How Do You Get A Web Idea Off The Ground?

Chances are if you’ve been surfing the internet long enough, an idea will pop into your head. A good idea. Possibly a very profitable idea. But unfortunately you’re not a programmer. Or a web designer. Or a graphic designer.

Are you stuck? Not really.

It’s very common in business that those in charge have the ideas, and they need other people to make those ideas a reality. In this situation, you’re the one in charge. You have the idea. And you need people.

But in the same token, you don’t have a lot of cash to spare. It’s not like you have thousands of dollars in your back pocket for investment capital.

Enter the offshore freelancer.

Now before you say, “There is no f*#$ing way I’m ever paying some guy I’ll never meet my cash to make my idea work”, hear me out.

Using an offshore freelancer is the difference between spending $250 and $2,500 or more. There are loads of programmers out there in other countries (who are very well versed in the English language) that are willing to work very cheaply. This is a win-win scenario because you get your idea working, and they get paid.

An important note about this before continuing:

It is true that you cannot outsource everything. Some things do require local talent. And yes you’ll pay more for it. The goal here is to simply get the “grunt” work done, because coding is a long, tedious process. Other things such as graphic design, advertising and so on can be done on a more local level.

What should you look for in a programmer?

Three simple things:

1. Punctuality.
2. Strong communication.
3. Strong documentation.

It’s the third point that counts the most. Your project, if successful, may “outgrow” the programmer you’re working with and require putting on more hands. Those hands will need documentation. The stronger the documentation, the better your people can work with it.

Where to get a programmer?

I’ll first tell you where not to get a programmer, and that’s Craigslist. Only go there if you absolutely need someone local and are willing to pay extra.

The other two places that have proven time and time again to be wonderful for getting good talent are Guru and eLance.

Even if you’re just in the idea stages at this point, examine those two web sites carefully as they will be your best friends for getting a good offshore programmer that works cheap – and is reliable.

How do you get a web idea?

This is actually easier than most people think.

Anything that has an API (Application Programming Interface) can be programmed for.

A few examples of web products with APIs (each link here goes direct to the API section): Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, many Google products, Bing, and the list goes on and on.

Do you have to know anything about the API? No. That’s the programmer’s job.

All you need is the idea. If you’re using a specific web site and said to yourself, “You know, it would be really nice if this site did [this]..”, [this] is your idea.

If the idea is something you think you could promote and sell, go to Google and search for the web site and API. For example, finding the API for MySpace is done by searching for “myspace api”. If you locate a “developer’s center” or anything similar, that means that web site has a programming interface that a programmer can use. It also means there’s a way to get your idea working.

Even if the idea doesn’t work, trying will not put you in the poorhouse

It’s terrible to put a ton of money into an idea only to have it fail. Most people have gone through this in their lives at least once – myself included.

However with web programming and APIs, the personal investment you have to make won’t break the bank in the attempt to put your web idea(s) to fruition. Far from it. I won’t say it’s dirt cheap, but the point is that this is something do-able. Anybody can give it a shot.

Final notes

Dealing with offshore programmers is a bit intimidating at first. But fortunately both Guru and eLance have mountains of documentation and how-tos for the business owner (that’s you) to hire the right person the first time. They are both very well-respected resources for this sort of thing and have been in business for several years. In other words, you can hire with confidence.

In addition, you can browse those sites all you want to get a really good idea of what you need to ask for concerning your web idea. If you have no idea how to word your project correctly, don’t worry. Just look at the other projects similar to yours, and read-read-read those how-tos and documentation. All of it will serve you well.

Your web ideas can make you money. All you need to know is where to go to make it work without emptying your wallet. And now you know.