April 25, 2007

Contractor Networking

Last week I briefly mentioned a new site built by a client and me. It's currently live, in beta. What's it all about?

It's generally felt that the best way for an independent contractor to find new jobs is through his or her personal network, and a good way for clients to find the best contractors is through referral by another contractor (in effect, by tapping into that person's network). I've found that to be true. But building a network takes time. And independent contractors, being independent, tend to drift apart.

My clients frequently ask for referrals, but it's not easy to help them. Either the people I know don't have the specific skillset needed, or they are currently busy.

Wouldn't it be helpful for contractors and their clients to be able to tap into a network without building one from scratch? That's the simple idea.

Protallian—The Professional Talent Alliance—is an attempt to build a self-organizing network. Contractors can join and then invite other contractors and/or their clients. They can communicate with each other through the network—it's not an anonymous list. There is no cost to join, and there are modest financial incentives built in (members can earn referral fees in several different ways).

When a client hires a contractor through the network, they deal with each other directly without interference. The network charges a separate hourly fee that is far lower than the typical "cut" taken by recruiting and consulting firms.

The objectives are simple: Members can find good projects; clients can find good consultants; and members can earn higher rates plus referral fees while their clients actually pay less. Everybody wins.

During this beta test, we are starting with just PeopleSoft-related specialties. But there is no reason to restrict it just to PeopleSoft. We hope that the concept will prove its worth and that the network can expand beyond those boundaries.

The last time I wrote about this, it was just a vague idea. That was over a year ago. Several people contacted me at the time, but some of them used their clients' email addresses and may have moved on. I encourage them, and anyone else who may be interested, to email me now.

Until next time...