Comments on: Outsourcing – is it bad when you have a little Knowledge? http://www.skillett.com/technology/websites/outsourcing-is-it-bad-when-you-have-a-little-knowledge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=outsourcing-is-it-bad-when-you-have-a-little-knowledge Keiron's daily take on life, the internet and the world around us! Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:23:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Commenting Policy in Force! — Keiron’s Window to Madness http://www.skillett.com/technology/websites/outsourcing-is-it-bad-when-you-have-a-little-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-6166 Commenting Policy in Force! — Keiron’s Window to Madness Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:02:27 +0000 http://www.skillett.com/?p=539#comment-6166 [...] got around to it. Today’s the first day I’ve really had to think about it - getting a comment from a Pomegranate Fruit has prompted it a little bit - but not entirely (I’ve let that one slide, purely because [...] [...] got around to it. Today’s the first day I’ve really had to think about it – getting a comment from a Pomegranate Fruit has prompted it a little bit – but not entirely (I’ve let that one slide, purely because [...]

]]> By: pomegranate fruit http://www.skillett.com/technology/websites/outsourcing-is-it-bad-when-you-have-a-little-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-6133 pomegranate fruit Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:52:56 +0000 http://www.skillett.com/?p=539#comment-6133 The problem is manifold. First of all, there is not enough objective record of competition for that kind of work. I mean...go buy a plasma TV. It's easy to find what everyone charges, so you don't have a lot of fluctuation from a particular price point. But when it comes to coding or graphics or whatever, most individuals or companies won't publish their rates on the site...and the best you get is a Request For Quote form. I haven't been on Rentacoder, but I've used Elance, ScriptLance and GetAFreelancer before. And lately, I've been hiring people for spot work thru the forums at DigitalPoint. Dealing with people face-to-face like that (so to speak) allows you to get a sense of their responsiveness and ability to communicate...which I like. However, to your larger point...a little knowledge always tempts you to do it yourself...because you know that, while some people can bring to the table skills you don't possess...elevating the overall quality of the end product...NO ONE cares about your stuff like you do. So there are almost always tradeoffs. I try to do most of the stuff I can myself...even if I have to wait until I have time. And I hire people when the work is really over my head. I wish I had good quality providers (who'd work affordably) for everything I need done. I'd be happy to pay. But most people wouldn't know how to sell themselves to save their lives. This is a big hole in the internet market at this point. Answers will come someday, but for the most part, I don't think they exist yet. The problem is manifold. First of all, there is not enough objective record of competition for that kind of work. I mean…go buy a plasma TV. It’s easy to find what everyone charges, so you don’t have a lot of fluctuation from a particular price point. But when it comes to coding or graphics or whatever, most individuals or companies won’t publish their rates on the site…and the best you get is a Request For Quote form.

I haven’t been on Rentacoder, but I’ve used Elance, ScriptLance and GetAFreelancer before. And lately, I’ve been hiring people for spot work thru the forums at DigitalPoint. Dealing with people face-to-face like that (so to speak) allows you to get a sense of their responsiveness and ability to communicate…which I like.

However, to your larger point…a little knowledge always tempts you to do it yourself…because you know that, while some people can bring to the table skills you don’t possess…elevating the overall quality of the end product…NO ONE cares about your stuff like you do. So there are almost always tradeoffs. I try to do most of the stuff I can myself…even if I have to wait until I have time. And I hire people when the work is really over my head. I wish I had good quality providers (who’d work affordably) for everything I need done. I’d be happy to pay. But most people wouldn’t know how to sell themselves to save their lives. This is a big hole in the internet market at this point. Answers will come someday, but for the most part, I don’t think they exist yet.

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