Use TweetDeck to Become a Twitter Power User

As you start getting more involved with Twitter, managing a large number of people whom you follow becomes a major problem. That's because as you follow more people, it becomes more difficult to pay attention to your favorite tweeple. (That's Twitter-speak for people.)

However, there's a great 3rd party application called TweetDeck that allows you to create smaller groups of people. By creating these subgroups of people you can make sure you don't miss the tweets of your favorite tweeple.

For example, I've created one group called "Core" which includes industry leaders, friends, and other people who have continually helpful or clever tweets. I have another group called "Mainers" where I track the tweets of interesting people near our offices in Portland, Maine.

To learn more about how to use TweetDeck check out the video below, or watch TweetDeck & Twitter: Better Manage Your Tweeple at YouTube.

TweetDeck is free to try, but if you like it, please make a donation at TweetDeck.com. Thanks!

Follow Rich Brooks on Twitter!

Rich Brooks
Maine Tweeter

How to Engage People on Twitter: Replies, Direct Messages & ReTweets

Twitter, as readers of this blog know, is a popular microblogging platform and my current fascination/addiction.

I've put together a few videos recently about Twitter:

• Getting Started on Twitter
• How to Find and Follow People on Twitter and
• How to Gain Followers on Twitter

Today I'm taking it a step further with a video on how to engage people on Twitter one-on-one by using replies, direct messages and retweets.

If you can't see the video below, you can watch How to Engage People on Twitter at YouTube.

Rich Brooks
Follow Me at Twitter

How to Gain Followers on Twitter

Sure, it's easy enough to get started on Twitter. But how do you leverage the power of this microblogging platform? How do you get a couple dozen followers, or a couple hundred, or a few thousand? (Without using bribery?)

By building your following naturally and organically you can extend your reach and influence, or just make a wider circle of people laughing, crying or informed.

In this video Rich Brooks (that's me) takes you through some proven techniques to increase your followers on Twitter.

Rich Brooks
Won't You Be My Follower?

How to Find and Follow People on Twitter

Last week I posted a video on how to get started with Twitter, the popular social media application.

Of course, joining Twitter is just the beginning. Since Twitter is a social media application, it doesn't get interesting until the conversation starts. The first step to having a conversation is listening; or in Twitter parlance, following people.

When you follow people you get their "tweets" (their posts of 140 characters or less) on your Twitter page or in your Twitter feed. You can follow friends, colleagues, industry leaders, or just interesting, funny people. To learn how to follow people, you can check out this video below, or watch "Twitter: How to Find and Follow People on Twitter."

And don't forget to follow me, Rich Brooks, on Twitter!

Rich Brooks
Small Business Tweeter

Getting Started on Twitter: A Step by Step Approach

Last week at a TechMaine networking event I ran into Sarah Downs of the Maine Marketing Association. We talked about my upcoming social media lunch and learn I'll be putting on for her group in November. The conversation quickly turned to Twitter, which she wasn't familiar with. By the end of the conversation, with help from Fred Abaroa, Sarah was ready to set up her own Twitter account, but wasn't sure how.

Although signing up for Twitter is easier than finding Viagra in your inbox (I wish I had used that line instead of the one I did in the video, but I don't have the patience to re-re-record it,) I figured I'd walk you through the process.

If you have trouble seeing this video you can check out How to Get Started on Twitter: Signup and Setup directly on YouTube.

And when you're done watching the video, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Rich Brooks
Small Business Tweeter

Growing Your Ezine Subscriber Base

Do you have an email subscribe box on your Web site? Does it languish there, underused and under-appreciated? Do you wonder how you can get more site visitors to opt-in to your mailing list?

If so, you may enjoy this video I put together about how to use email bait on your site to encourage people to subscribe to your ezine.

If you can't view this video, or God forbid, you want to see it larger, you can watch the video at Blip.TV.

Start your own email marketing campaign with Constant Contact.

Rich Brooks
Email Marketing for Small Business

The Future of Small Business Blogging: A Video Interview

One of the funny things at BlogWorld is how everyone seems to have a video camera and is doing quick interviews with everyone else. I didn't have my Flip video camera handy, but Denise Wakeman from the Blogsquad interviewed me between sessions on the future of small business blogging while her Blogsquad partner, Patsi Krakoff snapped some photos in the background.

If you can't see the video below, watch it here.

Rich Brooks
Apparently NOT Ready for My Close Up

How to Backup Your TypePad Blog

The other day a client lost his blog. Poof!

All of his posts, images, design files, etc., all wiped out. Luckily we were able to rebuild the blog (using some of the techniques outlined below), and luckily for us, the blog was only a couple of months old, so the job wasn't impossible.

Unlike a traditional Web site, TypePad blogs don't have with a backup that sits on your hard drive. If there's an aggravated hacker, or a major TypePad snafu, or you accidentally delete the wrong blog on your account, there's no easy backup. TypePad admits as much in their help section.

I'm hoping that in the near future TypePad (and other blog hosting companies) create a better backup system, but in the meantime I've put together a series of movies that will take you step by step through the regular regimen of backing up your TypePad blog.

I tried to create a master movie with all of these clips in iMovie, but I wasn't happy with the outcome (blurry) or the size (just shy of 100MB.) So, below you'll find the individual steps in bite-sized pieces along with links to the full size movies.

TypePad 101: Uploading Images in Your Blog Post

TypePad makes it easy to add images to your post, resize them, and create popups for full size viewing.  Adding images to your blog can give them a lot of visual interest, whether you're blogging about food, travel, or even...web marketing.

Simply select where you'd like to insert your image by clicking within the post field. Then click on the Insert Image button and follow the instructions in the popup window.

First you'll choose an image by browsing through your local computer. You can then set image options. When I'm setting up a TypePad account for a client a modify the default settings. The first option is to wrap the text. I generally keep the text wrapped around the image in question, but have the image on the right; I find that images on the left often create unfortunate wrapping problems, leaving a single word or two orphaned below it.

I also upgrade the thumbnail size from 100 pixels to 200, as I find 100 pixels is just too small.

Whatever changes you make, if these are going to be the most common settings for your blog, you can easily make them the default by checking off "Save Settings as This Weblog's Defaults."

When you're all done just click on "Insert Image" and let TypePad do the rest.

To view the full size version visit Adding an Image to a TypePad Blog Post (8.8MB). The smaller version is right below.

Rich Brooks
Business Blogger

TypePad 101: Creating a New Blog Post

TypePad is a pretty simple tool to use, but there's going to be a first time for everything. When I sit down with a client I make sure we go over the basics: how to post, how to assign categories, how to ping and so on.

Sometimes there's a break between when we sit down together and when they get a chance to first post, so I'm putting together a series of short how-to videos that they--and you--can watch whenever you need.

The first one I put together is how to blog in TypePad. You can watch the shrunken version below or the large-as-life How to Create a TypePad Blog Post video. (7.8MB)

Some tips that may fall outside the typical "how to" video:

• Use a Keyword Rich Title. Remember that blogs are just like Web sites in that they can be indexed by the search engines. By using specific, relevant keywords in your title you'll stand a better chance of ranking well for those keywords.
• Categories: Roll Your Own. You can change category names you create down the road, but not TypePad's default categories. TypePad's default categories are--by necessity--broad. Since you want to target a specific niche--say, Organic Recipes Tweens Will Eat--TypePad's "Food and Drink" is too big an umbrella. If in six months you decide Organic Recipes for Children is more suited to your topic you can change it.
• Let it Breathe. Blogs are busy by nature. Create more open space by breaking up longer paragraphs, emphasizing important themes, use ellipses...or--if you prefer--dashes.

Watch the full-size version of How to Create a TypePad Blog Post.

Rich Brooks
Movie Mogul