How to compete with crowdsourcing
June 1st, 2010
For the majority of freelance designers and design firms the rise of crowdsourcing is quite unsettling. The growing demand for cheap commoditized design is growing and severely undercutting the industry. This article on Sixrevisions got me thinking about this issue and how it relates to my business and other designers in my position. While I’m not going to write on the evils or merits of the crowdsourcing trend, I do want to share some thoughts that I had while thinking about my own business and what I need to do to compete.
1. Face Reality
Sometimes, truth hurts, but, it’s best to face it head on. The fact is, crowdsourcing is not going away anytime soon. From the business side of things I can see why it is gaining steam: low cost & choice. This is very appealing to small businesses with tight budgets, especially in lean times. For this reason, I think that this segment of the industry is going to be around for a long time. That’s the reality. Accepting this, I think, is the first step to readjusting to the new reality marketplace. Whining about it wont help anything.
2. Focus on Your Value Proposition
We all know that this is important in any kind of business. It’s what sets you apart from the rest of your competitors. It is what keeps your clients coming to you again, and again. Now, more than ever, it’s time to refine and refocus your value proposition. What makes your business unique? What value can you bring that the crowdsourcing sites cannot bring? Why is that worth the cost? These are questions that I am currently sorting out again in my own business. It can be a difficult task, but well worth it in the end.
3. Focus on Client Relationships
One of the huge negatives of croudsourcing is the lack of relationship between the designer and the client. As you probably already know, business is ALL about relationship. Why do I go pay double to get my haircut by my hairdresser rather than go to supercuts? Because I like my hairdresser, she’s nice. She gets me a cup of coffee (good coffee, not some instant crap) when I go to get my haircut. She asks me about what’s going on in my personal life and takes an interest. This is all pretty basic stuff. But it keeps me going back. Why would I go somewhere else? Even if she raised her rates, I wouldn’t even think of not going to her. Focusing on building quality relationships with clients that go beyond just the work that’s being done can add tremendous value to your services. Raise the bar. Care more. Remember the little things. This crowdsourcing cannot compete with.
4. Expand Your Skill Set
You’ve heard the term “Jack of all trades, master of none” before I’m sure. In this day and age, however, I think it’s to the designer’s advantage to know a bit of everything. Specialize in something, for sure, but don’t plateau. Expand your skill set to accommodate your client’s future needs. It may mean branching out into UX design, or learning a new scripting language. These things can make you more valuable to clients. If you’ve already formed a strong relationship with them they will be coming to you to solve their problem. It would be a shame to turn them away because what they need is not in your skill set.
5. Don’t Give Up
There will always be Walmart, and there will always be Neiman Marcus, and there will always be a market for both. I see this time as an opportunity to contrast my strengths with crowdsourcing’s weaknesses. I’m embracing the market reality, telling people about the real value of my services, taking excellent care of my clients, and adding more skills to my skill set. This is how I plan to compete.
How about you? Do you have plans on how you are going to compete? Or is crowdsourcing a non-issue to you? I’d love to hear what you think.
Show Some Love
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Business, Graphic Design, Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “How to compete with crowdsourcing”
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Joe,
You have hit the nail squarely on the head. Crowdsourcing websites are here to stay. That is an undeniable fact. Does this mean the end of design firms, agencies or freelancers? Absolutely not!
Whether these entities are around or not, as a business person, you have to constantly be prepared to expand and contract with the market. This includes making sure you have positioned yourself in a way that positively sets you apart from the competition. And, as you mentioned, that can be achieved in several ways from expanding your services, adding new skill sets and, most importantly in my opinion, maintaining excellent customer service.
These are all things that are always top of mind for us and I think it should be for our colleagues.
Thanks for your comment, Erik.
I agree, great customer service is key. It’s probably the best differentiator between us and our undercutting friends.
This is a great article, Joe, thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only one bugged by the crowdsourcing but it’s a great affirmation to know that we can still compete by staying true to our customers through great customer service and, of course, doing what we do best through that interaction – great design!
Thanks Lisa. Glad you liked it.
I think many designers get a little too bent out of shape sometimes with the whole crowdsourcing thing. Kind of a knee-jerk reaction. I know I did. Much better to focus on how you can adapt to the marketplace, I think.