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AMY PORTERFIELD: Well, hey, there. Welcome back to another episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast. I’m your host, Amy Porterfield, and I'm so glad you’re here. Today we’re talking about how to shift your mindset, engage your audience, and build your confidence so that you can fully embrace live video.
Now, the popularity of going live is not going away, my friend, as much as you wish it would. In fact, the trend in the online space is only getting stronger. We see people doing live video more and more, in so many different ways. And if you've hung out with me for a while, you know that live video hasn't always been easy for me. A lot of my lack of confidence around videos in general—I don't care if it's live or pre-recorded—came from my self-consciousness about my weight. So trust me when I say I completely understand how difficult it can be to get to the point where you feel good in front of the camera.
And here's the thing. I'm not unique when I say that I don't love video. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that most people don't necessarily love to see themselves on video. I see it in my Online Marketing Made Easy Facebook community all the time, people talking about their fear of going live or the fact that they wish they didn't need to do Facebook Live. And it's a constant conversation in my Facebook group. However, there’s an intentional reason I teach my students to do live video often and why I now do them often and have for over a year now. It's because live video brings a whole new level of connection with your audience. And although you know that, I really want to hit that home. It brings a totally new and elevated type of connection with your audience, and in a noisy, noisy online world, that’s important.
Okay, so, I'm going to date myself right now, and I'm kind of embarrassed about the example I'm going to use, but I used to love this show called Silver Spoons, and Ricky Schroder was the star of this show. Now, I know there is a woman out there that just heard me say that, and you kind of squealed. I know there are other people listening that had a crush on Ricky Schroder just like me. So for my young’uns who are listening and have no idea what I'm talking about, stay with me here. I've got a point.
So I loved this show, and I watched it religiously with my sister. And one time I got the opportunity to meet him, and I stood in line to get his autograph. And when it was my turn, I stepped up, and I had this big smile on my face, and I thought in that moment that I knew him. Like, I knew everything about him. We were best friends, and he was likely going to ask me to marry him. And the reason why I felt so connected to him and like I knew everything about him and like we had just talked yesterday is because I had been watching his show so religiously, and so I just had this connection with him. He obviously didn't have it with me, but I had this with him, and although I sound creepy right now, I just felt like we were instant friends.
And so I just want to point out that with TV or with live video on Facebook, you really do, as the viewer, start to believe that you have a relationship with the person that you've been watching religiously. When you keep showing up, that connection happens. And so when I talk about live video, I'm not talking about you just doing it once or twice or maybe once a quarter. I'm talking about you doing it very regularly, that people start to connect with you, and when they get to see you in real life, they feel like they know you. And this happens all the time with me now when I go to networking events and people know who I am. They really are so friendly with me, and they'll say things like, “Amy, you don't know it, but we're best friends.” And in my head I'm like, “I get it,” because I felt that way about other people that I've watched their videos over and over and over again.
So, anyway, I know that was a weird example. Shout out to anybody else who's had a crush on Ricky Schroeder. Someone's going to DM me and tell me they get it. They know why I love this guy so much. But, again, I was, like, eight years old, just for the record.
Okay, so, moving on. Connecting with your audience via live video connects you to them in a way that, dare I say it, a blog post or even an email or a social-media post or even a podcast episode will never do. I'm saying that I think live video is more powerful than all of that. I'm even saying it's more powerful than a prerecorded video.
Now, some people might say, “Amy, a video's a video.” And so, yeah, if you are going to do a video and you're only option, if you're like, “I'm not doing live. I'm going to do prerecorded,” I'd love to see you at least do video, for sure. But above all that, I would say live video is the strongest.
Now, you guys know I've talked about this before, but I think that Rachel Hollis doing a morning show every single morning live on Facebook Live and Instagram Live, there's something pretty powerful about that. I just watch it all the time in awe. I can't believe this girl keeps showing up every single morning, and people go crazy for it. So it's live, and she's consistent, and I think there's something really powerful with that connection.
So above all else, live video’s a powerful platform, and you'll see that when you start showing up consistently on video, whether it be on a social-media platform or even if you just start dabbling with doing more live opportunities in your webinars—so that's another place you could do live video. You guys saw me do it with Digital Course Academy. At the time of this recording, the launch just ended, and I was on live webinars, showing my face, not just slides and audio, a lot. And although I tell my new students, “You don't need to start there,” it’s something that I’d like you to do more often.
And during my live launch, I did tons of Facebook Live. And I even elevated the whole experience, pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, and I did a live stream in a studio for three hours I think we went for, and that was pretty incredible as well, just showing up, being live on video, interviewing people, talking about the program, all of that stuff.
So you get it, right? You're picking up what I'm putting down in terms of live video creates that connection but also, in the long run, grows your audience and can grow your revenue. Now are your ears perked up? I hope so because I know that many listening right now are feeling a little bit like, “Do we have to go there? Do we have to talk about live video?” because it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. And maybe you're kind of shifting in your seat right now, like, “All right, I'll listen, but I don't want to.” Or maybe you’re running on the treadmill and kind of cringing as you're listening, like, is this really going to get me through my run, because I don't love this topic. But I want you to stay with me because you know that live video can be a total game changer for you and your business. I know you know this to your core. If you follow me, if you follow anyone that does similar teachings like me, you've heard it so many times, and you've seen the evidence. So have an open mind for the rest of this episode. Good?
Today I’m going to share with you three different strategies for building your confidence so that you can show up for your live videos like a boss and maybe, just maybe, even start to like them. Imagine that. That's my ultimate goal for you.
And as always, before we dive into the good stuff, a listener shout out. So this listener shout out is from Debbie of My Pocket Designer. Okay, so this is what she said:
“You know that feeling when you've been totally absorbed in a Netflix series and then it ends and you find yourself saying, ‘There's nothing to watch’? Well, that's exactly how I feel whenever I finish an episode of Amy's podcast. I just can't wait for the next episode to drop. They are so good. Each person Amy interviews leads me down a new path and inspires me to consider new ideas. Amy is very good at her craft. I plan to attend the conference in October, and I have also purchased her List Builders Society course. I am learning a ton.”
Debbie, this review was just so, so cool when I read it. I thought, “I want to meet this girl.” So you're going to hear this after my live event in October, but I am secretly hoping that I find my way to you at my live event in San Diego this October and give you a real-life hug because this was just the nicest review and calling anything about my podcast binge worthy or similar to how you feel after a Netflix series is over, that’s just a podcaster’s dream. So thank you so very much for the sweet message.
All right. Are you ready to shift your mindset and build some serious confidence for your live videos?
Strategy number one is to create your own pre–live ritual. Now, I know you know that I'm all about systems and automating whatever I can in my business and my life. And doing a live video is no different. Michael Hyatt talks about the power of automating and creating rituals in his book Free to Focus.
Have you read it? It's excellent. I have everybody on my team read that book. And I actually had Michael on an episode to talk about it. So go over to episode 258 after this one if you missed it. So episode 258 is all about Michael Hyatt, Free to Focus, one of my favorite books.
But basically, he explains how all high achievers have rituals for certain things in their life, and these rituals help them achieve more by doing less. He says that rituals allow more room for creativity. They speed up your work, and they prevent mistakes. So are you starting to see how a ritual could actually help you build some confidence so you could ease into doing more like videos? What I suggest is that you create a ritual that you commit to performing each time before you go live.
Now, this is going to allow you to automate this live-video process. The more you commit to this ritual, the more relaxed and confident you're going to feel in your life videos because it's a routine that you've gone through before. So think about when you first got your license. Every time you jumped in the car, you were nervous, and you had to really think about what you were doing and the actions you were taking.
I remember, just a year ago, Cade started driving. And he'd get in the car, and he was like, “Amy, I can't talk to you right now. I got to think.” And he would look at the lights and make sure his seatbelt was on and put the seat in the right place. He had to really think about it every time we got in the car. But now he just jumps in and goes, and I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s slow down this process here.” He’s a little too fast. Anyone with a teenage driver knows what I’m talking about.
So, let’s think about you driving. So when you were a teenager, you had to think about it, just like Cade. But now you probably drive while fiddling with the radio, talking on your Bluetooth, tending to the kids in the back. I mean, you could do a lot of things. It's second nature, right? You've created a ritual around driving, and it's just automatic. So you jump in the car, start the car, put it in drive, bring attention to where you're going, you are off. All automatic. You don't even think about it, and you're definitely not nervous anymore. So, you didn't even know it, but you have some driving rituals.
Now let's get back to video. My first year of doing live video consistently, which was not that long ago, by the way, was full of missteps and, I don't know, snafus. When I first started doing video, Facebook Lives, I was convinced that every time I hit the broadcast button and went live on Facebook, I wasn't actually live. I just expected it wasn't going to work, because we all know I'm not very techie. So I literally felt like I was sitting there, talking to my computer, and nobody really could even see me. It was not working. So in those first few videos, when I first started to go live, you'll see me say, “Am I live? Is this live? Are we live?” like ten times in a row. Geez, it’s really hard to watch. And it was so distracting and a horrible way to start a live video.
But listen, we all have some kind of messiness when we're just starting out with anything. It's just part of the experience. And that's why we're talking about rituals. They will help you sidestep some of that messiness. Rituals are going to look different for the different platforms. So, for example, what you do right before a Facebook Live might look really different than what you do right before going live on a webinar. So there might be some subtle differences here, but what I want you to do is think about the platforms that you go live on or where you want to go live. So for me, it's Instagram Live, Facebook Live, and webinars. Then, decide your rituals. What would those look like?
So let me give you two examples. With my Facebook Lives, if I'm going to be teaching on a live—versus doing a quick Q and A—if I'm going to be teaching, I always schedule at least thirty minutes a few days prior to going live to create a simple outline in a Google Doc. And if I want to use slides, which I do sometimes, as you guys know if you watch my lives, if I want to do some slides, I'll get those prepared in advance. This is essential because you do not want to be scrambling to put together a Facebook Live the day of. I've been there, I've done that, and you're just too hectic, and it's not the best content you could put together.
I also set aside ten minutes prior to my live to get into the zone. Now, this is big. And if you do not do this, please try this. So I set an alarm on my phone ten minutes prior to my live. And when that alarm goes off, I shut down everything I was doing, and I sit down where I'm going to do the live video, and I make sure that I have proper lighting, my equipment's plugged in, and I just allow myself to settle in. So the fact that I’ve done it so many times before, the equipment’s not a big deal to me anymore. I typically, if I can get in front of a window for natural lighting, I will. It’s that ten minutes before of just settling in, quieting my mind, looking over my notes, just getting prepared. Because at some point, when I started to do lives and get a little bit more comfortable with them, I got into this terrible habit of just sliding in the minute I was supposed to go live. I was way rushed, kind of frantic, very unorganized, and I’d go live, and then I’d say, “Let me bring up my notes. Hold on a second. Can you guys see me? Let me move to another window.” And then my headspace was kind of out of the game, and it just wasn’t a good transition.
And these days, because Facebook Live and just live video in general is so popular, there's a lot of competition. Those first thirty seconds are really important. So you don't want to be fumbling with the camera. You don't want to be trying to fix your lighting. You don't want to be looking for your notes. Just be in the zone. So ten minutes before, even if you're just sitting there in silence, is a really good ritual. So steal that one.
All right. Now with webinars, I have a pre-webinar dance party. So if you follow me, you know this already, right? You even know the song. So it's Don't Stop Believin’. I always play it. And when I'm alone or with people that I feel comfortable around, I get up and I do a little dance. I shake it out, get the energy into my body, and I love that song. It's a game-on song. It's a song that means something to me, and so with that, it just puts me right into state. And so that is my pre-webinar ritual. Play the song, get up, shake it out, get a little energy into my body, and then I sit down, and a few minutes before, I get into the zone just like I would with a live, kind of just to quiet my mind.
Now, speaking of your mind, it's important to remember that your mindset will affect your energy for live videos. So if you're not getting into the zone and getting yourself excited for your live video, your audience will know. They'll feel it. You've watched videos before where the person had hardly any energy, and you're like, “How long is this video going to be?” Energy truly matters. So get a little fired up before a Facebook Live, an Instagram Live, and definitely get your buns fired up for a live webinar. That stuff's important.
And here's a little tip for you—and yes, this may feel strange at first—smile when you talk. I'm not even kidding. So my good friend and live-video expert, many of you know Luria of Live Streaming Pros. Well, she says that if you pause your video at any time, like, you're going back to replay it, you should find a smile. Now that's intense. That's a lot of smiling, but I think she's on to something. So even when I do the podcast, I smile. Right now I am smiling. And every time I'm not smiling, I notice a little dip in my energy. So then I smile again. It just kind of pulls your body up. And so smiling when you're doing your live videos, it's important. So I want you to do it.
Okay, so creating a pre-live video ritual is a game changer. The more prepared you are, the more confident you'll feel, and the better your live videos will be. So when your live video is valuable, your audience is going to show up next time you go live and next time. And you're going to create raving fans that will be ready to buy your digital course when you're ready to sell it. So please do not wing it. Be prepared. I can't stress this enough. Take a moment to brainstorm a simple pre–live ritual, and it could be very short, but add a few different elements that you're going to do before you go live, and do them every single time. It will become second nature, and it will make your live-video process so much easier.
Okay, let’s move into strategy number two. This strategy is to focus on what you're offering your audience. Now, what I'm going to talk about here is going to surprise you because you're going to say, “How do the two connect?” I'll tell you in a second. But the strategy is focus on what you're offering your audience.
So I want to give you a little tough love because I've been guilty of this in the past and somebody gave me a little tough love about it many, many, many years ago, and it has served me well. When you are worried about how you look on camera, you're making your video about you and not about your audience. So when you are worried about how you look, you are not focusing on what you are offering your audience in that moment. In fact, you're totally missing the point because you're not giving value, and you're not offering transformation. Instead, all you're doing is thinking about yourself.
Now, I am so far from perfect on this strategy. I still have days where I don't like how I look. And if you listen to the podcast episode I did about photoshoots, you know I've got a vein running through the middle of my head that shows up out of nowhere, and I see it on live video. I shouldn't tell you all because now you're going to see it every single time. But it's distracting to me. And so we all care about how we look. And it's really easy to judge ourselves because here we are on live video, and we see ourselves on our computer or wherever you're doing video. You see what you look like, and it's hard not to focus on that. But it's dangerous because it takes you out of focus, and it makes it all about you, and you lose your message. At least, you lose the strength of the message.
So when this happens, I now quickly recognize it, and what I do is I tell myself, “I am here for them.” This little voice in my head, when I start worrying about Velma the Vein on my head—yes, I've named her—or when I just don't like how my hair looks, or I think I look overweight, or whatever, I instantly say, “I'm here for them. I'm here to support and to serve.” And that usually snaps me back into the moment.
And like I said, I think we are all guilty of this from time to time, but I just had a recent aha moment. I was interviewing Karida, one of my star students. You're going to get to hear from her in next week's episode. It is such a good episode. She talks about doing webinars and having a strong post-webinar game. And it's just so good. You're going to love every minute of that episode. So it's next week, episode 292. But when I was talking to her, she said, “Amy, you shared something on Facebook Live one time about how Jasmine Star was doing a launch, and she was struggling. It wasn't going as planned. So she got scrappy. And what she did is she got into her customer-support portal, and she started personally responding to people that were on the fence, that weren't sure if the program was right for them. She got in there, and she answered every one. And then she got into her DMs, and she talked to people there. She got scrappy, grassroots, and she made it happen, and she pulled out a great launch. At the end, she hit all her goals, but it was looking dismal for days. Something was just off.” And so Karida said, “Amy, you shared that, and I took that to heart. And so with my last launch, I got scrappy.” And then she goes on in the episode next week talking about what scrappy looked like for her and how she made an additional $11,000 after her webinars were over, and she had her biggest launch yet.
And I was thinking about this as I was preparing for this episode here, and I thought, “What if I got so into myself on a live video and so worried about how I looked that day, maybe I thought my face looked chubby or something, and I was off my game, and I forgot to tell that story about Jasmine getting scrappy, because I was so into myself?” And this is what happens. When you start focusing on yourself, your stories don't come out. Your personality doesn't shine. You don't really remember the flow of the talk because you're thinking about how you look. Imagine if I didn't share that, and then Karida didn't hear it. And if Karida didn't hear it, then she wouldn’t have got scrappy with her post-webinar strategy to earn an additional $11,000, and then she wouldn't have been on my podcast next week, and then the people that are going to hear her podcast episode with me, who she's going to touch their lives, would have never heard that.
Now, I know I’m getting a little dramatic here, but it is how it works. You're off your game. You're not sharing your magic, your stories, your value, and then it doesn't fall where it needs to fall. And so if you really think about it in the big picture, you can easily remind yourself, it's not about you, and no one really cares about the vein running through the middle of my head, and they really don't care about that thing that you're worried about they're thinking of. No one is watching your video and thinking, “She looks like she's gained a little weight.” Okay, I take that back. There actually might be someone that might think that about you or me. And did we die? Does it really matter what somebody thinks about, if we look like we gained weight or not? In the whole scheme of things, that person that you don’t even know, does it really matter what they think? And I do subscribe to the belief that anything anyone thinks about me is a reflection of them. So it’s still all about them.
We’re always thinking about ourselves. See, it’s human nature. So that’s why you need to have a way to snap out of it during a live video. And I really want you to at least start with using the technique I use where I just say, “I am here for them,” or “I am here for her,” or “I am here for him,” “I am here to support and serve.” And you say that in your head, and it snaps you back to, okay, all right, here I am.
And right now you might be thinking, “Amy, I always get on video and think, ‘Oh, I do not like how I look.’” And again, that's normal. But I want to challenge you, because you know that's what I love to do, I want to challenge you to shift your mindset and just make it about your audience. Your message is too important to get lost in your lack of confidence in how you show up. I’m going to say that one more time. Your message is too important to get lost in your lack of confidence in how you look. It's okay if you don't always love how you look, but don't lose your message because of it, because think about the people that you won't be touching their lives.
And on the flip side, think about how many people you can reach by consistently showing up for them as your best possible self. If you never do a Facebook Live because you're too caught up in how you look or you rarely do them because of that, it hurts my heart. Your amazing content that you need to get out into the world is just sitting there, and it's not going to serve anyone, and you're playing small when you don't show up on live video because you don't like how you look. So let that sink in just for a minute. Again, when you make live videos about you, you’ll never help your audience with their pain points or their desires, and you’ll never make that impact that you want to make. I know I’m really hitting this one home, but it’s near and dear to my heart because I’ve been there, but I want to help you move past it.
So here’s my challenge to you: next time you go live, before you actually hit broadcast, in your ritual, maybe add this to your ritual, ask yourself, “How do I need to feel? What do I need to think? How do I need to show up right now so that this message is valuable to my audience so that I make it about them?” Get clear on that before you go live. Maybe you have a question you always ask yourself before you go live to get right into that state of servitude and being your very best self on live video. Deal?
All right, let's move into our final strategy number three. Number three is to allow your audience’s engagement to build your confidence and your content. I'm going to say that one more time. Allow your audience’s engagement to build your confidence and help you build your content.
Before we jump in, I just want to mention that I don't want you to focus on the number of people who watch your video live, especially if you're just starting out. Remember, even if you have one or two people on live, that video will live on as a replay, especially if we're talking Facebook Live, and there is power in that. So I want you to treat every person as though they are special. So on your next Facebook Live, if you have three people on live, act as though you have thousands of people on live, and show up like a boss and just wow them with your content, and also, engage with them. Your numbers will climb. They'll get bigger. I just don't want you to get discouraged by the numbers, because this next part about engagement, you can do it with two people on or 102 people on. Okay?
So, let’s talk about a few ways that I like to use my audience’s engagement to build my confidence and shift my mindset away from my worries of focusing on how I look or how I’m showing up and instead focusing on their pain points and serving them.
So, first up, I always ask my audience questions that relate to their pain point. So there’s nothing more powerful than hearing what your audience needs, directly from them, because we can think we know what our audience needs until the cows come home, but until they validate it, you’re not too sure, right?
So ask them questions. For example, I love to ask my audience questions like, what's your biggest hurdle when it comes to building your email list? Or what is the one thing that's holding you back from launching a digital course? So I'm always asking questions related to what I teach, and I'm also really listening to their responses. I want to know what they’re sharing.
So how about you? In this moment, can you think of two questions you can ask on your next Facebook Live or Instagram Live or even webinar that will get your audience talking and will help you to better understand what makes them tick. Can you think of two questions that you could ask? It's questions like these that you can use to guide your conversation on your videos, and it will help you to create content that is irresistible to your audience because they're telling you the challenges they have, what they need, what they want. Listen closely because if you ever say, “I don’t know what to blog about. I don’t know what to podcast about,” if you ask the right questions, your audience, even if you have a small audience, will let you know.
Another thing that I like to do on my live videos, especially my social-media lives, is to ask them to share one takeaway that they got from my live session. Another way to ask this is, what's one action item that you're going to do right away in the next twenty-four hours? So hearing directly from them is so powerful, but also I'm planting a seed for them to say, “Go do it,” because if people take action after your live videos, they're going to think, “Wow, she really knows what she's talking about. I just did this, and it worked,” or “He's onto something because he suggested that I try this, and I'm pleasantly surprised with my results.” So if we can get people into action after our live videos, that's even better. So ask them one action item they're going to take the minute they get off live or in the next twenty-four hours or whatever it might be.
Here's another one. In my live videos, I often prompt my audience with a cue. So for example, I'll say something like, “If you're struggling with growing your email list right now, I want you to type in the comments, ‘I'm struggling because…’ and fill in the blank. So keep it short and sweet, but write in the comments, ‘I’m struggling because…’ and tell me why you’re struggling with building your email list.” I do this. I give them a cue as a conversation starter. Sometimes people are just gun shy to jump in the comments and tell you what they're thinking and feeling. But if you give them a cue, now you've kind of given them their marching orders. Their fingers start typing. It becomes a little bit easier.
So I love to do this. Actually, I take this to another level on my live webinars. This is my favorite tip. I've talked about this before, but I'm going to remind you of it. So on my live webinars, during the Q and A portion, I will say, “Okay, so I've talked about my program. I've told you all about it. I've given you all the details, and now we're into the Q and A, and you're still here. If you haven't yet signed up for my program, tell me why you're on the fence. I'm here live with you. I am happy to answer any questions you have, and I will give you my honest feedback.” And I often say, “I will never tell you that you are right for my program if you're not, because if you join my program and you're not a good fit, I'm stressed out by it, and you’re stressed out by it. And we don't need that stress. So I will quickly tell you if you’re not a good fit. So right now, I want you to get into the comments, and I want you to type, ‘I’m on the fence because…’ and tell me why you’re on the fence. If you’re still here, you’re likely very interested. Let’s talk about it. Use the fact that I’m still here live as your reason to get the answers that you need. And so I’m here live, I’m here to talk to you, type in the comments, ‘I’m on the fence because…’ and let me know why.” And if you do webinars, try this. Just trust me on it.
We get probably—I get a lot of people my webinars, but I'll probably get thirty people that will type that in. And I can guarantee you at least three–fourths of them were never going to type in anything, but because I almost just made it so easy for them, like, “I genuinely want to know why you're on the fence,” and they take me up on the offer every time. So this kind of engagement fuels me because not only do I get to respond to people in the most honest way and speak directly to them, but also, imagine what I learn from thirty people at the end of a webinar who are still on the fence. You can bet that there are some gems in there that will help me to tweak my webinar next time so that I fix my webinar to address some of these reasons they're on the fence so that they're not on the fence at the end of my webinar next time. So you'll be so surprised how much great feedback you get from that.
If you use this strategy, I want to hear from you. I want to know if you love it as much as I do. So come on over to Instagram. I'm just @amyporterfield on Instagram, and DM me. Tell me you used one of these strategies—any one for that matter—let me know that you used it. I would love, love, love to hear from you. That's my favorite thing when someone says, “I listened to your podcast, I tried what you said, and it worked.” And even if it doesn't work, you can let me know. We can talk about it. Also, if you are in my Facebook group, Online Marketing Made Easy, come on over there. Let me know any of these strategies that you've tried. I'm dying to hear from you. So, keep me updated.
And before I forget, if you want more tips and tools for promoting engagement on your live videos, head on over to episode 168, the one with Luria, because that was a really popular episode. So amyporterfield.com/168. And we talk about some technology and software and tools that you can get to make live video easier as well. So you might love that episode.
But to wrap up strategy number three, use your audience’s engagement to build your confidence and your content.
Okay, so, can talk about mindset tips and tricks all day long. It’s my favorite topic. But if you’re not taking care of the back end of things, your videos will most likely be difficult. You’re not going to love the process. Ask me how I know. So I want to talk about back end, and you'll know in a minute what I mean by that, but I want to emphasize the importance of making sure you are going through the necessary steps to set yourself up for success. These will look different for the different platforms, but here are a few things that I have in mind for you.
Number one, have you done your go–live ritual we talked about in the beginning? It can be simple yet still very, very valuable. So that's the first thing you want to do before you go live.
Also, do you have a good internet connection? If you can hardwire in, by all means do it.
Also, do you have an idea or an outline of what you're going to talk about? Remember, I'm all about preparing. Don't waste people's time.
Also, do you have an intention behind the video? Remember, I said, “How do you want to feel, and how do you want to show up so that you can offer amazing value?” And a better question is likely, “How do you want your audience to feel? What do you want them to think, what do you want them to do when your video is over?” Get yourself in state so you can get them into the right state.
And finally, if you want to get fancy and use a lighting kit, you can. Is it set up in advance? I mean, I love going in front of a window. As long as it doesn't blow you out too much, natural lighting is always preferred, and it’s free, free fifty free, which is what Hobie always says. He sounds like an old man when he says that.
Okay, if you're doing a webinar, here are a few things I want you to double check. Have you done your go-live ritual? Just like if you were going to do a Facebook Live, you want a ritual for a webinar as well. Maybe you choose your favorite song, maybe you dance it out. I know it sounds silly, but just do it. You're going to love it.
Also, have you QC’d your slide deck? Have you triple checked your technology and connection? If you're using a sidekick, like someone to help you, a V.A. or a best friend, do they know how to support you on your webinar? And also, did you check your lighting, and is your setup okay? Do some of these things in advance. It helps so much with those live jitters that many of us get.
Now, I could go on and on with different things that you can do to get in the zone before a live video, but I think what’s most important for me to remind you is to keep it simple. That pre-live ritual, checking the connections and the lighting, you, my friend, are good to go.
Okay, so, there you have it. Now that we've talked about working on your mindset and building that confidence, I want you to promise me that you'll make going live a priority. I tell my students to go live once a week, whether it be in a Facebook community you have on your page, on Instagram, wherever it might be, I don't care. I just want you going live regularly because one of my secrets to success is that I think I've gotten so comfortable with going live because I've done it so many times. And there's some other factors involved, and I talked a lot about them here today, but I do believe one of my secrets of success is just that consistency. The more you do it, the easier it gets. I can promise you that.
So a quick run through. We went over three strategies. Number one, get clear on your pre–live ritual. Number two, shift your focus away from you, and make it about your audience. Make it about them, not about you. And number three, use your audience’s engagement to build your confidence and fuel content for more videos. I think more importantly than anything, I just want you to keep showing up, because if you keep showing up, your audience will find you. Just give them a little time to do so.
One more important thing. I know you know this, but I want you to hear it from me. You will make mistakes. Just today I had a huge tech issue with going live. Just today. And here I am teaching you about all of this, right? The technology was not in my favor today. I call it tech gremlins were literally attacking. But I still showed up. And something funny happened. I still showed up, I was fifteen minutes late to a scheduled Facebook Live. I felt like I could cry because today I've had a lot of weird tech issues that haven't worked, so I was rattled. But then I thought, “I'll make it about them.” I literally went there. “This is about them. I'm late. They've been waiting for me. Let's get into it.” And I was doing a Q and A for my Digital Course Academy®️ students—shout out to all of you beautiful people—and so I showed up, and I did my Q and A. And at the end, I felt great. It was only a twenty-minute Q and A, and I felt great. And the reason I felt great—in the beginning, like I said, I thought I might even cry I was so frustrated—is because I got fueled from the energy of those that I was serving. They were asking great questions. They were making funny comments in the Facebook Live chat area. It was just a great group. And I got energy from them.
So just know that your audience will give you just as much as you give them, and that’s kind of a cool thing about live video as well. That will happen if you let it, but if you continue to think this is a terrible thing, and you’re terrible at live video, and you look terrible, and you wish it will all go away, you’re never going to embrace it. So I really do hope that you open your mind around this and say, “What would it look like if I said, ‘All right, I can do this. I’ll give this a shot. Maybe I’ll even like it.’? What would it look like then?” I bet you’d show up a whole lot different, right?
So, there are your three extremely powerful ways to build your video confidence and serve more people, make a bigger impact, and increase your revenue. It does all lead to revenue. We didn't talk about that today, but all roads lead to revenue when you make those really true, honest connections.
All right. Before I sign off, I've got to tell you a few quick things. Next week I'm connecting with one of my amazing students. Her name is Karida Griffith Walker, and she's going to talk about how she made an extra $11,000 after her live webinars by getting scrappy and using a post-webinar nurture sequence. You're going to love this episode. She shares so much insight about what she did to make the additional $11,000. And it's a really good mix of mindset and technique and strategy. So I like to mix those together, and that's what we're doing next week. This was one of my favorite interviews with a student. Do not miss next week's episode. If you have a digital course or you're creating a digital course or you do webinars, this is the episode for you. So that's next week, episode 292.
And before I forget, are you subscribed to the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast? I don't want you to miss a thing. And we're doing more and more bonus episodes. The only way you'll get notified about those episodes is if you're subscribed on, let's say, iTunes or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hit that subscribe button. You won't miss a thing.
All right, my friend. I will see you here, same time, same place next week. Bye for now.
