March 15, 2011
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Chicago-based crowdSPRING is a small business primarily serving other small businesses. It is one of a handful of companies—all new and small--that has disrupted a centuries-old graphics design business. The company has accomplished it quite fast and at low cost.
Here’s how crowdSPRING works:
A potential buyer goes to crowdSPRING's website, and sets his or her price and requirements for the design of a logo, website, other graphic or industrial design work, or copy writing.
Soon after the request is posted, bids start coming in for the work. There are no proposals, no song-and-dance presentations, just examples of the art that will be provided.
On an average, 110 bids come in on an average invite. The geographic barriers to matching up a vendor and a buyer are also removed by making this an online process. The whole process is streamlined from perhaps a few months to just a couple of days. The average cost drops from about $10,000 for a corporate ID to a few hundred dollars.
crowdSPRING enables this, but it adds further value. It provides the necessary project management tools, escrow services, file transfers and a contract. It adds a 15 percent fee for these services.
About 40 projects are posted to crowdSPRING every day. The reduced cost and hassle have made crowdSPRING a perfect venue for small business customers. Suddenly, little guys can get a professional look at an investment of time and money they can afford.
While big brands like Amazon, LG, TiVo and Starbucks have used crowdSPRING, it remains primarily a small business serving other small businesses. Some 90 percent of crowSPRING’s customers are small businesses and 70 percent of them have 10 employees or fewer according to Ross Kimbarovsky, a former lawyer, who started crowdSPRING with ex-movie producer Mike Samson, in 2008.
Despite its global reach, crowdSPRING has only 13 employees—plus a chocolate lab named Lucy who serves as the company’s popular mascot.
The company is housed in what Kimbarovsky calls “functional and friendly” offices in Chicago’s West Loop, amid a mix of factories, wholesale markets, restaurants, creative businesses, art galleries, and condos. “It was the least expensive space we found,” Kimbarovsky says.
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But, in reality, more of crowdSPRING exists online and in social media than it does in Chicago. It is a global marketplace that thrives on social media, in places you cannot touch, but where real business is taking place in larger numbers every time you check.
It’s another example of why social media is so good for small businesses. It removes so many of the barriers the little guy faces in more tangible venues.
Kimbarovsky's company has disrupted an established industry with entrenched best practices on how design is bought and sold, and at what price. It has flattened a hierarchy on what company gets the best graphics and what firm gets to design them.
Every aspect of crowdSPRING is integrated into social media. The little company’s entire marketing, recruiting and business development all take place in social media, particularly on Facebook and Twitter. According to Kimbarovsky, “It would be a brand failure for us to not be on Twitter. How can you claim that you're blazing a trail for a new online world and then sit on the sidelines?”
Actually, the company does a lot of sideline sitting. But it is listening to conversations and engaging when it sees business opportunity.
“If someone says, boy I wish I could afford a new logo for my small business, we are on it,” he said.
The company’s well-acclaimed blog is ranked by AdWeek among the top 50 small business marketing blogs in the world. Posts are often filled with tips for small business.
Like most social media winners, crowdSPRING doesn’t forget the real world. Company representatives attend and speak at as many social media events as time allows. They also publish two bi-weekly newsletters—one for small businesses and the other for the creative community.
The company is now a recognized thought leader in the small business social media space. But to achieve that, there was significant trial and error.
“Initially, we lacked focus and direction. A year after we launched, we realized that before we could execute, we needed to build a foundation,” Kimbarovsky says.
“Having people spend hours upon hours on Twitter or Facebook might be fun, but it’s not particularly helpful to the bottom line. It took us some time to realize we needed to define clear goals.”
As a result, crowdSPRING’s key players held a series of navel-gazing sessions. They came up with five such goals for using social media:
1. Provide customer service
2. Build a community
3. Build brand awareness
4. Manage brand perception
5. Generate leads
This may cut down on the number of times team members get to discuss upheaval in the Middle East or the antics of celebrities who have flunked out of detox programs, but it does ensure that the team understands why they are using social media and it lets them accurately measure results.
“There are no universally accepted metrics for measuring success in social media. Every business is different,” said Kimbarovsky.
Qualitatively, crowdSPRING measures brand awareness, perception and customer service. Quantitatively, the company looks at leads and community-building issues.
To aggregate measurement data, for example, crowdSPRING counts how often they’re mentioned on Twitter and whether comments are positive, negative, or neutral.
“We look at how people compare us to competitors, customers having problems on our site and what we can do to help. We watch and engage with our customers and prospects, then adjust course accordingly,” Kimbarovsky says.
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TIMOTHY MCCOLLUM 1 year 2 months and 13 days ago
I strongly believe that every small business should be listening to what their customers have to say, as it can change the entire production of what you are making to improve it. At Madécasse, we started with 4 dark chocolate bars, and our customers enjoyed them, but they started to inquire about a more diverse chocolate line of products This year will be launching our 8th chocolate bar, and, just like crowdSPRING, we are adjusting courses and improving our products based on our customers' feedback. Great article filled with smart small business tips - crowdSPRING seems to be heading towards a future of success.