Listen to the Episode
Before I get started with the episode, I’m recording from my local coffee shop due to my internet going down. I’m doing a 31 day podcasting challenge so I couldn’t delay this episode. Please ignore any background noise or music that you may hear. I have no rights to the music. Now the episode. It may surprise people to discover that I don’t have a social media forward brand. What do I mean by this? I don’t spend a ton of time focusing on social media as a way to grow subscribes, downloads, etc. Instead, I like to focus on making meaningful connections, leveraging platforms for scale and designing projects that amplify my presence in the spaces that I show up in. I don’t really use Instagram anymore, I discontinued using X last year and I don’t have YouTube channel. What am I doing instead? Well, after spending a lot of time reflecting on how to be visible with a social media lite brand, it has become increasingly clear that video does have to be a part of growing an online brand in some sort of way. I thought it would be helpful to share how to use livestreams on Substack to grow your brands. Here’s why I talked my friends into starting a livestream on Substack and what we’ve done that has grown our individual projects, excited our different audiences and established our expertise on the Substack platform.
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Show Notes
For about a year now I’ve had the following thought on my mind-people who are building online need to have video content as a part of their marketing focus. I even published a newsletter where I reflected on the question “Do content creators/online brand builders need to publish video to grow their brands” I believe that we do need video but that there are a number of approaches we can take to make that happen. I decided to go “live” on Substack and it has been a wonderful experience and validated my intuition that video is an important part of building a brand.
With that in mind, here are some tips that I would like to share for those of you who’re thinking about going “live” on Substack. Myself and my two cohosts: Corey Gumbs founder of the Black Podcasters Association and Angela Hollowell creator of Melanin MVP and Please Hustle Responsibly have a weekly livestream that we call “Shh, We’re Talking” It has been an incredibly fun experience that has surpassed my expectations. Here’s what I think we’ve done well and what to avoid.
We Designed a Branded Livestream
I think that having a branded livestream “Shh, We’re Talking” is a great way to build a framework around an experience. Think of it like a talk show or video podcast (Angela are you listening) There are shows that come to mind such as: The Pivot, The Wendy Williams Show or The View-where there’s a specific experience that you the viewer are expecting when attending.
Tested Out the Premise
We did not start the livestream as a weekly effort. Instead, we hosted the show bi-weekly. I was in an intensive podcast fellowship for most of the Spring called the Air Media New Voices Fellowship, Angela was doing cool shit and Corey was getting stuff finalized for the Black Podcasters Summer Picnic while building a course in public. What our initial goals were:
- Show up every two weeks and have an engaging conversation
- See what works and what doesn’t work
- Get a feel for the Substack livestream tech
- See who showed up-Did they talk to us? Did they like or dislike our topics?
Picked the Right Topics
(SEO)
Don’t be random when you’re hosting a livestream. We put a lot of thought into deciding what topics we’ll be talking about, the title of our livestream and the benefit to the viewing audience. How will our conversation be helpful to the wonderful community members who are a part of our viewing audience? What is in it for them? How can the content that we share during a livestream compliment the work that we’re already curating. I do also want to mention SEO-search engine optimization. I’m always thinking about the best titles for livestreams so that they are searchable, clear and interesting for the audience.
Don’t be random!
Talked to the Viewers
Don’t ignore the attendees of your livestream. Actions that you should be taking:
- Say “Hi” to and mention their names
- Ask questions
- Did you watch The Met Gala
- How is the weather in your town
- Did you hear about the author who got run off the platform
- Re-share the topic of conversation a couple of times during the livestream
- Always ask for audience input at some point in the conversation “What questions do you have for US?”
Always remember that the audience is sitting in the other seat of your livestream. They are a co-anchor and that’s important to remember.
Decided What Metrics We Wanted to Look At
We didn’t have a super formal conversation about this at the beginning of our livestream project. As time has gone on there are definitely things that we’re looking at that signify a positive result.
- Number of viewers of each livestream
- Questions and comments during the livestream
- Likes on the post AFTER the livestream has gone “live” interaction with the replay
- Subscribes during the Livesteam-I’m hyper-focused on diversifying how my audience finds and subscribes to my newsletter. I’m especially looking for the following phrase “Source: Substack Live Video”
- Subscribes after the Livestream
I will say that we’ve all seen an uptick in subscriptions, especially during and after each livestream.
ReWatch the Stream
I’m in the habit of rewatching each livestream. I actually think it’s a really important habit to get into. Things that I noticed after watching all of my livestreams:
- Sometimes I get excited and I move around a lot-That can be distracting to the viewer
- I will often look up to the sky/ceiling as I’m gathering my thoughts.
- Sometimes there is a tech issue. It’s good to experience the issue so that you know how to trouble shoot it in the future.
- Know that some tech issues happen to some viewers not all of them. And some tech issues will happen to hosts but not all of us.
Additional Thoughts
Here are some additional reasons why I’ve had a great time hosting livestreams on Substack.
- Focus on having fun and if you’re picking co-hosts, make sure they’re people who you enjoy being around AND are hosting projects that are similar and also different from what you’re doing. The work that Angela and Corey are doing compliment my work. This makes it so easy to collaborate with one another.
- Cadence vs. Calendar-We’re on a cadence schedule. We typically go “live” on Thursdays at 6:00 pm MTN/8:00 pm EST. We also wait to announce the date on Mondays and have graphic for each topic. If you decide on a set time, just be mindful of those times when you have to miss the date.
- How much time for your conversation? We usually spend one hour running “Shh, We’re talking” Occasionally we may run over, but keeping it at one hour-keeps us focused, etc.
Optimize the ramp up of newer platforms. I recognized that there were VERY FEW Black livestreams being hosted on the Substack platform. This is a HUGE opportunity. Maybe you’re not a Black creative on the platform but you’re doing something so cool that no one else is doing and you’re getting great feedback from your community-start doing livestreams.
- Don’t be random
- Don’t ramble
- Advertise a few days before so that people can plan for it
- Have an outcome in mind for your community members (depending on the topic)
- Pause during the conversation and ask them to share the livestream
- Share at least one:
- Initiative
- Resource
- Product
- But don’t hard sell
- Make sure to optimize your profiles
- Have fun!
Are you thinking about going “live” on Substack?
