Since 1999
Crowdsourcing is fast becoming a quick way of collecting, distributing and accessing relevant information without spending too much money.
It is the practice of taking content, services, and ideas from a large number of contributors online. In short, crowdsourcing is all about combining the efforts of several people where each individual contributes to a project. Many people mistake crowdsourcing with outsourcing. While outsourcing requires companies to get projects done by a specific group of people, crowdsourcing work is provided by volunteers and much wider community whom you may or may not even pay for the advice and the service you get from them.
The term “crowdsourcing” came to be used in 2006. Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson, editors at Wired Magazine, are credited for coining the term crowdsourcing which is a combination of ‘crowd’ and ‘outsource’.
When it comes to search engine optimization and your websites, crowdsourcing can be critically beneficial. It has become a great tool for harnessing the knowledge and power of the masses and engaging people to collaborate creatively and beneficially.
Crowdsourcing allows companies and websites to obtain valuable and relevant information and content from a large number of people that too at affordable cost or no cost and without using much of their own resources. It is like killing two birds with one stone. You acquire valuable content without compromising on quality at all.
Nowadays organizations resort to crowdsourcing for a number of tasks including guest posts, web design and graphics, photography, content development and lots more. These members contribute not just for the monetary benefits that they may receive but for the recognition that they receive on a huge platform and the access they get to reach out to a large audience.
Moreover, participation and contribution from varied people build members interest, bring in more visitors and builds brand loyalty.
Another benefit of crowdsourcing is that unlike employees, you don’t need to specifically train crowdsourcing volunteers for their tasks. They don’t use company’s resources or look for any work benefits or perks. This way, the company manages to save resources, time and money.
A crowdsourcing venture doesn’t doesn’t need to hunt for talented people. Rather people volunteer to participate in the venture with their innovative ideas and creations for the mileage they get out of the engagement.
Crowdsourcing is an excellent tool for social media marketing. When you encourage crowd participation, generating interest in your services, content or information becomes a easy.
Volunteers on their own share their content with their friends and acquaintances on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ and in no time, the information becomes viral. In fact, crowdsourcing is effective in marketing your brand online and for the success of your social media marketing strategy.
One such wonderful example of crowdsourcing is www.learningandcreativity.com. This fabulous website has presented a huge platform for novice and professional writers, poets, artists and photographers to share their work on the site under their byline.
Launched in August 2013, this one-of-its-kind website is a one stop resource for all information and content to encourage budding and professional writers and artists be it children, teens or adults.
Learning & Creativity is aimed at motivating people to follow their creative pursuits by inviting them to send in their work and get published for no cost. Learning & Creativity has used the method of crowdsourcing effectively by inviting all the people to come up with their creative expressions and contribute to the website meant for creative expression.
It is a treasure trove for writers, poets, artists, painters, and photographers to share their work with World Wide Web community. In this website, you get to see a high quality collection of short stories, poems, musings, opinionated articles, creative art, book reviews, movie reviews, interviews, photography, travelogues and so on with special sections devoted the kids and teens contributors!
When done effectively, crowdsourcing is a powerful tool that helps you to create an online venture based on collaborative content creation and sharing.
