[consulting] Finding quality subcontractors - More of a theory question then a request

[Mike Hostetler]

Hi everyone,

Been a lurker here for a while, but I'm facing a problem and was hoping to
gain some insight from this list.

I've got a day job but am constantly asked to do moonlighting for various
people.  I've come to rely heavily on Drupal and another project called
Qcodo.  Using these two open source projects in conjunction have really
improved my productivity, but I'm at the point where I just can't handle
more work.

So, I hired a subcontractor.  This guy is really nice, very sharp, lives in
Canada.  He's not cheap, but I found him to be inexpensive.  I did my best
to communicate the requirements to him and set him off to go and work.
Unfortunately, this has resulted in almost total failure, but not for the
reason I expected.  My sub was very good at doing exactly what I asked, but
nothing in the site flows together.  It's like I've been given all the
pieces of the puzzle (most of which are decently good), but nothing is
connected.

I'll be able to pull this together no problem.  However, I am realizing a
fundamental flaw in how I've approached this subcontractor issue.  I need
somebody who I can ask to take the site from beginning to end, rather then
just provide me the pieces to put together.

So, here's my questions:

Where do you find quality people?
What is a decent rate to expect? hourly, by project? I've seen this vary
wildly depending on geography.
What is the best way to communicate requirements when I've effectively
placed myself as a filter between the client and my subcontractor?

Thanks,

-- 
Mike Hostetler
mike.hostetler at gmail.com
http://www.amountaintop.com
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