Can I have anyone give feedback on our site, FreeeUp.com?

The existing answers are good, and I agree with most of the price ranges that are mentioned. There is a huge range in rates and they are most affected by the region and the type of organization you are dealing with. For example, a small shop in E. Europe that is exceptional in Ruby and has professional management, great communication skills, and the ability to work agile (for real) is going to cost in the high 30's. A company in the same region but with less mediocre communication skills will get you into the 20's, but it won't be the same experience. In India, it's similar but the entire price range is a bit lower. In order to understand how much you should pay, we use a simple approach like this: - we figure out what kind of client you are. are you a bootstrapped startup? are you techy? can you manage it from your end? Do you have time to take on a lot of QA? are you experienced with this? - knowing your client profile we can determine what kind of vendor will be successful with you. if you are an experienced client, have outsourced before, and know the ins and outs of software development you can work with freelancers, boutique shops, etc. if you are inexperienced with software and haven't managed this kind of thing, we might look for more of an agency type shop that will provide really good PM and awesome communication, etc. If you are pretty experienced and going long-term, you might consider an ODC model, too. - Knowing the type of client you are and thus, the type of vendor you need allows us to recommend a region and specific development shops for you. When we know what/where we're looking for, it becomes easy to answer that magic question ,'how much should I pay?'. This is basically the process that our entire business is based on :) Check out this video series that explains the process in more detail (complete with 2014 pricing numbers). Good luck, and feel free to reach out if you need any help choosing that perfect development shop. They are out there.

I consult with clients who are looking for the right outsourcing situation all the time, and the best way to get started is to figure out what kind of outsourcing partner will be the best 'fit' for your needs. After that, it's easy to find out where that type of outsourcing partner/contractor/freelance hangs out and pick a winner. Try writing up some notes about things like: 1) You mentioned you had a small budget - how small? If your budget is $1500 your options are going to be very different than if it's $25,000. Both of those could be considered 'small budgets' in the right context, so try to put a number out there. 2) You also mentioned that you wanted 'good quality, clean code'. What does this mean and are you willing to pay for that? If you are building an MVP and are really short on funds, you might have to use a less senior developer/team and take the risk of getting sloppier code - but sometimes with an MVP that's ok! If you are building a production app, that's a different story. 3) What is your technical and management expertise? Can you create specifications and manage a developer on your own (not easy to do)? If so, you can save money by using a freelancer, etc. If you are very non-technical and will need PM support, you might consider a small group or agency. 4) What does 'website development' involve, in your vision? Design? Copywriting? QA? Server migration and admin? ui/ux? 5) What is your tolerance for going offshore? You will hear lots of people saying that offshore teams all suck, and lots of people saying that they did it and it went fine. Like most software projects, there is a high failure rate but lots of success with offshore. You can save a ton of money, but you can also take a bath so you need to consider whether you are up to the challenge or not - going offshore takes much more patience, attention, documentation, etc. but it can work. 6) What are the skills/tech that you will need? It's best to get a team that is great at the skills you need. If you want a ruby site, hire a ruby shop. If you want a augmented reality site, find a team that is great at that. Watch out for the generalists :) By thinking through questions like the above, you can change your statement from "Where do you go for outsourcing website development" to something like this: "I am looking for an outsourcing partner who would be interested in a 15k-20k project that will be build in python. This application will be evolved into our production app so the quality must be good. I am a good project manager and will work with the developer on the requirements/spec side, and help test. We will need application/db design and development, server administration, and technical support but all design, content, copy, ui/ux will be provided. We will consider offshore teams but you must have excellent spoken english." When you expand your 'what we're looking for' paragraph, the whole search for outsourcing partner gets much easier! If you like, feel free to give me a call and share your 'vendor profile' with me and I can help point you in the right direction.

I've used outsourced services several times successfully. I don't think using geographic location is necessary a good indicator for outsourcing value. In my experience it depends on the type of service you are seeking. For example, I've used crowdsourcing services for logo and web designs and discovered creativity has no geographic boundaries. Neither is the skill level necessarily the only indicator for the best creative. Some designs have been submissions from design student or freelancers with no formal training. As for technical work, I seek service based on the following criteria: - technical competency and skills - communication skills - Process skills (to manage overall risk of project) - references from existing clients. Country is secondary to the above list.

I wouldn't get into the game of charging per word/hour. You don't want to commoditize yourself. I suggest looking into value-based fees. Here's a good place to start. http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2013/06/12/breakingthetimebarrier/

I would add in the Do # 2, ask the employee to paraphrase what you're requesting. It's a common problem that people say that they understand what you say, and when the deadline comes, the result is not the expected. I call this practice "duplicate".