Crowdsourcing involves getting many people to participate in performing a task or generating an idea. The rise in crowdsourcing over the past few years is shifting “where decisions are made, how they are made, how you engage intelligence, how you engage labour” and it is transforming the business landscape, says David Alan Grier, author of the forthcoming Crowdsourcing for Dummies (For Dummies, April 2013).

“Basically, if you don’t follow along, if you don’t say there is something here that I might be able to use, you can very quickly find yourself in a place where your business is obsolete or not competitive.” Grier was speaking at Crowdopolis, a crowdsourcing conference in New York City.

If you want to integrate crowdsourcing into your business, here are tips for success.