LIKE a long, long road, the motorcycle rider training industry's recession shows little sign of ending – or even easing up a little.

But Advanced Motorcycle Training.com proprietor Nigel Bowers, pictured, is making clever use of new technology to raise his personal profile and pick up new business across the country.

And that is helping keep his head above water in the tough times, while many of his peers are looking for alternative incomes.

His use of the digital world is no flash in the pan, as the former motorcycle police officer was shortlisted as a finalist in last year's The Sentinel Best Use Of IT & Communications award.

It has also helped him gain clients from America, Hong Kong and New Zealand – as well as from just up the road.

His videos of training sessions and best-practice techniques have appeared worldwide on You Tube and a host of other social media sites plus.

That and his use of Twitter means he has become a cyber-space celebrity in his own right.

And the marketing also brings in a small but regular share of the associated advertising revenue.

Nigel said: "The industry is really suffering locally, with new bike registrations down as much as 20 per cent.

"But by going to work as far south as the Cotswolds, I'm able to pick up people from the London area where there seems to be more money and where people are still prepared to spend.

"A lot of clients have seen my clips and even recognise my voice from the commentaries.

"They will suddenly say 'I remember that from the video' or 'Yes, I should have remembered that from the clip, it makes sense' and that helps put me ahead of the competition."

And as various emergency services cut back on their in-house training schools, Nigel is also picking up what he calls some 'blue light' tuition.

Taking to high-tech equipment like a duck to water, he has long had his bike festooned with communications equipment including video cameras.

Footage of pupils can be played back at the kerb-side.

That helps them to improve their techniques and can also be presented or sold to students as DVDs.

The informative images can also be screened globally via the internet – some on a subscriber basis.

Nigel said: "We're coming up for our three-millionth hit on YouTube and I am currently attracting an average of 2,500 viewers a day.

"The spread of broadband, with its high speeds, was a real boon and I've redeveloped my websites with that in mind.

"Originally I was only posting footage on my own site, which seemed a lot of time and effort, so I joined YouTube in 2007 and the results since have been spectacular.

"I now post clips on YouTube, Vimeo, Howcast, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and all my own sites, and on non-related sites in France and various road safety sites around the world."