Start by Following. Click the Who to Follow button and then look through recommended users as well as search for people you know. Choose 50 people or brands that interest you and read them for two weeks. See what they talk about and what information you’re finding out that you’d likely have missed if you had to search actively for it.

Complete Your Bio. Make sure you upload a photo and add a descriptive bio. You can also include your homepage which will serve as an inbound link to your site. You are missing opportunities when you don’t introduce yourself properly.

Start Posting. Many on Twitter are simply lurkers. Make sure you get involved. Post updates whenever you add new blog post to your site. Try posting quick tips or observations about photography. Share good news and accomplishments with others. You can also include links to useful articles relevant to your interests. The important thing here is to periodically engage others and comment.

Don’t Obsess. Twitter is not your email inbox. You do not need to read every tweet that comes in (however be sure to click on the @Mentions and Messages buttons to see tweets about and to you.) You should also not log in and send out too many tweets at once.

Go Mobile. Put a native Twitter application on your mobile pone. You’ll find Twitter a pleasant companion that lets you keep in touch with your friends and interests. The phone applications make it easy to share photos and video as well as streamline the posting and browsing process.

Switch Your View. You might enjoy your Twitter feed more if you use a helper application. Look at things like Flipboard for iPad or Pulse for Android which turn your Twitter feed into a virtual magazine.

Like all new things, Twitter takes a while to learn and even longer to master. But it does a great job of keeping you informed of important industry news and can lead to a passive intimacy with your clients and fans. This excuse to keep in touch means that you stay in people’s minds... which of course improves your chance of referrals and repeat hires.

Richard Harrington is the founder of RHED Pixel (www.RHEDPixel.com) a visual communications company in Washington, D.C. You can follow him on Twitter @rhedpixel.

3. Click the Upload Photo/Video button.

4. Enter a description into the field labeled “Say something about this.”

5. You can use the buttons along the bottom of the post to tag people in the video or add location information.Be sure to give details about your video to help the viewer understand the scene.

6. Click the “Choose File” button to select a video on your computer for posting. Facebook says it supports more than 30 different formats, but it prefers an HD MP4 file. I find using the YouTube preset works great for Facebook. The upload limit on your account will vary, but to increase it, just verify your account on your profile page.

7. Click Post to add the video.

8. A status window opens to show you the progress of the upload. Depending on duration and site traffic, it can take a few minutes for your video to process and become available online.

9. The video is added to your video collection and is posted to your timeline. You can use the standard sharing features of Facebook to tell your friends about it.

A presentation about using Twitter to reach your audience by Rich Harrington, from the RHED Pixel open house.

A presentation about hypersyndication by Rich Harrington, from the RHED Pixel open house.

• TV companions: For this group, TV is almost always on and is like a member of the family.
• Media trendsetters: Early adopters of technology and new content, and also 39% multicultural.
• Sports enthusiasts: Made up mostly of men, but most guys aren't classified here. This group also likes action-adventure programming.
• Program passionates: Highly involved with favorite shows, and the biggest DVR time-shifters.
• Surfers and streamers: Most open to watching alternative content on TV and most often using laptops or tablets to multitask while watching TV. They skew young, but include a large component of 50-plus people.
• TV moderators: Those who enjoy being experts and leading others' choices.

• Tweet! Tweet! — Using Twitter to Reach an Audience
• Hyper-syndication: How to Publish Your Video to Hundreds of Websites
• DSLR Video: High End Looks on a Middle Class Budget
• Delivering Video to Mobile Audiences: How to Create, Compress, and Deliver Video to iPhones, iPads, Droids and Blackberries
• Live Webcasting: How To Stream Your Next Event to a Live Audience
• What's New in Social Media: Five Upcoming Trends You Need to Know About
• Making Web Video Accessible: Captions, Searchability, and More!

It seems that everywhere I turn, social media comes up. Independent producers as well as top studios look to harness social media to raise awareness for their productions. Customers are using it to talk about products and companies they love -- and hate. People look to re-establish their personal networks during tough economic times. Heck, your mother (or your kids) may be connected to you on Facebook.

But is this real? Specifically, can social media help your business grow?

The answer is a bit complex. Let's say it's both real and fake. I'm thinking 60/40. We'll see. You may think I'm being non-committal, but I'm not. The social media movement is filled with a lot of hot air right now. Just like the real estate market, the social media boom will pop.

But people need homes, and people have a real need to communicate with others in meaningful ways. Social media is a real communication medium that can be incredibly valuable, but getting started is like being thrown into a raging river and learning how to swim. It can be overwhelming at first, and if you look for help, you'll encounter a lot of bad advice. That's why I am writing this article, to offer you practical advice and real world experiences about how social media can help those of us who work with traditional media.

Continue reading the article here.

• 96% of Generation Y uses social networks.
• If Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth largest.
• 300,000+ businesses have a Facebook page.
• Dell has sold $3 million dollars of computers on Twitter.
• Only 18% of TV campaigns generate a return on investment.
• Ford Motors spends 25% of its marketing budget on social media -- and didn't need a government bailout.
• The average American watches 124 videos per month online
• 70% of 18-34 year olds watch TV on the web -- but only 35% use a TiVo.
• 24 out of 25 of the top newspapers are experiencing record declines.