We are technical

Our friends are not, but they want "in"

[Tonearm]

I've run into this situation a lot as I'm sure all of you have. The question is how to create a website by combining your friend's unskilled labor and your own expertise in a mutually beneficial way.

We are each good with least one aspect of Internetia, whether it be marketing, programming, design, system administration, or something else. Most of us can probably even put all the necessary pieces together to create a fully-functioning website with a head-start toward high-visibility.

What do you do when a friend wants to get "in" on what you're doing without any of the aforementioned expertise? How can you best use the unskilled labor of a non-technical person together with your own abilities? Many nearly-formed ideas come to mind. What are your favorites?

- Grant

[LifeinAsia]

Money. If they can't contribute anythign constructive to the project, let them inject some cash to keep the project going.

Now, since that opens up a whole new can of worms ("I put in a huge amount of money, but you just put in a 'few' hours of your time!"), you'll need to specify what your services are worth in comparison to the amount of money he's adding. This is similar to a formal partnership agreement.

In fact, you may want to go that route (formal/legal partnership or other business entity) if you plan to bring in money from this project. A well-written (and well-understood) agreement agreed to by all parties goes a long way to avoid future disputes about payments, obligations, and ownership.

[Tonearm]

LifeinAsia,

True, but what if nobody wants to spend any money?

- Grant

[FourDegreez]

The obvious: can they write content?

[LifeinAsia]

what if nobody wants to spend any money?

They have no useful skills and won't contribute any money, but they still want to share in the the results-are you running a charity?

I find it hard to believe that they have absolutely no useful skills they could contribute (content writing, photography, influential friends who would like to invest, etc.). But if that's the case, they really shouldn't be involved. From past experience, if they have nothing to contribute, they're most likely going to drag your project down.

[Terabytes]

have them write content...then go back and modify what they wrote in order to make the content what it needs to be...

Then go back (with them) show them how and why you changed what they did, so that they begin to learn how to write correct content....

mutually benefits you both....they learn and progress...you get content written that you only have to slightly modify...win-win

[Tonearm]

Now we're talking. Writing content. That's "obvious"ly a great one. I've tried to go that route a few different times and it hasn't quite worked out. Any tips to help me make it work?

- Grant

[dchase]

Well,

It doesn't take a lot of skill to generate backlinks.
Give your friend huge lists of web directories, article directories, rss directories, and free product directories...

have your friend submit your website to all of these.