Crowdsourcing – using the ideas of the world

After all of the brains in a company have been stormed, and no WOW-idea has been born throughout the process, maybe it is time to use all the ideas that are outside your company’s doorstep.

Instead of having one or two people doing the job, come up with an idea, you can now outsource it to a large group of people outside the company – you can reach into the minds of so many people! The term ‘crowdsourcing’ was first coined in 2006, but the rise of the crowdsourcing platforms has only been more significant in the past 2 years.

The best people to offer you feedback on your ideas or products, the best to suggest improvements or innovations are your customers – or potential customers. Instead if investing resources into analyzing what your customers’ needs or wishes might be, why not ask them? This is the solution to a successful launch of any product or service: involve your customers from the beginning of your creation process, ask them for feedback, listen to their ideas and they will feel like part of your idea, hence more prone to buying it. Instead of facing them with a final products or service, and afterwards investing huge amounts of money into convincing them that they need what you have just served there, let them be part of your story.

It is effective, it is cheap, it is fun and it is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Famous Example: Wikipedia. Instead of Wikipedia creating an encyclopedia on their own, hiring writers and editors, they gave a crowd the ability to create the information on their own. The result? The most comprehensive encyclopedia this world has ever seen.

Crowdsourcing’s biggest benefit is the ability to receive better quality results, since several people offer their best ideas, skills, & support. Crowdsourcing allows a company to select the best result from a sea of ‘best entries,’ as opposed to receiving the best entry from a single agent. Results can be delivered much quicker than traditional methods, since crowdsourcing is a form of freelancing, using online platforms. Companies can get a finished video within a month, a finished design or idea within a week, and microtasks appear within minutes.

In return, the people providing their ideas, get promotional articles from the companies, small gifts, or even a small reward payment. The ROI is higher than in any traditional method.

To get some information on crowdsourcing platforms and how they work, you can visit:

Symbid

Crowdcube

Rockethub (Crowdfunding)

NameThis

If you want to read about several successful crowdsourcing ideas, here is an inspirational list:

Open Innovators