scope

Recently I heard from my business/writing coach Shelley Hitz and other friends online about Periscope. At first I sheepishly admit that I groaned a little and thought, “Not another social media site!” Sometimes it’s hard enough keeping up with the ones I’m on now!

But as I watched Shelley Hitz’s scopes on how it can connect you more with your ideal market and even sell more of your books, I reconsidered it. I did find the technology fascinating. And since I’m a heart girl, I loved the colored hearts!

Chris Weigand commented the other day on Shelley Valasek‘s Facebook wall that she’d seen I had installed it on my iPhone and asked her what the heck Periscope is.

Basically you’re recording a video and people are seeing it in real time (which means if you screw up, everyone sees it!) You share the video as you’re recording it with your network, and it can be from anywhere in the world, which is one of its big attractions.

I saw a scope this week by a woman in Paris, France, who was about to move to Africa for a mission trip with her husband and her children. So cool!

Your topics, and the opportunities for how you can use “scoping,” are endless. You promote your video from Twitter primarily, but you can save it to your camera roll. (Or delete them if you mess up or don’t like it!)

When you hit the “Broadcast now” red button to go live, your Twitter followers get an announcement about it on their phone. (And my iPhone whistles, too!)

My husband Ray, a die-hard Star Trek fan, would love what Periscope’s founders said about it: “It may sound crazy, but we wanted something that was the closest thing to teleportation.”

At first, I watched Shelley’s scopes for authors, my worship leader friend LaToya‘s worship scopes, and other “Scope schools for newbie users,” just observing what they were saying and doing. I’ve seen everything from someone wakeboarding with one hand, while holding his video to scope, to Ferguson protests, to authors’ book launches. One woman used it for a video of walking her dog. 

The biggest benefit is being able to interact immediately with attendees. 

If they like what you’re saying and doing, they can tap their phone and give you hearts. The hearts are so cute and are different colors. If they really like what you’re saying, you receive a heart volcano!

The more hearts you have, the higher your popularity. They get your username ranked in Periscope’s app under “People to follow; there’s also a “Most Loved” section. 

One of the best ways to get engagement (followers chatting and giving hearts) is to respond to what your followers are saying in the chat box.

Say their name, answer their questions, comment on their responses. Ask their real name (some just have user handles) and what city, state, nation they are from. Like a networking meeting, ask what they do. 

Your video is available for 24 hours afterward, or you can save it to your phone or at Katch.me.

I confess that I’m now a Scope Addict. I just need to start doing my own scopes vs. watching others, so pray for me!

Here’s 5 tips for using Periscope. Below are my suggestions, gleaned from this post. 

Just have a good conversation!

The great news about Periscope is that you don’t have to be perfect to do it. 

Offer Chips and Salsa

• Just be yourself. Goofy or serious, introvert or extrovert, makeup or no makeup, giving 3 amazing tips or just hanging out with friends for the night, be unique, wonderful you. Let your “scopers” get to know you. Have fun, learn new things, and be inspiring (or inspired) or motivating (motivated).
• The length is up to you. Remember that people are busy and their attention span is short. But some are scoping longer. Brenda Barbosa, Writer In Florida, said that she recently scoped for over 30 minutes, and a well known podcaster contacted her afterward, inviting her to be on her podcast, sharing the valuable content she had on her scope. You never know where your scope might lead! (I love her scopes because she videos the beauty of Florida on hers and has practical tips).
• Create a salty title

  Click To Tweet

  (I love chips and salsa at the Mexican restaurant, which is why I said this!) Your title should tell what the broadcast will be about, intriguing them to come, like offering them chips & salsa). It can be as serious as a night of worship, or like the funny one-handed wakeboarding video.

• Stay safe. I do NOT recommend location tagging, showing your exact location, although others do. (I’m a bit concerned about psychos showing up at our front door.) You can also do a private broadcast, and only the people you invite can come, instead of it appearing on the global list. Another option is restricting chat so chats won’t show up on your video. Yes, sometimes trolls come and yes, sometimes they cuss, hail the devil, or say perverse things. This comes with the territory and happens on webinars and telecalls, too. Last night I was on a scope and a troll randomly posted the male anatomy part, and was quickly sent to the “block party” (lingo for where blocked people go.) Tell everyone you just blocked the person. If you don’t restrict chatting, you can block the trolls and kick them off by touching their chat box, and then blocking them. They are then forever blocked. Another security option is to not broadcast it on Twitter so your video won’t be tweeted…although with this option, I’m thinking, “Um, what’s the point?!” Here’s a post on safety tips.
• Talk to the people! This is not about you, so engage. While I may not be as concerned as one Scope Guru who said the other night her goal is “to get one million hearts” (and make lots of money–but I believe Periscope is an incredible tool right now to tell people about JESUS!), I do agree it’s an amazing platform for your business as a speaker, author, and entrepreneur.
• Don’t be afraid. Don’t wait to use it! I believe there’s a limited window of time to use it, as it is right now, for God (and for your business). Who knows, Periscope and/or Twitter may start charging for it, creating ads like Facebook, or it may fizzle out eventually as some social media sites do over time. Right now it’s hot, so jump aboard the train. Don’t over think it. Just do it!

I’ve been using it this week to promote my free call, The #1 Key To God’s Blessings for Success, on August 14 at 10 a.m. Central Time. This call is also the re-launch for my eBook, Showers of Blessings: Affirmations for Christian Women Entrepreneurs, available soon on Amazon.

Do you scope? What do you think of Periscope? What do you like (or not like) about it? What has been your favorite scope so far? Leave your comments below.

Be sure to find me on Periscope at Beth Jones. Follow me on Twitter @bethmjones.