Moms who Crowdsource

MLM Structure

As I have been reading Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe I have been intrigued by this idea of large masses of ordinary people solving complex problems. As I read I have been trying to think of what kind of crowdsourcing is close to home, what I see on a regular basis, but I couldn't think of anything that I participate in. Then in a flash I realized I spend 5-6 hours in a crowdsourcing atmosphere everyday.   I work for corporate at a multi-level marketing (MLM) company called doTERRA. What I realized is that doTERRA is a great model for what crowdsourcing is all about. For those who are unsure what an MLM business model is it kind of looks like an upside down tree. The sales force are regular people who go out and share product with their friends and sign them up to be consultants who then go share with all of their friends. They then make commisions on all product that people under them purchase. What I am amazed at is that a large part of our company is made up of stay at home moms, not business elites, and we are exploding with growth. New business models and heightened connections made possible through social networking have made relative amateurs big players in a big game.