IS PERISCOPE GOOD FOR BUSINESS?

5 Top Tips To Get The Best From Periscope

Guest Blog Post By Amazon Best Selling Author Victoria Rose

As a Leadership Trainer with over three decades of experience in talking to people for days on end, surely live broadcasting should be relatively easy? Having faced both large and small audiences, some hostile, some friendly, one would think I was well prepared for Periscope. Not so.

Even the learning curve of producing my own videos for the last three years does not compare to a Periscope live broadcast (called a Scope). Whilst I finally got the cringe factor down from a 10 to a four when editing my videos, live broadcasting takes the cringe-factor to a whole new level of cringe.

It’s all because of that four letter word … “LIVE”

Why? No chance to edit out the bad bits like you can with a video. No slide-show to keep you on track and no ability to control the questions like you can with a face-to-face workshop.

Those constant, often irrelevant, questions and comments moving up the screen as you enthusiastically speak your words of wisdom can really throw you off track. For instance, when explaining a key concept to surviving the minefield of life then to be asked if I did my own makeup makes one doubt the worth of those words.

Trolls populate every platform and that’s certainly true for Periscope. One such troll asked if I sucked d#@k. Thankfully, I knew how to block offenders. That’s why the comments are seen by the broadcaster before becoming visible to viewers, you have time to block. Sadly, I was not quick enough with this particular comment (it was my first Scope) so viewers saw it too. But this caused them to rally around and support me. Nice.

There is an art to handling the comments and questions

Periscope is not a monologue. It’s vital to acknowledge those who join, those who share your Scope and especially those who give you hearts. I think it’s the hearts that make the platform addictive. As a matter of fact, being ‘melted by the hearts’ was my biggest Periscope surprise. Watching the constant cascade of different coloured hearts as they drift up the screen is a real thrill.

Scopers talk of achieving a ‘heart attack’. No, not the sort you might normally think of. With Periscope, it’s when the hearts flood in. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. I was fortunate to have a heart attack on my first scope because they applauded my courage to live broadcast. Hearts are a way to show appreciation of a Scope but you do need to ask for them.

Oh NO! Not another Self-help Scope!!

Initially appalled to get this comment on my third Scope, I decided to view it as a gift. The title of my next Scope was: Oh No! Not Another Self-help Scope? HELL YES!

Acknowledging people from all around the world is a joy. Handling their comments is an art requiring a firm hand to invite interesting dialogue or to avoid having your Scope hijacked.

I love Periscope. Not that good at it yet, even after my ninth Scope but the limitless ways to use live broadcasting is exciting. My last three Scopes were broadcast live from the Melbourne White Night. This is an annual event of light and magic with projections on the inside and the outside of famous buildings. Viewers were most appreciative of seeing for themselves how clever and enchanting these light shows are. And they wanted to see the reaction of the people at the event watching these shows too. So many possibilities.

OK, but is Periscope really that good for business?

The potential is huge, depending on what business you’re in. If you run tours or offer walks or own a restaurant or cafe or want to let people know about your new book or new idea or … you get the message, right? You get to figure out if Periscope can work for your business.

Currently, there are only 10 million people on Periscope but that will increase significantly very quickly. Best to get in now and get that learning curve out the way. Scopes only last for 24 hours, although there are ways to capture them intact with comments and hearts. You can delete a Scope you consider to be a disaster, but remember, you are live broadcasting so what you say and do on a Scope the viewers get in real time. So be aware and be careful.

5 Top Tips To Get The Best From Periscope

(1) ALWAYS put a title to your broadcast. Always. I never watch an untitled Scope. If they don’t care enough to let me know what their Scope is about, I don’t care either. Consider using Emojis to make your title stand out in the Sea of Sameness.

(2) Create a landing page for your Periscope fans. Showcase your special offer to them. This could be a reduced price to your online course, a free ebook download, your report on the 5 mistakes to avoid, blah, blah, blah. Reduce the size of your link and put on your profile. Direct fans to click on the link in your profile to claim your special offer

(3) Watch those comments and immediately block the trolls. You will get trolls.

(4) Interact with the comments. That’s half the fun of Periscope but don’t let them hijack your Scope.

(5) Keep your Scopes short. I seem to be unable to get below 20 minutes but that’s too long. Even when you’re riveting, that seems to be too long. Unless you’re famous of course.

Good luck with your Periscope adventure.

Get on board now. Be a pioneer and make your cringe-worthy Scopes before the ‘audience of everyone’ gets to see them.

MEET VICTORIA ROSE

Victoria Rose is the founder of the Australian Academy of Leadership and travels throughout Australia and New Zealand delivering workshops on Leadership, Emotional Intelligence and Communication.

www.AustralianAcademyofLeadership.com

Having trained over 12,500 business participants during the last decade, Victoria has real insight into how businesses and corporations set their own people up for failure. Her observations of older women in these workshops caused her to develop a workshop series exclusively for them.

www.TheLeadershipVoice.com

She is also an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author for her book How To Make The Rest Of Your Life The Best Of Your Life: Tough Love For Smart Single Women Over 60.