Invitation to Attend SME Event - “ICT Issues for SMEs”

As small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) prepare to do business in the New Economy, they face the challenge of effectively and efficiently adopting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to advance their businesses.

To help SMEs overcome this challenge, the APEC Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC) program in collaboration with DigitalFilipino.com and the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) will conduct a short program - ICT Issues for SMEs - on September 20, 2007 from 9 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. at the Mandarin Hotel, Makati, Manila.

Three guest speakers have been invited from Taiwan to give short presentations on how they are working with SMEs and assisting them with the various issues that relate to ICT for business. The short program aims to share some practical lessons and experiences that relate to the adoption and use of ICT by SMEs for business development.

We feel that it would be of benefit for your organization to attend and share in this learning experience. We therefore extend to you an invitation to send representatives from your organization to attend. Please let us know without delay (on or before Tuesday September 11, 2007) the name of your representatives wishing to attend.

Participants must inform us if they wish attend to secure a seat for the event.

Refreshments will served at the Mandarin Hotel, the event is open to all and free of charge.

To confirm your attendance, please contact ADOC Office:

Mercie Nicolas & Arvin Eugenio
(Office) 920-0101 ext. 205
(Mobile) 0917-451-6437
Email: mnicolas@ncc.gov.ph

Online tutorials are now up

Hello club members. I just like you to know that our online tutorial section is now up and have uploaded our first video, audio, and handout with exercise.

Our first topic is all about Integrating Feedburner in Blogger.com. We are also learning in the process of doing this and your suggestions on future topics will be very much appreciated.



More to come!

Switching to online video / audio tutorials

One of the things happening right now in the DigitalFilipino.com Club is that our growing membership base has expanded outside of the Philippines. This poses the challenge for our hands-on training workshops be made available to as many club members as possible.

I've been getting requests to post videos of our training to benefit those who are too busy to attend. After participating in the Thirty Day Challenge, I finally got the much needed inspiration on how to execute it. In that regard, please expect podcast and video content to be posted in our membership site and blogs shortly.

We've had so much content to put online that covers our training in the past such as:

• E-mail marketing
• Website marketing
• Website evaluation
  
• E-commerce website development
• Setting-up and analyzing website traffic
• Online payment acceptance
• E-Newsletter creation
• Website enhancement
• Google Adsense
• Google AdWords
• Blogging
• E-commerce workshop
• E-commerce basics

All video/podcast presentations shall be supplemented by handouts that can downloaded from the members-only area. It will also be accompanied by exercises that you can work on and submit to me for further one-on-one interaction.

Your suggestions on the content will be very much appreciated.

Lessons Learned in Launching and Operating a Membership Only Site

I just found a great post from Yaro Starak sharing his experience in launching a members-only site. I will cite some of the key points in his post and share my experience as well in starting and maintaining the DigitalFilipino.com Club from December 2003 to the present.

• Build your preeminence
  Becoming known as an expert in your field requires a lot of hard work and investment. In my case, writing numerous articles, joining or forming an association catering to that niche, creating free e-learning programs (using an autoresponder), doing speaking engagement and advocacy on e-commerce helped in establishing myself in this area.
  
  This is a continuous effort and getting your contacts to spread the word for you will be helpful, in addition to your resources.
  
  
• Communication channels
  My mailing list/newsletter is one of the most important moves I've taken when putting up DigitalFilipino.com. By the time the membership club was launched, I have sufficient number of contacts to offer the membership and pitch it whenever appropriate.
  
  
• How to launch a membership site
  The right combination of tools must be available to launch a membership site. For me, I used WebsiteWizard to start my online membership program. That web service allowed me to:
• accept payments online
• have a members-only area where members can download research reports, join forums
• have a mailing list system that can be used for broadcasting services.
  
  
• Content and pricing
  A membership site will have higher chances of success if individuals that join or sign-up will find high quality content. In our case, these are composed of research reports, e-commerce related e-books, tutorials, advice, presentation papers by fellow members, among others. Always give more than what they pay for.
  
  Depending on which country you are based and the package you're offering, pricing may differ from one membership program to another. To find the right price is to get an estimate on the value you are offering. Adjust this based on freshness of offerings and changes in the target market.