I just saved myself so much time I almost don’t know what to do. To give you an idea, my typical Monday morning I spend a good chunk of time finalizing my Happy Freakin Monday videos. I need to export them for Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and then creating the thumbnails and captions… It’s a lot of work for anyone let alone an entrepreneur with a baby napping next door.
So this morning, (on my Birthday) I am giving myself the gift of a live video. Both on YouTube and Facebook. If you didn’t realize that YouTube does live video, I don’t think you’re alone. Pretty much every social media channel is making a push for live streaming and this is an important tool to use because it is a way to engage with your audience on a new level.
Certainly edited videos have their place. With an edited video, you have the ability to add captions, text on screen, graphics plus you can refine the picture and sound quality and selecting the best takes are all perfect reasons not to do a live video. Especially when you are as awkward as I am.
A live video on the other hand eliminates a whole post production workflow from your plate. It saves a lot of time but that’s not the only benefit. Your followers are notified when you go live and while you’re shooting you can see who is watching and their comments. This is an amazing way to engage with your audience by responding to their comments and questions right in your video. Plus once it’s finished you can post it so people can still watch it anytime and continue gaining views.
The great thing is that all you need is a phone, tablet or laptop which I’m guessing most of you own either one or all of the above. However, I would suggest a few small things to improve the quality of your videos especially if you are shooting on a phone or tablet.
- Get a tripod. It’s really easy to mount your phone or tablet on a tripod for your live videos. You will need an adapter but I got mine on amazon for under $10 and I use it all the time.
- A microphone will make a huge difference in the sound quality. Most cameras, tablets and laptops do not have the best onboard microphones. I picked up a small lavalier microphone specifically for phones and even mounting it to a stand about a foot from my mouth it picks up my voice really well. I like the fact that it’s not in the shot but you can also clip it to your shirt depending on the length of the cable.
- Lighting is really important too. If you don’t have any lights to brighten up your shot try shooting in front of or next to a window. My home office is not the brightest so I set up a small LED light to brighten things up. It’s important to remember not to sit with a window behind you as that will most likely be backlit where your face will be too dark compared to the bright outdoor light.
So that’s it, live video is really the way of the future but make sure you still plan out your content and plan your setup for the best possible results. And try to be less awkward than me 🙂
