D'oh! Etsy also has an alchemy thing, whereby you post a 'wanted item' and a maximum budget, and people can send you bids. If I remember correctly, there's a small fee for listing a 'want' (not the actual term, my memory is hazy) but the bidding projects are certainly not something that is unique to Streetlance.

You know I kept wondering why the max of $50.00 and was going to ask if it could be raised also.   Gee Na.. great minds think alike.

I really have not looked at other freelance sites like Na but I think Na's point about what makes yours different is a good one.  What well you be offering that the others can not. If it is the fact that it is more geared toward artist then others then tools can enhance this. You mentioned you are looking at the ability to host the videos on the streetlance server. I think that may be a good start. Although I think I would still urge folks to use YouTube for their introduction videos. Can't beat the power of YouTube... hmm... I wonder if there would be a way to create a video tool/interface that helped folks create a video for YouTube. i.e. they fire up their web cam and hit start record at your site. Once they finish recording the "tool" takes over and maybe adds a cool Streetlance splash at the front of the video and end or overlays the streetlance url of the persons account on the video the uploads it to Youtube!

You know the one thing that keeps Puppets and Stuff alive is it's community. Seems the same is true of Etsy. What could be done at Streetlance to create the same type of community.   

Hey other PandS folks... don't be shy... what are your ideas... what do you think would be cool tools for Jeffery's site?

Speaking of tools... you kind of hint at this in your How it works page but what are the "social bookmarking tools"?  I am pretty sure what they are but it might be a good idea to beef up that explanation for others. Don't forget that your How it works page is really where you need to sell your pitch to new users.  Also just as a personal artistic view of my own... I would ditch the colored numbers for your points.

I would put your facebook login button on the Join and Sign in page instead of in the upper right corner. That way it is clear that if they have a Facebook account they can use it to sign up for your site. Many sites that offer this have side by side columns. In other words the first column is your sites system then second one is the alternative log in options.  If you are using Ning then you should have more then just the Facebook alternative for registration. Might be something to consider adding. Google and Linkedin are a couple I can think of off the top of my head that might be useful.

Social bookmarking is different than social networking. I assumed it was 'networking' like Twitter or Faceboo. Social bookmarking would be Delicious (however you spell it, I never remember)

The video recording tool sounds good but I'm betting would require a lot more technology investment; it's not something you'd likely find in an out-of-the-box software setup I'm guessing.

I just wonder how much red tape and tax and forms I  would have to fill in, like some other sites I looked at selling through. As I don't live in the USA I don't really like paying Uncle Sam tax which is not his, for doing a sale from South America to say Japan, and the  forms asking for stuff that does not exist in my  situation... I gave up trying in the end. Even Ebay , one of my sons occationally does buy off, but half the deals fall through due to delivery difficulties, or credit card incompatabilities etc.

I am not American either: in general tax ID numbers are all that's asked for, and that's ONLY if you reside in the USA. That is, I have signed up for a freelance site and I don't need to give them any tax info.

I've never had to fill in any forms I wouldn't have to anywhere else, like normal registration (email/password) or shipping/billing. In fact, I think for most of these sites keeping red tape to a minimum is their ideal set up.

However, I'd keep in mind that though the sites are usually designed so that if you're not a US taxpayer you don't have to give them any info, that doesn't mean if you're supposed to put any income from these sites on a tax form you can avoid doing so... whatever tax laws you've got to follow for your own country must of course still be followed. It just means the site itself doesn't ask you for that info while you're using it.

I had another thought.

Lately I've wanted to buy a new dress. I haven't been clothes shopping in years and I'm extremely sick of buying cheap Target clothes. I would absolutely love to be able to buy a custom made dress, but don't have the hundreds of dollars normally required to pay for something like that.

I was thinking of suggesting if someone here is into dressmaking to do a trade. I have lots of fabrics that I don't need, and no dressmaking skills, but someone who does puppetry/clothing might be willing to do an exchange for materials or some other skill of mine.

Why not set the site up with a swap system? I'm not sure how you could work site fees into it, but it would help a lot of us artists who want to pay for a service but can't afford it. I know that it would also help a lot of us get rid of or exchange materials that are scrap or unwanted (or just plain hard to get if you're not in the right country). I'd imagine that would make Streetlance far more popular with professionals, as well as newbies; and it would have the added benefit of making the site stand out amongst competitors. So far I have not seen any freelancing site offer a swap system.

There are already sites out there that do swaps, but mostly they're swaps for books or DVDs, and are limited by location. In this case though, you wouldn't necessarily be swapping physical products; ie. you could swap video editing services for web design services or whatever.

... It just occured to me you could earn fees if you use a shipping option. Let's say I swap materials for a dress. You could use a shipping process on the site, say a print sticker to go on your package; and charge for that info. It would have to be a small charge of course, but it's no different than Ebay or Paypal where they have some sort of print-address function. ... Just a thought off the top of my head.

The idea of an online artist swap is actually kinda genius. I know a lot of artists IRL that make swapping a regular part of their businesses,  but I don't know of a service online that mirrors that.

In addition to the cash savings to the artists, it helps you to spread your brand. Other artists are directly exposed to your work, and will tell their friends.

Maybe the site takes a "hook up" fee, when an offer is accepted, there's a flat fee for each side of a few dollars. You build networking tools into the site, building communities of other artists you know and have swapped with.

I think there's something worth playing around with there.

Oh man when I owned my own video store I used to LOOOOOVE to barter with fellow merchants. My favorite was getting my very own tuxedo in exchange for a VCR and a variety of other products and services!

This actually works out further. I know there are a lot of crafters that have regular swaps. It's kind of like gift-basketing. You make up a bunch of spare materials or useful things (knitting needles, wool, etc), plus maybe something you've already made. You send it on, and get one in exchange. It's extremely popular, so Streetlance could even go further by tapping into those sorts of swapping craft communities. Find a blog network of knitters, plushie-makers, or whatever and I guarantee you'll find a few people who do it.

Oddly enough, though I knew that, the swapping idea came from a start up dot com I worked on, where we were trying to develop a sales platform. It included a buy/sell function, but also a swap system. Sadly the site died as the money for it dried up. (Hmmm... thinking on it, that may be how I know about the crafters' swaps. It could have been research)

One thing I'd be wary about though is making the swap easier to do. With one book-swapping site, you can only swap books if the other person has what you want. Say I want a copy of a specific puppet making book and want to get rid of a copy of a dictionary: I have to wait around til someone has my book and wants my dictionary. Which makes the swaps harder to achieve. I like the idea of offering a service or putting out a want ad, where even if the person doesn't have what I'm interested in/want what I'm giving, there's room for negotiation.

Maybe somewhere in there needs to be a no-fault cancellation, where after some discussion you realise the other person doesn't have what you want and you can agree to separate. Maybe then the fee needs to be refundable?

Of course, here we get into the more tricky parts of how to monitor and secure transactions like that so no one gets ripped off.

... But in general I'd be extremely keen to sign up to an artists' swap. I have a whole lot of things I need help with but don't have the relevant skills/knowledge to do; but I also have a lot of skills I could offer in exchange. Good will is a huge part of artistry, especially in puppetry and a service that allows exchange of good will is great business and great marketing.