Episode 10: 5 Tips for a Client-Attracting Facebook Live

Episode 10: 5 Tips for a Client-Attracting Facebook Live

“Facebook Live is the new webinar” and it’s a lot easier! Just click and go Live – no slides, and possibly no script. The stakes are low, but that doesn’t mean that you just want to wing it. You can spend a lot of time on Facebook, doing live presentations, without getting any return for your time. Pamela will walk you through what you need to do to maximize your results.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The 5 tips you want to consider to make sure you’re attracting your ideal clients.
• The common mistake that makes your FB lives look unappealing (but it’s SO easy to fix)!
• The trick to make sure that you’ve got the kinks worked out.

Timecode Guide:

03:07: Get Pamela’s breakdown of her top 5 tips that will attract ideal clients.
18:04: Dive into the common mistake that makes your Facebook Lives look unappealing, and it’s relatively easy to fix.
22:01: Discover the trick to make sure you’ve got the kinks worked out.

Podcast Transcription

Episode 10: 5 Tips for a Client-Attracting Facebook Live

Intro to Facebook Lives

Intro (00:00):
You’re listening to ‘A Profitable Impact.’

Pamela (00:02):
Facebook Live can be a great way to get clients, but only when you’ve got the pieces put together in the right way. So with these tips, you’re going to learn not just how to present, but how to actually attract clients when you go live.

Gene (00:16):
Welcome to ‘A Profitable Impact,’ where every single week we help coaches and healers to expand their reach, to increase their impact in the world, and to be well-paid for their extraordinary skills and talents. My name is Gene Monterastelli. I am the Lead Coach and Pamela Bruner’s Impact Accelerator coaching program. And please welcome my friend, my colleague, and the CEO of Attract Clients Online, Pamela Bruner. How are you doing today, Pamela?

Pamela (00:42):
I’m doing great, Gene, and we get to talk about video. Isn’t it interesting we’re on an audio platform and we get to talk about video? But that’s going to be fun.

Gene (00:49):
Absolutely. And it’s something that there is some overlap and there’s some things that we do uniquely. And it’s important that we’re showing up where the places are that make the most sense to serve our clients. As we go through this conversation today, we’re going to be talking about some really specific strategies that are going to help you to connect with your ideal client. As we’re having this conversation, if you’d like to get some help and get some coaching so it’s easier for you to reach out and connect with your ideal client, we have a free offer for you. You have an opportunity to have a conversation with one of our coaches. All you need to do is go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, that is BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, and you can figure out the best way that you can connect with your ideal client on lots of different platforms.

Pamela (01:32):
So let’s talk about Facebook Live, because Facebook Live almost is like the new black dress. Like it shows up everywhere. It’s very useful. You can use it for a bunch of different, different types of marketing or fulfillment or support or things like that. And in this episode, I’ve done a lot of Facebook lives, you’ve done a lot of Facebook lives, and between us, we have a lot to say about Facebook Live. So, we want to share five tips you want to consider not just to do a Facebook live or to do perhaps an attractive one, but one that will attract your ideal clients. Also talking about the common mistake that makes Facebook Lives look unappealing, but that’s relatively easy to fix. And a trick to make sure you’ve got the kinks worked out.

Gene (02:17):
And I think it’s, it’s really important that we’re having this conversation, Pamela, because it’s important that we show up. It’s important that we do the things, but it’s also important that we do them well. Oftentimes people say, “Well, I’m putting my 10,000 hours in so I can make sure I’m mastering it.” But just putting in time doesn’t mean that we’re doing it well. And it doesn’t mean that we’re getting better. So I’m really excited about this conversation to ensure that folks aren’t just doing this, but they’re doing it well so they can get the results that they want.

Pamela (02:42):
Yeah, it used to be that the way to get in front of clients was often go to your local networking event, put yourself out there, go do a small workshop. I’ll go talk to the chamber of commerce, whatever it was. And now most of that has been moved online. And while some people still want to do webinars, and I think webinars can be useful, I think that the immediacy and the ease of Facebook Live makes it a great platform to work on.

Good quality sound and lighting

Pamela (03:07):
So, let’s start running down those five tips that will attract ideal clients. And the first tip that I want to talk about today is good quality sound and lighting for your Facebook Live. So, I hesitate to suggest a particular kind of technology because technology changes so fast. There could be a new technology 30 days from now, and this that might affect the relevance of this podcast for you.

Pamela (03:34):
But I will tell you, in general terms, what I use when I’m doing a Facebook Live is I have a $200 camera (I know because I just check the price online) that plugs into my computer. I do not have a fancy schmancy $20,000 video camera. It’s a very inexpensive camera, and you can often use the camera on your laptop if you have a fairly recent laptop. I also have an about $60 light box light. You know, one of those big lights that you see photographers using that just gives a big wash of lighting. So, in terms of the visual, this is not an expensive operation that I’ve put together and in a pinch, I could have done it without the expensive camera. So, you’re talking about, you know, good lighting, maybe a little bit of a boost with a good camera, or, you know, if you have an up-to-date laptop and that’s going to give you the visual. I want you to talk a little bit more about good quality sound, Gene, because as a podcast expert yourself, I know you know a lot about creating good quality sound and not necessarily breaking the bank for it.

Gene (04:31):
Absolutely. The beautiful thing is we have now found our spot where you can get a really good USB microphone. So, it’s a microphone that’s going to plug into any computer. If you get something that’s going to be between the $60 and $100 range, whatever you find on Amazon or Best Buy or wherever you go, you’re going to find something that’s really, really useful. The things that are important when you have that particular microphone is not just having the right microphone, but making sure you have the microphones set up in the right way, the microphone that you’re using at that price point is probably going to pick up a little extra sound. So when you’re doing it, make sure you have the microphone positioned in front of you and you’re in a place where there’s not a lot of background noise. So, the place that you don’t want to be as you don’t want to be in your kitchen or a big echoey room, put yourself in a room that has carpet on the floor. Bookshelves are awesome. Bookshelves do a really great job of as the sound bounces around the room, it breaks it up so you don’t get a lot of echo-y and background noise. And so if you’re in a smallish space that doesn’t have super, super flat walls, a little carpet on the floor, a good microphone that’s positioned in front of you. You’re going to be shocked at the quality of sound that you’re going to be able to produce.

Good background

Pamela (05:46):
Hopefully you wouldn’t have to choose between one on the other, you wouldn’t have to choose between good quality sound and good lighting, but surprisingly good quality sound is actually more important. Important as the visual is being clear is very, very important in what people are hearing. And we’re going to talk more about that in terms of delivery, but let’s first get the equipment out of the way. So, I love this conversation because what we’ve just shared is depending on the various types of equipment you can use, you can get well set up to do Facebook lives for under $200 or maybe a little bit more. If you want to add a camera to your computer in addition to the computer camera. So let’s go on to tip number two. And you hinted at this already when you said bookshelves are great. Often I see people filming themselves with bookshelves behind them because bookshelves can make a good background, although they’re also busy. So let’s talk about some of the other things that make a good background. Now, both you and I, Gene, when we do video, we both put art in our background. And one of the things I love about, you know, what you do and what I do is we use very different art as a reflection of our personal brand. So, can you talk a little bit more about good background?

Gene (07:01):
Yeah, absolutely. So when we’re putting together a good background, you want to have something that is aesthetically pleasing, something that looks like you. And as you’re positioning the stuff you want to give some thought to where the things are behind you in connection to where you are in the frame. So you don’t want to be in a circumstance where you have a piece of artwork on the wall behind you, but you’re sitting in such a position where the painting is going right through the middle of your head. So the right side of your head is behind the piece of artwork in the left side of your head is behind a clear piece of wall that just has painting on it. So you want to pick something that is on-brand for you. That looks nice and is professional. And you want to make sure that the space around you behind you is something that is not distracting. And it doesn’t look like you’ve horns growing out of your head or something odd going on with the artwork behind you. It’s not just what’s behind you, but your relationship to it as you’re positioning.

Pamela (07:57):
Yeah, and we used to look at this in terms of taking a photograph, you know, a tip for taking a photograph is don’t have a tree sticking out of the back of your head kind of thing. And the same thing applies with Facebook Lives. Another thing that I would recommend is some people just look for a blank wall, but I think that although we definitely want people focused on your face and we want them looking at you, shooting in front of an entirely blank wall can be a little boring. There’s nothing else to look at there. So I would suggest that you put something in the background. Even I’ve seen people shoot where the there’s a corner of a room behind them, and that’s a slight improvement over a blank wall. Be very sure that you do not have a window behind you. Now, this kind of goes back to good quality sound and lighting because if you have a window behind you, you’re going to be backlit and then no one can see your face, and you look like a spy from a Hollywood movie or something like that because your face in darkness. So, as you consider a background, also think where’s my light source for this background?

Gene (09:00):
The last thing to consider, as you’re considering your placement inside of your background, it’s also important to consider where you’re placed inside of the frame. So, you’re paying attention to what’s behind you, but you’re also paying attention to where you are inside of the frame. If you took the frame and you drew horizontal lines across it at one third and two thirds down, basically the place that where you want to be positioned inside of the screen is about one third of the way down is where your eyes are going to be. So that as we’re looking at the screen, your head is near the top of the screen. You don’t want to put yourself where you’re dead center in the middle of the screen, because all of the white space above you looks a little bit odd. It looks way more personal at Wix, way more connecting. I mean, think about if you’re doing a FaceTime or Zoom conversation with a friend of yours, you’re in a circumstance where you want them to see you in your face. So, make sure you’re positioning yourself, not only in your background or properly, but also inside of your frame and a really good place.

Keep it short and smile

Pamela (09:57):
Excellent. So let’s go into tip three, which is keep it short and smile. You know, when clients submit videos or send me links to Facebook Lives or something like that, especially as they’re doing their initial videos or doing their initial Facebook Lives, what I see is that they smile far less than they do if they were speaking to a live audience or even in-person speaking to a friend, partly the lack of smiles is because you’re concentrating on the content and you’re not thinking about connecting because you’re staring at a little green dot or a camera lens instead of staring at humans. But what I tell people is smile about 10 times more than you think you need to, even if you are discussing a serious subject. So if you’re a coach who deals with grief or stress or something like that, you may think, “Oh, I can’t, I can’t smile because this is a serious subject and people are suffering.” No, actually your smile will make you more accessible and it’s not about being frivolous, but it is about smiling as though you were looking into the eyes of a dear friend and you know, the first time you do it, it will feel very, very unnatural. You’ll feel like you’re generating smiles for no reason, but it will come across as far more accessible and friendly when you do that.

Gene (11:12):
I also find, Pamela, that when I’m smiling in that particular way, I also have more energy because it’s bringing me up as well. And so I am more engaged and there’s more dynamism to my voice and I’m more connected to it. So it’s not just that I’m making a nice connection for my audience, I am more engaged when I’m presenting. Even when I am recording podcasts like we’re doing right now and there’s no video component at all, when I have a smile on my face and my energy here, it shows up in the way that I show up and I enjoy the process better.

Pamela (11:42):
Yes. And people can actually hear smiles like right now, I’m smiling and you could hear it in my voice. The quality of my voice changes when I smile. So you get an auditory hit with a smile as well. The other part of this tip I said was keep it short and could perhaps be its own separate tip because people ask me all the time, how long should a Facebook live be? And it’s kind of like the question, “How long should a man’s legs be? Long enough to reach the floor,” the famous Abraham Lincoln joke. It should be long enough to contain the point you want to make. And no longer when people are starting with Facebook Live, I’ll often tell them five or 10 minutes is just fine. Get used to going Live, get used to delivering a very succinct message and then stopping. You don’t have to ramble on you don’t want to go down rabbit holes. You don’t want to share more than is on your agenda share and your plan to share. You can do longer presentations if and when your presentation style can handle it.

Gene (12:40):
And one of the things I think that is kind of hidden inside of that, Pamela, that you’re leaving implicit that I think we need to say out loud is you need to know what the point is and the useful piece of content that you are conveying before you hit record, or you go live so you can start talking to people. And so it’s much easier for me to figure out how long my content is going to be and to stay inside of a timeframe that is really useful if I know what I’m going to say before I start. You know, like you and I, when we sit down to record these podcasts, we have a really clear idea of exactly what we want to share to make sure that we’re sharing it in a clear, concise way, but we know the content is useful before we start. And so it’s easier for us to stay on track and to stay on time if we know what we’re trying to say and why we’re saying it.

Repeat your CTA

Pamela (13:24):
Exactly, which takes us to the fourth tip, which is have a CTA and repeat it. So, a CTA is a Call-to-Action. It is something that you want your listener or your viewer to do. As you focus the content of what you’re sharing around a particular Call-to-Action, whether it is download a freebie, have a book, a call with me, uh, attend a training of mine, uh, or some other connection comment below on Facebook, whatever your call to action is that you’re asking them to do. And there should be one per Facebook live, not multiple ones. You want to keep it in mind, structure your content amount around it, and then repeat the CTA. So you don’t just give it at the end because people might not watch your Facebook live all the way through in a perfect world. I would say name your CTA about 25% of the way through, and then name it again at the end. So somebody liking what you’re doing and wants to follow up with you. And as a fast decision maker, that 25% Mark might be exactly right for sharing your CTA and for people who need to listen a little longer, you’re going to repeat it at the end. Okay.

Gene (14:26):
When you do it, it’s important to recognize the fact that if we want someone to take action, they need to understand at a deeper level than just understanding. So if the beginning of this particular podcast, I had a really clear call to action. And you will notice when I do the call to action on this podcast for BookMyBreakthroughCall.com. I don’t say it like that. I say, go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com. So I’m actually slowing my voice down. I’m saying it with more emphasis because I don’t want you just to know to, Hey, smile more. You don’t have to know all the details to remember to smile more. But if you’re going to follow through in a call to action that I’m giving you, you need to make sure you’re giving it to your audience in such a way that it’s easy for them to follow the instructions. So we need to say clearly and simply, and oftentimes slower. So it’s easier for them to engage with it.

Practice

Pamela (15:18):
Hmm. That’s such a great tip. The fifth tip for great Facebook Lives that attract your ideal clients is to practice. And although this sounds very strange, there seems to be an assumption whenever we learn something, and this is a conversation we’ve had many times Gene, “Oh, okay. I just get in front of a camera or just get in front of my computer. And I talk for 10 minutes or 20 minutes, and that’s all I need to do. And how many times a week do I need to do that?” Once, twice, three times, whatever it is.

Gene (15:49):
If you love what you’re listening to and would like to learn more about how you can elevate your business and want to know how you can increase your impact in the world, I’d like to invite you to join a coach for a free breakthrough session.

Want to know more about how to attract your ideal clients online?

We’d Love To Chat! Grab a Breakthrough Session with one of my coaches to learn how to create real impact and income online.

Pamela (16:12):
Presentation itself is a skillset that comes not only with learning, but also with doing, doing over and over and over again. And because I’m a musician and Gene’s a performer, juggler and improv artist, we’ve lived in this world of practice, practice, practice. And I will tell you if you ever get ahold of some of my old videos on YouTube, I was terrible at the beginning of my business. I didn’t present well. My thoughts weren’t complete. I would interrupt myself in the middle of a sentence. I still do that sometimes, just far less often. So, practice, practice, practice is one of the ways to improve and make sure that you’re always getting better so you can attract your ideal clients.

Gene (16:57):
And when we say “practice” we don’t just mean practice saying the words. We mean practice everything. So it was Pamela mentioned that I am a performer and I perform with someone else. And regularly we have volunteers on stage. And so when we’re creating new material and we’re just in a practice space without an audience, we go through the motions of practice, getting a volunteer on stage. So mechanically we know exactly how it’s going to happen. If I’m going to be using slides, when I’m doing my practice, I practice using the slides. If I’m doing a video and I’m going to be holding up visual aids, I practice holding up the visual aids because every single thing that we do that involves something physical saying is physical. Moving is physical. Using props is physical. It’s important that you know exactly how it’s going to flow and how it’s going to fit together. Because if you go to pick up a prop and your sign that you’re holding up is upside down, going to throw you off and it creates a problem. And so when we say practice, it’s not just the words, but anything that you were doing, including I would practice hitting the start button, hitting the stop button when you’re doing a Facebook Live so that goes seamless as well.

Most Common Facebook Live Mistake

Pamela (18:03):
Great, great suggestion. So, let’s move into the common mistake that makes your Facebook Lives look unappealing, and it’s relatively easy to fix. This is a mistake that shows up when people do webinars, live presentations, and certainly it shows up on video like Facebook Live, and that is the problem of vocal patterns or meandering. Let’s just call it meandering, and then I’ll explain all the different vocal patterns. If you’ve listened to someone who is a new presenter or someone who is nervous, often they will get into a routine where they’re just talking and talking and their voice never breaks and they just keep going, and then they get to what ought to be the end of a sentence and they go up with their voice, but they never rest. And it’s very tiring to watch something like that. It’s not appealing. Instead, one of the things that you want to do as you practice what you’re going to say, and as you practice your content is you want to start using vocal inflection as punctuation.

Pamela (19:08):
So, let me explain. When you’re reading a book, when you’re reading a free article online, you’ve got things like headlines, you’ve got punctuation, exclamation points, periods, commas, to let you know how to group words and how to listen to things. When you’re doing a presentation that doesn’t have those visual aids, like say a Facebook Live, you have to indicate to people what is important for them to listen to. And usually I do that in two ways. Number one, if it’s very important, I slow it down. It’s almost like you put the quotable quote in quotes. And I just did it just now, as I was speaking on the podcast, I said, if it’s very important, I slow it down. So I’ve said that at a different pace, I also just unconsciously tend to do it at a different pitch. When I get excited, my voice gets a little higher and you can hear that right now. I’m speaking at a faster pace. My voice is getting a little higher. And then when I want people to pay attention, I drop the pitch of my voice and I slow it down. And you can hear how it almost, if it were in print, it would be in bold letters. So how can you use vocal inflection? How can you use the tone of your voice, the pitch of your voice and the pace of your voice to make your words more understandable and make some of them stand out?

Gene (20:38):
I think for me, Pamela, as I’m thinking about how I do that, when I am, even though it’s a broadcast medium, even though you and I right now talking to lots and lots of people, when I go on Facebook Live, I’m talking to lots and lots of people. I like to think of it as narrow cast. I like to think about how I’m just sharing it with one person that when we’re giving a presentation, we’re so worried about getting the content, right? We’re thinking about the content. We’re not thinking about the delivery, but if I was having a conversation with a friend and I was trying to communicate something with them, all of those things that you talk about, I already naturally do in conversation when things are serious and I’m talking to a loved one, my voice goes down when I’m excited, my voice goes up and my energy goes with it.

Gene (21:23):
And so when I don’t think about it as a presentation, but a conversation with someone I’m trying to share information with, it’s so much easier for me to move at a cadence that makes sense for the information that’s going on. And that goes back to what we were talking about earlier with this sense of practice, that practice. Isn’t just saying it out loud, but it’s knowing the material because it’s not just me knowing what I’m going to say, but why I’m saying it and what’s important and how to say it in a cadence. That makes sense. And so it becomes easier because you already naturally do this. When you talk to make sure that we’re talking like a human, when we’re doing a Facebook live and it’s not some sterile presentation.

Trick to Know You’re Doing Everything Right

Pamela (22:01):
Exactly. And that leads us, I think, into the trick to make sure you’ve got the kinks worked out. Now I have a business page. I have a personal page and I have groups both paid and free that I engage with potential clients in or clients in. And I also have a Facebook page that nobody knows about and no one can find, I have not looked for followers. I do not add people to that page. I’m on it. And my team’s on it. And I use that page. If I’m going to try a new camera, if I’m going to try a new microphone, if I’m going to try a new delivery technique, because although it’s certainly possible to do a Facebook live and then immediately deleted, and the chances are, you know, one person might see it. If that makes you nervous and you really want to try something new, create a Facebook page that you don’t invite anybody in. And then you can, it’s just a quick tip, just an easy tip on how you can practice without stressing yourself out that the whole world is going to see it.

Gene (23:02):
Pamela, I actually have a story I haven’t shared with you yet. But one of our clients did something very similar to this when we were talking about it yesterday. And so she shared with me the secret place that this video was living to get some feedback. And my feedback was, Oh my gosh, this is so awesome. Like we, we had some conversation about background and positioning camera and things like that, but her energy and her smile and all of that stuff was there. I’m like, this is really awesome. And her response was, yeah, why did I wait so long to do this? What was I afraid of? I did it in a safe place and I should have done this six weeks ago. Okay. Now it’s time for me to go do this for real. And so not only does having this practice pace, give us the opportunity to work out the kinks, but it’s the other place you’re going to recognize that you’re more at this than you think you are. All of us have been in lockdown for the last nine months. All of us have been speaking into cameras on zoom. We’re way more skilled at this than we actually think we are. In addition to getting a chance to learn. You’re also going to learn that you’re better at this than you actually think you are.

Pamela (24:01):
Such a great, great suggestion. So create a page, whether it’s your actual Facebook page or whether it’s a practice page and start doing Facebook Lives, because video and constantly putting the word out about what you do is a great, great way to start attracting the tribe that you want to serve in the world.

Gene (24:23):
And so, if you’re in a situation where you recognize you have a message that wants to be shared, that you have people that you really want to serve to use your gift in this, but you’re having a really hard time getting your message out there and connecting with people. We would encourage you to just take advantage of the opportunity to talk to one of our coaches, absolutely free. You can book one of those coaching calls by going to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, that’s BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, get on the calendar and have a conversation so that we can help you to get your message out into the world.

Gene (24:56):
If the conversation we had today is something that you think someone else in your life, another coach, other healers, and other transformational entrepreneurs, might enjoy. Please pass it along. You might make their day a little brighter and give them the opportunity to share their message in a more useful way with their target market. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you Subscribe to the podcast. Subscribing to podcasts is always free. You can get the show in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, basically everywhere you listen to audio. All you need to do is search for a profitable impact. You have a question. If you have a comment, if you have a question or a topic that you’d like Pamela and I to wrestle with at some point in the future, in one of these episodes, go to AttractClientsOnline.com, click on the Contact link. That’s AttractClientsOnline.com. We would love to hear from you. I’m Gene Monterastelli from ‘A Profitable Impact.’ I hope you have an impactful week.

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Building a business as a coach or expert is challenging, especially if you’re trying to find your clients online.

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