How To Use LinkedIn Live For Free [+ 8 Hot Ideas]

You should seriously consider learning how to use LinkedIn live. Right now.

LinkedIn has more than 830+ million users and at least 40% of these users login daily and are active on it (the passive ones are still there, but a tad less active).

It makes for possibly the largest professional network in the world. Unlike Facebook where people mostly just “hangout” and Instagram where you are probably feeling “sorry” for yourself (without you knowing about it), LinkedIn is where people are at their professional best(hopefully). 

LinkedIn live is unlike any other “go live” promises on other networks: it’s a chance for you to represent your brand, provide value — through your live streams, pack a punch, and take advantage of the massive power of live streaming. 

According to LinkedIn, LinkedIn Live gets 23 times more comments per host and six times more reactions per post than native video.

How to Get LinkedIn Live Access? 

Update March 7, 2022: You no longer need to apply to get access to “LinkedIn Live” separately.

Thanks to LinkedIn’s updated policy, you can just sign up for free with LinkedIn-approved service providers (Live Streaming platforms) such as Restream, StreamYard, and others (approved ones only) and get access to LinkedIn Live Events.

Here are some top Live streaming platforms you should take note of.

Huge thanks to LinkedInSeb for this update.

Launched in February 2019, LinkedIn live isn’t available for everyone. LinkedIn live first started rolling out to “influencers” and well-known content creators. Lately, it started rolling out LinkedIn Live Access to other “active” content creators as well. 

While I’ve always wanted access to LinkedIn live, I honestly thought I’ll never be able to make it (haven’t ever done anything called a “live stream” before). However, I’ve been sharing lots of videos (both from YouTube and Native ones). This is on top of a continuous stream of updates, conversations, comments, and so on. 

So, recently, I was granted access automatically for both my personal profile (and for the fetchprofits page I manage for the brand). 

I’ve realized that the key to getting access to LinkedIn Live is this: you have to be active, create relevant content, and you should have contributed a few posts or articles through the LinkedIn publishing program (the articles you can publish natively on LinkedIn). 

You’d also do well to add some native videos (those that are uploaded directly to LinkedIn. While your shared YouTube videos might count as regular content, directly uploaded videos to LinkedIn will score you more points). 

If you’ve been active that way — having been active, with an all-star profile, adding articles and videos, and more — you have a better chance of getting access to LinkedIn live (even without asking). 

If you haven’t been granted access yet (automatically), it’s time to apply for LinkedIn live access. Be sure to have done “all of the above” consistently for a certain period of time (no one knows just how long). 

Is LinkedIn Live Free? 

Yes, it’s absolutely free as long as you have access. However, the time and resources you’d have to put in (as is the case with live streaming — regardless of where you stream to) is not. 

There’s more effort to produce live streams than anyone thinks so. 

You’d also need this…

What Do You Need For LinkedIn Live? 

You have to, create assets such as: 

• Get your gear in place. You could go live on LinkedIn with just your webcam, your computer, and the right streaming software. However, your choice of hardware will affect the quality and delivery of live streams. Sooner or later, you’d still have to consider an appropriate choice for laptops, PC, monitors, hardware such as StreamDeck (for instance), an external microphone just to begin with.
• Setting up sources (such as webcam, microphone, your screen (if sharing screen) and scenes (what shows up for your viewers and how). 
• Creating overlays, lower-thirds, banners, backgrounds, and transitions. 
• A third-party live streaming app: Choose from official partners using and start streaming for free by using Restream, Melon, Vimeo, Social Live, and a few others. You can also use OBS, if you like.
• Bringing it all together — in one place. 
• Finally, letting go of your fear or hesitation, fear, or the dreaded “imposter syndrome” [I have all of those darned things] and actually “going live on LinkedIn”. 

Here’s my first LinkedIn live stream on my LinkedIn Brand Page for Fetchprofits

Rules for LinkedIn Live 

Let’s just say LinkedIn Live isn’t like going live on Facebook or YouTube. It’s certainly not Twitch or Twitter. 

LinkedIn is particular about who gets access to LinkedIn Live, what’s presented while you are live streaming, and more.

It doesn’t want you to screw it up for them. While you are doing live streams, the folks there are monitoring everything — from the content to quality of live streams; from bitrates to just how well the product is working by itself. 

So, yes. There are rules .

Here are some of those, as far as I know (some real, some inferred, some of my own). 

• Start your Live streams on time, and end them on time. 
• Engage with your audience, your community, and provide value
• Don’t go live streaming about How to use LinkedIn Live on “LinkedIn live” — that’s meta. 

8 Hot Ideas For LinkedIn Live : How to Use LinkedIn Live

Note: You might be passionate about a lot of things (like I am passionate about cars, investing, travel, electronic gadgets, technology, and more). But when you go live on LinkedIn, it’s assumed that you’ll talk business — your actual business. 

The reason why you are on LinkedIn. 

With that out of the way, let’s dig into some ideas for LinkedIn Live: 

Idea #1: Share Tips & Insights

It’s the easiest kind of live stream you could do on LinkedIn. When you run a business, expertise in what you do is automatically attributed to you. In that case, you should come out and be out with what you know. You don’t have to give away any recipes for the secret sauce but anything from you will help. 

Idea #2: Teaching & Training

Nothing helps you teach as well as a live (and/or a recorded video). You don’t have to do an entire online course on the topic you want to teach. Brief 15-30 minute delivery on a topic is enough. 

The goal is to “teach for impact”. Make a difference, no matter how small it is. 

Idea #3: Thought Leadership 

LinkedIn publishing (posting articles exclusively written for LinkedIn) is already a great way to establish thought leadership — loaded with your first person narrative, experiences, stories, and more. 

Take that several notches up with LinkedIn Live. 

Doing LinkedIn live for various aspects related to the domain your business operates is an incredibly effective way to establish thought leadership (and for your business). Worth a lot more than several thousands of blog posts and years worth of LinkedIn newsletters

Talking about newsletters, see my newsletter 👉 Marketing Alpha on LinkedIn 

Idea #4: Host interviews 

Starting from others within your company, credible experts or consultants you work with, or others in the industry body your business associates with — hosting interviews is an incredibly effective strategy for LinkedIn live. 

The hosts get a credibility boost. 

The guest gets a PR boost, and everyone loves a good talk. 

Idea #5: Team Speak

Way too many businesses hide their team members in cubicles. Employee advocacy is powerful.

If you are a business with team members (anywhere from 2 members to 750,000 worldwide), bringing them in to do LinkedIn is a fantastic way to kill three birds with one shot: Employees feel important and appreciated;

you’ll look smart bringing them in to feature on your official LinkedIn live stream, and

The whole world wants (and loves) a good story. 

Talking about employees…

Idea #6: Hiring & recruiting 

Did you know that employers no longer have the right of path when it comes to hiring talent? Skilled candidates have options. 

What that means for you as a business is that you’d have to “promote” yourself in the right way to attract talent. 

There’s no better way than LinkedIn live to make that work for you. Get other “happy employees” to share their views about their life at work in your organization (unedited and unhindered). 

Showcase all the delightful things you do for employees, how you let them be themselves, and all the ways you help encourage employee career development or growth. 

Idea #7: Invite a Panel of Relevant Guests

Nothing works better than bringing in a panel of experts to discuss issues that your business relates to.

Several influential, experienced, and worthy people want to be invited as panelists to your LinkedIn Live (you have no idea how many people will be open to that). 

Regardless of the business you are in (or your profession), there are folks who can provide tips and insights on that domain (all you need to do is ask). 

LinkedIn really lets you reach out to anyone you want — including the likes of Sir Richard Branson, Peter Thiel, and many others. 

Idea #8: Let your customers talk

Don’t let your customers remain mere transaction IDs on your CRM. Give them some room to talk about how excited they are about your products and services or how your business made a difference to their lives. 

Yeah, testimonials are fine (but are so 1990s). It’s time to bring them in on LinkedIn Live (if they are open to it, of course) and let them speak their mind. 

Do you have access to LinkedIn live? If yes, what are you going to do next? 

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Ashwin Satyanarayana

18+ years delivering smart digital marketing results for small businesses and content creators. $US 12 million in sales with consistent, well-rounded implementation of marketing channels and strategies. Now, blogging, teaching and coaching on digital marketing.