Are you a mom entrepreneur who wants to try live video but have no idea where to find the extra time to do it? Thinking about all the things you need to prepare–ring lights, webcam, green screen–can be overwhelming.
But livestreaming doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It can be straightforward, especially if you stay focused and strategic.
I’m a livestreaming mama, and streaming regularly is part of what I do as Partnerships Manager at BeLive. I have a three-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old baby. When I’m streaming, I look at two screens: my PC monitor and the baby camera!
I’ve learned a few time-saving tricks in my four years of livestreaming.
Choose an easy live video format to produce.
I’ve produced and hosted all types of shows. The most complicated one was the first BeLive Birthday. The stream was for 16 hours and had more than 50 speakers! It took us one whole month and three people to plan the entire thing.
Choosing a live show format that’s easy to produce is critical. In general, the more people involved in your show, the harder it is to produce. The logistics alone would be too overwhelming, especially if you have guests from different time zones.
If this is the first time that you’re going to commit to live streaming as part of your content marketing strategy, I suggest to focus on one-man shows.
You don’t have to worry about other people’s schedules, and you can prepare everything by yourself. Of course, as you have more data and experience, you will venture into other formats.
Q and A
Hands down, the easiest to produce. You already know which questions people ask you, you simply need to answer them out loud in a live stream.
When you use tools like BeLive, you will be able to show the questions using the Agenda feature. Plus, you can also include private notes, so you’ll have your script in the studio.
After the live stream, you can use the Video Editor to trim each question. For example, if you have five questions, you will have five separate videos to upload as a playlist on YouTube or schedule these videos on LinkedIn.
Vlog style
This works great for influencers. Very easy to produce, and people love watching them. I love watching vlogs of other moms because it gives me an idea of how they do their routines.
You can start your live video simply going live with the native app. You can choose a part of your life you want to share. For example, you can do a live tour of your home office.
Live Sales
A live sales show is when you showcase products and ask people to buy them. It’s like a QVC or Home Shopping Network style of show. Since you already know your products like the back of your hand, it would be very easy for you to talk about them.
I started doing live sales by promoting affiliate products in my live streams. I showcase the products live and use BeLive’s Live Sales Link to automatically send the link in the comment section. This way, when people want to buy them, they immediately get sent to the item link. You can read how to sell on Facebook Live here.
Live training or webinars
Pick a topic that your audience needs help with. For example, I do a BeLive Masterclass based on the most frequently asked questions about BeLive. Unlike a Q and A format, this format focuses on showing the solution to a particular problem. You need to prepare a presentation and share your screen.
Decide how much time you can spend on livestreaming.
Once you’ve chosen the format you want to produce, the next step is to understand how much time you can allot each day and each week to plan, promote, and produce your live show.
You don’t have to commit to a weekly show if it’s not realistically possible. Is having one live stream per month something that you can do?
Right now, that’s my schedule. I host one show per month on the BeLive Facebook Page. I have other projects and responsibilities besides producing and hosting shows,so I need to be very strategic how often I go live.
Going live once a month and then repurposing those live streams into shorter videos is a better strategy than committing to going live weekly and then not showing up. I turned this 35-minute stream into three shorter videos on my YouTube channel using BeLive’s Video Editor. It took me less than two hours to plan, produce, and repurpose my show.
Once you’ve committed to a schedule, mark it on your calendar. If it’s not in the calendar, it doesn’t exist.
Try to plan all of your shows ahead of time. If you can plan all of your shows every quarter, it would give you enough time to prepare.
Want to get more productivity tips? I recently released a free ebook called Productivity for Moms: How to Breeze Through Your To-Do List Before Bedtime. Fill out the form, and I’ll send it to your email.
Want to give livestreaming a try? Sign up here for a 14-day FREE trial at BeLive.
Irene Chan is a writer and live video producer at BeLive. She has been working in the digital marketing industry for a decade and loves the creativity of video production. She has a degree in Broadcast Communication and is always imagining new live videos to produce. She is based in the Philippines and lives with her husband, two kids, and their 11-year-old Chihuahua.
