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Are you ready to go live, but you’re not quite sure where to start? Then we provide a guide here on how to get started and what you need for it to become an adventure you can be proud of.
Live streaming is one of the most popular forms of online content today and has experienced enormous growth in recent years. Websites such as Twitch.tv and YouTube have made it possible for anyone to become a success online. More and more people watch livestreaming today than they watch the regular streaming services—and the trend is steadily rising.
Many watch the same streamers because of their level of entertainment. Most, for example, watch computer games where the professionals train live on their stream. It’s like watching Cristiano Ronaldo in the gym or on the pitch, where you see how he improves. You get a completely unique insight into the very highest level of something that so many people strive for today.
Why is live streaming so popular in 2021?
If your own perception of live streaming isn’t that it’s growing rapidly, then these statistics might convince you:
- People don’t think TV is important anymore. Only 42% of people today have a cable connection so they can watch live TV.
- While live TV is declining in popularity, live streaming is on the rise. In households that have devices for streaming, 19% of them watch live streaming content.
- Viewers watch 3 times more live videos than pre-recorded videos.
Source: https://restream.io/blog/live-streaming-statistics/
How do you get ready to live stream?
Because it’s “live” streaming, you might think that most of it is improvised and that you can easily go live without a specific plan. However, most big streamers aren’t unprepared—not even the gamers. If you’re interested in getting a live streaming channel up and running, and not just as a hobby, I strongly recommend making a plan before you press the “live” button:
1) Plan: If you want people to come to your stream, you need to choose the right time. The most important thing to consider is: when does your audience have the opportunity to watch your stream? If, for example, schoolchildren are your target group, then daytime + late evening is probably not the world’s best idea.
2) Find your niche: What is going to happen on your live stream? Live streaming has many popular niches, and you need to be able to fit in. For example, gaming, music, sports and “IRL” streaming are very popular. You can narrow it down even further by choosing a subcategory within one of these categories.
3) Find your audience: It can be difficult to know what you should stream if you don’t know who is watching. If you can’t define your audience, your content for them won’t be comprehensive. Your content is your livelihood, and therefore you need to know what your audience expects from you.
4) Set some goals: It can be hard to know whether you should be satisfied if you don’t set some goals for your stream. It’s not easy when you’re just starting out, so you may also need to start with very small goals. Set goals for how many times you want to stream in a week, or how many viewers you would like in total after 1 month.
5) Promote: Make some noise about yourself. You’ve gotten started and that’s really great. Share your stream in various Facebook groups and tell your friends about it—everywhere you can. They might think it’s weird, but it’s good for your stream that people drop in and watch, and in the best case, write a little in the chat.
What is a basic streaming setup?
To get started, there are some elements that are essential, and later you can spice up the setup with some extra cool elements. Here, however, we’ll first cover the most important ones you need in order to be able to stream. The 4 most important elements are a camera, a microphone, your streaming software, and a good internet connection.
📷 Camera
The camera is essential, as it allows your viewers to actually see you. Technically, you can absolutely live stream without a camera, but all studies and data indicate that one of the most important requirements from consumers is that the streamer you’re watching has a camera. You can easily find a camera that gives you excellent quality without your bank account taking a serious hit.
See, for example, this SriHome Full HD Webcam.
🎙 Microphones
Although a camera is important, it is not as important as a microphone. Most viewers can live with a so-so image of you, but if they’re going to sit and watch you stream for several hours while your audio is mediocre, it won’t be a success for your viewers. You can get microphones in many price ranges, but first you need to choose whether it should be a USB microphone or an XLR microphone. If you choose to use an XLR microphone, you should be aware that it will also require an audio interface. A good USB microphone could be this Audio-Technia AT2020, which delivers really good quality at a good price, or this “state of the art” Shure SM7B which some of the biggest streamers also use.
👨🏽💻 Streaming software
Streaming software is the connection between your computer and the chosen streaming platform. The learning curve here is a bit steeper than, for example, plugging a microphone into your computer via USB. I’d recommend spending a couple of hours watching 2–3 YouTube videos about the software you choose to use. I’d recommend OBS Studio or StreamLabs, which are the most used (and they’re free).
🔌 Internet connection
It almost goes without saying that a good internet connection is a must. The reason is quite simple; you need to transmit video and audio live, and that requires a stable connection.
🔝 The icing on the cake
Live streaming can become an expensive hobby, because you can always make your stream even cooler. Whether it’s the quality of your hardware, or your surroundings when you stream. It can always get more extreme. For example, it could be something like party lights that you use when you do something crazy on the stream. Ring lights to achieve the perfect lighting on your handsome face, or light signs to hang in the background. Only your imagination is the limit!
Where should you stream your content?
Now you’ve made a plan for your new stream, and you’ve found the gear that makes it possible to livestream. So can you just go live? Yes, you can, but you’ll probably want to choose which platform you want to be on, and decide how many you want to be on.
If you haven’t chosen a specific niche for your stream and you want to reach as many people as possible, then the learning curve is very small on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
▶ YouTube Live: With both OBS Studio and StreamLabs, you can easily set YouTube as a channel you want to stream to and go live.
▶ Facebook Live: It’s smart to go live on Facebook if you already have a small following, friends and family on Facebook, and you’re speaking to a more general audience. It’s also quite easy to set up!
▶ Twitter Live: If your stream contains breaking news and updates, Twitter might be the platform for you.
🎮 Gaming streams
Gaming and esports are the biggest genre within livestreaming today. That of course also means that there are dedicated platforms for gaming.
▶ Twitch: Twitch is by far the biggest gaming platform out there. If you don’t know Twitch, it can feel overwhelming when you go in there. You’ll find pretty much all game titles, famous streamers and celebrities who use it as a kind of “talk show format”. Twitch also has a community that requires you to know a bit of the jargon and not be affected by memes and trolls in the chat.
▶ YouTube Gaming: Even though the platform isn’t as big as Twitch, for many it’s “easier” because it’s YouTube, which everyone knows. You can find many loyal fans once you get them onto YouTube.
▶ Facebook Gaming: Your third option as a gamer is Facebook Gaming, where you can get direct access to the people you already have on Facebook.
📝 Creative streams
Of course, there are other streams than gaming streams. In fact, creative streams have started to take up more and more space in the streaming landscape. Besides Twitch, YouTube and Facebook, there are also dedicated platforms for you as a creative communicator.
▶ Mixcloud: If you want to live stream music and DJ mixes, or you want to start a show or podcast, then Mixcloud can easily be exactly the right choice for you!
▶ Picarto: Picarto is a platform where artists can live stream while they showcase their creative skills. Picarto isn’t huge yet, but you’re seeing a growing trend in the use of this platform.
👔 Business streams
Live streaming has really taken off over the past couple of years. Many call them “webinars” and some call them live streams—in my world it’s pretty much the same. It’s a way for some companies to promote their brand and expand their network through knowledge sharing and a bit of mutual praise.
▶ LinkedIn Live: The best place to do live streams in a professional way is LinkedIn. Even though their Live platform is relatively new, it works for the purpose. Quite a lot of people also use other software to host their live stream, but almost all Danish business live streams are promoted on LinkedIn. That’s why most people also expect strong growth on their own platform.
Ideas for live streams
If you’ve hit a wall and maybe don’t know what to do on your live stream, here are a few popular suggestions below:
▶ Live interviews and Q&As: Live streaming is perfect for interviews and Q&As. You can easily sit down and do an interview without needing to have the other person in the room. You just bring them in via a Discord connection or similar and do a split-screen view. People in the chat can continuously submit questions, and it usually creates a really great atmosphere.
▶ Live stream events: People love events, even if they’re virtual. Live stream an event that you or your company is hosting and let people follow along.
▶ Podcasts: More and more people listen to podcasts, and more and more see the idea in having a live stream as a podcast. That is, an established podcast does live streams, or an established live streamer creates a podcast. If you, for example, do interviews, you can release the audio as a podcast afterwards.
▶ Product launch: Do a live launch when new products arrive. Use the opportunity to do demos, answer questions or run competitions.
▶ “Behind the scenes”: Create a kind of “behind the scenes” for either your company, podcast, or stream. People love getting an in-depth look at something they normally don’t get to see.
A few extra tips and tricks for a successful stream
Before I let you loose and you run out and take over the live streaming world, I’ll just allow myself to share a few tips and tricks that will give you an advantage over your competitors who have also just started.
💡 Graphics can make you look professional: If, from the start, you’ve had some great graphic material made for your streaming landing page, live on your stream and on your social media, then you have a huge advantage over your competitors. You come across as serious and much more professional than you might be at the beginning. I recommend Fiverr.com as a really good and affordable starter solution.
💡 Practise in front of a camera every day: For many people, talking in front of a camera can be anxiety-inducing. I therefore recommend that every day you quickly shoot a video of yourself on your phone where you just talk about something completely irrelevant. Of course, you can also use it as self-therapy, a diary or similar, but with this discipline it’s simply practice that makes perfect.
💡 Forget all the myths and rumours you’ve heard about live streaming: You may have heard some either good or nasty rumours and myths about live streaming, people in the industry, or similar. Forget them all. You need to form your own opinions, relationships and everything in between entirely on your own. Only you can create your own streaming journey.
💡 Get to grips with the nerdy details: 80% of viewers on live streams will stop watching you stream if they have a bad experience. If you’re seeing this trend and don’t know what to do, it can be beneficial to dive into nerdy details such as: bitrate, keyfreame interval, FPS, dropped frames and video codec, to future-proof high quality for yourself and your stream.
Really good streaming!
