Once you've written your RFP, send it to as many prospective contractors as possible. In addition to posting at job boards, spend some time seeking out designers whose portfolios you like. You want to have the luxury of having too many options.
A few good places to solicit proposals:
- Post on gig boards like:[br /]
- [link url=http://jobs.freelanceswitch.com/]FreelanceSwitch[/a] -- Free. Your ad stays active indefinitely. This is a thriving community of independent web development freelancers. It's a good source of inexpensive but talented artists.
- [link url=http://www.elance.com/p/landing/buyer.html]Elance[/a] -- Free. Requires $10 deposit that you get back. Due to the stringent posting requirements, you can expect a higher level of professionalism from applicants. Higher end freelancers tend to avoid high volume free gig boards.
- [link url=http://cssbeauty.com/jobs/about/]CSS Beauty[/a] -- Free. Posting active for 90 days.
- [link url=http://www.sitepoint.com/marketplace/viewcategory?categoryid=19]Site Point [/a]-- $10. Active indefinitely. A large community of web developers. Where FreelanceSwitch will have more talented artists, Site Point's community will be more technically savvy. Good for building complex websites.
- Visit sites where designers hang out, and check out the portfolios of its members. If you run into a portfolio you love, send them an RFP. Popular web design communities include [link url=http://alistapart.com/]A List Apart[/a], [link url=http://www.sitepoint.com/]Site Point[/a], [link url=http://www.talkfreelance.com/]Talk Freelance[/a], and [link url=http://jobs.freelanceswitch.com/]FreelanceSwitch[/a].
- If you run into a website design you love, send the designer an RFP. Don't forget to seek out the designers of the sites you link to in your RFP.
- Email your RFP to friends and associates. And encourage them to send it to their designer acquaintances.
- Ask your competitors for recommendations. They may have a website with needs very similar to yours. Most people are happy to share recommendations. It doesn't hurt to ask.