10 Rules for a successful livestream
- If you can avoid it, no need to get professional video people involved. Like doctors and lawyers they will complicate ($$$) everything. (There are some exceptions. See Live at Vito’s in Seattle)
- Simple and homemade is absolutely fine. People actually prefer it
- The first place to spend money/nerdom is on sound quality (good microphone or microphones, mixer)
- If all you can manage is one camera on a tripod, that’s fine, but if you have a band, it’s better to have a live person who can change vantages and focus on soloists
- Up close and personal is better than a camera shooting from the back of the room
- This is TV, the small screen, not a concert hall stage or a noisy club. Talk like you’re talking to a person, not an audience
- Make sure the payment/donation button is front and center and absolutely visible and easy to find
- Record and archive your stuff
- Make sure there’s a clear link to your merch – CDs, T-Shirts etc.
- Invite people to join your EMAIL list. Everything else (Facebook, Twitter etc) is a distant second in value
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Ella Fitzgerald