The site Popularise.com is bringing the concept of crowdsourcing to the world of real-estate. Created by brothers Ben and Dan Miller, whose father Herbert S. Miller developed several well-known DC area properties including Gallery Place, Georgetown Park and Washington Harbour, the site lets users vote on what type of tenant an empty retail space should have.

Hip wine bar or children’s book store? It’s up to the community to decide.

The Millers call Popularise.com a “21st century version of a community meeting” and several thousand people have already voted on various properties in Washington, DC.

This type of community-wide engagement is indispensible in today’s social-media driven world, and especially useful for small-businesses looking to create a presence in the community. Whether it be through a Facebook or Twitter campaign that lets users vote on their favorite service or product, small businesses should more than benefit from applying the concept of crowdsourcing to their online brand-building.

Leave a Reply