Live Video for Professional Speakers

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Live Video for Professional Speakers

Live video is urgent, interactive and exclusive.

“Live video is urgent, interactive and exclusive. It’s also demanding. No other content format can match the interaction between brand and audience than live video can build.”

-Joel Comm is an internet entrepreneur, NY Times best-selling author, live video marketing expert and keynote speaker.

Live Video is one of the fastest growing marketing trends for professional speakers: it is a way to connect instantly with your audience and share your message, but are audiences actually engaging with live video? The following stats suggest so.

5 recent statistic about audiences and video

  • 80% of audiences would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog.
  • 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.
  • 39% of executives call a vendor after viewing a video.
  • 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read text.
  • 73% of B2B businesses using live video report positive results to their ROI.

See more video usage statistic in Caroline Golum’s article, “Why a Live Video Strategy is a Must-Have for Marketers”.

Why a Live Video Strategy is a Must-Have for Marketers

Live video is exciting and engaging

As video keeps growing, live streaming stands out from other types of online video because it creates higher engagement. Your audience more likely to watch (80% more likely) than click on a blog link, and it is also more likely also generate more likes and comments.

Live streaming generates a buzz. People get excited about a video that they feel they are a part of, as opposed to something they can watch at any time.

According to Facebook, people spend triple the amount of time watching a video when it’s live. But the views don’t stop directly after the event, two-thirds of Facebook Live video views happen after the event it over.

It’s important to start looking at how you can start using live video streaming to promote yourself as a professional speaker, to build your audience and get more speaking opportunities.

people spend triple the amount of time watching a video when it’s live

3 ways to use live video content to build your speaking business

1. Build brand awareness

Live videos help people see the real, authentic you.

As opposed to a polished version where everything has been edited to perfection when you live stream, you give audiences a peek into who you are.

This can help build your speaker brand by showing what you are doing, who you meet, what you are thinking.

Build brand awareness

Ideas

  • Behind-the-scenes tour of an interesting conferences or events you are attending.
  • Interview or chat with influencers and other thought leaders you meet.
  • Offer feedback and opinions on trends or issues in your industry.
  • Interview friends or colleagues and collaborators who are doing fascinating work in your industry.
  • Talk about a new book or article you are launching.
  • Host a reoccurring show to build up a loyal fan base.

 

2. Share your message

Live video allows you to have that real-time feedback, which is a little scary for some people, because you do have to react to the feedback as the comments come on screen. But that allows you to hone not only your message but to truly understand how your message relates with people.

-Brian Franzo

Hone in on your expertise, share your insights on your topic. By doing live streaming, you can re-engage past audience members, as well as reach out to new ones. Get creative with your content and how you say it. Try different ways of saying your core message and see what resonates.

Share your message

Ideas

  • Streaming a live presentation, pitch or panel.
  • Having a Q&A or AMA session answering questions.
  • Sharing new insights or developments.
  • Specific segments of your talk or message.
  • Have someone interview you to share your ideas

 

3. Boost revenue

Live streams can boost revenue in many different ways, such as getting you new bookings and in front of new event organizers.

Aside from that, if you are sharing valuable content regularly, some platforms allow you to sell your live streams as a product itself, which would add to your bottom line.

Boost revenue

Ideas

  • Share key trends and insights.
  • Host live training sessions.
  • Share cutting-edge ideas and research.
  • Share valuable tools, statistics, practices, and expertise.

Strategy

This plan will help you by looking at these factors:

  • Choose a platform
  • Set a budget
  • Decide on your technology
  • Building views

1. Choose a platform

Picking the right platform for your Live Streaming is key, and you will need to set out what your needs are, then research the platforms to find out which can meet those needs.

Here are some questions to ask when doing your research:

  • Where is your audience and how easy is it to get to them?
  • Are you willing to pay for service?
  • What features, like a chatbox or live embedding, you do you need?
  • Is monetization an option? Are there multiple options?
  • What security features does it need?
  • Is the branding customizable?

Choose a platform

Here are 7 popular streaming platforms for you to start with:

  1. FacebookLive

  2. Periscope

  3. YouTubeLive

  4. InstagramLive

  5. LiveStream

  6. uStream

  7. DaCast

 

2. Set your budget

One of the benefits of live streaming is that budgeting can scale.

You can use your smartphone and a free service like Facebook and message your network directly, and start live streaming for free.

Alternatively, you can rent a studio, buy or rent professional hardware and a recording team, subscribe to a professional streaming service, and advertise your live streams on the major online networks so that it reaches completely new audiences. Both can be effective strategies, it depends on your brand and available funds.  

Look at the level of professionalism your brand demands, and what your goals are. Then look at what budgets you can set to achieving those goals.

Here are somethings to consider when setting your budget:

  • Technology: such as camera, microphones, lights, etc.

  • Platform subscription: data usage, storage, amount of uploads per service

  • Boosting posts: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Ads advertising

  • Setting up a sales funnel: including the landing page, CRM, email marketing, etc.

  • Co-host, film crew or camera-person, assistant.

Look at the level of professionalism your brand demands

3. Technology

As we discussed in the last section, your live streaming technology can be simple or advanced, but are you going to need the following:

  • Video camera
  • Microphone
  • Flawless internet connection
  • Account/Subscription to your video streaming platform (e.g. Facebook)

live streaming technology

Consider doing a semi-private trail run so that your first live stream is still professional looking, for example: making sure the connection is strong and that your camera produces a clear, professional image.

This is especially important if you are going to use your smartphone to record a live presentation— if you are too far away from the microphone, it will not pick up your voice and it will end up being a waste of both you and your audiences time.

4. Building views

If you are going to take the time to create the video, views are necessary— if you want to use Live Video to grow your speaking business, you need people to watch the videos.

Here are a few things you can do to start building your view count: before, during and after the Live Video.

 

Before

1. Communicate to your network

Tell your friends, followers, colleagues, and network ahead of time that you are going to be broadcasting a live video.

Invite them to tune in, being clear about the time and telling them why they might want to get involved.

Facebook found that a day’s notice is best for giving people time to tune in.

2. Subscribers

Ask your network and past viewers to subscribe to your live videos so they get notified every time you go live.

3. Don’t let it drop

Double check your internet connection. Make sure your video comes in clear and professional. If the wifi at the event is wobbly, switch to 4G. Do a test run if you need to with a friend or colleague.

If your video is shaky, pixelated and cuts out halfway through, it will not reflect well on you and your speaking brand.

4. Generate interest

Create an attractive and interesting headline and description before going live to grab people’s attention. Add value right away, or give people a reason to watch.

Instead of “Live Video NYC at the Bright Conf. 2018”

Consider something like:

  • If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere! New York, New York! | Bright Conference 2018
  • Checking out the who's who of the Bright Conference in NYC
  • Come with me to visit Central Park and 5th Ave | New York for the Bright Conference 2018
  • Join me to see the lights | Times Square before the Bright Conference 2018

5. Get creative!

Live Video is attractive because it is exciting. A surefire way to kill excitement is to do the exact same thing every time. Combat this by switching things up.

Change the location regularly, invite interesting guests, get creative.  Do something invigorating and interesting for your audience to activate their desire to continuing tuning in.

 

During

1. Grab their attention

While you might have 10 seconds on a stage to grab their attention, you have less than a third of that time with Live Video.

Estimates put the attention-grabbing window at a mere 3 seconds (that is the rough time from for autoplay on the Facebook feed). That means those first few seconds are crucial.

2. Start with short purpose-driven Live Videos

When you are just starting with your Live Videos, aim to keep them between 3 to 10 minutes as you figure out what works for you and your audience.

Start with a concrete, clear purpose, and then let that determine what you cover in your video.

Examples:

  • ”I want people who are going to the conference in NYC to know I am here and I want them to get excited to see my presentation...I can show them a cool panorama of NYC, and then go into the conference and go backstage, and give a few important statistics from my presentation.”
  • “I want to show event organizers that I do presentation across the country and that there are loads of people who go to the conferences I speak at….I can show them the lineup of people waiting to get into the conference, and grab my speaker name tag, and say that I am really pumped to do this event. ”
  • “I want my audience and friends and family to see NYC and hear some interesting things about what I am working on….So I can walk around a part of Central Park and 5th Avenue, and talk about the interesting people I have met at the conference, the new insights I have learned, and what that means to my work.”

Having one clear purpose for your video will help engage your audience better, instead of trying to put everything into one video, keep the videos shorter, and more purpose driven.

Note: Avoid making your videos too short, it will not give people enough time to tune in. Live Videos under 3 minutes might not open up a window large enough for people to engage.

3. Repeat: your name, what you are doing and  calls to action

If you are filming for long periods of time, you will probably reach more people, especially once your Live Videos start gaining more traction. A key tip is to re-introduce yourself in case people are joining in later, and reiterate every so often what you are doing and why.

Also, you can re-share links and re-offer calls to action, such as

  • Subscribe to my Live Videos
  • Visit my website
  • Follow or add me on…. (LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram)

Do this periodically, because people will tune in and out at different times.

4. Name drop

Don’t underestimate the power of using a commenter’s name while you are live posting!

While you don’t want to stand there and list everyone who is tuning in, saying something like “Great question, John.” or “What do you think of that view, Sarah?” works for two reasons.

The first is that it accentuates that this is an interactive live experience— this is what makes it totally different than video on demand, and can give viewers who watch the replay more likely to join in next time.

Secondly, it will make audience members feel valued, building a long-lasting, loyal, and engaged audience.

After

Your video is not over the moment you stop recording

“I have a friend who made a video last October when she was going through breast cancer treatment. She just gave makeup tips because she was bald and she just thought it would be great, she'd asked my advice.  I told her what to do, she went Live for 15 minutes, five people were there. Now 20,000 people have seen and shared, and I think there was like 550 shares on Facebook of that one video.“

-Dorien Van-dam

Your video is not over the moment you stop recording, in fact, the replays can have a more significant impact than the live recording. Here are three ways to increase you replay views:

1. Pay for advertising

Whether you choose to boost the post (on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn) the content will likely get more views if you can boost it to be in front of more people. Make sure you factor this into your budget, but adding $4-$5/€4-€5 to a post can make quite a difference on who see it.

2. Change the headline and copy

After the Live session, go in an create a value-based headlined and alter the copy to reflect that the event has already happened, and what viewers could gain from watching the replay.

3. Share it.

If you are looking to get more Live Video replays, you need to let people know it exists, do this by sharing it on your networks and sending personal messages to influencers, colleagues, and friends.

Here are some ideas on where to share it:

  • Email it to your subscriber list
  • Post it (or segments from it) on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube
  • Embed it on your website
  • Share it on your relevant Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

4. Tag guests

If you had a guest (or met some influencers, event organizers or audience members) tag them and share with them the post. You can be bold as ask them to share it with networks as well to get more views.

While it will take some time and practice to find the live video techniques that will work for you and your audience, but we encourage you to jump in and start using this exciting and useful technology to reach your audience and grow your business.

We would love to hear some of your tips and experiences when it comes to negotiating a speaking fee, please contact us here.

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