I like the gist of these two suggestions. Though they seem a bit salesman like. Like something you might see on a product package. Maybe that's OK though. What do others think?
Thanks for the suggestion @diiq! I like your idea of abstracting away the methods to get to the heart of the value for the end user. I'd be interested to hear what others think about this.
www.codemonkeysatwork.com - We have a pay-for iPhone app called QuickShot that I make my money from. I also just launched http://www.talentopoly.com as another source of income.
That's a good point and it is how I believe workingwithrails.com has handled this. You are ranked by the number of recommendations you have. That way new users who are unvetted do not rise to the top. Though in my experience recommendations are generally short and weak in their content. Maybe a system where users can say if they have worked with the person and if they would work with them again would be good.