Book: Crowdsourcing Websites - Pt. 2

Last week I gave an example of crowdsourcing by showing how we designed Fanscape's company logo through the crowdsource website Crowdspring.  I promised to talk this week about conversing in the crowdsource space.

First, get over the idea that you have to do everything yourself.  Thanks to the web and specifically Social Media, you can find experts in nearly every area willing to give you their thoughts or practice their skills in exchange for money or exposure.

Second, once you've gotten over the fear of outsourcing to others, then you need to know how to ask for what you want.

Four ideas on how to communicate when crowdsourcing:

1. Give an overview of who you are and what you hope to accomplish
When doing our Fanscape logo via Crowdspring, this is the language we used:

Creative brief

Fanscape is in search of a new logo to use throughout our business materials, including our website (www.fanscape.com), business stationary, and other official assets.

**Who We Are**
Fanscape is a leading Digital Marketing Agency that provides interactive marketing solutions for today's most exciting entertainment and technology-related products. We utilize strategic Online and Mobile marketing methods to surround the target consumer and complement traditional advertising. We very much live in the world of blogs, social networks, widgets, and all that is web 2.0.

**What We Are Looking For**
We are looking for a logo that is clean, slick, and not over-the-top or cutesy. While we would like something that fits in with today's web 2.0 world, we also do not want it to appear dated when the inevitable 3.0 rolls around. The logo will most often be used on white backgrounds, but should also be easily adapted for darker backgrounds.

You can learn more about us at our website, Fanscape.com.

!!!IMPORTANT!!! Please do not attempt to incorporate any design/color elements you see at our website! Our site, like our logo, is being updated and the color scheme / design will be changing dramatically -- use it strictly for information only.

2. Be prepared to update if you see things going in a direction not to your liking
Example: when we saw the direction our crowdsourcing was taking, we posted the following:

Update 1-Oct-08, 3:11p.m. PDT

Great to already see submissions so early on! One quick note -- Digital Marketing Agency is NOT our tagline and should not be included with the logo. It was included in the assignment title just to describe what it is we do. Thanks!!!

3. Give Examples
We didn't do this for the logo example I've shown above, but if you have an idea of what you want to accomplish based on other things you've seen, then point people to this.  For example, when we were designing our latest website, we compiled a list of other websites that we liked.  We boiled it all down to specifically what we liked about the individual sites and compiled this into an extended creative brief document.  Now, we didn't crowdsource our website, though I wouldn't be afraid to do that in the future, but we did use similar techniques to the logo design crowdsourcing.  Point being, you want to be as explicit as possible if you do have something in your mind that you hope to accomplish.  I am particularly picky when it comes to design.  I often know what I want but have a hard time explaining what is in my head.  So, I find the best way to alleviate the inevitable frustration between myself and the designer/developer is to give examples.

4. Be prepared to expand on what is created
What you get is often not the end product.  The logo that was originally created was slightly different, see below:

 

Final product:

It's basically the same, but we changed the font a bit and the colors as well. This is typical and another great reason for crowdsourcing because you are paying for concept and initial details.  After that, you own it and can do what you need to in order to make it right for you.

As I mentioned last week, crowdsourcing in my opinion has risen to new heights via Social Media and something you should embrace.  From creating a logo to finishing your movie script, there are great resources on the web to help you out with those tasks that stare at you from your to-do list every day. Just make sure to always explain your needs and thoughts clearly so that you end up getting what you want. Follow the four steps I listed above and you should get what you want.