If you're like a lot of people I know, I'll bet my bottom dollar you've heard of them already. Mind you, there are a lot of them, and you're probably using at least one of them. I’m talking about crowdsourcing sites. So what is crowdsourcing exactly? Simplistically speaking, crowdsourcing, a word coined by Jeff Howe in a 2006 Wired magazine article, is a process involving the outsourcing of tasks to a diverse group of people. It’s more like regular outsourcing, the difference being the people a task is outsourced to is “undefined” rather than specific, like a set of paid employees.
Like in almost anything, there are pros and cons to crowdsourcing, but so far, judging by the sheer number of them splattered across the world wide web, the benefits far outclass the disadvantages. Here are five crowdsourcing sites you might want to check out:
1. CloudCrowd.com – CloudCrowd offers on-demand business services such as content creation, translation, editing and advertising communications. The company takes on large projects and breaks them down into smaller tasks distributed to its registered online workforce. After which, all tasks are peer-reviewed for accuracy.
2. PickyDomains.com – PickyDomains is a risk-free branding/naming service (meaning you pay, typically $50, only if you decide to use one of their suggestions) where clients specify what they want for a catchy, easy-to-remember domain, name or slogan. Contributors from all over the globe send out suggestions and get compensated, depending on contributor ranking and order type, when their suggestions get picked and registered by clients.
3. Elance.com – Long before oDesk became a force to reckon with in the freelancing world, Elance.com was already an established online employment platform where clients employ independent freelance contractors for specific projects. Once a contractor is hired for a project, all file exchanges, communication and payments are done between the two parties through Elance’s Workroom.
4. crowdSPRING.com – crowdSPRING.com is an online marketplace for logos, graphic designs and copywriting content. Entrepreneurs post what they actually need, when they need it and how much they’re willing to pay. Designers and/or writers from all over the world then submit actual work, not bids or proposals.
5. vWorker.com – Founded under the name RentACoder, vWorker is an online employment agency, much like Elance and oDesk. vWorker’s escrow system ensures that sellers (contractors/freelancers) are protected from buyers (clients/employers) looking to outsource jobs for free. The escrow system requires the buyer to deposit funds to vWorker while the job is being completed.
Like in almost anything, there are pros and cons to crowdsourcing, but so far, judging by the sheer number of them splattered across the world wide web, the benefits far outclass the disadvantages. Here are five crowdsourcing sites you might want to check out:
1. CloudCrowd.com – CloudCrowd offers on-demand business services such as content creation, translation, editing and advertising communications. The company takes on large projects and breaks them down into smaller tasks distributed to its registered online workforce. After which, all tasks are peer-reviewed for accuracy.
2. PickyDomains.com – PickyDomains is a risk-free branding/naming service (meaning you pay, typically $50, only if you decide to use one of their suggestions) where clients specify what they want for a catchy, easy-to-remember domain, name or slogan. Contributors from all over the globe send out suggestions and get compensated, depending on contributor ranking and order type, when their suggestions get picked and registered by clients.
3. Elance.com – Long before oDesk became a force to reckon with in the freelancing world, Elance.com was already an established online employment platform where clients employ independent freelance contractors for specific projects. Once a contractor is hired for a project, all file exchanges, communication and payments are done between the two parties through Elance’s Workroom.
4. crowdSPRING.com – crowdSPRING.com is an online marketplace for logos, graphic designs and copywriting content. Entrepreneurs post what they actually need, when they need it and how much they’re willing to pay. Designers and/or writers from all over the world then submit actual work, not bids or proposals.
5. vWorker.com – Founded under the name RentACoder, vWorker is an online employment agency, much like Elance and oDesk. vWorker’s escrow system ensures that sellers (contractors/freelancers) are protected from buyers (clients/employers) looking to outsource jobs for free. The escrow system requires the buyer to deposit funds to vWorker while the job is being completed.
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