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Sky Business Tech Report: Interview on social media, online outsourcing, and how small companies are using technology to leapfrog big business

Ross Dawson, November 16, 2009 3:47 AM US PT

I was interviewed this morning on Sky Business Tech Report. Some of the things we discussed in the interview are:

* How social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many others change how companies engage with customers, become more efficient, and being competitive.

* Among the many Australian organizations applying social media, for example Westpac has been implementing blogging and other tools internally to improve effectiveness, and discount airlines and telcos are using Twitter to engage with customers.

* Online outsourcing platforms such as elance.com, Odesk, and freelancer.com are giving the power of outsourcing to small business, enabling them to compete effectively with large companies.

* To begin to use online outsourcing, think about what tasks you want done, get bids, find new suppliers, and see what works best for you.

* It is important to recognize that the world is rapidly changing and that learning new tools and approaches is fundamental to business success moving forward.

* Managers and business owners have many resources to learn how to do these things. SME Technology Summit, other events, this blog and many other online resources are available.

* To get the most talented people to work for you, reward suppliers in ways more than financial, by making it stimulating, engaging, and fun to work and offering to share rewards.

For the most current insights and trends in the living networks, follow @rossdawson on Twitter!

Ross Dawson is globally recognized as a leading futurist, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, strategy advisor, and bestselling author. He is Founding Chairman of four companies: professional services and venture firm Advanced Human Technologies, future and strategy consulting group Future Exploration Network, leading events firm The Insight Exchange, and influence ratings start-up Repyoot.

Ross is author most recently of Implementing Enterprise 2.0, the prescient Living Networks, which anticipated the social network revolution, and the Amazon.com bestseller Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships (click on the links for free chapter downloads). He is based in Sydney and San Francisco with his wife jewellery designer Victoria Buckley and two beautiful young daughters.