
Dev Search Hub: Helping entrepreneurs solve the developer dilemma - Cory_F
Hello!<p>I am totally new here and was hoping to come ask for some feedback on a website I just created. It&#x27;s called Developer Search Hub. I&#x27;m thinking it&#x27;s near completion but I wanted to get some honest thoughts from real people before I call it ready. It&#x27;s a service intended to connect people who need software work with independent contractors or software companies to complete their projects.  I reached out to as many developers as I could and found some interest for what I am trying to setup. After launch, I plan to create a page for new developers to apply to be part of DSH, but for now I&#x27;ve got a good group that can cover a wide scope of work. I wanted a simple feel for the user, as this site is mainly geared towards those with an idea but not much technology experience. I used Typeform for the questionnaire for that purpose also.<p>www.devsearchhub.com<p>I&#x27;d love to hear any comments, positive or negative, or advice. Thank you for taking the time to read my post! =)<p>-Cory Finn
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DavidParmelee
Hi Cory, this site does look like it’s off to a pretty good start. I
definitely like the Typeform’s design! Some quick first impressions:

\- You’ll definitely need more social proof. The site says that “many”
companies use it, but there aren’t any numbers, names, or testimonials.
Similarly, there isn’t anything describing who the freelancers are or what
kind of experience they’ve had so far on the site. Since you just made the
site, you won’t have that in the beginning. But press coverage is another way
to start building your authority.

\- For clients, it’s not enough to look for just any developer. They’ll
generally know which technology stack or languages they are looking for, or at
the very least have a few platforms they’re considering. So wearing the client
hat, going onto the site kind of feels like a black box.

\- I’m in a few freelance Facebook groups and Slack communities. On the
freelancers’ side, a common objection we have with job sites is that so many
of them promise to be “the one site we need to save our business”, but then
the sites woefully underdeliver - which leads to a lack of trust, a lot of
stale profiles, and just a few people per skill getting all the work. You’ll
really need to think through that as you open up the site to new freelancers.
There’s also a significant fragmentation problem with sites that
require/encourage portfolios without just allowing an external portfolio link.
Freelancers may also have objections around unfavorable payment arrangements,
free work, tire-kicking clients, and sites that act like they’re the only
place where the freelancer ever finds work.

\- The site also doesn’t really set an expectation of pricing, budget, or
client experience. As a full-time independent consultant, I’m pretty well
aware of freelance marketplaces that just turn into a race-to-the-bottom price
competition. Still, it’s good to at least set a ballpark expectation of - for
example, “these are senior developers in North America” - so that clients have
a good sense of what they need in order to be here.

\- On a related note, think through what kind of objections freelance clients
typically encounter when they hire developers. If you’re a freelancer yourself
or the developers you’re starting out with freelance full-time, they could at
least help with this outreach. Some objections I can think of off the top of
my head, as a former onshore developer for a small business with a mixed
onshore/offshore team, might include these: their time zones are way
different, their communication skills aren’t up to par, they require
additional management handholding, or their resumes look a lot more impressive
then they are after we hire them.

\- You might want to bring some aspects of your Typeform into your landing
page. Think about what the pain points or objections are around clients who
want less realistic project constraints (e.g. “it needs to be done yesterday
for $2k”), and how you protect both client and freelancer in both that and
more ideal working arrangements.

Pain/Dream/Fix is a helpful formula for thinking about what causes a client or
freelancer to want to come to your site, what they want to achieve, and how
they can get there.

