Last updated on June 14th, 2024
Ileane Smith talks about which live streaming platforms are best for which audiences, and which situations.
GUEST: Ileane Smith. Find Ileane at IleaneSmith.com and on YouTube, the Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast, Facebook, Twitter, and on Instagram.
HOST: The VidAction Podcast is hosted by Dane Golden of VidAction | LinkedIn | YouTube
SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by our affiliate partners, including: TubeBuddy, VidIQ, MorningFame, Rev.com, and other products and services we recommend.
PRODUCER: Jason Perrier of Phizzy Studios
TRANSCRIPT
Dane Golden:
It’s time for the VidAction Podcast from HEY.com. This is the podcast where we help marketers and business owners like you get more value out of your video marketing efforts. My name is Dane Golden and today we have a special guest, Ileane Smith of IleaneSmith.com.
Ileane Smith:
Hey, everybody. I’m here. Oh, my gosh, it’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally here on the podcast. Thank you so much, Dane.
Dane Golden:
It’s great to actually meet you. We’ve been corresponding over social media for so long and finally get you on the podcast.
Ileane Smith:
I go back to the days of Tube Talk. And even before that, I run across you on various blogs and in different video platforms.
Dane Golden:
This is fantastic. Thank you very much. And you do such a great job, and you help people with various live streaming platforms. Could you tell me a little bit about what your niche is?
Ileane Smith:
Well, really, I am one of those folks who considers herself as a content creator. I do live streaming but I also have a podcast. That’s the Ms. Ileane Speaks podcast, by the way, and I’ve also been blogging for years. So I do a little of everything, but live video is really the thing that I seem to gravitate to, that I love doing. I have so much fun when I’m live streaming and especially when I’m able to interact with my audience in real time, and that’s why I’m such a huge fan of live streaming.
Dane Golden:
And so the reason I asked you on is because you seem to do every single platform, live streaming, you test it out, and you also seem to have some good thoughts on what platform is better for what purpose or different audience. Does that sound like a good topic for today?
Ileane Smith:
Yeah. And you know, the history goes all the way back to Google Hangouts On Air. We’re talking about like 2013, 2014 when they first launched, and all these different apps, some of them have come and some of them have gone. YouTube and Google have always embraced this whole idea of live. But when Facebook embraced live streaming, people seemed to have lost their minds. And no matter how much I was telling folks, you got to get on cam, you got to get on video. Both of us were preaching to the masses, and people weren’t even paying any attention until Facebook flipped the switch. And so now, people are coming out of their shell, they’re realizing that they can get in front of the camera, they can connect with their audience, and they’ve realized the power of video. In particular, live streaming, because now I’ll just give you example of some of my other favorites.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
You’ve got Facebook Live, you’ve got Instagram, even Periscope, aka, Twitter Live.
Dane Golden:
Is that still a thing. I don’t know use that.
Ileane Smith:
Yes, it’s still a thing. In fact, they are iterating on the platform, which lets that they’re still invested in it because they’re still developing Twitter Live and Periscope now that you bring guests on. So you could actually do … You’d have to be recording somewhere locally on your computer, but you could bring people on from your audience and engage with them, and they can be one audio. I know. Who would have thought that Twitter was going to do that? Because they bought it on Periscope first, and now it’s even on Twitter. I’ve even dabbled with Twitch. Also, I want to give a big shout-out to the different software that I’m using.
Dane Golden:
Okay, good.
Ileane Smith:
Because in some sense, you can consider me a beta tester. It seems like somebody’s always, like, I get an email from out of the blue and somebody says, hey, I’ve got this great software, would you like to try it out? And I’m like, “Okay. I’ll get a free one?” Because I remember when I first started live streaming, everyone was really looking at using a software called OBS. And a lot of folks who may be listening to this may be familiar, but really quickly, it’s just a free platform that lets you do all kinds of animations and have things scrolling across the screen and all of that. I took one look at that interface and I said, no way, I am never going to learn OBS.
Dane Golden:
Yeah, too hard.
Ileane Smith:
And I stuck with that. So now I use much more easy to use platforms like, Ecamm Live, which is a Mac-based platform-
Dane Golden:
For Facebook. Is that just for Facebook?
Ileane Smith:
No. YouTube, Facebook, Periscope, and Twitch, and you can use the RTMP. I don’t want to get too techie for folks who may not know what that means. But basically, most of these platforms that have a live streaming component to it, you can just put in some code. It’s more like a password that you put in so you can have RTMP, and that’s how OBS works. But Ecamm Live has direct integration with Facebook and YouTube and Periscope and Twitch. And then there’s another one. Because one of the things that I do, Dane, is I like to educate folks. I know that a lot of folks don’t have Macs. I lived in the PC world for a long time, so I totally understand.
Ileane Smith:
So when I got contacted from the guys at StreamYard, this is a browser-based platform, which means anybody can use it. One of the beauty of using StreamYard is the ease of use of doing interviews for guests. I mentioned earlier, I’m also in the podcasting world. And so this was the perfect solution for all of my newbie podcasters that come to me, like, how can I interview? How to do remote interviews? They don’t want to use Skype, like we’re doing now. And I’m like, just use StreamYard. It’s browser-based, it works with Chrome, and all you have to do is send people a link, and then they come in. You could keep it as a live stream show if you want. But if you didn’t, you would just go to Facebook later on or go to YouTube later on, and download that file and then convert it and use it for the audio of a podcast.
Dane Golden:
So let’s break down some of the things you’re talking about here. So first of all, when you talk about Ecamm Live, that’s E-C-A-M-M Live. And by the way, that’s a tool that’s been around, or a company that’s been around for a long time. I still use and I’m using now to record this podcast their Call Recorder app for Skype. So I’ve been a fan of that company for a long time. I’m not a big live streamer, so I am not aware – Can you simulcast your live stream on Facebook and YouTube with that tool? Or just one or the other?
Ileane Smith:
Yes. And I’m glad you mentioned that, because both platforms that I’m talking about, Ecamm Live and StreamYard, you can do your multicasting through a third party app called Restream. So it’s restream.io. Now, with that said, I have to give you guys a disclaimer. Everybody listening to this and you as well, Dane.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
I’m not a huge fan of multi-streaming. I know that everybody likes to do it, so I’ve learned how to do it. I’ve got tutorials about how to do, I’ve even done podcast on how to do it. But I’m not a fan of it, and here’s why. One of the things that I love about live streaming is the audience engagement. And if you’ve got an audience over here on the Facebook page, you’ve got another audience over here on your YouTube channel. And then you’re trying to figure out desperately how to bring your Instagram Live people, because Instagram doesn’t have the API yet, but people will have a third device there, or a second device there so they can bring in Instagram Live. Your audience is not together.
Ileane Smith:
As well as being a content creator, I’m also a huge content consumer. I absolutely hate it when I’m in YouTube and all my friends are on Facebook. So now I got to shut down YouTube and go over to Facebook because that’s where all my friends are. So I’m not a huge fan of it for that reason. But I know that people like doing this because they think there’s more numbers, I can reach people where they are and all of that. So I get it.
Dane Golden:
The reason I’m interested in your response to that question is because what I hear you saying when you say, where your friends are, is that from a live stream creators perspective, sometimes you’re thinking, I want numbers, which means I’m looking for an audience. But what you’re saying, I think, is that live streaming is about community, and if you split your community across a whole bunch of things, that means there’s no community.
Ileane Smith:
Yeah. I mean, there’s pockets. There’s pockets of communities. And like I said, I’m not bashing anyone who wants to do it this way, because it’s not until you do it, or until you become that audience member that has their favorite live streamer, and every time they go live, they’re in all these different places. Just that time when you get that sinking feeling like, I want to be where everybody’s hanging out, and it’s always not the place that you are at that moment, right? So, I don’t want to go on too much about that. But I just want to say, think about that, guys, before you start multicasting. And if you do, there’s two apps that you can use to accomplish this. And one is Restream, that’s restream.io, and the other one is Castr, castr.io.
Ileane Smith:
I’ve used Restream, and to be honest with you, a few times, I’ve lost the comments from one of the many platforms that I was … Because like I said, I have to do these things. I can’t teach it unless I do it. Right? So I have done it before. And a couple of times, it was a total fail. I had their paid plan and it still didn’t work. But it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world, but just keep that in consideration. I know, like I said, and like you said, Dane, people want to reach out to as many people as they possibly can. So I like to, perhaps, take a live stream that I’ve done on YouTube, and then maybe edit it down and upload it over on Facebook. And then you could do it as a premiere, that’s another thing that I’m going to talk about today, a video premiere which is almost like a live stream.
Ileane Smith:
In fact, let me take that the other way around. I’ll give you even better examples if you do it the other way around. You do your live on Facebook, download that video from Facebook, and I have tutorials to show you guys how to do all this. And then you upload that, and you want to edit it a little bit, right. Upload that into YouTube as a premier. And if your channel is monetized, okay, you can still get super chats, just as if you were live.
Dane Golden:
Really?
Ileane Smith:
On that premiere. So a premiere acts like a live video for all intents and purposes when it’s one YouTube.
Dane Golden:
So we’re talking about, you do a live stream on Facebook, then you find a way to make it a live stream on YouTube, and the way you do that is by making it a premiere. Yes, it’s sort of pre-programmed, however, you as the creator can actually hang out in the YouTube chat and still be present.
Ileane Smith:
Yes. You should be. If you’re doing a premiere on either platform, YouTube or Facebook, you actually can do premieres on Twitch as well. But either of those two platforms, if you’re doing a premiere, you should be there. Because like I said, it’s almost like a live video. It’s a community event where people can still chat because YouTube has this unique feature of the chat that’s only available when you’re live or doing a premier and also the comments section. See, Facebook doesn’t have that. Facebook just has the comments. They don’t have a separate chat.
Dane Golden:
Well, I wanted to ask you, Ileane – I think you’re uniquely qualified, and you’re both a viewer, a participant, a creator – what should someone think of each of these communities and platforms for different purposes? Is one as good as another, is Facebook and YouTube same purpose, same with Instagram, same with LinkedIn, same with Twitch? Or what would you use them differently for?
Ileane Smith:
Okay. Well, let’s just talk about Twitch because that’s the easiest.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
Because Twitch has said that they’re embracing the other content creators, artists and musicians and all that. I spent a lot of time on Twitch, and I got to say pretty much, it is really a gaming focused community. And a lot of the perks are for people who are live streaming their games. It doesn’t say don’t give to try, because, hey, maybe you’ll be that breakout artist or educator who does something different and makes a big splash on Twitch. So I would definitely say that Twitch caters to the gaming community. Okay.
Ileane Smith:
But when it comes to Facebook and YouTube, let’s just stick to those two. I think that where your audience already is – if you’ve got an audience already – is where you want to go. So if you already have a community, you’ve already been dug in with Facebook groups, or you have a page that’s really still getting some organic growth, then you want to go ahead and do Facebook. And like I said, repurpose that and upload it to YouTube.
Ileane Smith:
Now, if you’re just starting, believe it or not, I’ll say start with YouTube. Because YouTube is unique, because it has that search and it has that intent. People come to YouTube to look for their solutions to their problems, or they want to be entertained, or they want to be educated or enlightened in some way. So it’s a different audience and a different mindset. The person that’s on YouTube is there to watch video and only video. Whereas the person that’s on Facebook, they like videos, but they also want to see their cousins and the baby pictures, their high school chums and all of that.
Dane Golden:
Could you explain to me what a Facebook Watch Party is, and if that’s on live as well as on-demand?
Ileane Smith:
Okay. Very good. You’re up on your lingo.
Dane Golden:
I’m up on the lingo, but I don’t know what it means, because I [crosstalk 00:17:54] everything. But I know you do.
Ileane Smith:
Watch Party. You know what, yes, because I even have a tutorial. Yeah, I’ve got tutorials about all this stuff I’m talking about today, guys. A Watch Party is unique on Facebook, and to be honest, I kind of wish YouTube would adopt this. There is an existing video on Facebook. It could be your own video, it could be one of those red table talks, or it could be one of Oprah Winfrey’s video, it could be any kind of video that already exists on Facebook. You can schedule this. But let’s just say we were hanging out on Facebook right now and we saw this video, we’re like, let’s watch this video with everybody in the video creators Facebook Group, I’m just making that up. Right?
Dane Golden:
Right.
Ileane Smith:
Then that’s when I would say, we’re doing a Watch Party. And then if I’m talking to you or if I already mentioned to you, I’m going to do this Watch Party later on, then you could add videos to the Watch Party too. So as the person who starts the Watch Party – let’s say I’ve already seen this video before – and I know there’s a really good part of the beginning. And then there’s a really good part at the end, I can skip past anything I don’t want or if I see that my audience is dwindling, nobody’s coming to this Watch Party, or people are leaving, then I can skip to a new video.
Dane Golden:
I’m sorry, you’re the essentially content programmer here and you’re-
Ileane Smith:
I’m the person who started the Watch Party.
Dane Golden:
Or the DJ?
Ileane Smith:
Yes. But I can also invite others to contribute videos. So say we’re talking about … Let’s just say we’re playing a birthday party, okay? I know that there’s these really great cakes, and you know about this fantastic way you can blow balloons up and turn them into animals for kids are whatever. And so then you would add a video. And then maybe we would invite someone else and say, remember you were telling us about, then they could add a video. But because I started to Watch Party, I have the ultimate control to stop it, to fast forward past any of you guys’ videos that you’ve added because I’m like, I don’t like that one. And then everybody left as soon as Joe put his videos up there. So let’s just scratch that one.
Ileane Smith:
There’s one recommendation that I want to say for everybody who’s hosting Watch Parties. Always try to end your Watch Party. When you’re finished with whatever it is you want to do, don’t just walk away and like I got to do laundry, so I’m just going to let them. Because Facebook will randomly put videos up after your videos are over. So you always want to, once you started it, you want to be the person who ends it as well. Okay. But they can be fun. And it’s a way to … In fact, I did an IGTV video, and I call this resurfacing content, because it’s not repurposing. It’s got to be a Facebook video and the Watch Party is only on Facebook. So you’re resurfacing your old content. So that’s the great time to do a Watch Party. I know people want to schedule them, you can schedule them. And you should be there.
Dane Golden:
So it’s somewhere in between live and on demand, really. It’s sort of in the middle. I used to be a big live streamer about 10 years ago in the early days of the tech. But I’ve been so out of the loop for a long time, and I wanted to ask Instagram and Instagram TV, what is live on Instagram and Instagram TV?
Ileane Smith:
Okay. IGTV does not have live.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
Okay. So that gets that out the way. And IGTV has a 10-minute limit on the videos you can upload unless you’re somebody who’s a big time and you’ve got a lot of followers or whatever.
Dane Golden:
And they’re vertical videos, yeah.
Ileane Smith:
They were a portrait, but now you can do both.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
It’s only been the last three weeks, Dane, so they gave in. They put out a blog post and said, the people are asking, the user are asking, and the watchers are asking. So we’re going to start landscape video. So you can do landscape, you can do vertical, and people will be prompted to turn their phones. But it’s going to being native, it’s not going to be awkward looking. Because, and you’ll see like the little symbol down at the bottom right hand corner. And if you don’t turn your phone, it’ll just have like, although, it’ll pick up a background color for the top and the bottom. But it’ll be so obvious that you need to just go ahead and turn your phone. Hey, I’m glad that they finally … It’s for the benefit of the platform.
Ileane Smith:
Another thing I have to say about IGTV, because I know a lot of people didn’t like it or they thought it was good in the beginning and then they stopped using it. Well, now the reason why it’s picking up steam is because now a one minute preview of your video will appear on your regular Instagram.
Dane Golden:
Now, what about Instagram Live? Could you explain. I know some people have mastered that, I have no clue.
Ileane Smith:
Instagram’s Live is basically you’re just going live but it only, it’s ephemeral. It’s only there for 24 hours.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
But you can download that video to your phone. So you can still repurpose. And in fact, most of my IGTVs were repurposed, Instagram Lives. I’ve downloaded it, taken it over to my computer, use a little Screenflow, put a little music behind it. And when you upload it to IGTV, you can also send it to your Facebook page. So it counts as a video there, too.
Dane Golden:
You’re cross-posting. Now, LinkedIn Live is not available for everyone. Have they given you access? Because they should have.
Ileane Smith:
That’s so kind of you.
Dane Golden:
You’re the expert.
Ileane Smith:
Honestly, I have not applied over on LinkedIn. I’ll tell you why.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Ileane Smith:
Is because my platforms that I use haven’t got accepted yet. Honestly, I’m right now because it’s so new, and because they have such limited access for folks, I’m not hearing a lot of, oh, my god, you got to see this incredible video. The same stuff that you could probably see on Facebook is what you could probably see over on LinkedIn or on YouTube.
Dane Golden:
Sure.
Ileane Smith:
So there’s only one person that I know, personally, because I don’t know everybody who’s got it, of course, is Cathy Hackl. She does a lot of VR stuff. So if anybody wants to see an example, look up Cathy Hackl. And I think she was at NASA once and doing interviews with the folks behind the scenes and things like that. But a lot of what’s going on right now is people trying to teach people about doing live video. And it’s like, okay, well, you guys could still do that on Facebook and YouTube.
Dane Golden:
And if you could give one last piece of advice to businesses in particular that are a little bit curious about live, but are a little bit afraid of doing it, what would you give them for encouragement?
Ileane Smith:
Well, I would say to really just think about how you can start off small. If you’re afraid to get on camera or if you’re don’t want to invest in big time equipment, just simply use your phone, start off doing those stories, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, they’re 15-second clips. Just to start getting yourself comfortable with being on cam and thinking about the ideas of the kind of content that you want to provide and want to share. And then work your way up. You may want to do an IGTV, which is a little bit longer, or an Instagram video, which is a minute long. As you start to increase your comfort level, realize that you can repurpose this stuff into podcast. And you know, Dane and I are big fans of podcasting.
Dane Golden:
Absolutely.
Ileane Smith:
So don’t just think, once I do a live video, I’m stuck there with the live video. You repurpose it as an upload on a different platform, and also strip that audio out and repurpose it for a podcast or for just audio snippets to add to your portfolio of content.
Dane Golden:
Multiply your content. Ileane Smith, how can people find out more about you?
Ileane Smith:
You can come to ileanesmith.com. And I will spell that for you guys because I have an unusual spelling, and it’s I-L-E-A-N-E. One more time, I-L-E-A-N-E. You’ll see all of my social media links there at the top of this page, and also my YouTube channel has the same name. So it’s youtube.com/ileanesmith.
Dane Golden:
And people will be able to find this episode by searching for HEY and Ileane Smith. My name is Dane Golden and I want to thank you the listener for joining us today. I do this podcast, the VidAction Podcast from HEY.com, and the videos and everything else because I love helping marketers and business owners just like you grow your customer community through helpful how-to videos. Because when you share your expertise in a way that helps your customers live their lives better or do their jobs better, you’ll earn their loyalty and their trust and their business. Thanks to our special guest, Ileane Smith. Until next week, here’s to helping you help your customers through video.