Have you been wanting to add video to your content creating repertoire? But maybe you’re wondering how to get started. When you consider “going live” on Facebook, it can be a little scary…what if you mess up, look dumb, or stumble over your words? I’m with you on the doubts…I want to practice until it’s perfect, and then some more.

I have two solutions for Vlogging, or video blogging. Check out what you can do on YouTube Live and on Facebook Live. But first, what is Vlogging?

What is Vlogging?

Video Blogging. It’s a great way to create content on your website or on your social media platforms. For those who don’t really like to write, but still have things to say, it can be the perfect solution to creating extra value for your clients and future clients on your website. It also has excellent SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Now both Facebook and YouTube have made it easy.

YouTube Live

Until September of this year (2016) Google + had the “Hangouts on Air” feature. Now it resides on YouTube as “YouTube Live”. It has amazing ease and power to create videos for your blog. You can sit at your computer (with camera) either by yourself or with another person or a number of people from their own computer and record the conversation. I can think of so many possibilities:

• Interview a credit counselor for tips for home buyers on building and maintaining good credit.
• Interview a lender about their loan products.
• Have a round-robin conversation with a lender and a title attorney and have your very own First-Time Home Buyers Seminar…virtually.
• Answer home buyer and home seller questions just like you would in a written blog post.
• Give market updates.

The best thing about it is that you can practice…you can set your video to “unlisted” or “private” when you start. If you don’t like it, try again. When you get to the point where you are satisfied, flip the successful video to “public” and just delete the previous attempts. This way, you can create a masterpiece without any embarrassment.

When you are happy with the results you can still open it up in YouTube editor and add some finishing touches. You can add intros, cool transitions, titles both in front and anywhere along the video, and many more elements. You can even add extra images, like a graph, or a photo of a listing. For a free service, the tools on YouTube are pretty amazing.

Facebook Live

If you are using Facebook, you’ve no doubt become aware of Facebook Live. I can’t even watch T.V. for a night without seeing a commercial encouraging me to use Facebook Live. I’m thinking that it hasn’t taken off like they would like. Maybe because we all want to do it well without messing up? Maybe because we’re wondering what to say or do? I admit, I get a little seasick with some of the wobbly live videos my Facebook friends are creating. Don’t get me wrong…good for them for jumping in! I’m just not quite ready. But there is a remedy for my reluctance.

Did you know you can do a Facebook Live video with the setting on “private”? Yes, you can practice all you want. Practice your script, the way you hold your phone, and the steps you might take, or where you’ll sit or stand. Practice with different lighting. Get it just the way you want it, then go live. Then be brilliant!

Do you want more control than that? Chris and I found a way to do Facebook Live from our computer. We think it’s pretty cool. The screen is larger than when you go live from your phone. It looks more pleasing to the eye, in my opinion.

If you want to broadcast from your computer, you’ll need to use an app. There are quite a few that work with Facebook Live, but the most popular ones are OBS Studio (free) and Wirecast, which costs quite a bit. There are several others, but I’m using OBS Studio and I like it just fine.

Closed Captions

Facebook just recently made Closed Captioning available to those with Business Pages. You can easily add them to a video after you upload it to your page. This article in Social Media Today explains how. Basically, you click on “edit” for a video, then click “captions” and then click “generate”. It’s really that easy.

So check out Facebook Live and YouTube Live and create some good stuff!

Related Reading: Building A YouTube Channel for Real Estate