Building a Live-Video Streaming Studio Isn't Close to as Expensive as You Think

For fewer zeroes than you think, you can give your content an authentic immediacy and put your audience right in the middle of the action

  

I've known for some time now that I need to do more video. The cost and time required, however, kept me away from the medium. Besides, I could always justify my delay with the longstanding conventional wisdom: Brands should operate like publishers.

My priorities truly started to shift a few months ago, when articles proclaimed that brands needed to prepare for video as a replacement for the written word. The rise of live-video solutions makes me wonder if brands and businesses should operate more like broadcast news stations instead. 

Early adopters.

Live video has been an exciting fringe content-creation activity during the past decade. Some early social-content marketers embedded platforms such as Ustream and Livestream into their Facebook pages. Then Google+ allowed Hangouts to be livestreamed on YouTube.

Today, nearly every social platform has a live-video streaming integration or solution. The explosion of Facebook Live, Periscope and Twitch tipped the practice even further. Business owners can't put off video content any longer -- myself included. I finally acknowledged that I need to really delve into the topic, but I still didn't know the best way to do it on the cheap.

New features.

A few weeks ago, Facebook announced scheduling on its live platform. Content creators can schedule a live broadcast up to one week in advance. This also enables them to embed links to a future broadcast in websites, blogs, emails and other digital materials. 

For me, this planning capability and the audience's greater acceptance of live-video streaming signaled it was time to take the plunge. And viewers' expectations mean my wobbly mobile phone's vertical view wouldn't cut it. 

Before I invested in new equipment, I spoke with Geoffrey Colon, a communications designer at Microsoft who works on Bing Ads. His recent book, "Disruptive Marketing: What Growth Hackers, Data Punks, and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal," shows how live video enhances brand awareness and engagement. Colon's tips can help every brand -- from small, local businesses to startup tech conglomerates -- operate like a billion-dollar live video network. 

Low cost, high impact.

Colon noted in a recent video how business owners can build a high-quality, live-video studio setup for less than $2,000. And most of that cost is the device you probably already own: your smartphone or tablet.

Colon breaks it down into four parts. “Every brand needs to think about four essential items that are now universally available to use, which democratizes this ability," he says. They are:

1  Branding

2  Devices

3  Lighting

4  Sound

"What used to cost upwards of $15,000 is now available to everyone for a fraction of that price," Colon says, "and no professional knowledge is necessary based on the ease and experimentation of using the app software."

The team at Microsoft starts with Bing-branded microphone blocks ($35 each) and a unit called a Padcaster ($190) that holds an iPad mini, an iPhone or a Microsoft Surface -- depending on the type of content. The rest consists of an F&V K320 light ($90), two MM-LSM 5 Stick Microphones ($140 each), a VT-16 tripod ($160) to mount the Padcaster and the Live:Air (pronounced Live to Air) app. It's this last piece that Colon believes is most essential. Live:Air helps stream content to a variety of platforms. You also can use the Pages Manager for Facebook app to stream directly to your Facebook page.

 “I used this arsenal to broadcast live from Advertising Week in New York," Colon says, "and it gave Bing a huge advantage over our competition. Not only can you build a setup that streams from a dedicated room in your office, but you can easily make it mobile-to-broadcast from any street corner, at any event.”

Stellar sound quality.

If you go mobile and cover events, it’s important to pay equal attention to sound and picture. Jonathan Keith, Vice President of Content Development for Magnetic Agency Group, shoots brand-sponsored live video at events where sound matters -- Winter Music Conference, Coachella, Art Basel and more.

"The top priority is professional sound," Keith says. "An audience’s threshold for bad sound is much lower than bad video. Think about it: How much dodgy web video have you looked at? Chances are, a ton. But crappy sound is a non-starter for everyone. Do yourself a favor: Don’t rely on the internal microphone on your device. Invest in a decent handheld or lavalier mic. It won’t break the bank and will instantly make your video feel pro.”

Emerging business models.

Live video is much more than cost-effective and popular. It's quickly becoming the way to build business models that didn’t exist even 12 months ago. Colon cites several interesting players who are building their names strictly around live video. In the process, they're disrupting how audiences perceive content delivery.

“Entirely new business names are being built on the back of live video now,” Colon says. “One prominent example is Cheddar TV, who launched live with a small crew, two personalities (one of them ex-Buzzfeed Jon Steinberg) and guests from tech companies from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. They now are a reputable source for business news in a matter of months, not years, and did it at a fraction of the cost of what it takes both CNBC and Fox Business News to air live.”

Written by: Peter Daisyme

Credit: Entrepreneur.com

7 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Vine's Demise

Although the video-sharing social media platform is going away, there are lessons to be learned.

Last week Twitter announced that it is shutting down Vine. The six-second video creation app won’t be available much longer. Although the site will remain up indefinitely to pass the cultural heritage to the future generations.

While the news created major waves in digital community, it really came as no surprise. Its parent company, Twitter itself has been struggling lately, which is another topic deserving its own article.

So what lessons can entrepreneurs learn from Vine’s short lifespan?

1. Don’t get too invested in one medium.

How many times have you heard that Facebook is essential to your business success? Or a blog? Instagram? Did you hear the latest advice that you absolutely must be on Snapchat?

There are as many opinions as people; and everyone thinks that their way is the only right way, especially if they’re successful.

However, at the end of the day, you have to remember that a medium is just that: a vehicle for your message. Trends will come and go, and so will the apps we love and use.

Yes, some platforms have proven their longevity, yet there is no guarantee that all of them will exist in the form we know them today. To put it in a perspective, just a decade ago, when Myspace was at its prime, people would call you crazy if you suggested that it wouldn’t be around for much longer. So would do the people who have millions of followers on Vine.

So, you have to figure out your message and simply find a way to share it in a variety of formats. That way, you’re not putting all of you eggs in one basket.

2. Smaller communities can be passionate.

Vine had brought together a strong community. While it may not have been relatively huge, it was meaningful. Users who stuck around for the whole time feel strongly about Vine.

I am not saying you should be present on every obscure network out there, but smaller communities, or niches, can be very powerful. A thousand passionate customers may prove to be much more important, than 10,000 distracted followers who do not have an emotional connection with your offering.

3. Stay current.

Don’t jump on every single platform out there. However, pay attention to where your customers are.

Let’s say your product caters to young adults. Well, you have to follow them around where they reside online. Because Facebook was great for reaching millennials five years ago, that doesn’t mean you should cling to it and ignore Instagram or Snapchat.

Moreover, analyze the appeal of these different networks and see if you can uncover bigger trends and needs. For example, Instagram is inspirational. Snapchat offers privacy. Facebook Live offers broadcasting opportunities. However, all of them offer an instantaneous feeling, being there in a moment. This is what people care about these days.

4. Get creative.

One of the possible reasons for Vine demise is the fact that marketers didn’t find a good way to monetize the platform. Yes, I know bad, bad marketers; they want to monetize everything. However, social networks depend on funding and monetizing.

This fact presented a huge untapped opportunity for entrepreneurs. Since most of advertisers had their reasons not to be bothered with Vine, entrepreneurs who wanted to be heard could easily leverage Vine to broadcast their message in a very creative way.

Yes, six seconds seems like an extremely short amount of time to “hook” your potential customers, but, hey, look at all those Viners who showed an immense creativity with the time constraint. Who is to say that a smart marketer could not become an overnight success with a single Vine going viral?  Besides, a skillful series of Vines would not go unnoticed.

5. Talk to people in their language.

Another issue that contributed to Vine’s failure was that the platform had a lot of insider talk going on. “The app generated countless memes, and grew increasingly self-referential over time, so that a single six-second clip might reference a dozen previous hit Vines,” The Verge suggests.

While it may be a side effect of creating a strong community, you have to remember to never be self-contained. If you want your message to be effective, you have to make it as easy as possible to understand it.

If your language gets too technical, too pretentious, or too “exclusive,” you are running a risk of not being understood. And that doesn’t serve anyone, starting with you and your business.

6. Your offering should be unique.

The problem with Vine is that it lost its appeal too fast. Yes, it was cool for the first year or so, but then the hype died down and Vine didn’t offer any new exciting features that would differentiate it in the market. Short videos? Snapchat and Instagram work for those. Looping feature? Boomerang by Instagram has you covered. At the end, there was no real differentiator and no real use for looping six-seconds videos.

7. Promote, promote, promote.

Twitter’s fault was that it didn’t really promote Vine in any way. After a sense of newness withered down, there were no major attempts in pushing Vine. Clearly, Twitter has a lot going on right now with their main platform, so they put Vine on the cruise-control mode.

However, to truly see if your product has any potential, you have to promote it relentlessly. You have to continually improve it, highlighting benefits. Your product will never reach its fullest potential without your efforts.

It’s sad to see Vine go so fast, yet with the latest state of things, it was more a matter of time. Twitter is trying to figure its own course of actions and Vine wasn’t able to perfect its spiel on its own.

Written by: Lesya Liu

Credit: Entrepreneur.com