In the corporate world, it’s called brainstorming. In sports, it’s called teamwork. In the music industry, it’s called collaboration. On the web, it’s called crowd-sourcing.
Crowd-sourcing for the layman is basically to ask participants to give their two cents on an issue or to solve a problem. It lets you leverage the “talents of the crowd”.
It could be anything like web design, article writing services, logo creation or even some help with administrative services.
Ultimately, the solution to the problem comes from the crowd of contributors –thus the term, crowd sourcing.
Here is a list of some of the best crowdsourcing sites you can find around the web:
1. Odesk – Employers post their job requirement and members apply for the job. It’s just like your typical matchmaking service without the mixed signals and the requirement for dinner and flowers.
2. Pickydomains – It’s not easy to think of a domain name that embodies your business to a T in 8 characters or less. Business owners post their requirements and contributors get to create a name for that business. It’s a name game, except you don’t sing “bananapana”. You can if you wanted to, though.
3. CloudCrowd – Members also apply for projects but with a referral program that makes it twice more fun. Here you can make more money when your referral completes a task. Sounds like something people do out on the streets, right? Only, this is done in the comfort of your home.
4. Poptent – Use this for advertising requirements. This is where you will find the next James Cameron. Ok, maybe not. But, you will find a lot of talent here.
5. Amazon Mechanical Turk – It is here because the list is not complete without it. Emblazoned on the banner are the words “Mechanical Turk is a marketplace for work”. There you go! Many have been said about this site, both positive and negative. You be the judge.
If you feel like crowd-sourcing might work for you and your business, visit these sites. There are a lot more that are just as awesome (or even more so) as these sites.
Which ones have you tried? I’d love to know about your crowd-sourcing experiences in the comments below.
Image credit: http://iwatchedthemfall.tumblr.com/
About Jaie T
Of course Jaie, I like to use pickydomains.com crowd-sourcing. I am check it, and I thinks it’s also for good solution to the problem comes from the crowd of contributors. Very nice posting and I am very happy for read this post, thanks…
We provides web design and development, web and mobile application development, php web development, content management systems, web site maintenance, mobile application development service, iphone application development, offshore application development, working for different frameworks in PHP , asp.net, ecommerce development, open source content management systems, database applications also we hire web developers,asp.net expert .
Twitter: RoksanaAkhter1
says:
I think this is one of the most vital information for me.
And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The web site style is perfect, the articles is really great
Thanks, Pickydomains.com is what exactly I have been looking for.
Hm .. great Artikel geschrieben Keep it up .. Thanks for sharing comments love.All das Beste..
thanks admin
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Twitter: HuMuch
says:
HuMuch.com is the crowdsourcing site for prices. Consumers around the world can share their favorite items and prices. Then, the information is aggregated and presented to all for easy price comparison.
The brainstorming, teamwork and the collaboration can discribe the meaning of Crowd-sourcing. It is very important term for the web desigers. The effectivness of the web designing can be check from the Crowd-sourcing.
Betaalbare webdesign
Twitter: keyhousemedia
says:
I enjoy using Odesk, the most. I think it’s actually the largest pool of designers, marketers, and IT. I think Odesk got it right by qualifying everyone and making sure everyone gets paid accordingly.
Ryan Key recently posted..Is Your Web Presence Credible?
mobilizing the crowd goes beyond the business sphere,and works well in social activism in fight against poverty and hunger.the piece I wrote expose the idea netizens/the online crowd/ activism very well.
http://www.pifworld.com/players/MA-Aragaw/10587.
Please visit the latest launched top crowdsourcing site and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.
this is my first time to know this term…. what is the relation with outsourcing?
Hosting Unlimited Terbaik recently posted..Jenis-jenis CMS dan Penerapannya Pada Website
I came across Pickydomains only last week, I’ve always had a problem coming up with original domain names, and their service fee is reasonable. Hostobo and EyesOnFries were just two of the names I thought were both catchy and original; for $50, it seems a no brainer in comparison to spending days yourself, and coming up with something without the same ring to it.
Twitter: felipeveiga
says:
I wasn’t aware of ODesk, it looks really good. I am fond of Elance, which is pretty much the same and I have found some amazing contractors. Yet I have added all of them to my list. Thanks for sharing, amazing post indeed!!
Felipe Veiga recently posted..Editar video online – Editor grátis de vídeos pelo navegador
Glad you find this list helpful, guys! Thanks for adding FreelanceDomain, Fiverr and CloudFactory to it. I may have to create another list to include all your suggestions.
I got terrific list for best crowdsourcing sites. As of now I have use only Odesk, But I really like to follow other sites also, Thanks Jaie.
Twitter: enstinemuki
says:
Hi Jaie, 4 on the list are quite new to me. The pickydomains.com model is really fun and I’m already checking that out.
Enstine Muki recently posted..More Followers, More Exposure, More Traffic on EasyRetweet.com with New Features
Twitter: freelancedomain.com
says:
Another useful crowdsourcing site that you guys should check out is http://www.freelancedomain,com. The site is very user friendly and it cost nothing to post post jobs. There is also a free subscription account available for freelancers.
Twitter: payable
says:
Hi Jaie that’s a great list, I just came across one crowdsourcing website payable.com, I found one special feature in it called “submit an idea” which might be useful for your readers..
caroline recently posted..Blogging and Search Engine Optimization reached Saturation Point?
I have never heard about this websites before….very useful
Would you consider Fiverr as a crowdsourcing site? I agree, you can get good people from oDesk when you know how to filter through them.
Yes it is a crowd sourcing site. Thanks for that Joan!
My friend advised me to use Fiverr few weeks ago. But I haven’t tried it yet. Planning to do this soon.
Twitter: alarabnet
says:
The buzz about crowdsourcing continues to get louder every day.
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Twitter: HeadHuntable
says:
Crowd-sourcing helps in gathering a group of people that can solve complex and expensive problems, it is entirely different from Outsourcing. Outsourcing allocates work to a defined organizational entity whereas crowd sourcing allocates work to an unorganized collection of individuals. These crowd-sourcing sites can certainly help you in massive cost savings.
Darin Spears recently posted..Why has the average software engineering salary increased in the past couple of years and will it continue to rise?
Hey guy…This is really good and useful information. The sites you enlisted here are really an awesome example of crowd-sourcing. I will definitely try to know more about these all by visiting them individually. Thanks for useful sharing.
The buzz about crowdsourcing continues to get louder every day.
I’ve used oDesk before, great for finding talented freelancers. Good tips!
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I see that most of us have checked out Odesk. Robert is right, there are many good people with great skills there. Thanks for the tips, Mimi!
Twitter: wpthemesave
says:
I have used oDesk before. There are many good people with great skills there, if you know how to choose them properly
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Twitter: mimibuildwealth
says:
I’ve used oDesk a number of times for graphic design, writing and other tasks and had great luck with them. Look for people who have 5 star ratings. I also have used people with no ratings because they usually bid lower to get their first jobs – many of them have been excellent. Be sure to give people a positive comment on their ratings if they do good work for you and do your part to be fair, pay promptly, etc. so you can get a good rating yourself.
Mimi recently posted..How to Uncover Hidden Start-Up Cash for Your Business
I’d never heard of crowdsourcing – well as a phrase – but I’ve definitely noticed the effectiveness of what can be achieved from groups of people on forums etc. It’s good to see that sites have popped up to cater for, what should be, a thriving online business sector.
Twitter: bbrian017
says:
Hi Jaie T, I haven’t tried any really but I’ve heard of people having a lot of success with these hire programs. It’s cheap on costs as you only pay when you need someone.
bbrian017 recently posted..Engage Your Blog With The Blog Engage RSS and Social Media Marketing Services
Hi Brian! Most of the sites work like that where you only pay when you need the service. I’ve tried them all but I have yet to explore their “powers”.
This is new to me, Crowdsourcing Websites, thanks for the insight, try to browse Odesk,Pickydomain,Cloudcrowd, and Poptent now
Thank you JT
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Twitter: theCloudFactory
says:
Nice to see these crowdsourcing sites’ list. Hope you’ll add CloudFactory someday in your list.
I would highly recommend http://www.guardianlender.com. They like to cater to small projects or those that have been rejected on other highly restrictive crowd sourcing websites.
Twitter: MobilityCompany
says:
I was aware of Odesk and few of my friends from the online marketing sector have earned some clients who are trust worthy. Odesk’s qualifying tests make sure the right talent is given a fair change. So in case you are checking out on any of the crowd-sourcing websites I opine there would some kind of online entrance tests. Correct me if am wrong!