Crush Your Fear of Video: 5 Simple Strategies for Boosting Confidence

Crush Your Fear of Video: 5 Simple Strategies for Boosting Confidence

by | May 13, 2024

Crush Your Fear of Video: 5 Simple Strategies for Boosting Confidence

If you want to stand out on social media, grow your audience, build connections and get clients, video is a must. When you think about who you follow and the people you feel connected to the most, it’s most likely those who you get to see on video; that’s because it feels like you’re seeing them in real time, even if it’s a recording.

Most people feel nervous on camera when they start out, so if this is how you’re feeling, you are not alone and today we are going to help you feel more confident with our 5 insider tips.

A few weeks ago, I posted a survey inside my Health Coach Biz Support Facebook group asking coaches if they weren’t doing video yet, what was their top reason.  One of the top answers was Fear of Being on Video. This roadblock can stop you in your tracks when it comes to showing up in a way that really allows your audience to get to know you.

Here are 5 Simple Strategies for Boosting Your Confidence on Video

1. Get familiar with your tech options.   

The first step in calming the nerves is knowing what tech to use, so you feel good about how you will look and sound.  The great news is all your need is your smartphone, good sound and adequate lighting. 

If you can record your videos near a window with lighting, that is usually best for more flattering/natural light. If you need more lighting, using a ring light is great.  You can find a variety of ring lights on Amazon, starting at around $30.  There are lights that can sit on your desk, and lights that come with an adjustable tripod stand if you plan to record in different places in your house, and you don’t want to have to use props to get the right height. The tripod stands also start at just $30.

As far as sound, if you’re recording video indoors with your phone fairly close to you (within a few feet) a separate mic isn’t necessary.  If you want better quality audio and/or you plan to record further away from your phone or outside, having a wireless mic is important. You can also find wireless microphones on Amazon, starting at $25. I rarely use a separate microphone when recording video on my smart phone, so you can do without this for a while as you get started – as long as you’re recording within a few feet of your phone, so the audio quality is good.   

2. Start small with short videos.

How great is it that short-form video is so popular right now?  This means you can record 30-60 second videos and not worry that you have to be on camera for a long time. Feeling like you have to record a 5–10-minute video can feel overwhelming when you’re starting out, so by recording shorter videos, you’ll be done before you know it, and you can do more of them if you want because they aren’t as time consuming.  Just write out a few bullet points about what you want to cover and hit the record button. 

3. Use B-roll.

This is another great way to ease into doing video and build your confidence. B-roll is video of you doing something, but you aren’t talking. It could be you working at your desk or laptop, going for a walk, making coffee or tea, meal prepping, grocery shopping – almost anything really. It’s stock footage you take, and you add music or voice over and text to convey your message.  These videos can be as short as 10 seconds. The benefit of this is you’re showing up on video, but it’s not as intimidating because you don’t also have to memorize what you’re going to say.

4. Practice. 

This probably sounds obvious, but practice is the #1 thing that’s going to help you get better, and really help you feel more confident.  You will likely not be amazing on video when you start out, and that’s okay because no one is. I was horrible at video when I started a few years ago and now it’s easy and I feel confident about it – it took a while to get there, and practice is just part of the process for anything we want to improve.

My best tip for recording video is to be sure to look at the camera and not the screen, and imagine you are talking to your best friend when you’re recording. You are only talking to that one person to convey what you want to say. Oh, and be sure to smile because that makes you feel relatable and look relaxed.

5. Build confidence with recorded video and the next step is live video

This is about baby steps, building your skills and your confidence.  Recorded video is easiest because you can re-record and/or edit where needed.  Live video can feel more challenging, but it’s also what helps you come across as very genuine when people get to interact with you in real time so it’s worth conquering your fear by practicing.

A great way to practice live video is to start by going live in a Facebook group you create just for that purpose, so you can see how things work and get a feel for the process.  You can set up a group that you use for practice only, and then you’ll be ready to go live in your other groups or on your page or anywhere you want.  You can do this on Instagram too by selecting “private” as the option for the audience you want to see your livestream. 

The goal is to get as much practice as you can, so the more often you can get in front of the camera the better.

Karen has a great free resource to help make this even easier for you and it’s her “Livestream Video Checklist.” You can download this step-by-step PDF, that shares the 8 steps you need in place when you’re planning to go live, you’ll know what to include in your video, and how to promote it to get people to show up live. 

BONUS TIP

How to outline your videos to maximize watch time:

You want to grab people’s attention right away, so they stick around to watch the whole video. A common mistake we see being made is starting the video by saying who you are and what you do, or starting with a greeting and thanking people for watching, rather than kicking it off by getting right into the information.  Using a hook right from the start helps reel people in. So, instead of starting with who you are, say “One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they want to _________ is _______________.   That rarely works because ___________Here’s what you want to do instead ___________.”   So, get into the heart of the info and if you want at the end, you can say who you are and who you help. 

A simple 3-part outline for an effective video can be as follows:

  1. Your hook to grab attention and let people know the topic you’re covering
  2. Share the tip, insight, common mistake or other info
  3. Call to action – what should they do next – like, comment, listen to your podcast, read blog post, sign up for your free resource, join your program, etc. 

Based on what we covered today, what is one step you can take with video?  Whether you are brand new at it, or you’re ready to go to the next level, decide what you’re going to work on, put it on your calendar and commit to doing it.  Before you know it, you’ll feel more at ease and more confident.

We can’t wait to hear how it goes!

Resources and Links mentioned on the show:

Livestream Video Checklist

Kathleen’s Facebook Group

Kathleen’s Instagram

Karen’s Facebook Group

Karen’s Instagram

Wellness Business Accelerator

;

Let's Connect on Facebook:

Click here

Subscribe and listen to The Wellness Business Podcast on your favorite platform!

BEST OF: How to Get More Clients from Your Facebook Group

BEST OF: How to Get More Clients from Your Facebook Group

by | Nov 27, 2023

BEST OF: How to Get More Clients from Your Facebook Group

Hosting a Facebook group for your coaching business can be a great way to build trust with your audience, position yourself as an expert and get new clients when it’s done the right way.  In order for your group to work as client generating strategy, there are a few key pieces you need to have in place.

We’re bringing back an episode we did earlier this year, and if you have a Facebook group or you want to start one, AND you want to get clients from it, this will be super helpful for you.

We cover a lot, including:

  • The #1 thing your group must have in place if you want to attract the right members – your ideal clients.
  • What you want to include in your group if you want people to connect with you and trust you as soon as they join.
  • The common missing piece in most groups that is the top reason you aren’t getting more clients and how to fix it.

Want to accelerate the growth of your group? Download your free PDF guide called 10 Free Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group.

In this episode, we’re sharing 3 ways to get more clients from your Facebook group. 

Let’s kick it off with strategy #1

1. Be very clear about who you help and how you help them.

Can people tell right away who your group is for and what you do? This comes into play several ways including the name of your group and the type of content you share. Having a successful FB group comes down to having a defined group name and theme that will attract the right people and allow members to get to know you and see you as a knowledgeable and trustworthy expert.

If people join a general health and wellness group, they could be looking for any number of solutions, including weight loss, managing diabetes, looking for ideas for exercise, ideas for managing their autoimmune condition or hormonal imbalances – the list goes on and on.  They could also be men or women of any age range. If you have this type of group and you offer your paid program that helps women over 50 balance their hormones to lose weight, you will have very few group members interested in joining because many of the people in your group are not your ideal clients.

BUT, when your group is very specific and clear about who it’s for, when you DO go to promote your paid offers, you’ll have more people signing up to work with you.

Think about the name of your group – is it very clear to people if it’s for them or not?

This will be a big help with coming up with content to share in the group, as well as topics for livestreams or any demos.

When you have the right people in your group, more members will invest in your paid programs when you offer them.

So, #1 is to have a clear group title and theme that will attract the people you want to help.

How to Get More Clients from Your Facebook Group
2. People need to get to know you before they invest! Video is the best way to do this.

If you think about the people that you follow on social media or the groups that you belong to, who are the ones you feel you know the most?  It’s almost certainly those who are doing video, right? Whether it’s live or recorded, it helps build a connection. You don’t really get to know people with just graphics, photos and motivational quotes – people want to know YOU as a person. When people feel a connection with you, they are much more likely to take the next step by working with you.

There are different places in your group where you can incorporate video and the first one is in the welcome video. A welcome video is important because for most of your new members, it will be their first impression of you and your community, and it sets the stage for how they will interact.  You can do a quick 1–2-minute video that welcomes them and lets them know what to expect and you look forward to getting know them – super easy.

Another important way to incorporate video is by livestreaming in the group. This is the most impactful way because people get to see you and interact with you in real time. This dramatically accelerates the know, like, trust factor.  Doing one livestream a month is a good place to start. That’s what I do because it’s very doable for me and I look forward to it each month.

When you are doing any type of longer form video such as livestreams, sprinkle in client success stories or how you helped a client with a specific problem, so it plants a seed and serves as a reminder about what you do without it being a sales pitch.   

3. Making offers frequently enough.

This is the missing piece in many groups because we know you don’t want to come across as being salesy – but if people don’t know what you do, how can they enroll in your paid programs?

The 80/20 rule is a good guideline to keep in mind with this. If 80% of the time, you’re showing up on a regular basis in the group with helpful information, building trust and rapport, giving support, you’ve earned the right to share your promotions and offers 20% of the time.

You’ll want to plan this out in your marketing strategy and whenever you are promoting a program to your email subscribers, make sure you are also sharing about it in your group.

How to Get More Clients from Your Facebook Group
Here are 3 ways to share your offers in your group:

  • Include an invitation to book a discovery call in the welcome post and share the link to your online calendar such as calendly.
  • Invite people to get one of your free resources that has an email follow-up sequence that leads to booking a call or enrolling in your coaching program, membership or other offer.
  • Make occasional time-sensitive offers. This could be that you have opened up additional spots for discovery calls this month or you have opened up X number of spots for new clients this month and share the link for how they can take action. You can also offer different bonuses throughout the year as an incentive.

The key is to be strategic and intentional with this, so you have it planned out as part of your marketing strategy.

Because I know another challenge health coaches have is growing their group, I have a great free resource to help you with this…

It’s my free checklist with 10 ways to grow your FB group without spending a penny on things like ads.

You’ll also learn my #1 secret tip to help you get more of the RIGHT people in your group (this is something besides making sure the name of your group is specific enough).

We can’t wait to hear how it goes with your group after you implement the tips we shared today!

Resources and Links mentioned on the show:

Checklist: 10 Free Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group 

Kathleen’s Facebook Group

Kathleen’s Instagram

Karen’s Facebook Group

Karen’s Instagram

Wellness Business Accelerator

;

Let's Connect on Facebook:

Click here

Subscribe and listen to The Wellness Business Podcast on your favorite platform!

Being Authentic: Why You Don’t Need to Follow Social Media Trends to Succeed

Being Authentic: Why You Don’t Need to Follow Social Media Trends to Succeed

by | May 1, 2023

Being Authentic: Why You Don’t Need to Follow Social Media Trends to Succeed

If you haven’t been showing up on social media through video or other content formats because you don’t feel comfortable doing the same thing other people are doing (like lip syncing and dancing) you’re going to love this episode because we’re talking about why you don’t need to follow social media trends to be successful. We are also sharing ideas for HOW to show up in an authentic and impactful way that feels right for you.

Here’s what we’re diving into in this episode:

  • What it means to be authentic on social media and examples of how to do it
  • How trends can actually backfire when it comes to growing your following
  • Why your videos don’t need to go viral to build your brand
  • How to come across as real and relatable (authentic) before you do a video (Kathleen shares what helps her with this)

First a little back story. When reels first came onto the scene on Instagram back in 2019, I thought – well this is nice, but I’m not going to dance or do lip syncing, so this isn’t for me.  As time went on though, I realized I didn’t have to do what everyone else was doing and I could figure out what worked for me, my personality and my brand.  I decided I would use reels as another form of short video content and use it to share quick helpful tips.  This video format was appealing to me because it’s very easy to come up with content that is short and to the point.  I remember watching Dr. Daniel Amen’s reels and he gets hundreds of thousands of views on most of his reels, and they are just very simple face to camera videos with no fancy editing.  So, sometimes simple is the way to go and it helps you spring into action more quickly.

I’m sharing this story because it’s so easy to compare ourselves to what everyone else is doing and we think we need to follow the latest trend or fad, when in fact, NOT going with the crowd will help you stand out more and will help you feel more authentic when you figure out how to show up in a way that feels comfortable for you.

We’ve both heard stories about people who have had their videos go viral but, in the end, it didn’t help them generate more revenue because while they reached a large audience, they weren’t the RIGHT audience, so they got an influx of new followers, but they weren’t their ideal clients. This could happen from using a trending audio that reaches a lot of people, so it’s something to be aware of – you don’t necessarily WANT to go viral because it doesn’t mean you’re going to get an influx of your ideal clients.

We’re going to share 3 reasons why you don’t have to follow social media trends to be successful and 3 ways to show up in a way that feels authentic to you.

Here are 3 reasons why you don’t have to follow social media trends to be successful on social media:

  1. You’ll actually stand out more: If you’re true to yourself and your brand, people can sense it and you’ll come across as being more genuine which people are naturally drawn to.
  2. Trends come and go quickly. By the time you jump on a trend, it may have already peaked, and you’ll be left chasing the next one. Instead, focus on creating content that’s timeless and evergreen. This doesn’t mean you CAN’T use any trends, but you don’t want to do it all the time.
  3. Following trends can stifle creativity. By focusing on what’s already popular, you may miss out on the opportunity come up with something unique. By being true to yourself, you’ll have the freedom to explore your creativity and do something truly original if you want.

Being Authentic: Why You Don't Need to Follow Social Media Trends to Succeed

So, what does it mean to be authentic and how does it work? Here are 3 examples:

  1. Be yourself: Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Embrace your uniqueness and share your true personality with your audience. People will appreciate your authenticity and relate to you more easily. One mindset shift that helped me with this in the beginning was asking myself “How would I show up if I were talking to a couple of my good friends or a couple of my favorite customers?”  When I record a video or do a livestream, that’s who I imagine I’m talking to and it comes across more natural and I feel at ease.  
  2. Show your vulnerable side by sharing personal stories: Share your experiences, struggles, and imperfections along with your successes. People love this and it will help your audience get to know you on a more personal level and it shows them that you’re not perfect either.
  3. Share behind-the-scenes moments: Let your followers see what goes on behind the scenes of your work or personal life. This will give them a glimpse into your daily routine and help them connect with you on a more personal level. Only share what you are comfortable sharing for privacy reasons of course, but people also love seeing behind the scenes of other people’s lives.  I do this more in my stories than I do on my reels, so you can do what works for you.

Following a trend might be easy, but it won’t necessarily showcase your creativity or set you apart from the competition. Look at the people you follow that you are drawn to and take inspiration from what they do if it feels right to you and figure out a way to make your own spin on it.

It’s important to remember that social media is not about you; it’s about your audience. Your followers are looking for valuable content that will educate, entertain, or inspire them. Figure out what fits your personality the best, knowing that it’s okay to test and experiment to find what works best.

We can’t wait to see what you do!​

Resources and Links mentioned on the show:

Kathleen’s Facebook Group

Kathleen’s Instagram

Karen’s Facebook Group

Karen’s Instagram

Wellness Business Accelerator

;

Let's Connect on Facebook:

Click here

Subscribe and listen to The Wellness Business Podcast on your favorite platform!

How to Use Instagram to Get More Subscribers and Clients

How to Use Instagram to Get More Subscribers and Clients

by | Jan 2, 2023

How to Use Instagram to Get More Subscribers and Clients

If you want to turn more of your Instagram followers into email subscribers and clients, there are a few things you need to have in place.

Even though algorithms change, and our organic reach may be lower, social media is still one of the easiest ways people can find out about you and how you may be able to help them.

We like Instagram because there are so many different formats for sharing content, getting engagement, and leading followers further along in the customer journey, so we’re focusing on that platform but take what we share and apply it to the platform of your choice.

Let’s dive into the first strategy which is one of the most important because it sets the stage for everything else.    

1. Have a clear bio that highlights what you do and who you help.

If you need help with this, we have a great episode coming up in a couple of weeks, that will help you write a compelling social media bio that will attract your ideal clients. You want to include who you help and how you help them, and keep it short and sweet, while leading them to a free resource in your bio link where they can learn more and find out more about you. 

We recommend using Linktree for multiple links in your bio, including your FB group, a free resource, a blog post that leads people to another step (your group, a freebie, etc.) your podcast, your services page, and book a call page if you have one.

Your bio link is a powerful tool in the customer journey, so be strategic with it.  Don’t have a ton of links because it’s overwhelming to people – you want to showcase your most important resources, so keep it to no more than 10. Karen has between 8-10 and they include links to:

  • One of her freebies
  • Her FB group
  • The podcast
  • A blog post (she switches these out every week or two based on posts I share in my feed)
  • Her wellness workshops
  • Any other promotions or offers she has going on

If you haven’t used LinkTree yet, it’s great because it allows you to use your one IG bio link to go to multiple web pages or URL’s instead of only using the one bio link that you have to change out based on what your posts are about. The free version is fine to get stared.

2. Pin posts to the top of your profile that will help people see what you’re about and allow them to take the next step. 

This is a really cool feature and I know a lot of people are not using it yet.  As of a few months ago, you can pin up to 3 posts to the top of your feed which means they will be the first photos or videos (including Reels) that show up as soon as someone visits your profile.  The goal is to keep people on your account as long as possible to learn more about you, so this works well when you are strategic about using it. 

You want to be intentional with this and use that valuable real estate at the top of your profile/grid for posts that will lead people to a next step with you such as:    

  • A freebie to grow your email list
  • A popular blog post or podcast episode to help people get to know you (that also links to a freebie or next step if possible).
  • A post that shares a tip and leads folks to joining your FB group to learn more
  • A Reel or other video that allows people to instantly get to connect with you (the video would ideally lead to another step such as read a blog post, listen to your podcast, download a freebie, etc.) 
  • A post that shares helpful tips and include a “click the link in my bio” to learn more – or “click the link in my bio” to shop for _______.   

For my Instagram bio, I’ve pinned a Reel, a freebie and a post about joining my Facebook group.  If you go to my account at KathleenLeGrys, you’ll see what I mean. Think about 3 posts you can pin to the top of your profile. I recommend at least one of them is a video of you sharing something helpful, so new visitors get to know you right away, and that may have them bingeing on more your videos. 

In case you’re wondering how to pin a post – It’s very easy. You just select a post you have added, click on the 3 dots on the upper right hand of the post and scroll down to select “pin to your profile” and it will bump it to the first row.  To unpin a post, you do the same thing but select “Unpin from your profile”.  You can switch out different pinned posts whenever you want.

3. Next up is Stories. Use stories to showcase your personality and share behind the scenes of your life and your business.

People want to get to know YOU – not just stuff about your business.  If all you share is business stuff, your views will likely be low (and it doesn’t help people get to know you on a personal level).  When people find things that you have in common with them or things they find interesting, they feel like they’re building a connection with you. Have you noticed that your story views are so much higher when you share more personal stuff? It makes sense when you think about it because we all want to see what other people are up to and check out behind the scenes stuff. While Karen was in Florida, doing her condo rental renovation, she shared a lot of the behind the scenes of the progress, and the views were super high, but it doesn’t have to be anything major either. Where did you go for a walk today? How are you solving a current problem or dilemma?  What would resonate with your followers? People enjoy just seeing ‘real life’ – I know I do, and you probably do too.  Look at the types of stories other people share and see what you like and what you are drawn to and use that for inspiration and ideas for your own.

When using stories, be sure to occasionally include interactive stickers such as the poll and slider feature because when people respond to them, your content is more likely to show up in their feed again because it’s telling the algorithm they like your content, so IG will show them more of it. A benefit of using the question sticker is when people respond, it goes into your DM’s and you can reply and start a conversation, so I Iove using that feature sometimes too.

4. We shared how to incorporate the customer journey, how to build connection, and grow your email list with stories, so let’s move on to getting clients. 

Here’s how to use Instagram to get clients.    

  • Share posts that invite people to work with you. This may seem obvious, but you would be surprised out how often we see coaches who aren’t doing this, and they wonder why no one is signing up to work with them. You have to let people know what you do, who you help and directly invite folks to the next step – book a call, purchase a product, join an online group coaching program, etc. 

Video works very well for this. Feature a client success story and the call to action (CTA) at the end is to book a free call. You can also do this by sharing a tip or busting a myth or sharing common mistakes you see, and CTA is to book a free call.

  • Share content that showcases common struggles your clients have and how you help them. If you haven’t had clients yet, you can share struggles you or people you know have had.  The CTA for this type of post would be to either book a call with you or join one of your programs. 

The question that usually comes up is how often to promote booking a call, or joining a program, and while there isn’t a set rule on this, the 80/20 rule is a good guideline, so share value 80% of the time and promote about 20% of them time.

  • The most common way you’ll get clients through Instagram is by building your email list and using your email follow up series to share an invitation to book a call, join one of your programs or whatever other offers you have.  You can also share any special promotions and offers you have during the year. 

People need to know what you do and see your offers multiple times before they take action.  Most people aren’t going to be ready to work with you as soon as they find you on social media, so staying top of mind and continuing to show up will help them take action when they’re ready.

  • Showing up on video is a must these days. You can do short video or Reels that are a minute or less. People need to connect with you and have a level of trust before they become a client, and other than in real life, in person, video is the quickest way to do it. I know when I’m looking at following someone on IG, I first go to their profile and look at a couple of videos to get a feel for who they are, and people are likely doing the same on your account. This is another reason why I think it’s important for at least one of your pinned posts to be a video. 
  • Be social. That means commenting on posts with a genuine comment, related to the content of the post.  Replying to stories with a DM or answering a question sticker that goes into the DM’s.  I think people underestimate the power of using DM’s – this is where conversations can start, and people can get to connect and get to know each other. This doesn’t mean pitching your services – it means commenting and conversing when appropriate. What this does is help people see you and lean into your future content more, so when you DO go to promote a program or service, they are more likely to sign up or refer a friend.

You want to think of your social media account as the first step in the customer journey and map out steps that visitors and followers can take that lead them to getting on your email list, connecting with you in other ways such as on video and/or in your Facebook group if you have one. 

We can’t wait to hear how it goes once you incorporate some of what we shared today. 

Resources and Links mentioned on the show:

Kathleen’s Facebook Group

Kathleen’s Instagram

Karen’s Facebook Group

Karen’s Instagram

Wellness Business Accelerator

;

Let's Connect on Facebook:

Click here

Subscribe and listen to The Wellness Business Podcast on your favorite platform!

How to Use Live Office Hours in Your Facebook Group to Increase Engagement

How to Use Live Office Hours in Your Facebook Group to Increase Engagement

by | Jun 27, 2022

How to Use Live Office Hours in Your Facebook Group to Increase Engagement

If you want a fun and easy way to increase interaction in your Facebook group while you also get a deeper understanding of your ideal clients, hosting live office hours is a great option.

Here are just a few benefits of hosting live office hours in your group:

  1. You get insightful questions from your community which can help you with content ideas, marketing copy, social media posts, and/or program creation, just to name a few. 
  2. You don’t have to come up with a topic for your livestream since you’re answering questions from group members.
  3. You get to interact with your members which increases engagement, and they appreciate it because you are giving a more detailed answer than you could give if you were typing it out.

In this episode, we are covering how to run your live office hours, the best way to ensure you have questions coming in and how to get people showing up while you’re live.

I recently did my very first live office hours in my Health Coach Biz Support Facebook group and I loved it. I had some questions about how to run a life office hours session, so we thought it would be a good episode for the podcast.

In case you aren’t sure what I’m referring to, you can host live office hours in your group which can be a great way to boost interaction.  You can either do this by answering questions by typing your reply or you can make it more fun and engaging by doing it as a livestream which is what I did, and it’s what I recommend you do too.  One of the goals for social media and for your group is for people to connect with you and get to know you, and doing live video is one of the best ways to do that.

Here’s what I love about doing live office hours: 

  • You get insightful questions from your community which can help you with content ideas, marketing copy, social media posts, and/or program creation, just to name a few. 
  • You don’t have to come up with a topic for your livestream since you’re answering questions.
  • You get to interact with your members which increases engagement, and they appreciate it because you are giving a more detailed answer than you could give if you were typing it out.

You may be wondering what to do if you don’t get any questions while you’re live and we are going to cover that too because I have the perfect solution that will eliminate this worry completely. 

It’s really very easy, and it’s just a different format of a livestream where you are doing a live Q and A. You can do this in your Facebook group or your page – it’s totally up to you. If you want it to be more exclusive and/or if you want to make it part of a paid program, do it in your group. You can do this on Instagram too if you want.

Here are the 5 steps:

1. Decide on the day and time of your office hours. You may want to allow up to an hour of your time for this, but you can just list the start time. 

2. Create a graphic in Canva with text that says something like “Live Office Hours” or “Live Q & A” and include your name at the bottom, under your photo so it reads “with Mary Smith”.   Canva has great templates for this that make it easy – just enter “office hours” or “live q and a” in the Canva search bar and you’ll see some templates pop up and you can customize the color and elements on the graphic. You can whip this up in about 2 minutes. 

Below is the graphic I created in Canva to give you an idea. If you type in “Office Hours” or “Live Q and A” you’ll find some templates that are super easy to customize.

3. Create a post in your group or on your page that explains how the office hours will work. Let people know about a week ahead of time to allow time to gather questions.

Here’s what I wrote for my post:

I would love to answer any questions you have about running, marketing or building your wellness business, so here’s how it will work:

Post your question below (be as detailed as possible, so I can give you the best feedback/ideas/suggestions).

I will be here in the group on (date/time) to answer the questions and if you can’t join me live, no problem – you can get my detailed response on the replay.

First priority will be given to the written questions, so be sure to post them below. If time permits, I will be happy to answer questions that are posted while I’m here live.

Hope to see you then.

The key to creating this post is to let people know you will be answering questions about a specific topic, so you can keep your questions to a theme if you choose. This can be helpful especially if you have a specific niche, and you want to keep things on topic. 

This also allows you get to questions ahead of time which is what you want. This will avoid having to worry that you may not have questions when you are on live.  You want to have questions ready to answer to kick off your livestream, so this is the way to do it.  Use the link to the live office hours post when you send your email about it, so people know where to go to post their question. They could also reply to the email if they want, and I gave my subscribers that option as well, so they could ask in whatever way was easiest for them at that time.

Also important is to let people know that first priority will go to those who post their questions ahead of time, so you’re creating a little bit of genuine urgency. If you have a bunch of questions come in while you’re live, you may not be able to answer them all, so letting people know this ahead of time sets expectations. If you can’t answer them all while you are live, you can do a part two when you are able to.

You want to have a PLAN B in case you don’t get any questions and that can be having a couple of common ready if you need them.  These can be common questions you get or questions you think people may have that are related to your topic.  Have 2-3 questions ready to go before you go live. If you don’t get any while you’re live, that’s totally okay because people are going to watch the replay.

4. Spread the word about your office hours.  Post about it in your group, on your other social channels (FB page, IG feed and stories, and anywhere else you are). Also, post a reminder about it 30-60 minutes before you go live and also email your subscribers because people are going to forget, and they appreciate a reminder.  Reminding people will have more of them showing up while you’re live, and that’s one of your goals too. 

5. Have fun with it, and just know that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Test it to see how it goes and if it’s something you enjoy and want to do on a regular basis. I plan to do them most months in my group.

If you have a Facebook group and you are looking for ways to grow it, I have a great free resource for you. It’s a guide called 10 Free Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group. In the guide, I share the strategies Karen and I use all the time to grow our groups and you can put some of them into place very easily right now. 

Resources and Links mentioned on the show:

Free Guide: 10 Free Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group

Links to Resources:

Wellness Business Accelerator Lesson Library

Kathleen’s Facebook Group

Kathleen’s Instagram

Karen’s Facebook Group

Karen’s Instagram

Wellness Business Accelerator

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