web-based business

June 21, 2007 4:28 AM

I have an idea for a web-based business and not only need a web page but a program to keep track of units/credits, no money involved. It would involve marketing/advertising which I have experience in but no experience in computer programming. Where do I go from here?
posted by bethrossrn to Technology (6 answers total)

You go talk to people who you will hire on contract to do these things for you. There are people who make wepages and programs for a living. There are sites that are specifically geared toward connecting freelancers and potential clients, but I don't know any of them because I am neither a freelancer or a cilent. Someone downtheread will hopefully know what websites i'm talking about.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 5:34 AM on June 21, 2007

er, downthread
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 5:34 AM on June 21, 2007

jobs.metafilter.com?
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:37 AM on June 21, 2007

www.rentacoder.com
www.guru.com
www.scriptlance.com
www.elance.com
your local craigslist
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:55 AM on June 21, 2007

Additionally, you might be interested in Cambrian House, where the deal basically is:

1. You pitch your idea to the Cambrian House community, who will vote on it.
2. The most popular ideas will be produced by programmers, designers, project managers etc. within the community.
3. Cambrian House will market the product. The profits are split among the community members who had the idea and worked on the product.

I have no idea how well this works or whether anything worthwhile has been produced, but if you decide to use it, let us know if it worked for you...
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2007

Best answer: If you end up struggling to launch your own project (it's tricky to even hire a programmer if you don't know much about how these things are built and, as everyone on here always points out, ideas are cheap), then consider partnering with or purchasing an existing site. There are countless web-based businesses out there built by geeks with no talent for or interest in marketing, if you found the right one to work with you could make good use of your skills.
posted by malevolent at 9:16 AM on June 21, 2007