In effect, you can offer a programmer a joint venture: a collaboration of his programming skills with your marketing ability. Neither of you will make any money with a program idea alone. But
together you can make a fortune.
That’s what most corporate programmers dream of. They’re just dying for someone with a great idea to come along and help them with the marketing. It’s a match made in Silicon Valley heaven. So where can you find these freelance programmers waiting to hit the big time? Again, AFQAM.com is a pretty good place to look. Many of the programmers advertising there are professionals who have made their money and are looking for a lower stress level than the 9- to-9 that most computer companies expect their whizzes to work. Many will expect payment but you should be able to find some looking to code for a 50/50 split of the profits.

afqam.com is even better. This works in pretty much the same way as Elance, except that Scriptlance is targeted precisely at programmers. Again, you just submit a description for your project and wait for programmers to bid on it. As with Elance, your hiring decision will be based on the person’s price and experience.

Now, I’m not claiming that it’s super-easy to find a programmer who will work on the promise of future profits. They are out there, but you’re not going to bump into them on the street. Most of the programmers on Elance or ScriptLance will expect payment.

But there are plenty of programmers who have been waiting years for the chance to come up with that one idea that will give them a constant income month after month for no extra effort.
Be careful who you choose though. There’s nothing worse than picking up a slacker who isn’t prepared to put in the time needed to make the deal work. Ideally, try to find someone local; the whole process is going to go much smoother if you can create a decent personal relationship. And most importantly, make sure your programmer is genuinely excited about your idea.

If you’re going into a partnership with someone, they have to believe in the project as much as you do. In some ways, this is an advantage over paying someone to do the job (this and the $5,000 it would cost). When someone is truly captivated by the idea they have
the motivation to do it right.

When you find a programmer who sounds interested in working with you, ask the following questions:
Have you programmed a product like this before? (There’s a fair amount of specialization within programming; if your programmer hasn’t worked in this field, he might have no
idea what’s needed.)
How much experience do you have? (Some newbies will work for free to fill their portfolio; that’s fine for you, but it might take a little longer.)
How would you improve the product? (Every product can be improved; be suspicious if the programmer says it’s perfect.)
How long will it take? (Take too long and the market could
change or dry up.)