T IPS O F T H E T R A D E
By Therese Kopiwoda
Get Started With Facebook Live
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xperts predict that within the next four years, 75 percent of what we do on our mobile devices will be video. Live video will play a major part in that, and Mark Zuckerberg intends to make Facebook the leader in live streaming video. To encourage Facebook users to start broadcasting, live videos are currently getting a boost in the algorithm. What this means is that while you’re broadcasting, your video will show up on more of your friends and followers timelines than other types of content. Afterwards, the replay will still be available (unless you delete it), but it will revert to the normal algorithm. Given the live video trend and the fact that Facebook is rewarding people who are using it, now is the time to get started. Smart business owners are jumping on the bandwagon and taking advantage of the fact that it’s still fairly new. They will be leading the way as other people sit back and wait.
Who Can See Your Broadcast? Facebook allows you to do live broadcasts to your personal profile, business page, groups, and events. The privacy options are as follows: • Pages: broadcasts are public. • Personal profile: Can be public or for a list you have previously set up. • Groups: Can only be viewed by people in that group. • Events: Viewable by the public if the event is public. If event is private, broadcasts will only be viewable by those invited.
How to do a Facebook Live Broadcast To start your broadcast, open your regular Facebook app on your mobile device. Then follow these steps: 1. Tap on “What’s on your mind” like you would for any other status update. www.petsitters.org
2. On the screen that comes up you will see a Live Video icon. Tap on that and it will bring up a new window where you will type a description of your video. 3. Before going live, decide whether you want to use the back facing camera (facing away from you) or the front facing camera (the one facing you). To change from one camera to the other, tap the little arrow icon in the upper right corner of the broadcast screen. You can change cameras any time before or during your broadcast. 4. When you are ready to go live, tap on the “Go Live” blue button and you’re on your way! You will be given a 3-2-1 countdown before you go live. Take a deep breath, smile, and get ready to broadcast! While you’re broadcasting, people will come and go while you’re live and if they comment, they will show up in the chat section below the video. You may also see a message pop up saying who has joined. If so, say hello. Since this is live video, you want to remember to actively engage your viewers, and greeting them by name is a great way to start. Keep in mind that there is about a 6-second delay from the time you say something and the time your viewers hear it. So, when you ask a
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question, be prepared to keep talking, but keep an eye out for answers and comment on appropriately.
Ending Your Broadcast To end your broadcast, tap the red “Finish” button in the lower right corner of your screen. Before you do though, remember the delay. After you say goodbye, wait a few seconds and then hit “Finish.” Otherwise, your broadcast will be cut off mid-sentence.
After Your Broadcast After you end your broadcast, you can choose to keep it available, hide it from the timeline, schedule a time for it to be deleted, or delete it manually. If you choose to keep it on Facebook for others to view, they will also be able to comment at any time, just like they would on any other type of post. Live video is only going to get more and more popular, so getting started now will be in your best interest. The best way to get started with Facebook Live is to start watching other broadcasters. Once you get the feel for how it works and you have an idea of how you want to use it, put it to work for your business. n Therese Kopiwoda is a presenter for webinars, workshops, and conferences, and a former pet sitter. Visit her website at Social Media Hound and follow her on Periscope & Twitter at @kopiwoda. Professional Pet Sitter · Fall 2016