Are you tired of chasing after clients?
Stephanie Liu joined Beauty and the Brand with live streaming host Kimberly Flowers, to share her tips on how you can upgrade your business for 2020, and stand out from the crowd by leveraging live video.
With the right strategies in place, and with lots of practice, you will never have to chase after clients ever again.
Ready to take that leap?
Watch the interview or check out highlights from Stephanie’s interview below.
What drove you to start live streaming?
For 15 years, I was deep in the trenches of agency life. When I learned that my husband and I were having a baby, I realized that I couldn’t bring a new member to the family and still work 50-60 hours a week. I had to start my own thing.
Starting a business from scratch is not easy at all - especially when you’re in the digital marketing space. So many people are calling themselves social media strategists in a vast sea of sameness. The market is saturated with so many experts who seem to offer the same services.
The problem that I had to solve was how to stand out from this huge crowd?
Instead of telling everyone what I could do, I realized one thing: why not show everyone what I can do for them?
That’s when I began working on a social media strategy and a live streaming video promotional plan. Soon enough, I started showing people what I could do for them and their respective businesses.
People began paying attention to what I had to say. Live video got me on the fast track to being on a first-name basis with key decisions makers.
“Live video got me on the fast track to being on a first-name basis with key decision makers.”
That’s how I started getting clients. Instead of running after clients, the live video strategy helped attract clients, and it still does.
Why choose live streaming video over pre-recorded videos or written blog posts?
With all these opportunities in video, I can say that live streaming video is the fastest way to build a brand and for you to stay top-of-mind, and tip-of-tongue.
Pre-recorded videos give an impression of canned responses. Whereas, live videos give you that opportunity to highlight your personality. It allows you, the speaker, to be genuine. It also helps you establish your authority and expertise in your chosen niche by showing the audience how you solve problems in real-time.
I’d like to think of live streaming video as a ‘preview’ to your personality, expertise, and work ethics. When a client sees that you have an excellent character, superb skills, and patience at one of your live shows, they will have better understanding of what it’s like to work with you.
Live video also triggers our happy brain chemicals. When an individual looks into someone’s eyes, it boosts the production of oxytocin, also known as the love hormone. Viewers feel as if they have a special relationship with you even if you’ve never met in real life.
The more you engage with your audiences, the faster your community grows. To do so, encourage your viewers to engage with you. Regularly make them a part of your creative process by asking them what they want to see more of or what they need to know in one of your live videos.
Also, with live video, there’s that opportunity that you could create 26 other pieces of content from one video alone.
While it’s true that with live streaming video, things could go wrong, and if they do, just roll with it.
How do you turn a live video into 26 different pieces of content?
First, I use a tool called otter.ai. What it does is that it automatically generates a transcript from my live stream videos.
Once the transcript is extracted from the video, I, then, go ahead and forward it to my VA, who will clean it up and make a 3000-word blog post out of it. The blog post is essential because it helps me with SEO. That cleaned transcript can also then be used as an SRT file.
I also like taking one-minute video clips of knowledge bombs dropped during the live video. Usually, I get a minimum of three clips - like the top 3 questions I ask my guests. I repurpose these clips and drop them all over social media.
Audiograms can be made from the original live video - just rip the mp3, create a graphic, and use a site like Headliner.app to create a new piece of content.
Finally, I take snippets, quotes, and other content that I could repurpose for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.
So, to sum it all up, it’s 26 pieces of content, minimum, for a single live video.
RESOURCE: How to Create 26 Pieces of Content from a Facebook Live
How do you build up the hype around your live streaming shows?
A word of advice: get people buzzing before the live show airs.
Here are some actionable tips I highly recommend you do to get people talking about your show:
Make your audience a part of the creative process.
When you’re trying to build that content pyramid, try asking your existing group and community for ideas and recommendations. Crowdsource as often as you can:
Ask about topics your community would like you to discuss;
Ask the three things they might be interested in learning about;
Ask about the issues they are struggling with;
Ask about the answers they are looking for;
What do they need?
NOTE: Whenever I brainstorm for content, I use what I call the 10x 10 Formula. It’s a system that helps me uncover the needs and wants that my audiences are aware of, and are not fully aware of.
Here’s how I do it:
I fold a piece of paper in half.
On the left column, I write Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions About My Business/Products And Services.
In the right column, I write: Top 10 Questions People Should Be Asking, But They Don’t Know They Should.
I fill the columns up and generate content ideas from that list.
Create a copy that would resonate with your audiences’ needs, wants, and goals.
Your copy’s title is critical when it comes to promoting your live show online. To help you create a compelling title, here are some of my tips:
Hit on the pain point to get people interested.
Play with alliterations.
Go to your local bookstore, and look for a magazine. Look for the right words there, add them to your swipe file, and make it your own.
Inform your audience.
Let them know that you will try to address their problems, concerns, and needs in your next live show.
How can a first-timer prepare for a live streaming show?
Don’t start live streaming right away. Practice, practice, and practice until you feel like you’re getting used to seeing yourself on camera.
I suggest creating a private Facebook group and launch your ‘test’ live streams from there. Make tweaks. Pay attention to lighting and other technicalities, too, and improve them.
Once you feel like you’ve been practicing enough, seek authentic, constructive criticism from one of your trusted friends. Tweak until you feel like you’ve fine-tuned everything. After nailing everything down, go to your business page, and finally, go live.
What other live streaming tips do you give beginners?
Always remember: where your attention goes, energy flows.
Meaning, the energy you project is the same energy your audience will have. Do you look excited? They will feel excited too. Are you feeling passionate? You bet they will be!
Remember to have a call to action.
After sharing valuable lessons to your audience, don’t forget to ask them to do something for you. Ask them by leaving a compelling Call-to-Action (CTA).
You can go and do this by using a pre-recorded video of you asking them to do something for you, or you could simply utilize some bots to do the majority of the hard work for you.
What’s your advice to someone who’s considering, but has been putting off live streaming for quite some time now?
Getting started can be a mindset thing.
Insecurities? Just get over it.
Come to think of it - how much longer will it take for you to finally be comfortable with your own skin and accept you for who you are?
Don’t base your business decisions on fears. Instead, base it off confidence and think about how your choices could open up opportunities for you, your business, your family, and your legacy.
It’s not about you. It’s not even for you. If you don’t reach those people who need you, then who will?
Perfection is the #1 killer of dreams.
Everything evolves, and everything changes, and that’s okay. Give yourself permission to prioritize progress over perfection. You will soon figure things out.
Treat mistakes as learning opportunities.
Amateurs tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. The elites, on the other hand, learn from their mistakes to help them hone their craft. Do the latter, and do it over and over again.
To learn more about how to take your live video from unknown to unforgettable, check out the Leap Into Live Bootcamp featuring 30+ incredible live streaming experts. Register for free at ecamm.live/bootcamp.
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