Development

Know exactly what you want before you find a developer. Be a good businessman and look at the competition's websites. Make your choices and be specific, complete with references to existing sites. (Web developers love knowing exactly what is expected and will knock down their bid accordingly.) Ask the developer if you will be able to use one, and only one, administration panel for the entire site. Next, ask the developer what tools he uses and how popular they are. (If he disappears from the scene, you don't want to have to start over from scratch just to make a small change in your site.) Expect him to ask you to try to pick from a selection of themes for your site. If you can find one requiring a minimum amount of alteration, his bid may fall over 50%.