How to Live stream For Your Business [& The Big Why]

Live streaming is a great way to make your business and brand more visible, build more relationships with your audience, and increase engagement on the internet. Learn how to live stream for your business now 👇

Meanwhile, viewer habits are changing (notwithstanding the complex consumer habits that are also changing. Throw in the pandemic here and it’s more complex than ever).

According to some handy live streaming statistics by Restream, Live video is going to grow 15X by 2022 and dominate 17% of the Internet.

The global video streaming market size is all set to reach USD 223.98 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc, expanding at a CAGR of 21.0% from 2021 to 2028.

The reach is insane. The format is welcome.

Learning how to livestream for your business is the best thing you’d do then.

Why should you live stream?

It’s the next best thing to being there in person (with every single viewer, visitor, and potential customer). Live streaming helps you build relationships with your viewers, potential customers, and existing customers.

Meanwhile, according to an Infographic from Vimeo LiveStream and New York Magazine, here’s what your customers want:

Here’s what customers expect from brands in terms of live streaming and live video, according to Vimeo Livestream:

• 81% watched more live video in 2016 than in 2015.
• 80% would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog.
• 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.
• For 56%, breaking news is the type of live video content they watch most often. Conferences and concerts are tied in second place with 43%.
• 67% of audiences who watched a live stream purchased a ticket to a similar event the next time it occurred.
• 87% would prefer to watch online if it meant more behind-the-scenes content than a standard TV broadcast.
• 45% of audiences would pay for live video from a favorite team, speaker, or performer.
• 67% of viewers say quality is the most important factor when watching a live stream.

Favorite video platforms for live streaming and live video in order of preference:

• Livestream: 45%
• Facebook Live: 66%
• YouTube Live:70%.

How to Live stream For Your Business (Like a pro)

Live streaming is gaining momentum in the social media world. That’s all good. How do you get started with live-streaming? What if you’ve never done it before but you are itching to start?

What should I invest in first? How can I maximize my reach on live streams to make more money and build a bigger audience for myself or my company’s products/services?

Let’s dig in:

Get over camera shyness for video

I start with this because despite having physically trained thousands of people in classroom settings and in humongous arenas(in another life), and the fact that public-speaking is easy for me, I am still extremely shy when it comes to doing videos (talking head) and livestreaming.

I know the pain. I also bear the cost of not starting yet (part of the reason why I write this blog is to remind myself that I should start livestreaming too). I even signed up for Restream.

If you have to practice first, start using some of these fantastic tools for video and make short videos. Start a YouTube channel and record your screen maybe. Slowly, make your way to “talking head videos” and get used to the camera.

You’ll have to take the first steps. There are just no two ways about it and you can’t escape from it (believe me, I tried and I keep trying).

The best I could do so far was to come up with a YouTube channel for the fetchprofits academy. I also have several courses up.

I am with you in this livestreaming journey

Start with a reliable, fully-featured live streaming app

As if doing live steams wasn’t hard enough, you don’t want to wrestle with technology as far as doing livestreams go. Technology does help though. Here are some of the best live streaming apps for your business.

Personally, I love Restream — it’s free to start with, simple to set up, and you can stream out to multiple destinations (such as Facebook Live, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, and more)

You can also create and manage live stream graphics (such as lower-thirds, overlays, and more), handle chat (incoming from multiple sources) in a single window, and more.

Start with Restream. Thank me later. Need help? Get some live streaming tips

Looking for more options? Here are a few other live streaming apps you can use.

Don’t mind the start (shivers, no audience, and human errors)

If it’s your first live stream ever, it’s going to be downright scary. Plus, it’s not likely that you’d have a sizeable audience to begin with. Don’t bother.

Just get on with it.

The biggest takeaway is to not look at the numbers before you start. If it’s your first time, just get on with it and have some fun!

I did a few sample (and private live streams) along with some closed community live streams earlier (limited to just one host and myself with a handful of live viewers watching).

I’ve found that if I can’t keep a smile or laugh through my nerves (and let me tell you there will be nerves), then it’s best for me to take a deep breath and pretend as if I am in an actual room full of people (works for me since I am used to public-speaking, coaching, and training).

Despite that, my live streams (the experimental ones and the handful of private live streams I did) are a complete disaster. I am learning though.

Even if you’ve never done livestreams before, it really helps if you can do the following:

• Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
• Stand up and talk (this helps you release energy better, the standing posture automatically enlivens your body, helps you gesticulate naturally, and helps you speak and communicate better.
• Know what you are going to talk about since it helps you stay focused. It’ll help even more if you are passionate about whatever it is that you are going to talk about.
• Despite all of this, you are likely to fumble for words, use fillers like “umms” and “aahs” and maybe even forget what you are going to talk about. Just about then, switch to a natural way of choosing to pivot by addressing some of the questions in the chat, or by narrating a story you just remembered.

Don’t Ramble. Don’t Waste time

I attend several live streams (along with webinars). I also watch several on-demand webinars, YouTube videos, and pre-recording events.

All of this just so that I can learn how to live stream for business and sometimes also to learn from the community at large.

I notice the following:

• People tend to waste time (a lot of time) by rambling away complete nonsense instead of getting to the topic (or maybe I am wired to think like this and no one actually minds? I don’t know). More than 10-15 minutes are spent just talking away sweet nothings. I just think that your viewers’ and livestream attendees’ time is precious and you shouldn’t waste time, ever.
• I don’t want to know what you did last summer, how you enjoyed your recent trip to the Bahamas (not that any of these trips are helping us with the travel blues we all have now), or anything else that doesn’t relate to the topic the livestream is about.
• Please, don’t drift away while doing your livestream. I know it’s natural (and that’s how we all are). Yet, this is a livestream and our attention spans are limited.

If you have to do a live stream, please do take your time out (limited) to say hello, welcome your viewers, address a few people there, and do take efforts to relate to them. Just try not to waste time.

Read:

Keep your audience interested in your live stream for longer using these top 11 tips for boosting engagement.

You can do live streams alone

You don’t need co-hosts, invite guests, or have some illustrious line up of swashbuckling heroes to speak on your live streams.

Just this thought alone keeps many people away from just starting with live streams (often left wondering how will you even manage to get other people talking on “your” live streams) — and the same thing applies to podcasts as well.

You’ve just been brainwashed into thinking that you “always” need others to co-host live streams.

You don’t.

You can start off with live streaming all alone. By yourself. Just show up and talk.

Eventually, you can bring in others to join you but it’s not as if it’s a mandate.

Give something away during the livestream

For the effort, the time, and the fact that your viewers did bother to attend your live stream, do give something away (pass along your free lead magnet, give away a discount coupon for your products and services), or anything else that you can give your audience access to.

Just like all forms of content, your livestreams must finally tie-in to your ROI.

You need tangible results from this seemingly herculean task of doing livestreams each week (or month, or whatever moves the wheel for you).

Don’t forget to repurpose Livestreams

Live streams don’t ever have to be one-off events. Repurposing your livestreams is an awesome way to build a repertoire of content that you can use elsewhere:

• Actual live stream can be edited and turned into a full-length video that you can post on YouTube. Most live streaming tools allow you to record and repurpose your content.
• Distribute bits and pieces of your live stream on social media. See how well Dubb does this exact thing by converting parts of their Podcasts, live streams, and Interviews into Twitter Fleets or by sharing them on social media.
• An edited live stream, when transcribed, turns into text that you can edit, polish, and turn it into a blog post.
• Turn a much larger, value-packed live stream into a polished digital product that you can sell. (Use podia to sell your digital products).
• A couple of live stream events, can be bundled together, and given away as free lead magnets to grow your email list.

How do you plan to use live streams for your business? Tell me all about it.