The subtleties in outsourcing using RentACoder
I've had experience using online sites to source jobs, and I think this advice is right on.<p>Here are some summary points, generalized away from rent-a-coder:<p>* don't hire Americans to do commodity work (i.e. PHP CRUD)<p>* be clear but not ominous in your job description, and include visual mocks if at all possible<p>* don't try and be secretive - no one wants your dumb idea anyways<p>* make sure someone has a decent reputation on the site you use<p>* keep track of the progress of the product and keep in touch with the coder, but don't be overbearing<p>* be somewhat flexible with the deliverable - aim for perfect but accept done<p>* test the code thoroughly and request fixes in one shot, but don't conflate new features with bug fixes or no one will be happy<p>The only points I would modify are:<p>* Job requests can include bullets, but don't be overly fine-grained.<p>* You can in fact build relationships with outsourcers via rent-a-coder (MTurk, 99Designs, etc), and you should - this will lead to much better long-term work. A good way to get this started is an unexpected bonus.<p>* Don't ever screw someone on work. This is just karmically bad. They live in Eastern Europe and are poor. You live in America and are rich. I think the best way is to give someone a piece of work (5-10 hours worth), ask them for a bill, and proceed from there. If the work sucks or is over-billed, you pay and move on. Otherwise, you can give them more work.