Crowdsourcing is a way of doing business that lets you hire employees from around the world to work on a single project. As they work from home, they are independent contractors and not employees, which means that they are responsible for paying their own taxes and that you do not need to provide them with benefits like health insurance. Many companies use this method as a way of producing good videos, images and articles for new websites. Looking at the advantages, disadvantages, how the process works and some modern day examples lets you know if it will work for your business.

How It Works

The way it works is simpler than you might think. You create a dedicated website that allows workers to log in and do work through the system. Only those who perform the work that is available to them and follow all the standards and regulations you put in place will receive payment. Most systems feature tests that workers must take before they can work on a new assignment. You can also put a check system in place that allows higher paid workers to check the tasks done by others and either approve or turn down their work.

Benefits

Cutting down on your costs is one of the key benefits of using these systems, according to Peter Gasca. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a single article for your site, you can get dozens of articles from qualified writers for the same price. Gasca points out that this can also reduce your overhead costs too. When you hire contractors who work from home, you do not need to pay utility bills or rent for a larger office space. You’ll also have the chance to get work from people with diverse backgrounds and work that you cannot get in your own city.

Disadvantages

While crowdsourcing has its advantages, it also has some disadvantages. As those workers receive less money than they would get in more traditional jobs and do not get any benefits, they may spend less time on the work that you need. This may result in you paying for websites with serious security issues or buying websites that lack proper HTML formatting. You also risk hiring contractors from foreign countries who do not have a good grasp of the English language. Those workers may not understand your rules or send back work with serious errors.

Examples in the Modern Day

Amazon Mechanical Turk, also known as mturk, is a common example of how companies use this system in the modern world. Registered users can create simple tasks that pay workers anywhere from a penny per task to more than $20 per task. Those using the site can approve pictures for a website, take surveys and even create websites. McDonald’s used this method when it launched its Build a Better Burger Campaign. The fast food giant let customers create their perfect burgers online and share their recipes to win prizes from the company.

As the number of people working from home grows, companies need to look at ways to encourage those individuals to work for them. Crowdsourcing, which allows independent contractors to log into a set system and complete smaller and larger tasks, is a great way to find new workers, save on overhead costs and get work you cannot get in your current location.