Thanks to the internet there are countless ways for individuals, groups, businesses, and agencies to accomplish whatever goals they may have. Crowdsourcing is becoming an increasingly popular and effective tool to harness the internet and all of the tools available on the web. Two veteran Disney animators, Aaron Blaise and Chuck Williams, have recently turned to Kickstarter to fund their feature film ‘Art Story,’ and they couldn’t have chosen a better time to do so.

‘Art Story’ Team Has Talent

It doesn’t matter how much money you want to raise with a Kickstarter program, or how many social media contacts you have, if you don’t also have the talent to back your project up. Both Aaron and Chuck have the background to guarantee that ‘Art Story’ will be a quality product. They worked on some of Disney’s best films, like ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Lion King,’ and they’ll be sure to let everyone on Kickstarter know they mean business.

Not everyone can be lucky enough to receive a $40 million investment, like the company Shazam recently did. To me, that’s the beauty of Kickstarter and other crowdsourcing platforms. It harnesses the power of people, not investment groups or venture capital, or any other traditional source of funding. It turns the relationship between creators and consumers into a direct, one-on-one, honest interaction. No go-betweens, no outside influences. Just a pure product or service, exactly how someone envisioned it.

Could Crowdsourcing Really Work for Businesses?

There are a lot of products hosted on Kickstarter and other crowdsourcing platforms. What I don’t see very often (if at all) are well established companies or businesses turning to Kickstarter for new products or ideas.

To me, the benefit of Kickstarter is the fact that by virtue of how it works (harnessing the power of individuals across the world), the project creators have to embrace an online marketing strategy, using every tool available. I can’t think of a better time for anyone, including established businesses, to look into crowdsourcing as a legitimate way to raise funds for projects.

Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ have seen so many improvements over the last year and are versatile tools in spreading awareness about these projects. A recent article in Business Insider by Josh Luger states that overall usage of social media platforms is “exploding.” What better way to bring attention to a business’ social media presence than with aggressive promotion of a Kickstarter project? It’s not just the product that will benefit from a crowdsourcing approach, the creators or the business behind it will gain a lot more attention. Success breeds success in crowdsourcing.

Instagram and Vine now offer an easy, simple, and informative method of reaching potential donors on a regular basis and keeping them interested in your projects. With mobile technology continually increasing its influence on consumers, awareness about projects can spread quickly.

I’d love to see more established businesses use Kickstarter or other crowdsourcing options. It can be a huge boost to a brand and will no doubt bring more awareness to a company for its efforts promoting a project.

After all, doing things the old fashioned way doesn’t mean you have a greater chance of success. Just look at Disney’s ‘Lone Ranger’: after disappointing ticket sales, the studio could lose as much as $150 million, according to Joanna Crawley at EntertainmentWise.

Do you think businesses should look at crowdsourcing as a more common approach to raising funds and promoting new products or ideas?