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I've been looking for get this website done for a long time.

I thought with a well organized write-up of what I wanted, as well as having clear examples done in photoshop of faux pages to give an idea of the vision, and no hidden surprises, I would be a programmer's dream job.

Unfortunately, no company will touch the website. There is nothing illegal about it or even remotely offensive. It's an adult listing for professional Dominatrices. I don't see what the big deal is, when there are way worse and more hard-core sites out there, and this is just a listing. Pro Domination is a legal occupation in the USA and most of the world. People just don't want to touch the site. It's really strange. I have all of the information and details of the site laid out perfectly and clearly. I just either get no response or people who tell me they won't touch anything remotely adult.

Is there a reason for this?

user82938
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    Are you offering to pay a fair amount? You might have to pitch a little higher than the average site due to the subject matter in order to attract developers. – KChaloux Mar 01 '13 at 22:31
  • I've agreed to their fees, which were more than fair. Then they disappear. Or suddenly tell me they can't work on it. – user82938 Mar 01 '13 at 22:32
  • I thought with a well organized write-up of what I wanted, as well as having clear examples done in photoshop of faux pages to give an idea of the vision, and no hidden surprises, I would be a programmer's dream job. – user82938 Mar 01 '13 at 22:34
  • That doesn't sound like anything we could help you with here. It's impossible to say why you're unable to find reliable developers without knowing where you're searching, what you're paying, and what your actual pitch is. Unfortunately, all of that is off topic for this site, and it's likely the question will be closed. Have you considered looking into learning to program the website yourself? – KChaloux Mar 01 '13 at 22:34
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    Just got finished typing this answer when the question was closed - 10 minutes after it was asked. So here goes – Ross Patterson Mar 01 '13 at 22:42
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    Part 1: Basically, lots of professional programmers don't want pornography on their resumes. The "adult industry" drives lots of innovation on the web, but they get no credit for it. For many years they were the only companies making actual money on the Internet - they pioneered many of the small-payment systems everyone else uses today. For years they were some of the network hardware manufacturers' largest customers. – Ross Patterson Mar 01 '13 at 22:42
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    Part 2: I won't say nobody wants to do this stuff. But most folks don't want it to be their full time job. It taints everything it touches in some peoples' eyes. As a hiring manager, I've received resumes that had vague descriptions of technical work that, when I asked, proved to be from that industry. I personally couldn't care less, I wanted to know the technical details. But the candidates were genuinely embarrassed to have done that work, and it got in the way of their search for more work. – Ross Patterson Mar 01 '13 at 22:43
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    Have you considered looking within adult communities where there may be developers that would be open to doing this kind of work? Fetlife would be one site that comes to mind that may be an idea to help find people that understand what you are trying to build enough to be useful. – JB King Mar 01 '13 at 23:03
  • @RossPatterson: I have a customer who provides services to porn companies. They wouldn't tell me what exactly their market was until I had already been scoping the project out for a week. Finally the accounting director says to the technical contact, "Chris doesn't know what we do, does he?" and they said they provided financial services to porn companies. No biggie for me but it almost cost them services from another company. – Chris Travers Mar 02 '13 at 02:03
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    I've created several (legal) adult websites. Can't say I'm enjoying the gap in my resume. – yannis Mar 02 '13 at 05:42
  • @YannisRizos I believe that this is the reason why people don't want to do it and you have to over-pay them: One doesn't put it into his references, and considering the IT market, good references are what makes your karma grow... :-/ – yo' Mar 02 '13 at 10:43
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    I would say that the fact that you have an incomplete profile, especially anonymous, entails a part of the answer to your own question. Secondly I'd say that it depends on the cultural background of the community you've asked service to. I for myself would not be ashamed of such labour even though I'm not into Domination :-) – Arnaud Meuret Mar 02 '13 at 13:12
  • @RossPatterson Question has since been reopened - want to transplant it into an answer? – Izkata Mar 03 '13 at 04:25
  • My current employer was approached to do something for/in the adult industry and this was his explanation for not doing it: he saw chance for the project to be exploited negatively and didn't want to be the person responsible for this being built ++ not wanting it on the company's resume. – Andy Hunt Mar 03 '13 at 15:51
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    I'm actually glad to see this question ended up staying open/getting reopened. – KChaloux Mar 04 '13 at 17:40

3 Answers3

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I just either get no response or people who tell me they won't touch anything remotely adult.

Pay more.

You might think that you're offering a competitive rate, but the fact that you can't get anyone interested means that the people who've looked at the job don't agree. It may be that you haven't factored the stigma associated with your industry into your pay rate, or it may be that there's just an abundance of interesting projects in your area right now, or a dearth of qualified developers, or whatever. The precise reasons that nobody's interested don't really matter that much; your task is to sweeten the deal enough to attract developers (and not just any old developers, but people who really know what they're doing).

Caleb
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    +1 This is the simple answer. Pay enough (the right amount) and you will attract someone regardless of reasons. – smalltown2k Mar 03 '13 at 00:04
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Basically, lots of professional programmers don't want pornography on their resumes. The "adult industry" drives lots of innovation on the web, but they get no credit for it. For many years they were the only companies making actual money on the Internet - they pioneered many of the small-payment systems everyone else uses today. For years they were some of the network hardware manufacturers' largest customers.

I won't say nobody wants to do this stuff. But most folks don't want it to be their full time job. It taints everything it touches in some peoples' eyes. As a hiring manager, I've received resumes that had vague descriptions of technical work that, when I asked, proved to be from that industry. I personally couldn't care less, I wanted to know the technical details. But the candidates were genuinely embarrassed to have done that work

Ross Patterson
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Nobody wants to have this "project" show up later in their resume or portfolio. And apparently nobody wants to do a project they can't later mention in public.

Pro Domination is a legal occupation in the USA and most of the world.

Not everywhere. Don't ask Turkish or northern African (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco) programmers to build you one (being Muslims they'll even get offended). It's also not that much legal in eastern Europe (Ukraine, Russia) to be engaged in distribution of such content (which building the website would constitute).

But mostly, the gaps in your resume is a killer. People assume it's either something illegal, government-related or you had a bad run with a company and you just don't want them to call it for a reference. They'll just prefer to pass over you. Here you go, a job from the bottom of the barrel.

guest
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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pornography_laws.svg - This illustration may help your point. There are some unexpected countries on the banned list like Iceland. I should also point out that it's legal in Turkey and not all Turks are Muslims, nor are all Muslims going to be so perturbed about it, same as Christians or Jews or whomever. –  Mar 02 '13 at 17:19
  • That is true certainly, it's a sensitive area though. Personally, unless I knew somebody in particular who were okay with it I wouldn't ask openly in a Muslim community "who can build me a porn site?". – guest Mar 02 '13 at 17:30
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    Yes, this is exactly it. I once worked on a windows screensaver project that was sold to me as something to be bundled with pictures of flags and puppies and other innocuous things. A year latter, while on a job hunt, I discovered that not only had the guy started selling softcore porn, but he'd put my name into a "thanks to" section, resulting in google hits. I demanded he pull it down immediately. It's not something you want a prospective employer to run into. – Gort the Robot Mar 02 '13 at 18:07