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WordCamp Asheville - How to find and hire a WordPress designer and developer

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Digital Strategy Works LLC
Digital Strategy Works LLC

Tony Zeoli presentation on June 1st 2014 on how to find and hire a WordPress Designer/Developer. This presentation covers the general basic, but does not include every use case. It is meant as a broad overview. @wordcampavl #wcavl

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10 steps to finding The Right Fit for your projectHow to Hire a Wordpress Designer & Developer
About Me Digital Strategist @dswks & @tonyzeoli Agile/Scrum Product Development Information Architect 19 years in digital; first startup in 95 9-years Wordpress Organizer, WordPress Chapel Hill @wordpresschill House Music DJ: @netmix @djtonyz Blogs: netmix.com, tonyzeoli.com Startups: 8tracks.com, neighborbee.com Hometown: Boston Lived in NYC 15-years NC since July 2010; Asheville in January Working on open adoption w/ my wife, Missy
1.Define The Need Can a template do this? Can a plugin do this? Requirements Wireframes Examples Schedule Process Launch Plan Content
2. Define The Budget Whats realistic? Set by location, experience Hourly rates Cheap is $10 an hour Mid low is $20 - $65 Mid high is $65 to $95 Expensive is over $95 Per project rate, +/- 20%
3. Look Inside your network Personal recommendations Local WordPress or Design Meetup Network in the WordPress.org Forums Get WordPress.org user profile! LinkedIn WordPress or Graphic Design Groups Get a LinkedIn business profile! Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Friends of friends know a WordPress designer or developer!
Twitter Search
4. Outside your network WordCamps like this one or WordPress Job Boards jobs.wordpress.net (official jobs board) or Woo Jobs, WPHired Google, Blogs, Social Media (Twitter, Pinterest) 際際滷Share Look in the footer! Craigslist is the LAST place you should look!
Blogs
Google Search
5. Developers vs Designers
5. Developers vs Designers Developers: http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/ elance.com, freelancer.com, jobs.smashingmagazine.com, jobs.freelanceswitch.com ThemeForest and Code Canyon developers or developers of other themes and plugins Designers: behance.com, dribble.com or professional designer websites Competitions 99Designs.com, DesignCrowd.com, DesignContest.com, CrowdSpring.com
Onshore vs Offshore Price - Does cheaper mean better? Culture - Working across cultures is a challenge. Language - Just because someone speaks English, doesnt mean they get you Time - Working across time zones and delays Project Management - Can you work directly with the developer? Quality - Do they really know what they are doing?
But my friends son is a web designer
6.Qualifications
6. Qualifications Without experience, you dont, so look for: Portfolio Valid Testimonials At least 3 recent references Ability to understand your needs and COMMUNICATE Offshore developers will send long link lists some will be broken, poor content many will look like cheap templates done by others Good shops will have a formal agreement, statement of work and a professional process Bad developers will say just send me the money and Ill get startedon what? Use your common sense. Reputation is almost everything.
7. Negotiation & Payment Check references Know your developer/designer Get an estimate Estimates are difficult Based on wish list Be prepared for overage due to scope creep Ask for accurate record of hours spent if project is hourly Get a signed agreement. Handshakes and friendships end badly. When everyone agrees and signs off on statement of work, the work gets done. Payments usually half up front, then half on delivery. Some will do half then weekly payments after hours are burned.
8. Communication Responsibility. Take ownership! Use project management tools like Basecamp or Trello to communicate, assign tasks and keep project files Set realistic goals I need it tomorrow is not realistic Every project has its challenges Strong communication is critical - DONT BE AFRAID, OVER COMMUNICATE Transparency is also critical, think of everything you can for every conversation so nothing gets missed
9. Scope Creep Defined a Minimum Viable Product or MVP. Thats what you build. Nothing more, nothing less. Stick to the plan you set out with. You wouldnt build a house without ensuring the architect and builder are on the same page. Websites are no different. What Joe and Suzy are doing down the street is not important. Your execution and your ability to produce content sets you apart, not all the bells and whistles you think you need. Burning hours and hours of the developers time to discuss things that werent in the original plan wastes precious time and money. If you add to the project scope, expect to be billed. Review everything and sign off by email that you approve, so there are no miscommunications.
10. Project Completion Set aside a week to two weeks for QA testing to identify issues and fix bugs. Check off your statement of work to make sure everything included is completed. Is all your launch content in the site? By now, you should have a launch plan. Execute the plan. Pay your developer. Give a recommendation if they did a good job. Sometimes projects will have a phase 2 or 3 or 4 ongoing, so you should be prepared to execute the plan again and again and again. In each phase, stating the requirements, getting statement of work, signing off on phases and completing the project.

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WordCamp Asheville - How to find and hire a WordPress designer and developer

  • 1. 10 steps to finding The Right Fit for your projectHow to Hire a Wordpress Designer & Developer
  • 2. About Me Digital Strategist @dswks & @tonyzeoli Agile/Scrum Product Development Information Architect 19 years in digital; first startup in 95 9-years Wordpress Organizer, WordPress Chapel Hill @wordpresschill House Music DJ: @netmix @djtonyz Blogs: netmix.com, tonyzeoli.com Startups: 8tracks.com, neighborbee.com Hometown: Boston Lived in NYC 15-years NC since July 2010; Asheville in January Working on open adoption w/ my wife, Missy
  • 3. 1.Define The Need Can a template do this? Can a plugin do this? Requirements Wireframes Examples Schedule Process Launch Plan Content
  • 4. 2. Define The Budget Whats realistic? Set by location, experience Hourly rates Cheap is $10 an hour Mid low is $20 - $65 Mid high is $65 to $95 Expensive is over $95 Per project rate, +/- 20%
  • 5. 3. Look Inside your network Personal recommendations Local WordPress or Design Meetup Network in the WordPress.org Forums Get WordPress.org user profile! LinkedIn WordPress or Graphic Design Groups Get a LinkedIn business profile! Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Friends of friends know a WordPress designer or developer!
  • 7. 4. Outside your network WordCamps like this one or WordPress Job Boards jobs.wordpress.net (official jobs board) or Woo Jobs, WPHired Google, Blogs, Social Media (Twitter, Pinterest) 際際滷Share Look in the footer! Craigslist is the LAST place you should look!
  • 10. 5. Developers vs Designers
  • 11. 5. Developers vs Designers Developers: http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/ elance.com, freelancer.com, jobs.smashingmagazine.com, jobs.freelanceswitch.com ThemeForest and Code Canyon developers or developers of other themes and plugins Designers: behance.com, dribble.com or professional designer websites Competitions 99Designs.com, DesignCrowd.com, DesignContest.com, CrowdSpring.com
  • 12. Onshore vs Offshore Price - Does cheaper mean better? Culture - Working across cultures is a challenge. Language - Just because someone speaks English, doesnt mean they get you Time - Working across time zones and delays Project Management - Can you work directly with the developer? Quality - Do they really know what they are doing?
  • 13. But my friends son is a web designer
  • 15. 6. Qualifications Without experience, you dont, so look for: Portfolio Valid Testimonials At least 3 recent references Ability to understand your needs and COMMUNICATE Offshore developers will send long link lists some will be broken, poor content many will look like cheap templates done by others Good shops will have a formal agreement, statement of work and a professional process Bad developers will say just send me the money and Ill get startedon what? Use your common sense. Reputation is almost everything.
  • 16. 7. Negotiation & Payment Check references Know your developer/designer Get an estimate Estimates are difficult Based on wish list Be prepared for overage due to scope creep Ask for accurate record of hours spent if project is hourly Get a signed agreement. Handshakes and friendships end badly. When everyone agrees and signs off on statement of work, the work gets done. Payments usually half up front, then half on delivery. Some will do half then weekly payments after hours are burned.
  • 17. 8. Communication Responsibility. Take ownership! Use project management tools like Basecamp or Trello to communicate, assign tasks and keep project files Set realistic goals I need it tomorrow is not realistic Every project has its challenges Strong communication is critical - DONT BE AFRAID, OVER COMMUNICATE Transparency is also critical, think of everything you can for every conversation so nothing gets missed
  • 18. 9. Scope Creep Defined a Minimum Viable Product or MVP. Thats what you build. Nothing more, nothing less. Stick to the plan you set out with. You wouldnt build a house without ensuring the architect and builder are on the same page. Websites are no different. What Joe and Suzy are doing down the street is not important. Your execution and your ability to produce content sets you apart, not all the bells and whistles you think you need. Burning hours and hours of the developers time to discuss things that werent in the original plan wastes precious time and money. If you add to the project scope, expect to be billed. Review everything and sign off by email that you approve, so there are no miscommunications.
  • 19. 10. Project Completion Set aside a week to two weeks for QA testing to identify issues and fix bugs. Check off your statement of work to make sure everything included is completed. Is all your launch content in the site? By now, you should have a launch plan. Execute the plan. Pay your developer. Give a recommendation if they did a good job. Sometimes projects will have a phase 2 or 3 or 4 ongoing, so you should be prepared to execute the plan again and again and again. In each phase, stating the requirements, getting statement of work, signing off on phases and completing the project.