Live-streaming applications such as Meerkat, Blab and Periscope are becoming an incredibly effective and powerful way that entrepreneurs and small business owners can build confidence and credibility online.
Through live broadcasts, individuals have the opportunity to connect, educate, inform and inspire people all over the world on topics they have an expertise or interest in.
Broadcasts allow you to collaborate and connect with your audience in real-time; this is valuable because transparency builds trust.
I have been live-streaming on Periscope for over three months now. As a result, I have become more confident in front of the camera and more knowledgeable of the best practices that other brands and businesses can use to increase their online credibility.
Below are a few tips that, regardless of which live-streaming platform you use, you can apply to build your confidence and credibility through live-streaming:
- Welcome & introduction: You want to give an introduction when you’re live streaming to welcome those who have never seen or met you before online. Telling people who you are, where you’re tuning in from, and what you plan to discuss for the scope will help you build credibility. Similarly, welcoming people as they hop on to the stream is a great way to show them your appreciation for their time and engagement.
- Bonus tip: Let people know how long the broadcast will be so they can decide whether they have the time to stick around for all of the tips you’ll be providing.
- Content: Once you’ve set the stage for who you are and what you do, dive right in! Make sure you have outlined the content you are going to cover so you don’t lose track and/or waste time. You also want to be sure to engage with your audience. Throughout the scope, find ways to encourage viewers to leave hearts or claps, write comments or ask questions.
- Bonus tip: Show your audience that you want to create content that aligns with their needs and interests by asking them what they’d like to see in the future.
- Length: The ideal length of a broadcast varies slightly depending upon which channel you’re going to use. Since you can pre-schedule your live-streams through Meerkat, you can dive into the content right away on this channel. This allows for shorter broadcasts. With Periscope, since you can’t pre-schedule anything, you want to wait a few minutes for people to hop onto the stream before diving into the content. The ideal length across all platforms is between 5-30 minutes.
- Bonus tip: Keeping your broadcasts under 25 minutes shows that you’re respectful of others’ time, while still providing you with enough time to make the scope valuable and juicy for your audience.
- Wrap-up: Including a recap of the content that you covered in the broadcast is a great way to honor those who joined the broadcast late. It is also a great way to hammer home the value that you provided to the audience.
- Bonus tip: Include a strong call to action as your final message. A CTA that asks people to snag a free guide on your website or start following you on Twitter is a great way to keep people engaged with you after the stream has ended.
Your work isn’t quite done when you hop off the broadcast.
You can use a service like Katch.me to make your Periscopes available for viewing after the 24 hour limit has expired.
You also want to be sure to share the link (to your Periscope, Meerkat and/or Katch.me replay) on your social media handles to capture your social following that may have missed the notification of when your live-stream started.
Live-streaming is a wonderful way to connect with your customers, showcase your expertise and inspire your audience to take action — and it’s only going to grow in popularity.
Start taking advantage today by creating a profile on Meerkat, Blab and/or Periscope!
