Today, I did my 50th broadcast on Periscope! Yeah! I’m really surprised that it only took me about 2 months to get there (Remember, my one word theme for this year? Check it out at this blog post: Click here). After pressing the red “Broadcast” button on Periscope over 50 times, I’ve learned a lot of things about Periscope. Here’s the thing: I didn’t want to take a fancy course on Periscope and I know myself. If I took a course, I would spend all of my time tweaking and trying to perfect my scopes. My goal was to just get going and I figured I’d learn some things as I went. Boy, did I! So after 50 scopes on Periscope, here’s the 5 things I wish I knew…
1) I wish I knew how interactive Periscope was
Periscope is such a different animal than Facebook. You can get away with “liking” a post or leaving a comment here and there but Periscope you have to be active. In order to get followers and hearts, you have to be watching other people’s broadcasts, commenting, and giving hearts as well. Periscope is way more reciprocal than I originally thought (AKA “you have to give before you can receive”).
2) I wish I knew that scoping from anywhere is encouraged
Doing a broadcast from outside of your “film room” is encouraged and appreciated. I feel like there’s so much pressure to have the perfect lighting and equipment when you’re doing video marketing. And yes, those things are important. But Periscope is different; it’s more about the experience and what’s happening around you more than just your “studio”. I love scoping from anywhere, especially on the fly!
3) I wish I knew that Periscope is ALL about community
One of the things about Periscope is that you have to build a community. That’s hard to do when you’re first starting out and don’t have a following. What’s been really helpful in building my following on Periscope is being a part of a community. One of the resources that has helped me out the most is the PeriGirls. The PeriGirls is a Facebook group that supports other women on Periscope. It’s a fun group and I’m learning so much from the members all the time. I have gained followers and have gotten A LOT of hearts but it’s because I’m active in the community and participate constantly. I’m so glad I’m a PeriGirl!
4) I wish I knew how consistently you have to be on Periscope
Periscope is not a “once a week” thing or a “once every other day” thing. You have to be active on Periscope EVERY DAY! At first, this really freaked me out and then started to annoy me. You mean, I have to be giving hearts, watching broadcasts, and commenting EVERY DAY? Who has time for that? How am I supposed to run my business? Your activity on Periscope is really up to you. I spend about 20-40 minutes on Periscope per day. Most of those 20-40 minutes are in the morning. The best part about Periscope? I love watching other scopes or broadcasting when I need a break!
5) I wish I knew that the length of your broadcast on Periscope doesn’t matter
Don’t get me wrong, the length of your Periscope broadcast has to be long enough to get attention from your viewers to tune in. The length of your scope is something that too many people focus on and it paralyzes them from getting on Periscope. It’s not about the length of your scope but what you’re talking about and if it’s interesting or helpful to the viewer. Personally, I can’t watch a broadcast more than 15 minutes. For some reason, I lose interest. However, I have seen scopes up to 45 minutes long! Focus on delivering AWESOME content during your scope and don’t worry about the time.
I’m really excited about my journey with Periscope. It’s been a fun social media tool to use for my business and I actually ENJOY it! If you’re thinking about Periscope, think very carefully if it’s something you can commit to and if you’re serious about using it because you WANT to not because it’s the newest thing. If you’re scoping just to scope, it’ll show to your viewers and you’ll start to resent Periscope and the work that it takes to build a following. If you are going to move forward with scoping, I can’t wait to see your broadcasts and follow me @KRDMarketing on Periscope!