Facebook Live is a great way to start putting yourself out there and getting visible.
One of the reasons I love video (most of the time) is because you know if you like someone as soon as you see a video. Kind of like meeting someone in real life, you hear them and see their mannerisms and almost automatically you get a feeling - good or bad or meh.
But either way it's a natural selection process. So with the introduction of Facebook Live it's a great way to start showing off you and your business - in each little imperfect action.
One of the main reasons I recommend Facebook Live is because it's easy to use, free and a great way to learn and connect with more people.
I'm going to run through the basic steps for you to use Facebook Live and offer a few tips..
First of all, the easiest and quickest way for you to do a Facebook Live is from your phone. You will need a phone and the Facebook app downloaded.
Make sure your app has all the recent updates to get you up to speed.
My instructions are from a iPhone perspective but it should be similar for android as well.
Open your Facebook business page or type the name in the Search bar to find it.
Once it's open, it should look something like this.
You can see the publish button here (under the big Send Message), click it and it will open the following screen.
On this screen you need to press the Live Video button and start entering information
In the area where it mentions "Describe your live video" write what you are going to be talking about, try and keep it simple and what may grab people's attention.
If you can't see yourself on the screen, use the two arrow in the top right hand corner to flip the camera towards you.
(Note, you can see here my screen saying your connection isn't strong enough. Unfortunately this does happen. You can either change locations or wait for the signal to come back)
Look in the top right hand corner for the magic wand and tap it.
Once you have selected the magic wand you will have a number of choices on the bottom row of your screen.
I'll go through each of the options, working from left to right.
1. Masks - are silly but can be fun, especially if it suits you and your business (you need to download the masks you want to use, so worth doing and testing before going live)
2. Filters - just give you a different aspect. It can also give you similar lighting wherever you do your lives from. Again test before use.
3. Text - you have limited colours and at this stage need to write with your fingers so use it sparingly.
4. The photo to the left is showing your options here - the flips can be used for various things but the most important is, if you are doing a FB live and you have writing behind you or are teaching on the whiteboard normally everything would show up as back to front. By using this vertical flip you can put them back the way you want them viewed.
The rubbish bin will let you remove each of these items as you click on that option at the bottom.
I say test before you go Live so you are happy with everything.
Now press the cross on the top right hand corner to return to the screen ready to go live.
You can also check in at a place or business or share a feeling... ie feeling nervous because I'm just about to go live on my Facebook page.
Once you are comfy press Go Live
You will have a short countdown until you are live. And now DO YOUR THING!
Press Finish at the end.
My Tips
1. Get some good light behind the camera, the sun is the best
2. Look at camera and set it up at the right level. Try not to look at yourself on the screen, I've made this mistake more than once. You want your viewers to feel like you are connecting with them...
3. Don't overthink it. Do one and then keep practising.
4. If you get stuck for topics - think about the questions you always get asked.
5. Have fun and keep showing up