Brown cited ‘crowdsourcing’ as the magic behind his impressive prediction. He got 24 people to collectively predict the numbers using crowdsourcing, The Wisdom of Crowds.  Whether you believe this explanation or not (and there are certainly those who are sceptics), the use of crowdsourcing in this mass-media entertainment show highlights the widespread understanding and acceptance of this tool. This is where online communities such as Innocentive come to the fore. Image by seyahmas via Flickr. Quite a feat. But one he achieved with 100% accuracy. MORE >>

The story was a remarkable crowdsourcing success story involving a team of international gamers and their ability to solve a molecular structure that had baffled industry experts for years. What left scientists stumped for 10 years was solved by gamers 365 times faster , thanks to the use of crowdsourcing. Thankfully, the tactic isn’t limited to molecular puzzles; crowdsourcing can bring major benefits to your company. So what forms of crowdsourcing are there? Therefore, the question may become, “should this be crowdsourced in-house or to the masses?” MORE >>

Crowdsourcing, when done properly, can play a pivotal role with your content marketing. Below are five ways crowdsourcing is impacting the future of content marketing: Crowdsourcing speeds up the content creation process  (and frees you up). Keep in mind, however, that crowdsourcing projects do take a lot of moderation & feedback. Crowdsourcing gets your customers & potential customers involved. Invaluable crowdsourcing systems build in options for your community to produce work, not just paid crowdworkers. How many people did you tell? MORE >>

In today’s online world, the term crowdsourcing gets bandied about quite a bit. It’s the most difficult and visible form of community-based social engagement. Yet, much of today’s conversations deal with fleeting uses of “crowdsourcing,&# such as asking questions of Twitter communities. There are also plenty of interesting articles about benefits and the possible impact of sustainable crowdsourcing (as well as the tools to do it) but I find that the pragmatic how-to experience is missing. The crowdsourced effort serves both parties. MORE >>

As many of you know, Gavin Heaton and I co-edited the Age of Conversation series of books — each one crowdsourced with help from marketing and social media practitioners from all over the globe. Each book is as unique as the contributors but they all three had some things in common: The authors formed a community among themselves and I know for a fact that new business and personal relationships formed as a result. My agency, McLellan Marketing Group , took the same model and brought it to our community of Central Iowa (through our client BIZ-CI ). Viva the underdog! MORE >>