In his book Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business
Or, look at companies like Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL). They have created idea portals that allow their customers to provide feedback. So far, the results have been strong.
However, can smaller businesses take advantage of idea portals?
I think so. In fact, given the tough economic environment, crowdsourcing may be a big help.
"Idea portals work great for smaller companies that do not have full time Product Mangers or Product Support teams," said Matthew Greeley, who is the founder and CEO of BrightIdea.com. "It's like having someone that is always ready to listen to customer feedback, 24x7, that never eats, sleeps or takes a break."
His company develops idea portals for large as well as small companies.
Of course, just like with any new technology, you need to be careful. For example, it takes work to manage an idea portal – and this means providing something for the community, such as rewards for good ideas.
Moreover, you need to take action on ideas. If not, people will lose interest.
And, make sure you have prompt responses to users.
The good news is that idea portals are relatively inexpensive. Besides BrightIdea.com, there is UserVoice.com, which even offers a free version of the software. And, if you are technically inclined, there is an open source system, called Pligg.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-02-2009 @ 2:36PM
merle said...
Thank you for your inspiring article. I support one of these IDEA PORTALS which you describe. Several of us veterans and military friends, as well as our church follow our local website that gives us a voice, especially in our local Orange County cities in Southern California. The website is :
http://www.messageboardusa.com. Thank you for the privilege of posting this message here - also.
3-05-2009 @ 5:45PM
Avery Otto said...
Thanks for this article. It reminds me of a blog that I read at http://ploneglenn.blogspot.com/2009/02/era-of-collective-wisdom.html which talks about crowdsourcing and how it benefits client portals. Also check out another idea portal for small companies called Cogenuity.