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Live streaming has hit the social media world big time. Are you taking advantage of any live streaming opportunities? At first thought, live streaming for a small business may seem overwhelming but your very curious customers want to see what you’re up to…and now they want to do it live! It’s actually pretty simple to do with the new apps. You can find a “Live” button on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and I’m sure it will come to LinkedIn soon.
Here are some easy, quick ideas for small businesses to try in a live stream.
Live Stream a product launch, media conference, event
If you can’t possibly accommodate all of your fans at a big event that’s coming up, why not livestream it so they can all share in the news anyway? Whether you’ve got a press conference, are launching the latest product, are participating in a trade show, or hosting a dinner, you can show everyone what they’re missing. Maybe you can even catch some celebs at your event? Show the world why they should have been there!
Show us product testers in action
Do people come into your store and lay down on your new mattresses to test them out? Do they jump on your trampolines? How about testing your latest food creation or makeup product? You could even make this into a special event to livestream and invite your most avid fans, or biggest haters, to come see what you’re all about. Show their reactions online in real time!
Host an Ask Me Anything
This Reddit favourite is always popular in a livestream. Promote in advance that you’ll be live streaming an AMA and then be there prepared to answer questions, live, online! It would be just like talking to people who come into your location, except they’ll be typing their questions to you and you’ll be responding live, over Twitter or Facebook. This would be great for pretty much any business, but I can see it being really fun for consultants, musicians, artists, and people who have very unique products.
Show us How You Work
If you’re a musician, show us the process of writing a song. Artist? Make an artwork for us. Seamstress? Show us how to get that perfect pinch pleat. Chef? Show us just how crazy busy your kitchen gets at dinner time. Teach us something. Show us the behind the scenes stuff we don’t normally get to see. If you’re doing something like writing a song or making an art work, be sure you talk out loud once in a while to explain what you’re doing…I know many people probably just think to themselves when doing that kind of work.
Interview Someone
If you’ve got a chance to talk to someone you think your followers would find interesting, share the interview/chat with us online! If you want to record it for a Podcast or other purpose you may need to use two devices, but the live stream potential will be worth it.
Let us See What We’re Missing
Do you have an amazing musical lineup every weekend at your restaurant? Let us see just how much fun your patrons are having and maybe we’ll show up tomorrow night!
No matter what you decide to live stream, make sure you give us a heads up. Promote the fact that you’ll be live streaming on one of the apps tomorrow so that we have a chance to mark it in our calendars. Of course, if something brilliant just pops up, go ahead and live stream that anyway. Be creative and have fun with it. You’ll endear yourself to your followers and may just find yourself some new ones along the way.
So I could stream me putting together a newsletter? Oh, how exciting that would be for people to watch! lol
Maybe, Linda…if you walk us through all the little things you do…decisions you make…Or maybe it’s live critiques of newsletters… or maybe it’s live brainstorming sessions.
Hi Anita!
Enjoyed your live streaming ideas. Definitely think interviews are a great way to keep things interesting; I think that’s why podcasts have done so well. I’d also add that one of the most important things is consistency. I think it’s really hard to find success if you don’t stream consistently at the same time every week.
You should check out a live streaming tool that I helped build called https://streamyard.com . It’s designed to make it easy for beginners to make beautiful and engaging Facebook Live shows.
Thanks for stopping by Geige. I did have a look at your program and it does look interesting. It would be helpful if you had an FAQ or help doc for hooking up to Instagram. I would consider giving it a try, but I quite like BeLive.tv for now.