What Is Stopping You From Live Streaming?

By Cheval John

May 10th, 2017

Social media is a mechanism for business owners and companies to connect with their potential audience.

Many see it as a platform for free advertising.

So they self-promote their events or services hoping people will buy from them.

While others place all of their focus on building their business on the different social media platforms.

They don’t understand that the different social media platforms belongs to the owners who created them.

When they put all of their eggs in one basket (in this case, a social media platform), they end up losing their client base in the long run.

That’s why many scrambled to regain their audience when vine shutdown earlier this year.

Another example is when Facebook changed their algorithms which decreased the organic views of each post a couple of years ago.

Business owners now have to pay for facebook ads in order to regain the audience and make money.

I am not an expert on boosted posts on facebook, which I did try out their ads on my business page and got some likes from people I did not know pertaining to my previous articles here.

What I do know is that live streaming is an important avenue for businesses to get their message out to a prospective customer.

Facebook entered the live streaming matchup in 2015 when they allowed celebrities and public figures access to this new video on demand as a test run to see if live streaming would work for them.

When they saw the positive results of live streaming, they decided to allow everyone to have access to facebook live in early 2016.

YouTube was ahead of the video revolution when the platform was created in 2005.

The platform allowed anyone to upload videos of their cats surfing, cover songs of famous artists, even their reaction to a home run at a baseball matchup, or highlights from a collegiate softball game.

YouTube decided to enter the live stream market between 2015 and 2017 and allow anyone to showcase a news program or sporting events that is occurring.

I found out about the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) when they live streamed the playoffs on their YouTube channel.

The CWHL has been around for 10 years and it took a live streaming show to discover talented women who are professional hockey players.

You might be wondering which one of the platforms is right for you if you are considering live streaming for business.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing between Facebook Live and YouTube

Facebook:

This platform has 1.9 billion users

You can broadcast your live streams to your friends, family, group page and fans who liked your business page, respectively

The live videos is very personable

You can live stream from your mobile phones

A person can now broadcast their live streams from their own computer

YouTube:

The social media service has over a 1 billion users

It is the largest video website in the world

Google, the world largest search engine website, owns YouTube

You can become an “expert” over time with educational videos which solves a pain point for your audience

So you have seen the difference between Facebook Live and YouTube.

Both facebook and youtube are working on allowing two or more people to live stream at the same time.

Here are some video platforms that will allow multiple people to simulcast to facebook live or youtube from your computer

Blue Jeans Network:

Their on social platform allows you to simulcast to facebook live

Zoom:

Allows you to simulcast to either Facebook Live or YouTube.

A side note: You would have to buy their Pro plan at $14.99 a month before you can upgrade to the webinar platform for $40 more.

Crowdcast.io

This live video service recently launched the multi-stream software that allows you to simulcast to either facebook live, youtube or periscope.

You would have to put in the API key in order to simulcast to either platforms

Wirecast

This is a live streaming software of telestream which allows you to simulcast to facebook live, periscope and even youtube

Now you have seen the options which can help you to live stream for your business.

The only question is:

“What is stopping you from live streaming?”

You can leave your comment below.

About Cheval John

Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval is also the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business. He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.

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