Much the way TeachStreet helps consumers find nearby experts who can teach them something new, so Betterfly aims to connect them with teachers, tutors, coaches, trainers, stylists or anyone else who offers a service that can help them learn, look or feel better.

Now in beta, New York-based Betterfly deliberately excludes companies from its list of service providers, focusing instead on individuals with specific expertise. "When searching for someone to teach you Spanish, give you a massage or improve your yoga technique, it's more important to know who the best person is, rather than knowing just the name of a language school, spa or yoga studio," founder Joshua Schwadron explains. "Imagine if eHarmony.com told you that your future wife worked at Citigroup, but left it up to you to figure out who she is. Now what?" Such experts can create a free, highly customizable page on which they can promote their qualifications, services, locations, special offers and payment policies; display reviews from verified clients; upload resources like instructional videos and lesson plans; maintain real-time booking systems, complete with last-minute deals; and even create their own blogs. Users seeking an expert of some kind, meanwhile, can search for free based on more than 20 factors such as availability, friends' recommendations, verified reviews and value.

Ad-supported Betterfly is currently available only to U.S. users. One to partner with or emulate for aspiring self-improvers in your part of the world...?

Website: www.betterfly.com
Contact: www.betterfly.com/site/contactus

Learning a new language is often best achieved outside the classroom—when one is eating lunch, for example, or practicing one's profession. Aiming to bring a similar philosophy to the education of children, Parisian Baby-speaking is an in-home childcare service that includes foreign language instruction in day-to-day activities.

With services for children aged one and up, Baby-speaking was developed with the help of language-acquisition experts to incorporate a new language into everyday activities. Care providers are all native-speakers in the language they offer, and are carefully trained in Baby-speaking's method, which includes a plethora of games and activities to work into the day. “Simon Says” and “Go Fish” are both among the games that Baby-speaking uses to create fun immersion time for young kids, as are songs, skits and cooking recipes. For kids six and up, Baby-speaking adds activity books of interactive games and a conversation notebook to enrich what's learned in school; teen services are designed to complement the language fundamentals learned in high school. Baby-speaking's prices range from EUR 12 per hour for children under 6 to EUR 35 for teens.

Baby-speaking has already won several awards, including one in the 2009 European Innovative Enterprise Competition. Time to target all the future little polyglots near you...?

Website: www.baby-speaking.fr
Contact: www.baby-speaking.fr/en/contact.html

Spotted by: Hugo Cahuzac

Regular Springwise readers may recall Brightstorm, the company we covered back in 2008 that offers an online video network designed to help teens prepare for college. Aiming to update drivers ed with a like-minded dose of technology for today's digitally savvy youth, New York-based Fresh Green Light combines simulators and online tutoring with on-the-road instruction.

Billing itself as a driving school for the 21st century, Rye, NY-based Fresh Green Light serves multiple communities in Westchester County with its updated driving lessons incorporating driving simulators, behind-the-wheel driving lessons and online instruction. Its full USD 1,495 package aimed at beginning teen drivers, for instance, includes four 90-minute sessions on a state-of-the-art driving simulator, which lets students experience routine and extreme driving situations without risk to themselves or others. New drivers learn how to drive in rain, snow, fog and darkness on both suburban streets and highways; they also experience the consequences of texting while driving, going too fast or running a red light. Seven 90-minute lessons behind a real wheel are also included, as are an online skill-building program, a 5-hour DMV pre-licensing class, the DMV road test and an online insurance-reduction program. Also available from Fresh Green Light are smaller-scale packages for more advanced teen drivers as well as focused skill drills and a la carte options for drivers of all ages.

If anything, today's teens rely even more heavily on online oxygen than the rest of us do, so it makes good sense to adapt drivers education accordingly. One to partner with or emulate in other parts of the world? (Related: Greener drivers ed — Using video games to make seniors safer drivers.)

Website: www.freshgreenlight.com
Contact: info@freshgreenlight.com

By virtue of the sheer numbers of students typically involved, most school yearbooks don't include more than one or two shots of each individual child. Aiming to make school yearbooks more about the student and less about the school, TreeRing is a platform that lets schools create yearbooks that can be customized.

By combining the efficiency of just-in-time digital printing, the collaborative power of online social networks and an array of DIY customization features, California-based TreeRing strives to create personalized yearbooks for each child while also reducing the financial burden for schools. Toward that end, it has built a solution that allows schools to create a traditional "core" yearbook that includes the entire school, but to also invite parents and students to customize their own yearbook pages. Customization can be achieved via templates and drag-and-drop functionality using a combination of personal and shared photos and information captured about each student's stage in life—best friends, favorite activities, future aspirations, etc.—making the end result a record of each student’s entire year, both in and out of the classroom. Once a student's yearbook is complete, TreeRing's state-of-the-art digital printing technology then prints that custom version. Pricing is between USD 10 and USD 25, Examiner.com reports, including four free customizable pages.

By allowing families to order online directly, TreeRing eliminates all yearbook costs for schools, including burdensome yearbook deposits. The company also offers a greener alternative to the traditional yearbook by planting a tree for every yearbook sold, thanks to its partnership with Trees for the Future. Could this be the next model for yearbook publishing? (Related: Personalised newspaper targets young readers — Customised magazine from Lexus, Time & Amex — Personalised music mag — Customised cookbooks stir in online recipes.)

Website: www.treering.com
Contact: www.treering.com/Contact-TreeRing.php

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Much the way Supercool School allows anyone to create and monetize an online school, so Estonia-based Traindom focuses on helping information entrepreneurs market their expertise.

No programming or design skills are required to create an education-focused business with Traindom; rather, the site gives users everything they need, including an easy-to-use product creation interface, client management tools, payment systems and more. Content can be conveyed through text, images, audio or video, and support is available both from the company and through a community forum. Traindom users don’t pay until they win 10 sales, and there are no contracts, setup or termination fees. Pricing ranges from nothing for a free account supporting up to 10 clients with 500 megabytes of video storage to USD 99 per month for unlimited clients and 10 gigabytes of storage.

Picking up where general sites like Instructables leave off, Traindom could provide just the platform for minipreneurs with niche expertise. One to try out on the target market that matters to you?

Website: www.traindom.com
Contact: info@traindom.com

Spotted by: John Greene