Ideas to put a Marketing Plan together for contract Developers

1ElephantStrength

Free Member
May 24, 2015
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Hi,

My friend in the Baltics is thinking of setting up a company that has 3 developers at senior level connecting them to Startups or Large enterprises, the reason being he said if the developers have no time in house this is where his solution comes in and can make the the client project more efficient.

He said his developers who would work for him are also able to teach the developers in the organisation that works with them so value is provided here also.

His solution is only useful for Net based clients and they can build anything so not industry specific. However the project has to be 3 months or longer and a budget of around 130k Euros

Now my friend has a background in Developing however he asked me for my expertise, he would market his service finding companies who would hire his developers. I said I will help him with a go to market strategy so here I am asking for any input where to begin.

Thank you everyone,
 
If I may add he said for startups he can help develop the MVP product as fast as possible without compromising on quality and scalability, as for enterprise they can redesign and adjust their system.
 
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But then:

Do you not see the irony here?

If you don't know where to begin, what expertise do you have?

Thanks for the comment, well Im not being paid, just wondering if I am able to gather ideas to pass to him thats all.

Things like where do I find startups that need an extra pair of hands on the development team? How to engage with the Founder/Co-founder ? how to identify if their project is struggling and my friend can help with his team
 
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Start ups don’t have the sort of cash you are looking for. But you find prospects by marketing your services. Adverts, emails, trawl the net, joining groups and engaging with others. It’s hard work and may take many months to get the first lead.
 
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Start ups don’t have the sort of cash you are looking for. But you find prospects by marketing your services. Adverts, emails, trawl the net, joining groups and engaging with others. It’s hard work and may take many months to get the first lead.

Thanks for your comment, yes I agree with what you said and it will not come overnight, they rent developers full time to other developers full time with contracts, senior level. So I may suggest to him to use email marketing and linkedin

He said startups have a cash injection or investment so they have money up front, and he gets paid after 30 days not up front. I did ask him that same question.

do you have any specific groups in mind? Groups in the UK or Europe maybe?
 
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If anyone has any specific websites or platforms I could tell my friend to join and market his service it would be helpful. He is looking for clients in the uk and anywhere in Europe
 
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If anyone has any specific websites or platforms I could tell my friend to join and market his service it would be helpful. He is looking for clients in the uk and anywhere in Europe
There isn't anything like this. Each industry sector will have places they go for help and information. These places will not be same. It means you need to start joining forums, business groups, blogs and so on. You need to start engaging in Social Media and similar. You need a website offering solutions to problems. You could pay for leads, sign up to contracting and employment services.

The problem you have is nobody wants what's on offer. They want a solution to a problem. Which means they will search for solution providers not generic developers.
 
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There isn't anything like this. Each industry sector will have places they go for help and information. These places will not be same. It means you need to start joining forums, business groups, blogs and so on. You need to start engaging in Social Media and similar. You need a website offering solutions to problems. You could pay for leads, sign up to contracting and employment services.

The problem you have is nobody wants what's on offer. They want a solution to a problem. Which means they will search for solution providers not generic developers.
Thanks for that insightful comment,
When you say social media do you suggest facebook and twitter? You make an interesting point on people searching for solution to problems rather looking for generic developers.

Do you think paying for leads would work? I could tell my friend I could find leads for owners/co-founders on sales navigator and connect with them and have conversations. What are your thoughts on this avenue?
 
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Thanks for that insightful comment,
When you say social media do you suggest facebook and twitter? You make an interesting point on people searching for solution to problems rather looking for generic developers.

Do you think paying for leads would work? I could tell my friend I could find leads for owners/co-founders on sales navigator and connect with them and have conversations. What are your thoughts on this avenue?
"sign up to contracting and employment services."


could you explain how this would help?
 
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If you are a start up needing a developer to for a specific task you might contact an employment or contractor agency. The agency will then trawl the various databases looking for a match. You only need to spend some time on linkedin to see how many agents there are searching for candidates.

The cost of these leads varies but £300 - £500 wouldn't be too far off.
 
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If you are a start up needing a developer to for a specific task you might contact an employment or contractor agency. The agency will then trawl the various databases looking for a match. You only need to spend some time on linkedin to see how many agents there are searching for candidates.

The cost of these leads varies but £300 - £500 wouldn't be too far off.

Thanks for your input, If I can find leads maybe I could sell them to my friend.

So how do I find agents that are searching for canditates and then I need to find a way to find out who their client is which is a challenge, once I find out who the client is then I can pitch to them about my friends business model and how he has 3 developers to work on their project
 
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Does anyone else have any input? I am now looking if any staffing agencies are willing to collaborate, my friend has 3 developers for .net projects and he needs to find clients from startups to enterprise
 
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Your friend's competitors pay people like me thousands of pounds per month to sort their marketing for them. You can't compete with that with free advice from a forum. It's a very lucrative but also very crowded marketplace. If you want to give your friend the best advice, tell him you aren't the right person to help him and that he needs to pay for assistance.
 
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I would suggest to your friend that he approach PE / VCs who might appreciate being able to bring his team into new acquisitions.

You can add that suggestion to all the other expertise that you are providing! ;)
 
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Your friend's competitors pay people like me thousands of pounds per month to sort their marketing for them. You can't compete with that with free advice from a forum. It's a very lucrative but also very crowded marketplace. If you want to give your friend the best advice, tell him you aren't the right person to help him and that he needs to pay for assistance.
Thanks for your comment, could you send me in pointers your approach? What would you do then I can use these ideas and tell my friend to see if they will would work for him
 
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I would suggest to your friend that he approach PE / VCs who might appreciate being able to bring his team into new acquisitions.

You can add that suggestion to all the other expertise that you are providing! ;)
That is a good idea, do you know how or where to begin finding PEs or VCs? Would linkedin be a good start?
 
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@1ElephantStrength - if you need to ask basic questions like this you are not the right person for the job. Tell the developers they need to pay for professional help.
 
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