Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Welcome to the Guide to live. It's Wednesday, December 11th. This is your weekly hangout to join us to talk about live streaming with people who really know what it's like.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Because let's face it, no one really knows what you're talking about if you.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: Say you work in livestream, but we do. So I'm Tara and across from me is the co host Ben. And together we make up your Guide to Live.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Yeah, in this episode of the Guide to Live, we're going to be talking about TikTok. Is it going to get banned? Is TikTok Live going to get banned? So we're going to dive into the power of building your personal brand. What do you do about this right now? Exploring strategies for direct engagement. Maybe some warnings there. Why? Short term motives from new platforms and can hurt your growth. Yeah, you don't have a plan. Plus some actionable tips on how to future proof your audience relationships, build resilience and stay tuned for insights that will help you thrive as a creator. Yeah, let's do this.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Let's do it. Let's go.
It's kind of what it is.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: What is?
[00:01:12] Speaker A: It's a little shadow box. Because it doesn't. Isn't that the thing for the teleprompter? It like reflects the light so it's kind of like a shadow box. Isn't that what shadow boxes do? Remember back in the day before there was like any kind of live, the only kind of entertainment was like basically you would either go to see it live or you would make a shadow box and puppets in your house.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: The only way. I mean there was a lot of. That was a lot. I haven't thought about that for a long time. But there was a lot of like this makes us sound like we're from the Victorian age.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Well, I think we are because I think our parents are like silent generation, aren't they?
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Well, in that case everyone is. But you would literally get a cardboard box. I mean these are your options as a child or as a person. Right now you can watch live streaming and YouTube and all of these amazing things versus a shoe box with cut out characters that you got from like a magazine. Magazine.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: You get real creative. I have a woman, she's got a robot arm and a chicken head. I mean a goose head.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah. And really the fun. And then you would do. You do a little show for your family and everyone politely applauds you.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Applaud you. And then you feel like you're the biggest star in the whole entire world.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: It was kind of Rubbish.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Well, isn't that what that. We needed that encouragement to get us to do what we're doing now, though, right?
[00:02:30] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I've done the number of magic shows I've done at home to either just my parents and bearing in mind I'm an only child, it was very much a. It was one, two. That was the. That was the audience.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: You had two people.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: So it would be two stalls, a blanket over the top. That's the table.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: That's your table.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: I'd have a Paul Daniels magic set.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: I don't know what a Paul Daniels does.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: A. Paul Daniels is kind of a. He is a British magician.
But 90s television, when it was like, big show and it was like there was magic on tv, it's like, what on earth was happening? And it was him and his wife, Debbie McGee. It's worth a Google. I'm not going to go into it because I can't remember them all and I don't want to say anything incorrect, but it was that time in history when entertainment was happening.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: I think that was the golden age of tv, like. Of television.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: And, like, what was the boom?
[00:03:30] Speaker A: It was the big boom.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. And people were figuring stuff out.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Yeah. So some of those shows that we laugh at now, all that was was people being like, I wonder how we can take this thing that used to be on the stage and put it on tv. And it's like they were just trying it in different ways.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Different ways, Yeah. I liked it. When do you remember the first one of the first, like, shows where they got audiences to send in video clips and then they made a show out of it? It's called, like, we had. Yeah, it was like bloopers and practical jokes. That was one of the shows. Yeah, TV's famous bloopers and practical jokes. That was more like TV outtakes.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: But this was like. It was called America's Funniest Home Videos and people would send in their home videos and then there was like, I guess a production group of production team would, like, go through them and watch them and find out and then, like, put the best ones on and then there was a competition and then the ones that made it to the finals would, like, win a big bunch of money. But it was funny because it was like getting the audience who usually watches TV making.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: To contribute.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: To contribute and then making the show all, like, basically making the show with their content.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: There was something like that in the uk, I seem to remember at the end of the show they'd say, if you send in your videos you will. We'll pay you £10 if we use it or some amount. It may. That might even be. No, too large a number, but some strange small amount of money that you would get, but everyone would send it in.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: That's a little different because this was like you might win $10,000, you know, and come to our studio.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: And be on the show.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Yeah. That's more American.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: Yeah, of course it is. Bells and whistles, baby. Smoke. Smoke and mirrors. Isn't that what magic is? Getting back to the magic.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah, Smoke and mirrors.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Swinging it back to that magic.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: So what do we. Where do we even begin? Talking about something that's never happened in the history of, of like, of modern memory with the concept of Tick Tock Live being banned.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Well, not Tick Tock Live being banned, but Tick Tock.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Oh, we just dealt with the live site. If live streaming is the industry that we all work in.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: TikTok Live represents the largest audience share for live streaming.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: So the idea of it being banned is obviously a huge impact to the ecosystem right now and it's definitely worth discussing.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it definitely is. Because I know there's a. I've. I've heard from several individuals that are concerned because they. Their livelihood is dependent upon it and their lives have changed for the better because of it. And it's like they're really worried right now. So.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: But Right. But rightly so as well like that I think that there is like this language. So first of all, I think what we want to talk about here is really like, what do you do as a live streamer? Literally, what do you do?
[00:06:25] Speaker A: And there's a lot of different suggestions on what to do.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: I think the first thing here is it's not about where you stream. I think first of all, as a live streamer, it's really worth remembering that you are the brand. If you're a live streamer that has built. We're going to talk assuming especially if you're a live streamer on TikTok Live right now as well.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Yeah, we're going to really focus on TikTok Live, this platform, particularly just because of the topic.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: If you've built your audience right, your community have all of the power because you were the one who did that.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: Yeah. You've built this community that comes in and is like, it's a tight knit, really special thing. Like it's not just, it's not just an audience, you know, it's more than that.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: It's because it's Interactive, you know.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: But they built it on the platform.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Yes, they did.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: They are the ones who built it, the streamers who have. The audiences built it. So what does that tell you?
They can do it again.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah, it's possible to do it again.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: Right.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: If you've done it once, you can definitely do it again.
[00:07:29] Speaker B: The. If you think about the pie, the soup that you need for live streaming to work, it's one a stage, Right. That's basically the app.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: That's nothing if it's full of people who are unable to hold audience and be entertaining and.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: Well, I just imagined a big stage, like a festival and then there's like a bunch of like wackos on the stage and they're like sticking their arm under their, you know, they're making fart noises under their armpit and just doing a lot of crazy, weird stuff. I was just like, you're thinking, it's not like a stage is only as good as the performance on it.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: You know, and I was thinking, I was like, I don't think I would want to watch that. Whatever's on that stage, that's crazy.
[00:08:17] Speaker B: So you're telling me you just had an imaginary stage in your head instantly and it was so that the performance was so bad you were like, I don't want to watch that.
[00:08:25] Speaker A: Yes.
But it made me giggle because I could see all the little, all the people up there performing and it was just funny. Yeah, yeah.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: But so if there's, there's three parts of this party, there's the stage, there's the performer and then there's the audience, right?
[00:08:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: And so I think there's going to be a lot of like push and pull. This is, this is a good place to stream. This is a good place to stream. I think first of all, it's like first principles here. If you have been able to stream on any platform before or you've improved. Like we've worked with hundreds of people now over the last two years who have been, who have gone from this being a, being a hobby to a part time thing to a full time thing. And they've done that because they're good, right? They've become literally good. Like that means you can do that again.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: Yes, and yes. Also I want to add, we've had people who've come from other platforms such as like Twitch and they've come over to the TikTok platform and they've. And they've learned to change like how they engage with the audience and have really built up another huge Community.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Right.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: Because of that. And so if it's been, if that's been done once, it can be done again.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: Right. Repeating, you know, so just remember, remember your value in that. Like, we today could go build the most beautiful live streaming app possible. Right.
That's. We couldn't. Because that's really difficult to do.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: No, we couldn't do it.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: Aesthetically, there is the platform itself, but if the content on it isn't good, it doesn't matter even if there is an audience because we know that it's difficult to live stream. So it's not like there's just loads of people out there who are just going to hop on and suddenly be able to do it. It takes months and months and months, six months, a year to get to the point where you're good at it. If you're literally. We're talking about people who are professional.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Lives doing it for a part time or full time living.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean you can go on and you can quickly build an audience and you can battle and that kind of stuff and there's, there's a short life cycle.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: But we're talking about building a skill, like taking a skill, working on it, practicing it to where it's like developed enough to where that is your job now and you're using your skills every day.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: Mm. So that's probably, I mean, that's an empowering thought. Right. So what do you do now? So first of all, there's, at the moment, what is it is January 19th is the potential date. It's almost worth just thinking like that will get extended some amount of months. So it's some amount of months right ahead.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: And the outcome is either going to be. It goes away completely, which would be an unprecedented event.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Right. Like complete shutdown.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: No one has access to it or it carries on. Right.
What do you do? I think bearing in mind, if you hold in your mind I have this power because I have this skill which has huge value that I can hold and retain audience and turn them into a community and they are happy to pay for it. That's a big skill that you have.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: Yeah, that's talent.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: But remember as well, the viewer ecosystem around you isn't necessarily for the bet for with the best will in the world, they're not 100% watching your content.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: They're not just watching your content. Like your viewers on this app. If you have a.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: On TikTok.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: If you. Yes, on this. On. On TikTok. If you've built a community of viewers on TikTok they're not just watching you when they go on TikTok, they're not just going to watch you.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: About 1% of your audience in general will be exclusively watching you. So that means any move needs to go to a place where there is equal quality around that is going to hold that audience. Because if it's just you, it's going to spiral down quite quickly, or if it's you surrounded by weaker content, the same is going to happen. So this is all, these are all thoughts that we have to hold in our head when it comes to deciding what to do, like today, what to do in six weeks or in four months or, or planning for an event that won't ever happen.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, guess what? Welcome to live streaming. The world, the industry of live streaming is kind of like that because things move so fast anyway. So it's good to be able to, to think quick on your feet and to pivot quickly. Yeah, but not too quickly and not too, like, rash. You have to, you have to put some planning in ahead and forethought because you don't want to make any rash decisions to where you like, cut your nose off.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Well, I would say even more than that, it's like not making rational decision. It's like there are active things that if you break it down, it's like if you're a live stream, you stream to the place where there is most audience. Right. Most potential audience.
But you want to be capturing that audience is your audience as well. So maybe we won't talk about this right this second, but like there is a focus to be had right now at the place with the most audience that's currently TikTok live with like, I think it's three, three plus times as many viewers than all of the other platforms put together. Right. So building connections with them, building email lists, discords, Snapchat groups, all of those things, building an actual community. And we're not talking about like, hey, go follow my Snapchat. I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying like as a business, building a CRM, a client management system.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Or even if, say I have a Snapchat for this community.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Right.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: This community has a Snapchat now. Or if you don't use Snapchat, you want to use another app like Instagram or something, you can build a community. Say this is my TikTok community on Instagram. That way you have a.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: Your live streaming community.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: It's your life. Yes. Think of it that way. I was just focusing in on the TikTok one. Because we were talking about that, but yes, exactly.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: You're live streaming, however, you need a central place where all of your community from whatever platform you stream on, they can all come centrally together.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And that avoids this. A situation where you're just like, jerking from one place to another and trying to pull people across.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Like, if anyone has done. Spent any time working in social media, like, or viewing social media, it's almost impossible to move one group of viewers from. From Instagram, say, to. To X. That's a really difficult move, even if you've got the most engaged audience. Hey, come over and see my other content over here. It's like, they don't do it just because of viewer habit, not because they don't like you. That's just how viewers work in general.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's what I meant by you don't want to do anything rash, but, like, you don't want to just go to another platform instantly and not prepare.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Right.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Or you don't want to be, you know, prepare and then go to the wrong platform because you're led by something that you think is good and it might not be right. All glitter is not gold, as the famous Bob Marley says.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's a very.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: All that glitters is not gold.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: Yeah. That fear is like fomo, fear of missing out. That's what I mean. There's going to be a lot of pressures and tides pushing on people.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: And then.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: And that's not only platforms, like, vying for position, like, which is obvious. None of this is bad. This is like, this is a market happening right now.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: And it's like, it's a crazy time to be. It's happening in this time right now that we happen to be here on this planet.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: It's insane. It's crazy.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: But there is this. I. But. So there's the. That kind of platform pressure. There's also just, like, people pressure.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: Yes, it is a lot of. Because, like, the first thing people think of is, oh, my gosh, what if it shuts down? What am I going to do? And then, you know, people are in their ear. Other. Their peers, other peer streamers are like, hey, you should go here, I've gone here. It's great.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: It's great.
[00:16:23] Speaker A: Or you should go over to this one. This one's really good.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: You know, that doesn't equal good strategy necessarily. And there's also the. That the human effect of, like, anytime, anytime anyone's doing something, they'll always say that that thing's the best because it's like the. It's like. I think it's called induced compliance.
[00:16:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. It's called induced compliance.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: It's like you do a. It's like where parents is like, you know, saying to other people who aren't parents. Being a parent is amazing. It's like, it's the best thing on what no one says, like, oh, like, it's awful. So, like, don't sleep. There's all this terrible.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Yeah, they never tell you that stuff because they. It's like misery loves money. And it's also like when you get your bangs cut, you know, you're like. You're like, ah, I got my bangs cut. Because you're like deciding, yeah, I did it. And then you finally do it. It's like instantly you regret that you've just cut your bangs. So naturally you go around, you tell all your friends, you're like, you know what? You look really good with bangs. You should do it. I did it. Look at me.
[00:17:26] Speaker B: There was. As you were saying that I was just looking up. There was a big experiment. They called it the induced compliance experiment. This is like in the 50s.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: And basically they got participants to perform a tedious task, and then they were asked to persuade other people to come do the same task as if it was brilliant. And like, they were motivated to get the other people to come join them, even though the task was tedious and not very well paid because they wanted to sell their thing as the best, that they'd made the right decision.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Which is so fascinating.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: So what. What was the experiment exactly?
[00:18:05] Speaker B: It indicates that with insufficient external justification, individuals alter their internal beliefs to align with their actions.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Okay. So they change their beliefs to align with the action that they just made. So they can say, I just. Just. I'm gonna justify it now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's awesome.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: And I. Could I.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: We humans are so weird.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: Yeah, we are weird. But it's worth being aware of that stuff because those are the. These are the seas that we're in.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: Definitely better doing this. This goes both ways as well.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Be wary of what people say. Just always make sure you have a. Like, investigate. Take the time to explore all avenues.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: But most importantly, you know, create a central place where all of your community, your live streaming community, can all meet together.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah, but this is good business, right? Like, if everything just continues as it is, the ban talk goes away and tick tock live just continues. Let's just say that happens. Right.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: Scenario one.
[00:19:11] Speaker B: Everything that we're talking about doing right now will make you more successful in that outcome as well. Because it's everything you should be doing anyway. Honestly, like, so we work with streamers. They have. When we talk about CRMs, that sounds like something from the business world.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: And it is client relation management. Right. They have email lists. People that we work with have email lists that are firing out emails to say about important lives. And those are the people that can say, hey, you know what? I'm streaming here today. I'm doing this.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: It's like spitting information to everyone in your community that's off the platform so you know that it goes to them. And that is like an insurance. It's so important.
[00:19:52] Speaker B: Any business, career insurance.
[00:19:54] Speaker A: It is any, any business, like every. I've been working in the business world for a long time. Different types of business, mostly service.
But I've, I've always known everywhere I go, every business I've ever worked with is like, gotta get the emails from the customers. We need to be in contact with them. We need like, you know, every time you go to buy something like can I get your email? I'm like, no.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Yeah, but they're doing that for a reason. They're not literally not doing.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: Don't want to be on your mailing list.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: Like, yeah, that's what it is. I mean that's the thing when it comes down to it, like you think it's a mailing list. Like in a mailing list are really annoying. But so why don't we just get. Because mailing list is an old way. Let's go. Yeah, there's a lot of different ways to do it and we might like if the. If what we're talking about now is how to prepare. Right. We can talk about a million different outcomes. We can talk about like be sensible and strategize and don't make quick decisions. But really, literally what are things that you could do Right now there's probably, there's probably about five or six things that we can go through.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: Let's talk about them.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: Yeah, let's do it. So obviously we've talked about email lists.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:21:03] Speaker B: Right. We don't probably don't need to go into that anymore. But there are newsletters, there are programs out there, mailchimp that can automate emails.
You need to be thinking about where people are signing up. So hosting a sign up link to your email list within a link tree and adding that as a call to action. Why? Well, maybe there's some competitions in there. Give them a reason to go. Sign up to it or whatever it is.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Maybe you give away something every year. Yeah, whatever.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: Wow, generous over there.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: Oh, or maybe you send a birthday wish.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: On a birthday.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Right.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: So you could collect their birthday, you could collect their phone number, you could collect all those things if they give you permission for that.
[00:21:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
The other obvious one is a discord community and I don't think we should spend very long talking about this either because it is kind of self explanatory.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: Like a lot of live streamers use Discord as a way of communicating and it's a great hub for the community as well. Um, maybe some more interesting ones. Oh yeah, like, like if email, if mail lists are like the mail that ends up in the physical mail in your front mailbox and then you get.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: An E and then the email list is what they were collecting.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Now I've noticed, like, what's your phone number? Yeah, the first thing they ask me, what's your number? Like, like I'm a customer and they're pulling my information up. No, they just want my number so they can send me SMS messages.
[00:22:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So those SMS systems.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: So we have an SMS system within blue which allows us to send messages out to people. People have to register. There's a lot of data protection in this. So like this isn't just. We're not saying collect everyone's, don't ask.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Them so you can text them.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: This is that, that small scale?
[00:22:50] Speaker A: Yeah, we're talking big scale. Like if you wanted to invest a little bit of your income of what you get already, reinvest it into your business.
Invest in a CRM.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: And they. And basically anytime you go live or anytime there's a big event or anytime there's a big announcement, everyone who has signed up for it and is on that list will get a message spit out to them.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: And this is like people really don't check their emails as much as they used to. Everyone's really just checking their phone messages now. It's like.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: Yeah, there's some. There is. And again you like, you don't have to manage all of that. There are programs and we're not, we're not here to advocate for any of those actually. No, there's ones like community or simple texting where you sign up and now it manages the whole back end and it deals with all of the regulations and gdpr which by the way are really serious. You have to take that stuff.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: This is absolutely serious. And we're mentioning this, this is not to be taken lightly. We're mentioning this because this is for all streamers from all levels on like very beginning, amateur to professional, no matter what. This is so important when it comes to this type of privacy.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What about, do you have a website? Like you can launch a website using a squarespace or like a bunch of other places that. Now that is a central news place that you can, you can put stuff. Right. Musicians have websites. Why do they have them? Well, it's a place that they could go to and it became really, really unfashionable and almost unnecessary. Maybe like we're going to be in a cycle where this is necessary. Live streamers have websites. Yeah, that might be a thing.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: It might be a thing because like you can't put all your eggs in one basket these days with, with all of the different platforms and with everything going all around, it's like you just can't. The best secure thing to do is create your own space. And with first steps is creating a web page. Like that is a per. That's like a stationary place where anyone can find you. You can say here.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then that's where you host your SMS sign up and your email sign up. Maybe there's a bit of exclusive content on there. It lets people know what your schedule is. So where you're going to be being live when all of that kind of.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: Stuff, it's like your bulletin board and.
[00:25:16] Speaker B: It, it might not be a website, it might be like more of a blog or a newsletter or something where you're hosting community in a place. Yeah.
Then, then I mean, dare we say it. Oh yeah, you could be monetizing those places too. Like this is a business, this is a industry and there's no reason why you couldn't be charging access to that spot as well.
[00:25:37] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Because of extra, extra content, things like that. But it's all driving back ultimately then you still go live stream in the place where the eyes are. This isn't to say just immediately replace this big eye, this huge stage with like doing it on your own. Yeah, yeah. Like that's not the suggestion at all. Like you still have to go out into the world and tour, to use the old like terminology of music. Like you have to go out and like physically get in front of people. So that's getting on TikTok Live, where the eyes are right now and doing that, but doing this as well. Right?
[00:26:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's a building block to your business.
[00:26:17] Speaker B: So that would be like hosting private member communities essentially. You could be doing that I mean big, big scale. Would you think about make your own app?
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Yeah, why not? I know it's. I know some, some creators who, who are doing it right now.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: Right now you have a place for your community to exist and just like your mind could just go wild at this point what you could do within it. And like we, we're kind of starting to talk about this more. It's like over the top ott, baby. Yeah. Streaming. Like, we should probably do a whole episode on that kind of stuff, I think.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, we will definitely do an episode on that.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
If you're. What about like setting up events now? Like over the next five weeks.
[00:27:07] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: What are the big things that you're going to do?
[00:27:10] Speaker A: And we're talking about virtual events.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: I'm talking about. Yeah. Virtual live, streamline events.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Live streaming.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: So you could. Here's one version of what you could be doing right now. Hey, everyone, go here, do this, go here. Like go to this platform.
Or you could be like putting on the best thing possible right now.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Saying I'm going to have a massive event here. I'm having a big Christmas stream. I'm doing this thing. Use those as temple moments.
[00:27:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:27:38] Speaker B: To then send people to your mailing list.
[00:27:40] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:27:40] Speaker B: All of those things.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: And at the same time simultaneously building your community with the time you have left and getting as much for the time you have left. Like everything. Growing your community, growing your revenue, growing everything you need. So that when you do move over, you've really utilized your time.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Right.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: And used it to the vet.
[00:28:01] Speaker B: Dude. What do like, it's not when you move over. This is like if, like because all of this equals the best outcome in both situations at any time.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: And I'm just saying when, meaning not just like with this. I'm saying at some point in your career, you will have to move at some point.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: Oh yeah, that's a good saying. Great point.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. This isn't so narrow. Like, let's take our blinders off.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: And look like of the big picture. Like live stream is going to be around forever. I mean not. Well, not forever, but it's going to be around for a long time. There's a future.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: Probably everyone who's doing its lifetime right now.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: Yes. We have a big future ahead of us. And I'm. That's why I'm saying don't be so like pigeonholed into this moment. Think a little bit broader. Yes.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Think big. Yeah. Yes. Right. If. If this wasn't happening or, or nothing happens in January. Everything carries on. Something's gonna happen in five years time or three years time or 10 years time, it's gonna change. Right. So it's like, so. And every time, what does everyone do? What are you gonna do? Just like go, what should I do? Run.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: Run to like, build your foundation now. Start your mailing. Start your mailing list. Build your community.
Get a place, stationary for your community.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Because here, here's two versions. If you do do a move. Who's. Here are two versions. Like, kind of like doing a bit of both or actually making an announcement about it. Because communities, as livestreamers, you're the heads of communities. And I think sometimes people forget that. That is why, like, often people run their communities as live streamers in very democratic way. What should we do? What should we do? But ultimately people are there because of you.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: You have absolute power.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: And like. And so people are looking for leadership in that situation. And all of those people are going to be in this sea of like, pressure and hearing things and FOMO and all of that kind of stuff. So planning is always good in this situation. Yeah, there's the, like, there is a lot of damage that can be done.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: Yeah. You don't.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: By doing the wrong thing.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Knee jerk reactions can really cause damage. That it can be irreparable sometimes.
[00:30:21] Speaker B: Yeah, totally.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: So we're just warning everyone.
[00:30:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Just be wise. That's why we're here. Honestly. That is why we're here right now. We're talking about this. We. We just want to make sure that everyone remains calm and just think, think clearly and use your head.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:36] Speaker A: Like, don't panic. Don't panic.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it's kind of like that. Don't panic. It's not going away. Do what you've been doing. Keep getting better at it. Keep making the show better. Keep making. Like, this seems crazy. If you're not selling, stop, stop. If you're not selling merch, start selling merch right now. Why? Because it connects you to people. Sell it for. Sell it for cost. Right now. Don't worry about making money. Get people a bunch of merch. Maybe give it away. Like, if you're concerned, what is. Let's break it down. Why are people panicking? Or why would they panic? They're worried that all of these people are just going to disperse and there's no way to get to them.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Right. Well, what do you do to actively combat that?
[00:31:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like, why did businesses send you razors and like, pens and Stuff like that.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: Like mail. Collect all of these UPC labels and then mail them into us. Guess what? They just got your mailing address. You're on their list now.
[00:31:33] Speaker B: Or you've got the pen from the doctors. It's like they don't want you to have a pen.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: It's an advertising ploy.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: And I know that, and I know everyone literally knows this, but like switching your mind into that, you're the business. You are the business as the live stream.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And I think then if you flip it from. Onto the platforms, like, what is the platform's responsibility in all of this? I mean, like, to. I think there is an importance here that it's about actually getting real quality and eyes as opposed to just like a. Like we saw this before, we saw this in like the gamer streaming wars, like several years ago. And there's hundreds of thousands of dollars being given to people to come stream in places like the Facebook streaming. Like it doesn't exist anymore. Yeah, it was bad business because it doesn't.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: Like, it didn't sustain because there wasn't enough eyes captivating. Like they weren't captivating enough eyes to stay, to stick there.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And like that. That's the proof of the same effect. You can take streamer X, who has got a hundred thousand people who are watching them over over a month consistently. If you move them to a new place, that 100,000 people doesn't translate at all. Even if you pay the streamer a boat ton of money.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: Right.
[00:32:55] Speaker B: It doesn't work. So what is the goal? The goal has to be making something that people actually care about and quality.
And that comes from the streamers being good.
[00:33:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:33:08] Speaker B: There's no. Like, otherwise you just have a big empty app.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, you do.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: It's like, it's like Instagram wouldn't have been Instagram if people have put up shitty photos.
[00:33:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: I mean, back in the beginning, I.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: Can imagine if I had because when I first started getting, I was, I had FOMO for, for Instagram because I didn't have an iPhone for a long time. I had, I, I had a Samsung, so I couldn't even get the app. So when I did get it, I was like, oh, I've got the best photos. I was so into like Lomography. I did it with real film and then I did it on Instagram. And then all of a sudden I like notice this flood of selfies. Selfies just started out of nowhere. Could you imagine if they had started Instagram with just selfies Right. It wouldn't have been the platform it is now.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: Well, it's the subs, it's the depth and the substance and the width of the audience. In the same way as Netflix is doing what it's doing now and it's selling ad space and it's doing this stuff and it's way more commercial. Like at the beginning, when it was shipping CDs out to DVDs out to people, like. Like it was quality, like you weren't getting.
When. When the streaming side of Netflix started, the shows they had on it were weak.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Because it was all brand new.
[00:34:20] Speaker A: It was brand new. It's licensing issues, blah, blah, blah.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: They quickly got up the same quality of content as they were shipping out with their DVDs, but they. They had this massive base because people use them to get quality shows and movies right via dvd. Like, if the content had been bad, they wouldn't be where they are right now.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: Right, Exactly.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: And that was like 10 years of that.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: It took time to build that up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it did, yeah.
[00:34:50] Speaker B: So. So there's, like, responsibilities, I think, on everybody's side here. Like, consistently about, like, how do you grow? Obviously, you need money coming into the industry. You also need people's eyes and retention. If we're genuinely, genuinely talking about taking viewership from television, like, if that is really what's happening.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: It's happening.
[00:35:15] Speaker B: It is happening.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: It is actually happening.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: But the content has to be good when they get there to carry it on consistently.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: And improving. Lee, because television was bad in relative terms to what it is now, back when it was in its early days.
[00:35:32] Speaker A: Yes. I mean, things improve over time.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: It has to improve quality, depth. And we're not talking about, like, have a nice camera and think and like that. Yeah. It's got to look better. But literally, the content. Show the content.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: What you're delivering that the viewers are receiving and consuming has to be really good.
[00:35:52] Speaker B: Maybe it's worth. It's like, I want to. It's like the picture we're painting is being on a streaming platform where you're scrolling and everything you scroll onto is of high quality. Visually. Audio and someone might be playing music, next person might be chatting, next person might be crocheting, next person might be battling.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: It should.
[00:36:14] Speaker B: But it's all of a quality.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: Right.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: That's the same as when you click through TV channels.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: I was going to say it's like. It's like when you're clicking through the channels on tv. When you did that, when it was Just TV and channels and it was like the quality was great. You might not have liked what the show was, so you clicked on right. Until you found something you liked. Commercial. Oh, don't want that.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:34] Speaker A: Qvc. Don't want that. Oh, cartoons.
[00:36:37] Speaker B: Yay.
[00:36:38] Speaker A: Oh, wait, wait, wait. What cartoon is this? No, I don't want that. You know, it's just. It's the content. It's the content. But it's all about preference too. So I'm excited to see.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a really exciting time.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: I really am.
[00:36:51] Speaker B: I think what it does is probably what is happening right now is making people realize the value in what they have.
Like streamers and platforms alike. Like, there is huge value in this thing.
It's not an app, it's a thing. It's a way of communicating with people.
[00:37:11] Speaker A: Yeah. It's a way of discovering people and finding a place where you feel like you belong.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. Yeah. So this huge power in that. So maybe this shake up is like making everyone realize it. So the. I think the way forward then is being more of an industry which is in control of itself. Like the streamers supported in a way that all of this stuff, email systems and CRMs. It's like, it's easy for us to say, like that is work. It shouldn't necessarily be work where you have to give away percentages of all your earnings for someone to do that.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: No, it should be add ons.
[00:37:54] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like those are services that, I mean, that's our belief of this new burgeoning industry. That is a way that the actual support can happen.
[00:38:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Like you have your core business and then you bolt on certain services that you need.
[00:38:08] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: It's not like you own those people. Yeah, not those people or their.
[00:38:12] Speaker B: Those people own you.
[00:38:13] Speaker A: Yes. It's not like that at all. It's more of like we're. I'm consulting. You're. We're. It's a consulting relationship.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: Right, Right. So there's that element to it which, which could be a complete shift change in terms of how, how things are done. And like there's so much potential in this right now. And it's all because of the way the format works, because it's viewer to director to performer to streamer to host, whatever you call the person. And yes, there is a platform taking a cut. There's always going to be a platform taking a cut.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: Unless you have your own app. That's the other podcast. Right. Like you do that, but like there's gonna be something taken Out. But the difference in this industry is the rest goes direct to the person.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Which a lot of, A lot of people new in this industry don't understand and don't. There's a lot of behind the scenes in like the inner the, the old world entertainment industry where there's a lot. It's like there's the talent and then there's a whole posse of people who. In between, in between that and then the product of the content and, and, and, and the money from the content has to pay all those people, Right? Yeah.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: I mean, as an actor or if you're on tv, you don't do your TV show and then the people pay you directly, that doesn't exist. Same with movies, Same with music. Like, there's bigger systems.
[00:39:35] Speaker A: I think there's a misconception with a lot of people in the general public, they think, oh, well, these, they made $15 million on that movie. That means they got that $15 million. It's like. No, they're, they're, they're their entity, their business of like Jim Carrey as an actor. Jim Carrey has a business on him as an actor, an llc. And it goes to his business and then it's distributed to all the people who worked to make him who he is.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: Well, it is exciting, though. That's the thing, I think. That's the big message, I think.
[00:40:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Take it seriously.
Take it seriously. This, this is a very important time to be here right now, especially if you're already successful and you're gaining success.
Don't let this derail you or shift your motivation or your focus. Because the bigger picture is this is the beginning of. This is like 1940s, 1950s Hollywood. But it's.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: You are the, you are the star. And not allowing all of these pressures to kind of like get in the middle. Get in the middle of it. This is how people cut the middleman out. Yeah. And the whole system is set up so there isn't somebody in the middle. And no matter where you stream, that's gonna be the case. And it's like, let's embrace that.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:54] Speaker B: And like, run with it.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: Take control.
[00:40:57] Speaker B: Just be being great right now. Like audience and the viewer numbers and the gifter numbers currently on TikTok Live, like, they're still just going up. It's not like any of this is changing that. So people are going on there for their wanting entertainment. And if anything, things being in the news is causing people to go look more great. That's good for you. Go stream the best possible show. Capture the audience, because it's going to be great either way.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a gift. Today is the only thing you have. So make the most of it. Make the most of it.
[00:41:32] Speaker B: Boom.
All right, we will see you next time. Thanks for hanging out with us.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: All right, see you next time, guys.
[00:41:38] Speaker B: Bye.
