Many user-generated content sites face one (or several) problems, including the following:

1. Copyright Issues

   Site users occasionally post content that is copyright, or steal the content generated by others on the site.

2. Quality Issues

   Without an incentive to do high-quality work, users will post “just good enough” (or “not quite good enough!”) content to fill a particular purpose.

3. Quantity Issues

   Without motivation to create more, communities don’t have enough users contributing content.

A Solution to Some of User-Generated Content’s Problems

Getty Images, which specializes in all sorts of digital images, has purchased Scoopt, a company that is using a new model for acquiring and distributing user-generated images. Users who contribute images that are chosen for distribution are compensated with a percentage (currently 40%) of the image’s sale price.

This model could be a solution to issues two and three from the list above—a financial incentive would motivate the public to submit high-quality (more likely to be chosen) images more frequently.

I think this is a novel approach to an application that could really use the “wisdom of the masses,” and perhaps one that could be applied to other content-types or industries.

Is there anything that your customer-base or audience could do for you that you wouldn’t mind paying for?

People are the most decisive factor in your company.

Think about it: without people, who would be running the computers, operating the machines, or answering the phones? Who would be buying anything that you sell?

I know that this is definitely an obvious observation, but I thought I would take the time to make you think about it again. It’s so obvious, and we have often thought through who is involved in our business, and thus we tend to forget that the human element is the most important element.

How Can People Be More Decisive?

What can you do to make the people involved with your company happier and more effective?

What are your customers asking for? What need can you fill for them? What pain or irritation can you remove from their lives?

What do your employees need to work more efficiently? What hampers them from meeting (or even setting!) goals? How can you help your employees to be more motivated?

Just remember to periodically look at how each part of your company affects the people involved. People will thank you.