We’ve been discussing this with a lot of you via our Geekversity Twitter stream, but the new feature from Twitter, known as Lists, is now available to all people making this an excellent time to answer some questions regarding Lists and why they are important.

Rather than covering all the points here in one massive post, we’ll be covering the main points, followed by providing links to where you can learn more about Lists.

Q. What are Twitter Lists and how do they work?

A: Twitter Lists are simply lists of users created by users. Essentially this allows you to group people you follow, or even people you don’t, under a heading and generate a Twitter stream consisting of only of updates from these users. If you use groups in clients such as Seesmic or Tweetdeck then this process will be familiar, but Twitter Lists have many more benefits than what these services already provide, which we’ll cover below.

Further reading:
Twitter on Twitter Lists
Twitter Lists 101

Q. OK, I understand what they are, but why?

A. Twitter Lists takes the group functionality of many Twitter clients and provides a lot more functionality. Not only does it make these groups transferable between Twitter clients (Seesmic already supports Lists and all the leading clients will soon have it built in) but, unless you chose for a List to be private, your Lists also provide functionality for others.

Other people can use your Lists to find people based on topics, location or organizations, allowing them to better connect with others on Twitter, but people who you List also have the number of Lists they appear on their Twitter homepage, which can act as a recommendation.

Further reading:
Twitter Lists: Frequently Asked Questions and Strategies

Q. Right, so what does this all mean?

A. Well, it’s early days now, but already there a lot of interesting things being done with Lists. Despite the technical limitations of how many Lists you can follow and how many people can be in each List, individuals and organization have already started creating Lists that are useful both for themselves and for others.

Lists of leaders in different industries and experts on topics allow you to find the people who are influencing the conversation, and by being able to follow other peoples Lists you can quickly plug yourself into a stream or people talking about topics you care about.

Furthermore, as Lists become more prevalent and better understood, the Lists you appear on, both the number and the names/descriptions, will become a much better recommendation to people on your worth and influence on Twitter. This particular raises lots of issues for spam accounts who try to trick people by gaming large numbers of followers.

The links below show some great ways that people are already using Lists, which will hopefully inspire you for what Lists can add to your social media experience.

Further reading:
10 Ways You Can Use Twitter Lists
4 Ways News Organizations are Using Twitter Lists
Twitter lists and real-time journalism

Any more questions or thoughts? Feel free to leave them in the comments below. What do you think of Lists? Will you use them?

A survey by CPA Australia has raised concerns over basic management practices in Australia’s SME market and over where businesses get their advice.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, an Asia-Pacific survey by CPA Australia says that “while small business is driving recovery and growth in South-East Asia, Australia will be left behind.”

The report compares 1000 small business operators with fewer than 20 employees in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. According to the ABS in June, 2007, 63% of businesses in Australia employed up to four people and 90% employed fewer than 20 staff.

The report suggested Australian entrepreneurs lag when it comes to basic management practices and also that while Asian businesses have greater flexibility with funding and have borrowed for future growth, many small businesses in Australia, and Singapore are borrowing simply to survive, rather than seeking advice that could save on further financing.

The research also revealed a worrying trend in that Australians weren’t really seeking advice, with only 41% reporting speaking to external accountants.

”The majority of businesses get most of their advice from the accountants, but they’re specialists in one field and they’re not able to do everything,” Ms Radisich, chief executive of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, said. ”So accountants cannot be the only port of call.”

The small business consultant at WHK Horwath, Simon Paterson, also emphasised that said business owners should be taking more external advice.

“If you don’t perceive the value, then it’s viewed as a cost,” he said. “If you believe an adviser will add value,then you will pay the fee.”

Looking at the internet, for example, it’s true that many SME businesses either ignore the web or make costly mistakes because they don’t understand how it works. Technology is changing quickly and it’s as important as ever to talk to experts if you don’t understand the internet yourself – after all, it’s better to learn than to be left in the dark.

Yesterday we attended Adknowledge’s annual Social Media Conference in Sydney. Titled “New Technology, New Audiences, New Engagement”, the event offered a number of views on the future of advertising and social media but what we really came away with was the need for people who want seek to be involved with the web to educate themselves.

The conference, overlooking Sydney’s famous harbour, saw speakers cover a number of topics from the importance in viewing social media etc as part of an overall marketing strategy, the nature and growth of viral campaigns, the best ways to go about engaging with social media and the future of augmented reality (which refers to the combining of internet content with the physical world.)

One of the things the speakers all seemed to touch on was the importance of education. In one of the best speeches of the day Brian Giesen, from Ogilvy PR’s Sydney office, and founding member of Ogilvy’s 360 Degree Digital Influence Practice, boiled down the nature of engaging in social media to:

Listening -> Identifying the key influences -> Monitoring the results.

The key here is understanding your market and educating yourself about where you want to be online. For example, a refreshing change at the conference was the acknowledgement that social media is more than simply about Facebook and Twitter but people often forget social networking rather refers to a wide range of sites and online communities.

Director of Analytics for Nielsen’s Online Division, Mark Higginson, demonstrated that while other sites may have fewer members, they can have much more dedicated communities, with people spending more time and engaging more closely with certain topics. What does this mean? It means that if you were, for example, selling beauty products on your site, it could be much more important to have an impact on a smaller, dedicated community of people passionate about fashion and beauty than to have a much larger following of unrelated people on Twitter.

These techniques don’t only relate to Sydney of course but can be applied around the world, which is why Geekversity’s online education program has an increased focus on students from around the world. Speaking of the importance of education when trying to reach your target audience, Geekversity recently posted these two videos on our YouTube account where our CEO Troy Rushton explains how to increase the potential of your internet marketing campaign by studying trends in peak times and alternate keywords:

We’ll be holding another free Geekversity event in Sydney on the 10 October designed to educate attendees in how they can start or improve their own online business and how the ongoing Geekversity online education program can help them further. There are still some tickets available and you can register on the front page of this site.

Yesterday, as anyone in Sydney knows, was hit by a major dust storm. Not only is this a fairly rare event the Bureau of Meterology claims it was the worst in at least 70 years, if not the history of the state. Now that the dust has (literally) settled though, we can see how some people have benefitted from this extreme event and what it says about taking advantage of marketing opportunities.

As mUmBRELLA reports, even as it first hit Sydney the marketing experts were already working out how to spin the storm. The very same day saw tailored advertisements on the radio spruiking everything from nasal sprays to clear away the dust, to banking products for BankWest whose primary colour just happens to be orange, like the dust and the sky.

The next day saw even more ads run in Sydney’s print media as the marketing companies took advantage of people’s interest in the storm – but what can all these examples tell you about internet marketing?

The strategies in Sydney were good ideas and appropriate because the whole city was interested in an event, and the ads only went to those who would be experiencing it. This isn’t always possible online as often you’ll be targeting a much wider audience geographically. References to an event that one person is aware of might just confuse other potential customers.

This is not to say that there aren’t opportunities to be found in responding quickly with online marketing, just that you should consider what events you respond to. If news of a major event is changing the popularity of key words that could relate to your sites for example, you can try and take advantage of this to direct traffic to you products.

Similarly, just as internet memes (recurring jokes, usually based on a pop culture event or theme) can result in a lot of traffic, by producing content that takes advantage of what your potential customers are talking about you can both introduce them to your site and products as well as putting forth an image that you are on top of what is happening in the world.

Whether you’re responding to an event in Sydney or anywhere in the world, the number one rule is to make sure that your marketing strategy is appropriate – the best results are where the event and the product or site complement each other in a way that doesn’t feel forced or ad hoc.

If you’re interested in learning more, Geekversity will be holding a free event on the 10th October in Sydney where we’ll be talking about internet marketing, running your own business and how our courses can help you. You can register just by following the steps on the front page of our site.

Last week, Twitter continued its ongoing facelift by updating the design on its error pages and default avatars. However, due to a mistake the update highlighted some interesting points about online branding.

As Mashable reported, when Twitter changed its default icons and backgrounds over to the new designs a number of users had their custom avatars and backgrounds deleted.

It was only a temporary setback, and Twitter was quick to emphasise they would resolve the problem, but it got people talking about the importance of an avatar and brand identity in social media.

Within social media the customisations you can make to your personal pages are the first things that potential contacts and customers see when they find your page. As with the real world, first impressions count and it’s important that your pages reflect this.

For example, if your company wants to portray a fun, casual image or if you want to develop a serious, professional reputation, those things should be reflected in your design. For help in choosing Twitter backgrounds, Smashing Magazine recently published a great piece on creating effective backgrounds.

Another important aspect is consistency. While for personal accounts it might not matter if you have different avatars or styles across different services, for professional accounts it’s important to maintain a consistent image.

This isn’t a new idea by any means – just the same way as chain stores have consistent design rules and colour themes so you associate those things with the brand, one should apply the same logic to social media accounts.

Also, remember that an investment in a design is an investment. Changing your avatar on Twitter can often dramatically affect how many people respond to your tweets or click through on your links as many Twitter users watching their stream recognise an avatar first and a username second. If people have come to trust your news and links you risk losing this trust by changing your recognisable avatar.

Which brings us to the final point: make sure your image is memorable. This doesn’t mean that it has to be fancy, just that it stands out. On services like Twitter, company logos can be a good idea but try to make sure your avatar comprises of one basic, preferably bright, colour as this will help you stand out amongst other users.

There are of course many other things that go into creating an effective online brand but if you abide by the rules of “Be appropriate, Be consistent and Be recognisable” you will be well on your way.

Throughout history, when explorers set off into a new territory they would often obtain guides who already understood the environment. Whether they be Sherpas in the Himalayas, Bedouin in the dessert, or the native tribes of the Amazon, it has always been beneficial to recognize the local knowledge of people who know what to eat, what to avoid and how to survive.

The same is just as true online.

Naturally, the online jungle doesn’t contain poisonous plants or quick sand and instead of Big Cats we have whole sites dedicated to house cats being funny, but the analogy still works. To really understand what’s happening online, and avoid the lurking dangers, you need to listen to the advice of experienced people.

One of the biggest social networking sites of the hour, Twitter, recently changed its Terms Of Service, the rules which you as a user agree to abide by and that state what the company can and can’t do with your account.

The biggest shake up were changes that hint at the way Twitter will deal with accounts it doesn’t like – including scam artists, fraudsters and spammers.  Social networking news site, Mashable, recently covered ten different types of accounts that might be affected under the changes, but it’s important that we learn how to recognize dodgy people online ourselves:

1) Use common sense

It sounds simple, but people often forget that the old adages of the physical world apply just as well online – if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. People who offer you something for nothing most likely have alternative reasons or they’re lying. Online this can be as simple to spot as lines like “Get 100,000 Followers Instantly!” or “Make Money Doing Nothing!” – you most likely wouldn’t believe equivalent claims in the real world, so why do it online?

2) Avoid spammers

Not all spammers are websites or social networking profiles with scantily clad women. When it comes to social networking, avoid people who have large number of followers but who just post links about making money and generating profit. They’re people who make money by exploiting others, and if you’re serious about running an online business, there’s nothing for you there.

Google and other search engines judge you by your incoming and outgoing links by ranking how worthy each link is with Page Rank. It’s easy to get links from people with bad Page Ranks, that’s why the sites have bad ranks in the first place; they aren’t trustworthy. Similarly, numbers of followers in social media mean nothing if they are people who don’t add any value to how you’re using social networking – they merely obscure the value.

3) Use your eyes

One of the ways many web-savvy people know to avoid someone is by visual cues. Their websites may be thrown together, filled with ads and links to generate income and the blog posts are spelt badly (much the same way you recognize email spam as not being official). The same way as we judge a shop based on how it looks as to whether we should shop there, we can use our eyes to judge whether this is the kind of person we should trust online.

4) Ask questions

If you’re venturing into the online jungle for the first time, don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. There are lots of us who have been here for a long time, and most people understand it can be a little daunting. A good rule of thumb to avoid annoying people is to use Google to find a solution first so you don’t annoy anyone with a problem you could have solved yourself. If you’re still lost, just be honest.

5) Be open to learning

Read blogs, follow the news and sign up for online education which can help teach you the deeper facts about how the Internet works. Think of the web as a space you can make better by contributing worthwhile products, services and content, and avoid the people, like spammers, who hurt the Internet to simply help themselves. If you approach the situation as someone who wants to know more, and never becomes complacent or convinced that they know everything, you’re already way ahead of the pack.

A Gold Coast small business woman who was going to be forced to pay $12,500 after she started running a business from her home has won her appeal.

The site Gold Coast News is reporting that the Debbie Hert was asked to pay the money after establishing a small business selling Tupperware products.

The money was supposedly an infrastructure charge which the Gold Coast council claimed it was owed due to the added traffic impact Ms Hert’s business had on her street.

What caught our eye here was the city planning boss councillor, Ted Shepherd, who claimed “home occupation businesses should be small and not make an impact on the community but if they do, they have to pay infrastructure charges.”

The problem with this logic when it comes to home run businesses is it discounts the possibility of conducting a small business on the internet. Why have the growth of your home business blocked by the limitations of where you live? Why increase foot traffic to your Queensland home when an online business can allow you to reach ostensibly anyone in the world?

It’s not to say it’s easier than running a traditional small business, whether you’re in Queensland or anywhere in the world, success takes work. However, the Internet does allow you to overcome logistic issues, the distance to potential customers and of course those nasty council fees.

If you want to learn more about how internet marketing can help you establish an online small business reserve your seat in Geekversity’s next free Gold Coast session on either the 19 or 20 September by going here.

The popularity of online education is growing in Canada and the rest of the world, supported by advancements in technology, the range of choices and the ability to take a course from anywhere in the world.

A piece by the Canadian arm of the Epoch Times recently demonstrated how many of the countries universities are now using online education tools to supplement or replace the normal course load.

It’s not just Canada though, online education has exploded around the world. The growth of services like iTunes U, which combines education content from around the world with the power of Apple’s iTunes Store, shows that there is an ever increasing market for quality e-learning content.

What does this mean in a practical sense, though? For one, it means that there has never been a better time than now to increase your knowledge and expand your skills. Online education allows you to learn things you’ve always wanted to, such as running your own internet business or how to understand the nuances of social media. On top of this, it doesn’t matter if you live in Canada and want to take a course in Australia – all you need is an internet connection.

A great way to see what online education is about is to attend one of Geekversity’s free two day conferences where we show you all the tools and support we offer to our students, how it is delivered and how our knowledge of internet marketing can help you transform you business.

We have events coming up across Canada in the coming weeks, so why not register here for an event Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary and let us show you what we can teach you?

New figures out of Canada have shown that as the country celebrates Labor Day nearly 500,000 more Canadians will be unemployed than this time last year. However, there may be a silver lining as more people look to start their own business online through an understanding of the principles of internet marketing.

Toronto based newspaper the Toronto Star has reported that nearly 500,000 jobs have been lost in the last year as deep restructuring took place in the automotive, forestry and machinery sectors. Furthermore, many of those who lost their jobs don’t qualify for Employment Insurance.

This is putting a strain on Canadians trying to find new ways to get by and generate income. As the Toronto Star reported, Don Thibert, director of academic affairs at Everest College, said that “almost 25% of Canadians are working more than one job to make ends meet.”

While economists claim Canada’s recession is over and the country is on the road to recovery, it will be interesting to see how many of these newly unemployed Canadians look for ways to supplement an income by making money online.

Running your own online business or moving an existing bricks and mortar business online certainly can be daunting. One simple way to make the transition easier is to learn the fundamentals of internet marketing from people who are already experts.

If you need to learn about plumbing, you’d ask a plumber: internet marketing is no different.  We created the Geekversity online education program to empower businesses and individuals through sharing the experience and knowledge we’ve developed.

The Geekversity team are hosting several free two day events in Canada demonstrating how to apply the fundamentals of running your own online business, internet marketing and how our ongoing online education program can help you earn money. Register here to attend the marketing seminar in Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary.