EP13: Live Video for eCommerce With Stephanie Liu

Speaker A: Welcome to the Host A Pro podcast, where we interview the world's top e commerce experts and bring you their stories and lessons to help you grow your business. In this episode of Host a Pro, I sit down with Stephanie Liu, an absolute pro in the world of live streaming. As co founder of Leap Into Live Streaming and host of Lights Camera Live, she has a wealth of experience and information to share with us. Armed with tips, tricks, and practical formulas, Stephanie gave me so much insight into a world that can often seem pretty daunting from the outside. This was a really great conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Let's jump in. Hello everybody, and welcome to the 13th episode of Host a Pro, where disruptive influencers talk about e commerce marketing. Hey, Stephanie. We have Stephanie with us today. How are you? Hi.

Speaker B: I'm doing good. I'm excited. I've been waiting for this moment because the first time you and I met, oh, we geeked out so much. So I'm like, yay. What are we going to geek out about today?

Speaker A: Yeah, I'm excited as well. Uh, so this is Stephanie and Liu. We're going to speak about live streaming video, uh, today. Uh, there's no one who's better to speak about this topic than her. Uh, so I'm sure you're going to learn so much. Uh, she also runs, uh, her own consulting firm, Lights Camera Live, uh, that helps businesses use live streaming, use video for their growth. So we're going to speak about all the tips and all the strategies today, right?

Speaker B: Absolutely. Any question that you have related to live streaming or video, I'm an open book today. All yours.

Speaker A: Amazing. Uh, okay, so let's dive in. So, you know, I think a lot of businesses understand, uh, the importance of video, um, for their marketing. Uh, but why is live streaming specifically an opportunity for growing brands today?

Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Live streaming is one of those opportunities where a customer, a client can really understand and get to know your brand and your business. Because instead of just seeing a logo, they now have someone that they could build rapport with. They see you, they get to know your personality, and they also get to understand your communication style. Because whether you are selling something that is a lower ticket item or a high ticket item, at the end of the day, customers really want to know, if I have a question, how are you going to treat me? What's your customer service going to be like? And if you're the type of business, brand or entrepreneur that knows how to answer a question in a way that comes clicks with your customer, wow. Then they're like, okay, now I've got your brain on speed dial. Because when I need something, I know that I can reach out to you.

Speaker A: Yeah, but you know, a lot of people are kind of afraid from live streaming, right? I mean, it's not an easy task. It's like going on a string, but when you have the ground next to you, it's video because you can always record it again. I, uh. But then when going up at 100 meters, it's like you have one shot, right?

Speaker B: Well, that's the interesting thing is that when people think about live streaming, they think about all the negative things, like, oh, it's a one time thing, you gotta do it right? And all the different things. And I think what they lose focus on is the fact that it's not about perfection, it's about connection. Because if you were perfect 100% of the time, all day, every day, that is not relatable. People would be like, hey, you know what? That's a Stepford wife over there. And I don't know if I could really work with that type of person. And livestreaming is really that opportunity to really show your personality, to be real, raw and authentic. And really what it boils down to in any type of medium that you're doing to communicate your brand, your business, your product, your service is, you have to take the mess out of your message. So before you do anything, even if it is live streaming, hone in on what it is specifically that you want to say. There's something about being on camera and then pushing aside all the different, can I say the itty bitty shitty committee that happens in someone's head, like, oh, what are people gonna say? What did it do? And it's a lot of times what I tell people is, look, listen, when people wake up in the morning, they're not worried about what you had for breakfast, they are starring in their own movie, thinking about all the different things that they have to do, whether it's picking up the kids from school, what to make for dinner, all the different things, right? And they just want to know, can you solve my problem? Can you take this stumbling block that I have and give me this, the stepping stones to get from point A to point B without being stressed. And so if you can captivate someone and tell them, hey, instead of going through trial and error, instead of being stressed, let me show you how my business, product or service can get you on the fast track to success. And that's what's important to them. I think if Anything. Most people also have to remember that most people will not remember what it is exactly that you say, but they remember how you make them feel. And when we think about video, especially, especially live streaming, when you say my name, oh, my goodness, all the happy brain chemicals come flowing. The dopamine, the oxytocin, the serotonin, the endorphins. I'm like, wow, look at that. I could get my questions answered in real time. I don't have to wait for a chatbot, uh, email support, or constantly be on Twitter and whatnot. It's the fact that they have this exclusive access to you. And that's what really what people want, right? Is they want that connection.

Speaker A: Yeah. Wow. I, uh, think it's, it's, you know, on, on the spot and specifically for growing brands. Maybe it's their, you know, their only opportunity to, to beat the big brands from, from that perspective. Right?

Speaker B: Yes. And I love that you bring this up because when you think about the big brands, the corporations, the bigger agencies, there's a lot of bureaucracy in there, right? And every time you're pitching a new idea, something innovative, something fun, someone else is going to, someone else is going to impose or project onto you their limiting beliefs, and it becomes this huge, huge hurdle. And sometimes an idea just disappears. Right. But I think as a small business, a smaller company, even as an entrepreneur, you have this opportunity to really test out your ideas. You could go on a live stream video and say, hey, what are you struggling with when it comes to X, Y and Z, right? And now they're giving you that customer market research. Right now what I'm struggling with is X, Y and Z. And if you can give me the answer to that, then you've captured my attention. Whereas when you think about agencies, we'll go through the whole entire framework, we'll go into the war room, we'll create the personalities, the psychographics and all those different things. And that takes, what, weeks, months, meetings to think about it? Whereas if you just went live, boom, what are you struggling with right now? And how can I map that to what I already have that exist? And then if you have additional questions, book me right now. Book a phone call. Let's dig into it a little bit deeper because then if I know what it is exactly that you need help with, I can create it. Simple as that. Does that help?

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Like, keep it simple. You came to solve a problem, um, communicate it in a very simple and clear way to your audience and, you know, and connect basically.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I think the other advantage too is that with live streaming, you get so much feedback when people show up.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Because now you're getting that market research, you're learning all about their fears, their resistance, all the emotions that are tied into investing in themselves or investing in their business. And they also tell you how they make their decisions. What is it that you need specifically to get you to start moving forward? Because so often our customers, our clients are stuck on this conveyor belt of like, well, if I keep doing the same thing, maybe things will change. And you're like, no, no, no, no. Uh, in order for you to get to the next level, um, you need new resources, new relationships, new strategies to get you to where you need to be.

Speaker A: Wow. I actually never thought of live streaming from that perspective. That you're actually learning so differently from what you learn when just putting a video and looking at the funnel and the numbers and how many clicks and how many views. But here you're actually learning from the reaction you get as a response to what you say.

Speaker B: Absolutely. Videos are great. Don't get me wrong, they're amazing. We all know that any landing page, any website that has video on it is going to convert a lot better than just text and images alone. Right? But what's beautiful about live streaming is that when your audience engages with you, they're using their own words. Now you're able to tap into their own language and build rapport with them in that way. Now they're telling you, hey, you know, I don't need another freebie, I don't need another challenge. I need a framework and I need it done in a day.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Don't give me another retainer and tell me that you have a three month onboarding process. Because I needed this done. Yes. Yesterday. Because, you know, the past two years has been keeping me on my toes and I need to keep the doors open. So what can you do to solve that problem?

Speaker A: Do you have any examples of, you know, cases that brands use live streaming and it really changed the way they do marketing or they, you know, they run their growth in that way?

Speaker B: Absolutely. The best strategy that I always tell my clients, thank you so much, 10 by 10 framework. And what that means is that you're just going to take a piece of paper and you're going to fold it in half and on one side, you're going to write down the top 10 frequently asked questions about your business, your product, your service. These are things that people are asking you in your emails on your customer support. Even your sales team has probably Heard it, right? And then you're going to write down the top 10 should ask questions. Questions that people should be asking, but they don't know because they're not the expert. You are. Right? Because most clients, when they come to you, they come to you because here's the problem, it's in a box. That's all that they know. And they're like, this is the problem, this is the problem, this is the problem. And what you have to do with the should ask questions is to help them think outside of the box. These are other things that you should be considering. And so when you do this 10 by 10 formula in 10 minutes, guess what? You have 20 video topics that you can talk about and whether or not you want to make that into one minute videos, right? That's 21 minute videos that you could then put out the next 20 weeks, the next 20 Mondays if you wanted to. Right? Or because we're talking about live streaming, every single one of those topics can be an entire series. Now you have a 20 topic series about one specific problem that you solve, right? Y' all know that whenever we're making decisions, sometimes we have to see someone a couple of times in order for them to stay top of mind and tip of tongue, right? There'll be that time when they're like, uh, oh yeah, you had talked about this before and I was so fascinated by it. And so that 10 by 10 formula is one of the best ways for you to start creating content. And even more so is that you can repurpose that content. And let's say you take the first 10 episodes and that's season one of your podcast because you just took your live stream and you repurposed it. Now you have more content and then you take the should ask questions in the now, that's season two. Or you could do what clients have done and divvy it up into beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Speaker A: Wow. Uh, that's a lot of content.

Speaker B: I was like, you let me know when you need to pull me back.

Speaker A: Because, um, I'm just imagining the amount of content can actually create from one session with customers. And what you learn, it's actually endless.

Speaker B: It's brilliant. Yeah. I usually tell my clients that with every live stream show that I do, I can repurpose it into 94 pieces of content. And when I say that, I take that live stream, that recording, and then I put it into, uh, a program like this script, and it easily transcribes it into a blog post, send that over to a copywriter. And they'll automatically do that for you. Then what's great about Descript is that you could highlight sections where like, oh, I asked this question and she totally nailed it. Out of the park. Right? So then you could highlight it, clip it, and then now that turns into a one minute video clip. That could be a story, that could be a 16 by 9, that could be a square. Awesome. Um, great. Then guess what? That same clip, you could turn it into an audiogram. Now you have even more content that shows you as an expert that you are a problem solver. And if you didn't like how you looked on camera, that's fine because now you're just talking. And now it has like the karaoke, the text overlay that shows exactly what it is that you're saying and boom, M, you're good to go. Put some B roll footage in the background, it looks new every single time.

Speaker A: I think what you're saying right now kind of relieves a lot of the fears that small and medium business owners think to themselves and marketers because they think, oh my God, I need to invest all my time in video in order to do that. But basically you're saying, no, invest in a very good session, live session, get the feedback, learn and repurpose over and over. Ah, again, just to have this content live. Because people were actually engaged with this content and want to hear it.

Speaker B: Exactly. And one thing that I love to do is after I'm done with the live stream, I'll even go through the comments and be like, look what people had to say because they showed up live. Just imagine what would happen if you showed up. Uh, and now they start to see that social group. So this isn't even like you on camera. This isn't even you repurposing your content. It's just taking those comments because now they're bite sized testimonials that you could sprinkle across the Internet. Or like, I like to call it digital confetti.

Speaker A: Yeah, true. Um, so what would you say, you know, the first step someone needs to take if they want to get started with live streaming? What would you suggest them to do as a first step to diving into this?

Speaker B: Yeah, I would say the first step, there's a whole process to it. The first step is really understanding what you know, begin with the end in mind. If viewers are going to tune in, what is it that you want them to think, feel and do? Do you want them to subscribe? Do you want them to reach out to you? Do you just want to build the community. What is it specifically? Because then you're going to organize your run of show around that, right? So what is it specifically that you want to achieve? What is it that you want to accomplish for you yourself as a business owner? Then also how do you want your viewers to think and feel? What do you want them to do? Okay, because then that gives you the focus, what it is specifically that you want to do. And then the next piece is developing your run of show. Right? And your run of show is really. Okay, so how are you going to going to deliver this content? Let's say you're teaching them something, right? You're teaching them something. And what I usually teach everyone is to use what's called the format formula. You might have heard this because you read a lot of books too. And so Dr. Bernice McCarthy, she was an educator and she learned that students in classrooms would always ask specific questions in order for them to retain and be entertained by the content. Right? So you would have your why learners and your why learners want to know why your business, your product or your service are important to them right now. Okay, then you have your what learners. Your what learners are like, okay, well what are the definitions? What do I need to know about the industry? Sometimes they even want to know like the stats, the figures and all the different things. Then you have your how audience. Okay, but how do you do that? How do you live stream? And then you have the what if. These are your skeptics. These are the ones that are always going to say well what happens if I do livestream? What are the opportunities? What are the advantages? And then you have your what if audience that are the skeptics as far as like, well what happens if I don't?

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: What are the consequences? And so for our clients we create like this, we have a big post it board or a whiteboard, right? And ah, we would make this grid and would have four boxes. It would be why what how and what if? And you know this about me. I always have post it notes by me and so I would write down or the client, I, we would brainstorm. Give me all the whys. Why should people care about your business, your product or your service? Why, why, why, why why why why? Then give m me all the what's, what do they need to know what's shifting in, in that industry? Um, what can this do for them? What can this do for their family, for their business, for their legacy that they're trying to build all the different things and how, how is it that your live Stream your content, your business, your services, going to make an impact on them, right? And then you're gonna write down all the what ifs. And so once you map that out, here's the crazy formula. You could say your opening for your video is basically, hey, everyone, I'm Stephanie Liu. And what we're talking about today is why you need to start livestreaming for your business. And the reason for that, because more customers, 80% of customers are more interested in seeing a live stream than reading another blog post. And so what you need to get started is really just the smartphone in your pocket. And so I'm going to show you how to create a captivating livestream from beginning, middle to end. And if you're tired of being the best kept secret in town, then this is the episode for you. And if you don't have the time right now, that's okay. Leave a comment and I'll reply back to you when the episode is done and you can watch the replay. Boom. That's your hook, that's your intro.

Speaker A: I'm, uh, 100% hooked up.

Speaker B: Okay, cool. And then, so if you think back to that format formula, right, if you want to extend your broadcast, because we all know that you have to be live on camera for at least 15 minutes for the algorithms to catch on and for people to stop what they're doing. And so what you can do is you could spend about three to five minutes on the why, this is why it's important. And then three to five minutes on the what? This is what it's done for my clients, right? This is what's changing in the industry. This is what you need to know that most people don't know. This is what separates the amateurs from the pros, right? You could swipe all of this and then you go into three to five minutes for the how. Obviously, there's not so much you can say in the how, right? Unless you're doing tutorials, but now you've piqued their interest just enough for them to be like, okay, I need to know more because there's only so much I can get from a live stream. And then you go into the what if? Which is basically like two minutes. If you love this information, guess what, you could go ahead and book a time on my calendar right now. And if you, whatever it is, if you want, you could go ahead and subscribe to my channel or do all the different things. But that's basically your run of show right there. Does that make sense?

Speaker A: Definitely.

Speaker B: So we Talked about the 10 by 10, you get your 20 ideas, then you do the format formula. The third piece of that. The third piece of that is mastering the, uh, art and science of being confident on camera. Because, let's be honest, you know this. You read a lot of, like, psychological psychology studies and whatnot. And we all know that people can spot if someone's being fake, right? There's that old, uh, adage where people, like, you know, just fake it until you make it. Fake it until you make it. But we all know that with Paul Ekman and all the micro expressions, we know if someone is being fake. In fact, there's been studies where they're just like, if I showed you a real smile, a genuine smile versus a, uh, fake smile, 80% of people can find out what a fake smile is. When we talk about being confident on camera, it's knowing how to take, again, the mess out of your message because it's not about you. Yeah, you have to shift your mindset into thinking of what your viewer wants. You have to hit on, um, the questions, the fear, the uncertainty, the doubt that they've been struggling with and communicate to them they're not worried about your hair or, you know, all the different things. They just want to know, what's in it for me? What's in it for me? And so being confident on camera is really just pushing out, uh, all the negative thoughts. Don't even give those limiting beliefs a chance to even creep into your mindset, because you have that one goal. And that one goal is for you to deliver that content in a way that truly captivates your audience. And to do that, you have to tap into your confidence. And so for most clients, it's a matter of think back to a time when you were the most confident. It could be the first sell, the first sale that you ever had, or when I walked down to the San Diego business accounting office with my daughter holding her little hand, I think she was 2, and we applied for my first business license. You know, it's that confidence and showing up with that attitude, with that mindset, you know?

Speaker A: Yeah. Come with your best version, basically. Um, but isn't it, uh. Uh, sometimes it's hard, Sometimes you're excited. And is it okay to make some mistakes when you're on live streaming?

Speaker B: Absolutely. I think if, let's say you're multitasking as far as, like, you're switching the screens because now you want to screen share, that's forgivable, right? That's forgivable because it shows that you're human. But the thing is, too, is that if you make a mistake the first time around, what do you do? You learn from it. Right? Because there is no failure. There's only feedback. It was your first attempt in learning. There is no failure, there's only feedback. So take what you learned from the very first time and refine that process, do it again. It's the same thing that you would do even as a small business owner, the first time you write an ad copy. Okay, well, that didn't work. Let's tweak it a little bit and find out what it is that we have to do. And I think even when you're honest with your audience of like, hey, you know, oh, I gotta fix that next time. That's okay. Because what they're seeing is how you're documenting your process. They're seeing you document your journey, and at the same time, they're still holding in their mind, how are you going to help me? How are you going to help me?

Speaker A: Right. Yeah, I think, you know what you said before about, um, it's not about you. It's about how you can help your customers, your potential customers. That's it. Simple as that. You know, the idea you had at the beginning when you started off your business or thought about your products, how can they help people? That's the thing.

Speaker B: That's the thing. Yeah, that's the thing that you should focus on and just have clarity around. Right. And when you do the format formula, the reason why I love it so much is, I mean, you saw that, like, we just did it in about a minute, like 30 seconds even, right. If I paste myself and it's enough information to hook a viewer in, to just be like, okay, is this important to me? Why is this important? Yep, she nailed it. Cool. What am I going to learn? Got it. How is this going to impact me? Cool. And if I need more info, I know what to do. Yes.

Speaker A: Yeah. Beautiful. Um, just before we finish our session, because I think, uh, it's a super, super relevant and important topic for businesses to. To start doing. I don't think a lot of brands are doing that. Definitely not enough. And it's a huge opportunity as I see it, and you definitely see it even more than I do. Um, what would be the best tip you can give businesses to get started? I mean, what would be the thing that will motivate them the most?

Speaker B: I'd say the best way to get started is take a look at what current live streamers are doing. Because success always leaves clues. And so you're going to notice that there's a way that they structure their live streams. There's a hook, there's an intro. There is a way to engage an audience. How they deliver the content, how they tie it all back together, that's going to be the important piece of it. And I think when you're ready to step in front of the camera, a good thing that you can do is create a private Facebook group and just get used to hearing the sound of your voice. Get used to seeing yourself on camera and know that, you know, you being on camera in zoom is very different because zoom is basically it's a meeting. You know, you're not very conscious of how you're using your gestures, right? And there was this one TEDX talk, I believe, where they noticed that speakers that actually use gestures, that M means their hands, right? They use their hands purposefully. It actually got shared a lot more. And so when you're practicing, start thinking about how you're going to do spatial anchoring. Uh, when you're on camera, where's the past, where's the present, all the different things. I think when you nail that and you get rid of the little twitches and all the things, then you could see how you're delivering your message in a way that's congruent, in a way that you're aligned. And this has nothing to do with camera, because even if you were in a war room or in a pitch in a boardroom, right, you still have to be congruent with what you're saying. Because if you're just like, oh, you know what our price is, like $10,000, you know, you gotta be believable. And so I think when you practice, then that gives you an opportunity to be confident on camera. And that's what's really going to separate you from the amateurs and the pros.

Speaker A: Um, definitely, you know, be authentic, learn from the best, and keep it simple. Basically, focus on your customers. It's that simple. But it is that simple. Eventually.

Speaker B: It really is. Yeah. What I will say is that sometimes people get buried in the tech. They were like, oh, well, what mic do I need? Do I need a soundboard? What lights? What cameras do I need? A teleprompter? And I always tell clients, like, first off, the very first step is that it's not about the gear. It's about how to get the gears working up here. It's understanding your client. It's understanding what they're trying to solve. And then for you to clear out your insecurities and whatnot and be the best. You just like, you know what it is that you do. There's a reason why you started your business. There's a reason why you're the vp, the cmo, the CEO. Because you're great at this, right? And so you just have to, when you're looking at the camera, you're just like, you know what? I'm just going to give you the truth, basically. I'm going to give you the open book about why we're successful and why this business, product or service, we feel, is really going to help you get to where it is that you need to be.

Speaker A: Stephanie, um, thank you so much for this. I, ah, think, uh, we had an interview packed with tips in regards to livestream video. I think. Again, it's an amazing topic and it has so much opportunities within it for growing brands. So thanks a lot. It's a pleasure and I hope you have learned. Until next time, thank you. Thank you so much for listening to the Hose, the Pro podcast. If you have any questions for our speakers or would like to learn more about makeup and our network of experts, please visit our website at maple.com m a y P L E Com. Feel free to subscribe to this podcast and share this episode with your community. See you next time.