Winning Crowdsource Websites

Crowdsourcing isn’t just for funding. If your business is in need of a graphic, but you don’t have a designer, or if you need some website copy, but don’t have a marketer, Squadhelp and crowdSPRING can help you find lots of options to choose from. Both websites give businesses access to outside help and freelance work through contests. A company posts a project, the site’s members submit their custom-designed work and ideas, and the company picks a winner. Although these websites shouldn’t replace professional marketers or designers, they’re a good alternative if you’re looking for a fast solution for a low-budget project.

Squadhelp

What is it?

Squadhelp offers a crowdsourced option for hiring a vendor to create taglines and slogans for your company, a specific event, or project, as well as logo design, website and usability testing, article writing, and SEO analysis. Post your assignment description and budget, submit your request to the site’s users, wait for the entries, and pick a winning submission.

How does it work?

Squadhelp charges a base listing fee of $25 to list a contest. After that, prices vary depending on what you’re after. Taglines, slogans, and names start at $50, and viral videos start at $200. You’re encouraged to offer more than the minimum amount: the higher the price, the better quality and quantity of entries.

During the contest, Squadhelp encourages you to rate and comment on the entries you receive, which offers valuable feedback to both the current and future entrants. Squadhelp collects the fees and the award compensation in advance, and pays the money to the person declared the winner by the contest holder when the time is up.

CrowdSPRING

What is it?

Like Squadhelp, crowdSPRING is a crowdsource platform that offers businesses an opportunity to choose between multiple entries for logo design, website design, and writing. There are also categories for mobile and app design, editing and proofreading, and presentation and business plan writing.

How does it work?

CrowdSPRING offers three project levels: economy, standard, and pro. Depending on the level of the project, options for project length, privacy, and the amount of the listing fee differs. Economy projects, for example, require a $39 listing fee. On top of the listing fee, crowdSPRING charges a 15 percent fee, plus your award amount. Awards start at $200, and, like Squadhelp, the higher the number, the better the quality and quantity of submissions.

Feedback is also important, and crowdSPRING encourages users to rate every entry received—even if submissions are in the hundreds. When the contest is over, crowdSPRING pays the winner—or winners, if more than one entry is selected.