Reality, redesigned.

I’ve been thinking about the issue discussed here recently:

http://freelanceswitch.com/the-business-of-freelancing/are-freelancers-a-commodity-or-a-profession/

Having taken the plunge into the freelance life recently, I’ve been thinking about how to broaden my client base as I can now take on much more work than while I was working a fulltime job. As with anything else I want information about, I immediately looked to the internet and I’ve started watching these types of job boards for the last week with a raised eyebrow. I’ve never bid on anything, as everything I’ve seen so far doesn’t seem like a project worth my time. I don’t say that because I feel like I’m the best designer in the world that requires bags of the finest gold in the land to consider taking on a project. It’s just that I get the overwhelming sense that these boards are filled with ill-informed buyers and sellers who must either be quickfix-template masters or from third world countries where they can afford to live on such a low return for their time and energy.

Like I mentioned, I haven’t bid on any projects so my insight as to how the process actually unfolds is far from complete. For all I know, the majority of projects agreed upon there end in disaster. Or perhaps it’s strictly a place for low quality services at a low price. Y’know, kind of like your customer experience going to walmart. Except that designer/developer services are just that- a service. The experience and skills a designer brings to the table is much harder to quantify than, say, a 12-pack of toilet paper. I have my doubts about whether a walmart style business model can be successfully applied to designers. I can see how this might apply to a greater extent to developers. Not that they don’t bring the same value through their experience and skill, but just that they have more of a “product” that can be canned and sold. No doubt India and elsewhere have talented programmers who are willing to work their assess off for American customers, and charge just slightly more than they were making at the local call center.

But I digress… my point is that in this online environment, I can’t imagine any talented senior-level designer or developers residing in the U.S. having any interest in participating in these job boards. But this made me think, perhaps there is a void out there in cyberspace for people in my same situation. I’m going to think about this and start looking for existing services I may have overlooked. Does anyone know of any job boards already running that bring together professional designers/developers and their local businesses looking to take their marketing materials to the next level? At this point I haven’t given any thought to what checks and balances would need to be in place along with other logistical concerns, but if I find there is a demand for this kind of service, I’m putting it my idea box and will start putting it together. Or maybe I’ll farm out the work to one of those cutthroat job boards…haha kidding, just kidding.