There is a beautiful story to be told about human ingenuity; where everyday people, like you and me, provide a solution to solve a problem. Whether you’re an amateur photographer, curious researcher, tech-savvy developer, or food lover, both your passion and wisdom can be shared with the world in order to solve an array of mind-stumping problems.

Crowdsourcing is a rising phenomenon that is catching more and more company’s attention. Crowdsourcing exists as an online, distributed problem-solving model that has now emerged as an alternative business model. Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson coined the term in June 2006 and defined it as “a new web-based model that harnesses the creative solution of a distributed network of individuals through what amounts to an open call for proposals”.

With the Web and rise of Web 2.0 applications providing a means to aggregate the answers, the number of sheer contributors is overwhelming.

Professional Hobbyists – iStockPhoto

The world of professional photography was given a new meaning when Bruce Livingstone launched iStockPhoto – a royalty-free stock of photography, animations, and video clips – in year 2000. iStockPhoto not only gave companies a cheaper and more accessible way of obtaining photographs, but it created a new marketplace for amateur photographers. Suddenly, anyone with a passion for photography could contribute; hobbyists across all genres – students, musicians, computer geeks, and even biologists – could share their passion and turn a small profit.

Unlike professionals, iStockers don’t need to clear $120, 000 a year from their photos; likewise, nor do companies have to negotiate an appropriate budget for photography. Companies can purchase professional-looking photos from iStock anywhere from forty dollars to one dollar a pop.

Today, iStockphoto’s clients include bulk photo purchasers such as IBM and United Way, as well as small design agencies once forced to go to big stock houses. As of January 2009, the online photo library contains over 4 million images contributed by over 50, 000 photographers at the rate of 27, 000 images per week.

Because the crowd willingly shares their works of art, a new and profound way of purchasing photographs is born, “iStockphoto relies on contributing artists to upload their creative works for us to sell.” – Bruce Livingstone

Could Crowdsourcing Cure Cancer? InnoCentive

InnoCentive is a company that believes in the power of open innovation, harnessing creative minds to generate breakthrough solutions. Founded in 2001, InnoCentive thrives as the world’s first open innovation marketplace.

Seeker companies like Proctor & Gamble post their toughest problems to the “InnoCentive” solvers page. Then, the crowd of solvers can then submit their solutions via the web, which go under review by the seeker. If a solution meets the technical requirements for the challenge, the seeker company awards a cash prize that they determine up front. Awards range from $10 000 to 1 million US dollars.

The idea that the wisdom of crowds can be used to create solar-power wireless technology so marginalized women and children in rural India access to skills and knowledge needed to escape the sex trade is both profound and hopeful. InnoCentive provides new hope that one-day soon, collective knowledge can solve some of the world’s toughest and most tragic problems such as cancer.

The beauty of InnoCentive is that registration to become a “potential solver” is free. You don’t need to be a professional scientist or worldly scholar; no matter what your background may be, you can put your mind to the test.

InnoCentive continues to broadcast scientific challenges to over 80-thousand independent scientists from over 150 countries. You can explore InnoCentive and its various challenges and news via the InnoCentive Blog.

Creativity Cheeky

Chevorlet experimented with crowdsourced advertising for the 2007 Chevy Taho, which ultimately backlashed in a rather interesting way. Chevorlet introduced a website that allowed users to take existing nature-filled video clips and various music in order to create a customized 30-second commercial by inserting their own words.

Unfortunately, many of the video responses were incredibly biting, full of witty mockery and negative implications. The most popular parody like responses included political and environmental messages to address global warming, pollution and overall environmental concern. Needless to say, Chevorlet had to work hard to control the videos that appeared on their site. Despite strong efforts, the parodies still leaked onto YouTube.com and other popular video sites.

View some of the parodies here:

The Wisdom of Crowds, From Every Crowd

These examples – among hundreds of others – help to show just how powerful the crowd really is, by outperforming the industry faster and cheaper than even the top minds in the fields. The crowd not only generates profound creativity but also provides solutions to today’s trickiest problems. In the end, it’s people like you and me who hold the talent to capture beautiful photography, produce memorable commercials, and unlock breakthrough solutions; and it’s the companies who turn to us for answers.

Top 10 Tips

10) Build & Maintain a Facebook Page

• Create an authentic connection to your audience by sharing your voice and participating in genuine and dynamic conversations on Facebook.

9) Focus on publishing

• The most interactions with brands happen directly from stories published to fan’s home pages (also known as the mini-feed); similarly, most comments and “likes” happen in the real-time news feed.

8 ) Think about the user experience

• Choosing the right name, profile picture, and thumbnail is crucial. The default experience on a Page is also important.
• The thumbnail photo is especially important for it is what fans see first via the homepage; therefore, the thumbnail photo should be both interesting and framed accordingly.
• Gap is a great example. Gap’s thumbnail photo is not the “Gap logo”, for that would be a yawn fest; instead, Gap alternates their photo according to their seasons focus i.e. a photo of 1969 denim jeans, an array of Christmas mittens etc. However, keep in mind, you still want your photo to be recognizable and consistent with your brands image.

7) Keep it simple

• Users consumer content quickly on Facebook, so posts should be simple, concise, and valuable. One way to get fan’s attention is to post authentic photos.

6) Innovate

• Users are accustomed to using Facebook’s native tools, with which you can be creative. When needed, develop custom functionality for the Wall publisher and Page tabs.

5) Establish a consistent voice

• Obviously, personality is important. Having a consistent voice and tone that resonates with your fans usually makes a big impact. Consider using a character or figure to help users relate to your posts; a face behind the brand is easier to connect with than an anonymous one.

4) Pace out your posts

• Think about your assets and develop a publishing schedule to maximize your impact. Do not hesitate to share timely and relevant news and items.

3) Analyze, adjust, and optimize

• Use Page Insights to understand who your fans are, where they reside, and what posts they interact with the most

2) Promote with Engagement Ads

• Engagement ads are the easiest way to seek out and gain more fans. They allow users to connect with your brand directly inline as they navigate throughout the site.

1) Integrate Facebook with your websites

• Use Facebook Connect so users can easily share and distribute their activities on your site with their Facebook friends. (Facebook.com/Facebook-widgets) and (Facebook.com/connect)

It has been argued that the social transformation of the web is not driven by new technologies themselves but by a fundamental mind shift that encourages individuals to take part in developing new structures and content; essentially, driving us to show and tell with one another as if back in kindergarten, on show and tell day. Josef Kolbitsch and Hermann Maurer explore this fundamental mind shift, concluding that the evolving services and technologies strongly encourage ordinary users to make their knowledge explicit and help a collective intelligence to develop.

Facebook, Twitter, and various other Web 2.0 tools alter themselves according to the common responses from us, the users. Even more so, big companies such as @Starbucks can monitor twitter hash tags in order to gain free customer feedback, which can ultimately improve Starbucks products. It was reported that Dell earned $6 million in sales via social media alone through Twitter contents, Facebook advertisements and more. Word of mouth is extraordinarily powerful; however, word of mouth online is even more so. With functionalities such as the Re-Tweet (RT) on Twitter and the real time activity feed on Facebook, we are able to talk, share, and search at rapid-lightening speeds.

Immediately after the London bombings in 2005, pictures were taken from mobile phones and quickly uploaded to Flickr. Due to the real-time effect, this tragic event was documented and captured like never before. This demonstrates the potentially “serious” uses of Flickr, making it more than just a leisure pursuit but actually a means of citizen journalism. I believe this event trigged what Gladwell brilliantly describes as a “tipping point”. Now, almost 5 years later, we share photos via Twitter, Facebook, Flickr etc in order to inform, enlighten, and “just because”.

On the other side of the fuzzy-warm spectrum, anti “show and tell” advocates see Web 2.0 as un-creditable. Andrew Keen, author of Cult of the Amateur, sees amateur activity as a threat to professional standards. Keen believes that both the free user-generated content and Web 2.0 revolution is destroying the ranks and stature of our cultural gatekeepers by replacing experts with amateurs, “the radically new business models based on user-generated material suck the economic value our of traditional media and cultural content” (Keen 11).

For Keen, the Web 2.0 revolution is not a world of ‘show and tell’, but a world of less culture and useless information. Time magazine claims that Web 2.0 will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes; but for Keen, such claims are just more verification of “mad utopians once again running wild” (Keen 1).

In defense of the “show and tell” notion that I so firmly believe in, it’s critical to note that the media has always been keen on user-generated content for its sheer authenticity. Authenticity in itself is particularly important for the success of both amateur photography and citizen journalism. The low quality of bystander photographs, from the London Bombings for example, gives the photos an extra sense of truth. The grainy quality or motion blur seems to prove that the shot was not staged, capturing a story in the heat of the moment. Fact: In 2007 half the photos which won a Pulitzer prize, were taken by so-called ‘amateurs’.

Before I write a novel, I will leave you with this: “Intelligence is provided by real people from the bottom-up to aim change and social discovery.” – Morville

And the power of social media does just that. Don’t you think?

It’s been proven that mentoring has been related to positive career outcomes for protégés such as salary, promotions, and overall career satisfaction. Statistics also show that individuals who have a mentor are more likely to succeed and grow in their career path. 71% of Fortune 500 companies reportedly use mentoring to ensure that learning is happening within their organizations.

Clearly, it’s not rocket science; everyone deserves a mentor for greater happiness. Leadership presence, in order to motivate yourself and others, is absolutely vital. Collaborating from what I learned at the event, leadership presence can be broken down into four steps.

1. Being Present

Being present means to live completely in the moment. Use your energy to get other people to be present. Eliminate distractions and physically turn towards the person you’re talking to. Scrolling through your BlackBerry (perhaps unconsciously) while having a one-on-one meeting is counterproductive for it makes that person feel incredibly uncomfortable and undervalued. Always try your best to stay aware. You can do this by paying attention to others’ physical, verbal and emotional cues. Is he glancing at his watch? Does she look confused? Are your colleagues nodding or shifting uncomfortably?

2. Reaching Out

Reaching out means building better relationships. Know your audience and think, what do they need from you? Give and take – always let your thought digest before continuing. In a meeting or group setting, don’t forget to acknowledge others’ contributions. In order to build a successful relationship, both listening and empathy are crucial. Don’t hesitate to get input. Ask clarifying questions and be curious; ask yourself, what is this person really saying? Practice empathy by putting yourself in their shoes.

3. Expressiveness

Congruency is key to expressiveness. Maintain relaxed with steady eye contact (where culturally appropriate of course). Open body language is imperative to send one a congruent message. A helpful tip from the Microsoft workshop was to “paint a clear vision” – tell a concise story or use a metaphor to describe your skill set.

4. Self-Knowing

Lastly, self-awareness and self-confidence will allow your authentic self to shine bright. Know what you’re feeling before deciding how to express it. Risk telling personal stories as a way to connect to others.

Never hesitate to clarify, speak up and live your leadership values.

Reflection

As I reflect on what it takes to gain a strong leadership presence, I feel assured and blessed to have such a supportive online and offline community of friends, acquaintances, and followers. Without the two-way channel of insightful conversation, I would not know as much as I know today.

With the power of online social media and online public discourse circulating the globe, I believe we can all be a leader and a mentor. We can share, learn, and grow from one another in order to succeed at our job, online experience, and even personal growth.

So what are you waiting for? Reach out and shine your authentic self!

Exploring Twitter in all its glory, hashtags don’t just spark trends. They are both extremely useful and beneficial for your online brand or business. Why? Well hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional metadata to your tweets, which helps to provide extra context for your audience, and in Twitter’s case, followers. Hashtags work similar to tags on Flickr, Facebook, or Google maps, only they are added in-line to your post.

You can create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag i.e. “I love to #blog with all my heart”

How to Utilize HashTags for your Brand or Business

Because hashtags develop and spread so quickly, it can be overwhelming to know which tags to use or create. A good rule of thumb is to use hashtags that are consistent with your brand. If you are a foodie then why not share some recipes on #tastytuesdays and if you’re a musician then #musicmondays is a popular trending topic not to be missed.

Essentially, if it makes sense for your brand to join the conversation then go ahead and tweet with the appropriate hashtag.

Now while participation is all good and fun, you may want to start your very own hashtag. Many conferences assign a specific hashtag, which has proven to be a positive networking tool and a convenient way to follow different presentations. I was recently in San Jose for the KMWorld conference and was unable to attend a specific session; however, I was able to follow the tweets simply by searching the #kmw09 hashtag, which was extremely helpful.

Like conferences, hashtags are very helpful for small businesses as a way to track social media campaigns, engage your customers, and to further build your company’s sense of community.

Getting Your HashTag Started

The first and most basic step is deciding on the tag word. It’s best to pick something short and sweet, easy to spell, and of course memorable.

Once you’ve chosen the tag itself, the next step is a no-brainer: start using it and promoting it! But do ensure that your tweets with the hashtag are worthwhile and valuable to the conversation stream; and don’t overdo it; the last thing you want is to appear spammy to your beloved followers.

A great and fairly recent example of a hashtag promotion is when Starbucks (@Starbucks) launched the new VIA instant coffee. #StarbucksVIA became a popular hashtag in customer’s response to the new product, which in turn was great (and free) feedback for Starbucks.

Keeping Track

Once you’ve become a Twitterholic-hashtag-using-machine all that’s left is to keep track of your tags within the Twitter discourse. You can search hashtags via Twitter Search (which is the most popular), What The Trend and of course, Google. However, if an easy search doesn’t do you justice then check out Monitter or TweetGrid. Both these programs are good web-based control panels for performing real-time Twitter searches of hashtags.

Happy Hashing!

Zeroing in on online social media, Mesh consisted of various speaker panels who engaged the audience with topics such as tapping into Facebook, social media analytics & measurement, how to approach mobile marketing, and much more.

The core purpose of MeshMarketing is to grasp a better understanding of the ever-changing online sphere and how it impacts both your job and strategy. Hot topics included social media (tapping into Facebook), mobile marketing, and search (SEO) strategies.

I really enjoyed my day at Mesh, for not only did I meet some talented individuals but I learned some new and insightful things, which I plan on sharing with you.

I’ve always been interested and rather fascinated by mobile marketing, so naturally I attended the “How to Approach Mobile Marketing” workshop with Amielle Lake, CEO of Tagga Media.

Amielle helped to emphasize the fact that mobile marketing is a unique medium. As Marshall McLuhan best describes; over time, technological mediums (i.e. mobile devices) become extensions of ourselves. And if you think about it, your beloved-smart phone is like a cyborg like entity. Our mobile devices are with us, and sometimes attached to us, at all times. Whether you sleep with your phone at night or clip it onto your belt, both cellular and smart phone devices are inevitably the most personal, instant, interactive, and even disruptive medium…so it’s no wonder that both marketers and advertisers would pounce on this opportunity.

What’s happening with Mobile Marketing:

• SMS Alerts
• Contests
• Updates
• Advertising Placement
• Applications
  From Toronto’s Nuit Blanche app to CNN’s news app, virtually all big-name brands have a smart phone application, which facilitates immediate interaction and advanced capabilities.
• Barcode Technology Scanning
  Barcode scanning is simply fascinating. Currently on the rise, these technologies will allow consumers to compare the prices of merchandise on a store’s shelf to competing stores in the area just by taking pictures with their smartphone’s camera.

Targets:

• Millennials
  Better known as Generation Y (Gen Y) or Eco Boomers, Millennials  is a term used to describe the demographic cohort following Generation X.
• Digital Mom
  Moms on Forums. Moms on Facebook. Yes…it’s Moms online.
• Techie Man
  He’s the guy with all the Web 2.0 gismos and gadgets. In short, he embraces tech in all it’s glory.

Why we should care:

• Scale
  Content consumption is growing – and the use of smart phones (Blackberries & iPhones) is growing at a rapid pace. Almost everyone has a cellular device, and in time, almost everyone will own a smart phone device.
• Reach
  The reach is enormous and growing.
• Efficiencies

Conclusion from Mobile Marketing panel:
Because mobile devices are such a unique and immediate medium, the impact is both effective and instant.

My next post will highlight what I learned in a workshop with Elmer Sotto, from Facebook Canada.

If the future of marketing, advertising and PR interests you on a personal or professional level, I strongly encourage you to attend the 3-day MeshMarketing conference happening in spring 2010.

Mesh reading recommendation: “Herd” by Mark Earls. “Herd” is an insightful and innovative book on how to change mass behaviour by harnessing our true nature.

Recently, this impact is being widely recognized. With the immense rise of both user-generated content and Web 2.0 tools, our attention is now being devoted online and to the Internet more than ever – with the help of a little thing called tagging.

Tagging allows us to get more involved in the online content creation process. Suddenly, we are back in kindergarten; everyday is show and tell day, and every tag is a new discovery. Flickr, Facebook, iLife, YouTube, and more all facilitate tag, tags, tagging, and more tags!

According to David Sifry, blogosphere icon and founder of Technorati, tagging across various forms of online social media has not only led the blogging nation to a whole new level, but has sparked the online nation into a powerful, creative, and interactive Live Web.

Tracked, recorded, and analyzed by Technorati, the blogosphere is looking good. Real good. Currently, Technorati is tracking over 70 million weblogs and approximately 120, 000 new weblogs are created worldwide each and every day. In other words, that’s about 1.4 blogs created every second of every day. Within the blink of an eye – literally – a new blog is created, and these numbers only continue to grow. Since October 2006, these numbers have doubled. And I predict that by 2011 they will double again.

With a self-organizing tagging system, millions of users are able to share and make their knowledge explicit. For example, functioning as a self-organizing community, Flickr’s system does not tell users how to tag or organize the content of their photos. Users can tag how they want, what they want, and when they want. This tagging system allows for creativity to blossom, essentially leading to a rich and diverse folksonomy. A folksonomy is better described as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, or social tagging; it describes the bottom-up classification systems that emerge from social tagging.

Sifry delightfully explains the notion of tagging as a simple, yet powerful, social software innovation. “Today millions of people are freely and openly assigning metadata to content and conversations. Unlike rigid taxonomy schemes that people dislike, the ease of tagging for personal organization with social incentives leads to a rich and discoverable folksonomy. In order to aid social discovery, real people provide intelligence from the bottom-up”.

Sifry speaks volumes of what both the blogosphere and popular communities such as Facebook have become. With the right tag search and navigation, the concept of “folksonomy” outperforms more structured approaches to classification. Librarians are forced to retire their comfortable “classification” cards for a quicker, more complex, online system.

This innovation of tagging exists within many web 2.0 tools and throughout the blogosphere; now, a picture on Flickr literally tells a thousand words. And besides, who doesn’t like ’show and tell’ day?