6 Keys to Live Streaming For Musicians, Performers and Speakers.
With every in live person event now being canceled, it’s vital to have an online presence.
From musicians, to speakers, to educators, to athletes, to service professionals… it’s time to GET ONLINE, or literally be lost.
Having run an online business for the last 8 years and teaching 1000’s how to show up on line, creating an online event seems like a no brainer for my team and I.
However, I know this is an unknown territory for most business owners. How do you actually transfer an in person experience to an online experience without losing focus, nuance, connections and results? What if you could use VIDEO to show up from home and reach even more people than you can in person?
When I shifted my in person vocal coaching business to an online business 8 years ago, so many people thought I was crazy. You’d better believe I’m SO GLAD I invested time, money, and brain power into building an online community, and platform with over 1000 paying students!
As these tools be come more affordable and easier to use… it is CRAZY possible to make this happen with the right systems and tools in place as long as you DECIDE and #showup!
In this training, I’ll walk you through the systems and tools needed to take your offline events and connections online!
I LOVE in person events, AND, you may be surprised by the increased reach, profit, and IMPACT you will see when you shift into the online space AND, right now, let’s be real… It’s necessary.
What would it be like to host an online event for 1000 people!? The possibilities are endless.
So let’s dig in to the 6 Keys to Live Streaming For Musicians, Performers and Speakers.
#1 Know Your Ideal Audience Members
Here’s why I put the ‘s’ on ‘members.’ And, I didn’t say “know your audience.” I want you to make a list of real people that you know you could serve. You’ve got to do some guerrilla marketing here. Make a list of real people that you know would benefit from your performance.
It is also important to think of people that you think would actually pay you. Don’t get too caught in your head about this. There is a good chance that loads and loads of people want to pay you and you just haven’t given them the chance!
Keep in mind… with live streaming, there are two ways that they will pay.
- In actual dollars. (We’ll talk about how to make that happen later in this post.)
- In social currency. (When they comment, like, and share it makes it easier for you to attract new viewers.)
The first #actionstep is to identify your ideal audience members, and make a list of those people.
#2 Show Up!
The next thing is to start showing up! Let me give you an example:
When decided that I was going to launch the Camera Confidence® Program. I knew my ideal client and I knew the value that I could provide for them.
To draw them in, I started providing massive value by going live three times a week. I literally did live videos three times a week. I did a ‘Motivation Monday’ video every single Monday, I did a ‘Work-it Wednesday’ video every single Wednesday, and I did a ‘Fearless Friday’ video every single Friday.
You might not be launching a course, but in order for people to pay you… they have to be able to FIND YOU.
Here is a list to get you started.
- Join groups on your social platforms where your peeps are.
- Create “friends lists” on fb, twitter, and insta (and other places where it’s possible) of your ideal audience members and intentionally engage on their stuff! We always want people to like our posts, but do we think of liking theirs? The more you engage on their content the more they’ll see yours.
- I would usually say, go to events… but… #coronavirus (but…eventually this will end, and you SHOULD ABSOLUTELY GO TO EVENTS)
- Post regularly on all of your main platforms. If you need a scheduling tool, Our Favorite is SmarterQueue
- Fb
- Insta
- TikTok
- You know what I mean
- Create “Events” on Facebook and other platforms where you can create events.
- Invite people to a Zoom connection call.
- Create your own small virtual hang out on Zoom or Be.Live
- I know it can feel overwhelming at first, so reach out to a few of your top fans and ask them to invite people.
- Set a consistent Live Streaming Schedule
- Add it into your cover photo!
- Create posts that lead to allow people to subscribe for a reminder by commenting or with a link.
- Go LIVE! You can go live right from your phone, but we love to use a suuuper simple tool called Be.Live that lets you pre-schedule your video so that people can get an announcement. It also has really awesome tools, like, adding lower thirds, frames, payment links and all sorts of magic that makes your videos more engaging. PLUS, if you had gigs that were canceled due to coronavirus, you can actually get the standard pro version for FREE for the next 3 months.
Here’s a training on how to get started with Be.Live
#3 START BUILDING YOUR LIST ASAP
I put this in all caps because this is the #1 mistake I see people making. ESPECIALLY MUSICIANS. They build these massive followings and then something happens on social and they can’t contact their fans!!
Your people want to know where you are and when you are playing. Don’t rely on social media posts to notify them!! Build a list and send notifications yourself!
Here are some of our favorite tools that will help you do this!
- Email: Possibly the easiest. We use Convertkit and it’s awesome. They have a great free version.
- Messenger: This is super easy once you get the hang of it. You can build a full list on your Fb Biz Page and message them about your events if you get them to confirm that they want reminders. We use ManyChat. They have an awesome free version and the paid version starts at only $10 a month!
- Text Messaging: Magically ManyChat let’s you do this too! It’s SO GOOD. Here’s the link again JIC: MANYCHAT
#4 Provide a Way to Pay and a Way to Play
The next thing you need is an easy way to pay and an easy way to play. So, what do I mean by that? First you need a payment processor. This is something that actually overwhelmed me when I first launched Camera Confidence®. I did not want to jump into an expensive payment processor right away, and you don’t have to either.
My coach Adam Urbanski taught me, you want to make your offer like a box of cereal – so your clients/fans can just reach out and grab it! The same thing goes for the ability to pay you for your music!
If you don’t have loads of people paying you online yet, it’s easy to do this using PayPal or Venmo.
Check out one of my favorites: Lex Land and John Massey. Lex uses PayPal, and John uses Venmo.
Lex Land
John Massey
How will they pay?
Let’s talk about the options here:
PayPal:
I actually prefer to use Paypal because the “PayPal.me” links make it soooo easy for someone to click and pay whatever they want. Yes… there is a processing fee, but just write that in as a biz expense.
Venmo:
Some people prefer Venmo, but on the fly when your video comes across someone’s newsfeed, it’s harder to find you when you just share your email or handle. They do have a QR code option, but that is hard for someone to use if they are watching you on their phone.
Recurring Payments and Subscriptions
If you are branching out and teaching, or offering someone the chance to subscribe for bonus swag or tunes, I would actually use a more official payment processor. We use SamCart and I LOOOVE IT. But, don’t use it until you have a steady stream coming in. Some day I’ll do a full post about why I LOVE SamCart.
Where will you play?
You also want to make it easy for them to see you play. So, how are you going to deliver your content?
There are two options.
- Pay What You Can Access
- Pay For Tickets to Your Virtual Show
Let’s talk about the two.
I’m going to focus on Facebook Live, because it’s sooo easy and the videos live on forever. (So you may get paid for an old video) But you can do something like this on other social platforms as well.
Pay What You Can:
This is a tricky one for so many people, but I think it’s more of a mindset issue than anything else. Here’s how the tech side works. I prefer to do it using Be.Live because you can pre-schedule the content ahead of time and send people the link before you are actually live, but this will work on your phone as well. You just may get a smaller reach, and lower engagement.
Before I go over the the details… one question I get is, “Were should I Go Live on Facebook.” Biz page, Personal Page, Group?
I highly encourage you to go live on your business page for this strategy. If you have more people that engage on your personal page, you can start there, and once you have a small but mighty following on your personal page. You can move people to your biz page.
- Pre-Schedule your video with Be.Live (If you don’t use Be.Live you can just go live right from you phone, but pre-scheduling will help you to build an audience before you go live.)
- Include a description that explains the style of music you are playing, or the show/talk you are presenting, and a link to a request list if you have one.
- Copy text to your clipboard that says something like this… “If you are inspired to give a little goodness in the form of dollars, here’s my PayPal link! I appreciate you. www.PayPal.me/mollymahoney“
- Go Live
- You can use your computer camera, phone camera, or an external camera but don’t get too hung up on the gear, that’s most likely the fear. Do a practice run in a private group first to get comfy. Here is a gear list if you want to step it up a bit. https://thepreparedperformer.com/live-video-gear-list/
- Once you are live, post the text in the comments, and then you can actually “pin” the comment to the top of the broadcast. While you are live, you’ll see a little bit of text under the comment that says “Pin Comment.”
- If you have a request link, you can even ask people to pay for requests if you have a crowd.
I like using Facebook or another site to deliver my content, but I always keep a copy of the entire course somewhere else too, so that people can have access to it if something happens. While I do believe this is the absolute best, easiest way to deliver content where you have a connection with your audience and where you can get feedback right away, you don’t own Facebook or any other site. I use a tool called Repurpose to automatically download EVERYTHING.
They key is to make it easy for your ideal clients to enroll and also easy to get your content. Remember, you want it to be as easy as reaching for a box of cereal.
Pay for Tickets to your Virtual Show
If you create a Facebook group, you can actually have people pay you for access. Maybe you play in there, maybe you do a q&a, maybe you have it as a place for your community to connect. Monthly Memberships are GREAT for musicians and performers. They can get early access to your goodness, swag for members only, and maybe a newsletter! So many possibilities.
This is the way that it worked with Camera Confidence.
When I first launched the program, I had nothing created, just an empty Facebook Group.
I had all of the training lessons planned out and then I literally went live and delivered this awesome content. Every single person who was in the program had the opportunity to be there live with me. But when they joined the group was EMPTY.
So every single time I delivered a video, I got their questions, I got their feedback and I could tweak things going forward, to make sure that I’m actually providing the value that they need.
You can do this with your performance as well!
What about music rights?
1st… I’m not a lawyer.
2nd. I pay BMI/ASCAP for music for my events, but I’m not sure it applies here.
3rd. If you are playing covers, Facebook seems to be ok with it.
4th. If you are teaching dance and want to play recorded music, you will get flagged, but I have an awesome solution. Click “Go Live” on your phone, then hit the “Lip Sync” button. You can choose from LOADS of songs, and they’ll play right through Facebook!
#5 Create Scarcity and Stick To It
This may feel a little weird at first, but trust me.
If you’ve followed me and my biz, you may have seen prices increase or you may have seen a free training I offered disappear and you may have sent me a message, “Molly, I missed it by five minutes, ahh!!! What do I do? Please let me in.” If that happens, I’m sorry but the answer is “No.” Do you want to know why? Let me give you an example to illustrate.
I did this free training on how to use Messenger Automation in my Facebook group. I went into my private Facebook group and I advertised outside of the Facebook group that I was going to be doing a free training inside my private Facebook group which is called ‘Elevate Your Awesome.’ I delivered the value and I have never had more ‘wows’ fly across the screen!
I ended up making more than $5,000 in sales in 24 hours using this method!
In this free training I showed everyone how to set up and use a Messenger chat bot. What a chat bot does is subscribe followers to Messenger, so you able to continue the conversation like we mentioned in step #3. In the Messenger Automation training, I was not planning on selling anything but people started asking how they could learn more. So, I created scarcity and I stuck to it!
In the video I said, “I’m just learning how to use this, so here’s what I’m going to do. I am going to put together a full Message Automation Academy. I haven’t created it yet, but if enough people want the training, I’ll create it and it will be awesome!” Since this will be the first time I’m offering this training, I’m going to take this video down, and the invitation to the training, within 24 hours. So, anyone who purchases this training at the introductory price can get it by responding to this video, but just for the next 24 hours. www.ThePreparedPerformer.com
I offered them that cereal box of content, but only for 24 hours. I ended up making more than $5,000 in sales in those 24 hours from that one free video. If I had left it open, without creating scarcity, or if I had gone back on my word and extended the deadline, I know that I would have had fewer people sign up.
How can YOU apply this? You can do this with your Virtual Tickets. Early bird or Founding Member tickets work well and allow you to test something at a much lower price point.
Another way is through limited edition swag. People who love your music will flip for the opportunity to strut their stuff in a limited edition shirt!
You have to stick to it though! If the price is going up or the swag is going away, it needs to go away.
#6 Keep the Communication and Engagement Going
Finally, you have to deliver with loads of open communication. People love this!
Let me start by giving you an example of when I did not do this. With my Messenger Automation Academy, I decided that, because it was a lower level course with a lower price entry, that I wasn’t going to be giving loads of extra support because that’s one of the things that is really special about my Camera Confidence Course and my other programs.
So, when I first offered the Messenger Automation Academy, I thought it would be easier if I put it in a program that is separate from Facebook, like Kajabi or Thinkific. I set it up in Kajabi and it was fine but I have realized when I launch a new program like this, the thing that is most beneficial for making it really awesome is that open communication. As each question comes through, it lets me know what content I need to modify and what new content I need to create. The communication ended up being beneficial for both the participants and for me too!
I’m still adding things to the Messenger Automation Academy. If I didn’t have a way to get participant questions or to hear where they are stuck, I wouldn’t be able to make the program as juicy. I wouldn’t be able to make the program as valuable. I think that this instant feedback is so important, that I recently sent a message to everyone enrolled in my Message Automation Academy. I let them know that I am recreating the whole academy in a Facebook group. So, they can still go to Kajabi to watch it, but they can also get the same content in the Facebook group.
Same thing for you as a performer.
That’s why we LOVE live events! We get to be a part of the action.
If you go live and you can’t see the comments, or you don’t ask questions, you are missing out on a key component that will keep people coming back for more!
Here’s a video with ways to boost your engagement! 10 WAYS TO INCREASE ENGAGEMENT
The big question: WHAT IF I MAKE A MISTAKE?
AWESOME! YOU ARE PROVING THAT YOU ARE HUMAN! THAT YOU ARE REAL!
I love the idea of learning out loud! If you’re someone who is an expert but who wants to keep learning and growing (this should be everyone!), open communication with your participants is an awesome way to get ahead of the curve!
Your community will cheer you on!
With the Facebook group model, it takes open communication one step further. Even if I’m not in there to answer all the questions right away, the participants are all in there connecting, which is what we need right now. I can’t say enough about how awesome it is to build that community.
NOW IT’S UP TO YOU TO SHOW UP
There they are; the 6 key tips you need to take your events and gigs online! I’m confident that you can use everything I’ve giving you here in your own business to serve more people and, at the same time, make more money doing it!
I love nothing more than helping you to unlock your inner awesome and elevate it, so that you can quickly add more credibility, visibility share your gift with the word, and have people throw credit cards at your face!
If you would like more support, I have a next step.
- Join Our Free Facebook Group: www.fb.com/groups/elevateyourawesome
- Come to our next Live Video Masterclass where I’ll share how to boost your views and sales using live video https://www.LiveVideoMasterclass.com
- Book a call to see how we can support you! We’ll assess your current sitch and give you the next best step! https://www.ThePreparedPerformer.com/biz-call
If you find this valuable and you want to help other people to be able to take their events online without losing their mind, share this post because I know these tips are really, really valuable. I’ve put this into place, my clients have put this into place, and it’s so doable!
With our support, all you need to do is SHOW UP and follow the plan!
Become a BeLive Partner here: www.Molly.live/belivepartner