Business Owners Leverage the Crowd

By Robin Smith
Dec. 1, 2011

Humans combining with technology….what else is new? It seems we are inundated at every turn with the latest gadget that promises futuristic business applications. Understanding which applications are relevant and applicable to your business can be a very difficult and often intimidating task. Crowdsourcing, however, is a relatively new tool almost every business can benefit from in many different ways.

Crowdsourcing is basically “outsourcing” tasks to individuals or groups who are accessible through a variety of platforms or open calls. Think of crowdsourcing as your own personal assistant available only when and wherever needed. For example, a specific project requires copied documents from a courthouse three states away, the printed materials for your afternoon meeting must be picked up (but your employee called in sick), a machine you need to purchase is thousands of dollars less but located across the country, etc. In each of these examples, it is possible to dispatch a person to complete these tasks for you via crowdsourcing.

Finding the right crowdsourcing platform which best fits your needs is simple. There are several good companies that tap the power of many people to get the work done. The persons who participate as independent contractors within the crowdsourcing platform are local to their area and very familiar with their way around their community.

A few crowdsourcing platforms:
1. TaskRabbit.com:  Simply post your “task” and “rabbits” bid on the job.

• Pros:  Lots of “rabbits” will bid on a variety of job postings such as: putting together furniture at the office, picking up dry cleaning, “secret shopping” to verify employees are checking IDs.  Rabbits are vetted through an interview and background check.
• Cons:  TaskRabbit is available only in a handful of cities throughout the USA but they are “multiplying” quickly.