Top Periscopers share their secrets

Periscope tips and advice from the pros

So, as I already discussed in this awesome post, Periscope is my new obsession.

It’s an app that let’s you stream video live from your mobile and interact with your viewers in real time. It’s free to sign up. To get started, just use your Twitter account, and download the app to your Android or iOS device.

But while there are already a gazillion ‘how to’ articles on Periscope, I find that most of them state the bleeding obvious.

I want to know the secrets, the top periscope tips that answer the big questions:

• What makes the difference between an okay scoper and an UBER scoper?
• What could make the difference between just my mum watching and the whole world Tooning in?
• And, how can you use Periscope to drive traffic and sales to your business?

In this post, I’ll share some great tips for fab scopers, as well as giving you the low-down on my own personal scoping special sauce.

TIP 1: Don’t beg for followers or hearts

“My best advice is to be yourself and no one else. Don’t beg for followers or hearts. Just have good content and the people will come.”

Dan Moore | DanandMoore.com | @DANandMOORE

TIP 2: Don’t be afraid to screw up

“Don’t be afraid to screw up the first few broadcasts you do. It’s totally normal, and everyone does it! Your system and comfort level with the platform will evolve the more you use it. The important part is to simply be yourself, and when mistakes happen, just poke fun at them and move on.”

Kim Garst | KimGarst.com | @kimgarst

TOON TIP: I actually signed up to Kim’s Periscope Profit Machine ecourse last week (it’s the first ecourse I’ve ever done,) and it’s awesome. If you’re a newbie, this affordable course – with a great community behind it – is a seriously fab place to start.

TIP 3: Make sure there’s a call to action

“We use our live streaming to show our viewers behind the scenes of how we make our products. The viewers feel they’re part of the process and always ask how they can buy the product they see. So, we send them to the Perfection Chocolates website and our other platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

With every broadcast they make sure there’s a call to action and this has resulted in sales.”

John Kapos | Perfection Chocolates | @chocolatejohnny

TIP 4: It’s important to engage

“It’s important to engage. You’re not a billboard, advertising AT people, you’re one person on a screen having a conversation with 5, 50 or 500 people on the other side. Everyone is a real person and every person matters.

Also, I agree that you need to be yourself. It doesn’t sound actionable, but people need to find ways to weave their personality through their content. No one is watching because they want to go back to a class room. They’re watching because they want to connect AND they want valuable content.”

Sarah Moore | The Moore Academy | @The_Sarah_Moore

TIP 5: Don’t drive and scope

“I recommend using a good quality, approachable profile picture and a snappy succinct bio.

But one thing I think is really important is that you don’t drive and scope. I don’t care if you’ve got your phone in your hand or it’s mounted on your dashboard. If you’re looking at the comments, you’re not focused on your driving.”

Danielle Emeny | SweetCheeksCookiesandCakes.com.au | @danielleemeny

TIP 6: Get over your fear of being on camera

“For newbies getting involved with Periscope I recommend a three-step process:
Step 1: Watch other people’s broadcasts to learn how the interaction side of it works
Step 2: Get over your fear of being on camera, it’s not as bad as you think – people want to engage with you
Step 3: Go live!

Also check out the #peritribe hashtag on Twitter for great people to follow and and more useful tips.”

Tristan Griffiths | AllThingsNetworking.com | @ATMNetworking

TIP 7: Make the most of the platform

“Get the audience engaged. You have a unique opportunity to really connect with people – if you don’t engage them, they might as well be watching a recorded video. I recommend making the most of the platform!”

Tash Corbin | TashCorbin.com | @tashcorbin

TIP 8: Be prepared

“It’s important to be prepared. Keep a list of Periscope topics on hand so you can scope regularly and consistently. Prepare an image of your topic to display as your opening screen, and look at the camera hole, not the screen– I know it’s totally counterintuitive!”

Bianca Van Meeuwen| HaveItAllAcademy.com | @bvanmeeuwen

 

TIP 9: Focus on providing useful advice

“Your first one will be awkward but then they get addictive. Focus on providing useful advice and people will come back.”

Denise Duffield-Thomas | Luckybitch.com | @DeniseDT

 

Some TOON Periscope tips

Yes, I’ve only been scoping for a few weeks, and yes, I don’t have a huge following (yet), but here are a few tips from me that might boost your scopes:

• Mix up your content: Try to have a mix of scope styles including Q&As (ask me anything), behind the scenes, tips and advice, storytelling, tours and outdoor adventures, rants and grumbles. Don’t stick to the same format for every scope.

• Set a regular time: Although I still do random scopes when I feel like it, I get many more followers, shares and hearts from my regular 10am scopes (Tues and Wednesday).

• Sign up to  Katch.me : It allows you to keep your scopes for longer (they’re only on Periscope for 24 hours). You can also reshare and embed your scopes from Katch.me.

• Repurpose your content: If your scope went well, consider repurposing it for YouTube, sharing it across other social media networks, embedding it into a blog post or sending it to your email base.

• Remove the trolls: If someone says something inappropriate on your scope, just click their name to block them. Often other watchers will do this for you.

• Find a scoping buddy: Often, seeing someone else interact with your scope encourages others to do the same. Find a scoping buddy to help get the scope party started with some short snappy statements. Here are a few I use:
  • Please share this scope on Twitter and with your followers
  • Follow Kate at @katetooncopy
  • Catch Kate’s next scope tomorrow at 10.00 AEST
  • Find Kate at katetooncopywriter.com.au

• Have fun: I find, Periscope is a great way to chat to many of my internet buddies and interact. It’s an awesome outlet for a solo worker like me.
  Yes, I make mistakes, yes, I cringe at some of my scope antics, but that’s me; that’s who I am. So I’d better embrace it, right?

 

Do you have any Periscope heroes? Or any top tips you’d like to share? Please let me know if the comments below.

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