14th December 9.30am-10.30am

"Youtube Explained - Creating your own channel, adding and optimising video"

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

It’s not hard to see that educating people about the potential of the internet to realise their business potential is what rocks our world.  For both Blair and Tim sharing their knowledge and seeing people inspired to seize the tools to implement a great online solution for their business is what drives them.

The AusIndustry Small Business Online Program (SBOL) is a powerful forum for small business owners to start gaining the skills and knowledge to be active and effective in the online world.  And it is even more relevant to small businesses in regional areas to use the internet to expand their potential customer base.

Check out our seminar and workshops page for more information on each of the topics.  You’ll also find the links to the timetable in your geographic area to see where Blair and Tim will be popping up next. Workshops are mostly free or upto $25 a session. Enrol Today.

What’s that saying…? ‘give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he’ll eat for ever’ – Know someone in small business that could benefit from a great online presence – please forward the link…  Small Business Online Seminars & Workshops

Recently I attended a presentation by Andrew Doutch - www.andrewdouch.com.au; let's just say that I was very impressed.

The presentation focused on how Andrew (or know to his students as Douchy) using web 2.0 technology to educate his students.

3 years ago, Douchy was approached by the Principle of Wanganui Park Secondary College, in Shepparton to research how he could use emerging technologies to connecting students and teachers.  He has come a long way since then, winning numerous awards and watching the average grade of his students increase dramatically.

His own biology podcast has a listening audience of more than 3000 students and he has inspired and helped numerous other teachers at his school and in other schools to create podcasts, vodcasts, screencasts, websites, discussion boards and blogs.

After listening to Andrew, who gave us 100's of tips on how to follow in his foot steps, I decided to start playing with the technology to better serve our customers.

For example, Design Experts have created "personalised screen-casts" or "online video support tutorials".  That way, our clients can learn first hand how to resolve their issue by watching a personalised video that we record for them and upload to their personal directory.  If it is a common question, then we upload the video the the public folder, for example "adding metadata to a webpage"

Some of the tools that were mentioned were, that you might find interesting;

www.go2web20.net - a list of the worlds web 2.0 tools and applications
www.Jingproject.com - record screencasts
www.podamatic.com - create podcasts
www.ipadio.com - use mobile phone to create audio blogs

If you are interested in exploring these technologies in your business, school or organisation, Design Experts would be more than happy to help, or I can put you in contact with Douchy who offers consulting services to get you on the right track.

Cheers for now

Tim Gentle

Twitter - www.twitter.com can be described as a ‘micro-blog’. 

Twitter is one of the more popular social media service available on the internet.  The main benefit I feel that Twitter provides is it allows you to link to individuals and networks that are interested in the same information that you are interested in.

Types of Twitter updates could include, your location, handy tips you have found online and asking questions you would like answered.

You will need to sign up and create a Twitter account before you can ‘Tweet”.  You can create a Twitter account for yourself, your business, your club etc. Once signed up, you can then update your status.  

Once you understand some of the more advanced tools Twitter has and use some of Twitter 3rd party websites you can really start to enhance your Twitter presence.

For example, you can automatically feed your Twitter status with information you have filtered off the web.  You can set up auto responders, you can be added to Twitter directories and even enhance your Twitter homepage with sexy graphics and keywords.

To maximise your Twitter presence I suggest you complete this Twitter Online Tutorial or http://bit.ly/Cp9a.  The cost is around AUD$40, but well worth it.

On the flip side, here is a comical look at Twitter - http://tinyurl.com/d32yf8 - it’s a classic!

Once you have completed the Tutorial you will be shown how to get full use out of Twitter.  Here are just a few of the Twitter Tools you’ll learn about.
 
www.mytweetspace.com  -  sex up your Twitter homepage
www.tweetlater.com  - auto response
www.twollo.com  - find and follow twitters
www.google.com/alerts  - filter news/blogs and set up feeds
www.bit.ly  – create small url
www.twitterfeed.com  – Set up RSS feeds to you twitter account
http://search.twitter.com/ - find people
www.twellow.com – Twitter Yellow Pages
www.dossy.org/twitter/karma/ - Manage your Twitter followers

At the time of writing this Design Experts BLOG I am sitting in the passenger seat driving with Kylie along the Hume Hwy returning from Sydney. My laptop is in my lap and my 3G Internet in full force. Currently in my Twitter account, I have 88 Twitter followers and I am following 71 other Twitters. Only time will tell if I set up my Twitter account correctly. You can see how successful my Twitter account has turned out by visiting http://twitter.com/timgentle
 
What I am focusing on is quality links, not just quantity; I am trying to link with other web designers and social media gurus from around the world.  I do fear however, that Twitter will turn out to be just another way we will receive SPAM if it is not managed correctly, but only time will tell.

Recently I presented on Social Media in Cairns, Australia to the Nuffield Scholarship Strategic Planning Conference.  They are interested in using tools like Twitter to tap into the younger Generation.

I wouldn’t call myself a Twitter junky; but it is hard to ignore. What I am hoping Twitter will do, is to drive more traffic to Design Experts website and help grow the business.  I have also benefitted from some of the tips I have received by following others Twitters.

Cheers

Tim Gentle
Managing Director
www.DesignExperts.com.au
Twitter Tutorial - http://bit.ly/Cp9a