I recently posed a question in my Health Coach Peer Support Group to find out who was interested in learning more about doing Facebook Live for their business.

The response was overwhelming, so I decided to do a live stream inside of the group to share some of what I’ve learned over the past few months. I shared a few tips and strategies for how to get the most out of the platform, and also learn what mistakes to avoid (because I’ve made a few).

You can request to join our awesome group HERE to watch the recording (certified health coaches, nutritionists and certified fitness professionals only). 

What IS Facebook Live anyway?

Good question! Facebook Live allows you to broadcast a live streaming video from your Facebook profile, page, or group. The nice thing about Facebook Live is that your video is saved until you decide to delete it (unlike Periscope where your video is deleted after 24 hours). Once your live stream is over, it will be saved and stored under your “Videos” tab for easy access.

NOTE: You can also export your live stream recording to repurpose for other uses (upload to YouTube, trainings, podcast episodes and more).

As you may already know, Facebook Live is available from your smartphone or tablet. If you use the Chrome browser, you can now broadcast from your laptop or desktop (AWESOME!).

When you go to enter a status update on Facebook, one of the options is “Live Video,” and it’s as easy as that.

I’m going to break it down for you in this post, so you can have a flawless and professional live streaming experience to build your audience, your email list, and your business.  

First, let’s start with some of the benefits of using Facebook Live.

• More of your fans and followers will see your live stream because Facebook pushes live video into the newsfeed a lot more than your other posts. (I recently saw a health coach that has just 150 Facebook fans, but her live stream reached over 1,100 within 24 hours – IMPRESSIVE!)

• You get to be seen as an authority or expert in your field.

• People get to know you on a more personal level – when they see you on video, it’s the closest thing to meeting you in person so they can get a sense of your personality.

• You can use it as part of a promotion strategy – before and during a program launch.

• People LOVE video!

• It’s FREE!
  

I know it can feel a bit scary at first – there’s just something about hitting that “go live” button that can give you major butterflies. But I have some tips that will help with that too, so be sure to read the entire post.

The best way to practice live streaming is by creating your own Facebook group to use as your test group. This will be your “lab” where you can try things out, see what you like, and what works for you. You can test the lighting, the sound and your messaging without going live in front of an audience right from the start. This is what I did and it was incredibly helpful! To start a group, just make sure you set it to closed or secret, then you’ll have to add one person before you can open your group (I always nominate my husband for this). Then you are ready to go.

It’s important to use Facebook Live mostly for “giving,” and on occasion you can promote a paid program or service. Use the 80/20 rule for guidance (where 80% of the time you are just providing value and/or sending people to a blog post or opt-in, then 20% of the time you can mention a promotion).

Facebook Live can be utilized from your profile page, your business page, and Facebook groups. Today, I’m going to focus mostly on using it for your Facebook business page, but most of the same things can apply to your Facebook group if you have one.

Here we go! Follow these steps and you will be using Facebook Live like a pro in no time:

1. Pretend you’re speaking to ONE person – not a room full of people. Imagine there is just one person on the other side of your screen – your ideal client or a good friend. This not only helps you to be more relatable, but it will also help calm your nerves.

2. Know your goal ahead of time. Before you go live, know your end goal. Is your FB Live video for education purposes, and then you will send viewers to one of your blog posts for more information? Maybe you want to send them to an opt-in to build your email list, or perhaps it’s going to be part of an upcoming launch.

If you are using live streaming as part of your launch strategy, you can start planting seeds by sharing a little of what will be covered in your program. Then at the end, tell them where to go for more information. Include a url in the comments so there will be a clickable link to make it easy (for example: Click here for your free copy of “XYZ”.)

3. Know your topic ahead of time so you can stay on track and not lose focus. Do you want to teach something, demonstrate something (cooking tips, for example), share an experience, or something else perhaps? Keep notes handy to refer to when needed. I like to keep my notes on my computer screen in Evernote so I can glance over there when needed (Word is also helpful for this).

If you’re doing a live Q & A, get questions on the topic ahead of time. You can either use these questions to kick off the live stream, or have them on hand in case your viewers don’t ask questions, then you’ll have some ready to answer.

4. When you first go live, tell people what you are going to talk about and introduce yourself. Don’t assume people know who you are. Especially if you repurpose the video for something else, or use it as a Facebook ad later, it’s important that you introduce yourself.

5. After you introduce yourself and let people know what you’re going to talk about, ask people to type hello in the comments below or click the like or love emoji so you know they are with you. This makes it more interactive, and if you do this from your FB page, the likes and comments will show up in their friends’ newsfeed, so you may get more people over on your page just from doing that.

6. As you share your content or tips, be sure to smile and look at the camera most of the time. Remember you’re just talking to one person, and when you look at your camera your viewers will feel as though you are talking right to them. Ask a question or two along the way to get feedback in the comments section. Questions like “What do you think about that?” “What questions do you have?” “What’s your biggest challenge with XYZ?”

Plan on 5-15 minutes for your first few live streams, then test to see what length of time seems to work the best for you and your audience. If you get a lot of interaction, and you go longer, that’s great too.

7. End with a call to action. I mentioned earlier that it’s important to know your goal ahead of time. This is another place where this comes into play. What action do you want people to take at the end of your broadcast?

 Some ideas include…

• An invitation to download a free guide or checklist 
• Joining your free FB group (if you have one)
• Sign up for your free challenge 
• Sign up for a program or get on your waiting list
• Find out more details in one of your blog posts

You can also ask people to post questions in the comments, and pick the most relevant ones to answer. Thank people for joining you and let them know you look forward to seeing them next time. 

Tech Tips

Don’t get too hung up on the extra tech tools that are out there – you don’t need much at all as you get started.

Consider getting an inexpensive stand for your phone or tablet so you can position it where you want it. You don’t have to get anything fancy to start out so test things and see what you might need. If your lighting isn’t good, there are inexpensive clip-on lights or you can get a diva ring light (all available on Amazon).

Just use what you have first then see if you need anything else to improve the quality. 

A few final tips…

1. Put a do not disturb sign on your door to prevent people from ringing the bell.
2. Turn off your home phone.
3. Put animals away so they don’t disturb you.
4. If you have young children, have someone there to keep them busy.
5. Be in a quiet space with the door closed.

With a little practice and planning, you will be on your way to rocking your live streams. Let me know how it goes.

I’m rooting for you!

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