnaround in most cases, not worth my time in most cases.

you can pet me and i can pet you, money or honey

I do some contract work but the older I get the more picky I get about what I will work on. I also don't like to work on things that don't have clear requirements anymore. I've finally learned my lesson on that.

edit

Oops, someone was talking to me and I didn't really finish my thought, I was getting at the fact that maybe you need to be more direct and/or clear about what exactly it is that you are needing. If it sounds suspiciously vague I know that I tend to pass.

Bobby - seriously, $20 ph in the USofA for backend work? That sounds pretty damn low.

Astoundingly low, actually.

be jealous...again, its job to job quoted and its side work for him when hes not at the station (firefighter). The 20/hour is based on my calcs, I dont know or care how he ends up at the number he gives me, its a badass deal though and I think he sticks with it cause I give him pretty nice bonuses along the way, without those, whos to say what that rate may be...