“Oh Fusie, are you really going to try and get me to use another social media platform, when we have 123,214,234,234 ones already?”
Let me tell you! After 22 live streamed broadcasts on Periscope, I am hooked, and I think you should at least check it out!
Peri-what?
It’s a new Twitter-owned app which allows you to live stream from your phone or tablet at any time of the day or night. You’re basically creating your own Big Brother TV! It’s available for both Android and iPhone and is only for mobiles and tablets.
You can allow for video replays, but they’re only available for replay for 24 hours, making it extra fun to participate and watch.
Where do I find it?
Your first step, of course, is to download the app via your normal route, probably Google Play or App Store. Done? Connect it with your Twitter account.
What, you already did that? Then go ahead and choose a profile and enter your bio. As always, throw in some SEO keywords you’d like to be found for, and make it creative.Start by following folks from your Twitter contacts. Then, move on to brands and leaders in your field that you admire. Likely, they are sharing some video on Periscope.
Who you choose to follow will also depend on what your industry, topic and hobbies are.
My favorites lately have been: Charlene Johnson, Erica from Life After 9-5, Regina Anaejiou, Mattologie, and of course Patt Flynn. Also, April Bowles did a great post on some creative people to follow in her blog post here.
It sounds like just a lot of fun.
Well, yeah, it is! But honestly, I have been using it more to showcase my business. What I didn’t expect was the amount of knowledge I would obtain as a viewer! This is, like, better than any MBA out there! It is exploding with information—marketing, sales, networking, blogging, fitness, school planning, and so much more. Really, for any topic you can think of, there are leaders, speakers and teachers of it on the Periscope app.
So perhaps you won’t be broadcasting, but you will be in there as a student, which is okay too. If you have a message, a brand, or a passion, I do recommend you broadcast yourself on Periscope.
A cheat Sheet on some lingo just in case you are brand new to Periscope:
Broadcasting myself live sounds scary.
Yeah, I realize it can be intimidating at first. Remember, you can choose to broadcast privately or publicly. Watch others. Follow folks. Learn. And if you want to—and I totally encourage you to—try doing a broadcast. This is a hard thing because your first few tries, you may feel silly (especially because you don’t see folks on the other end and you sound like you’re talking to yourself). I am Brazilian, I was raised in Jersey, I am social. I have no problems communicating and yapping away, but it’s been intimidating to do broadcasts on Periscope because I can’t see the audience. BUT, I committed myself to attempt a Periscope broadcast every day to lose my fear and awkwardness.
I also learned how to value the folks that do come on to view me, whether it’s only two, five, or my son Lucas. My son is on Periscope! (Follow him: he is kidscope. He would be so happy.)
Face the fear!
Turn the camera on and write in a great title. The title is king! Many folks use emoji to grab the attention of their audience. Make sure the Twitter share is on, so you can grab a link which auto shares to Twitter that you are live. You can use this link later to share your replay on social media.
During the broadcast:
- Acknowledge folks that are arriving and chat a bit about what you’ll be ’scoping about.
- Once you’re live, ask viewers to share the broadcast. But don’t stop there… communicate with your audience, ask where they are from, what business they’re in, and their first names. (I always love to ask about their work life so I can suggest specific examples for their business.)
- Share what you planned to share, but sometimes the convo will go elsewhere depending on the audience.
- Be yourself, tell them about yourself, and ask for hearts and feedback.
- For me, pre-planning my ’scopes has helped a bit, so I have a simple outline next to me to stay on track.
- Be aware of your lighting and audio, and work to correct any problems between your ‘scopes.
- Beware of trolls! Be aware that some viewers come in during the broadcast just to be nasty or mean! The good news is you can totally block them very easily.
- As I’ve suggested with blogging, you can mix both personal and business scopes here.. You can showcase something personal, or show viewers your space.
- You can do scopes on your business only if you choose, too. I like to humanize my brand because my brand is me—as a person, as a mom, as a solopreneur—so don’t be surprised if Lucas pops into my scope.
Further tips to fight the fear and broadcast anyway!
If you are a woman on Periscope, you can join the Perigirls community on Facebook. They give daily assignments with a topic to talk about, and you can link your replays in there to get rewatches.
They are super supportive, and they offer “Pass The Cast” twice a day, which is just a few folks scoping, sharing their stories, and passing the broadcast to the next person. So many awesome ladies are there to join in, give you hearts and support you.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment, the perfect hair, or the perfect makeup to turn that camera on. Done is better than perfect, as I said, and many people I love to follow are so down to earth and don’t have a huge production, either.
A few final words.
Keep it simple and authentic. Sometimes we overthink things, and then they don’t get done. Many of the scope channels I love to watch have no huge production involved, and often it’s more of a casual and authentic conversation with the viewers. And a lot of folks are in their car or at home, and it’s not a fancy set up at all, but they still offer value by sharing their knowledge.
Periscope is such an intriguing way to connect the brand with the end user in a live, almost one-on-one situation. But it also brings a tribe interested in a particular topic together, since viewers will interact in the chat area, too. I have made such great connections on Periscope. I am loving learning, watching and also teaching and sharing my DIY SEO goodies so make sure you follow me @feuza on Periscope and heart away!