Originally appeared on FunnelMagazine.com January 25, 2018

The word for 2018 is officially “Growth” and that’s exactly what we are going to do here in this article — grow your online presence and get you out in front of your audience.

If you read my previous article, “The Secret to Growing Your Online Relationships Through Social Media” you already know that you need a plan! If you haven’t read it, go back and read it later, but I’ll give you a quick summary here.

We all know how powerful social media is with viral videos — make note I said “videos” – showing up daily now. You probably saw that one where the Italian grandma got an Alexa for Christmas and was so surprised. Or how about the Chewbacca mom from awhile back, that one was huge!

Social media is no longer a place where you just post a simple text update about what you ate – although, depending on who you are and who’s following this might still be of interest, to each his own right? Now social media is all about video – specifically live video!

As our lives have transitioned from the real world to the virtual (online) world, video – live video – is what makes us more personable. It’s the next best thing to actually seeing each other in person. The fact that I could be in California filming a live broadcast on Facebook where anyone could tune in and see who I really am is crazy right?

Sure my written words might paint a picture or you might get a sense of who I am by seeing an image of me, but it’s video – more importantly, live video – that really allows you to see who I am. That’s why you need to warm up to the idea of being on video and going live especially if you are running a business and want to stand out and that is what I am going to help you with here.

Chances are you have at least two social media profiles (having a personal profile and a business page on Facebook counts as two profiles) and then probably your website’s blog. Now you are only one person and yet you have to create all this content to post to all your social media profiles – this is on top of working with your clients, creating new products and networking. Overwhelming right?

Are you ready to take some notes?

• List out (if you haven’t already given my previous article) every social media profile you have
• Make note of the one you enjoy the most – what feels comfortable for you and is easy to use
• Make note which one gets the most engagement – if you’re just starting out don’t worry, I got you!

Now focus on the one, only the one, that makes it to the top of that list you just created. To give you a real-life example I will share with you my top pick and the strategy I’m using.

Facebook made it to the top of my list – it’s my number one!

Thankfully Facebook is still the biggest social media platform so that helps and it’s where I feel most comfortable – not to mention it’s where I get the most engagement.

Why?

Facebook allows me to easily engage with the people I know and more importantly, the people I don’t…yet! It allows me to easily share my content but more importantly, it makes it easy to share other people’s content.

“The magic happens in the comments!”

Think about it, how are you going to stand out if you are constantly just posting your own content and are not engaging with others? You won’t! Why? Because everyone else is doing that too! You need, and will after this article, to step up your online game!

Now that we know which social media network (Facebook for this example) to focus on, it’s time to create a plan! Here is a simple formula you can use to set up your online game:

Plan. Show up. Deliver. Follow up in the comments.

The plan is to pick 1 topic with up to 3 talking points that you can cover in a live broadcast — that’s it! Then all you have to do is show up – Go live! Facebook wants you to live broadcast. If you do this Facebook will favor your post over all other post types which means your post will actually have a higher chance of being seen by others.

Yes, it’s scary to be on video, let alone live video, but I promise you it gets easier and knowing these tips I’m about to share will help you! Trust me, I hated watching myself on video and it was even worse listening to my voice. Now, however, I don’t care. I just show up and deliver.

Tips before going live:

• Know your topic and up to 3 talking points
• Have good lighting and make sure your surroundings are not too loud – we want to actually hear you
• Once you go live, don’t worry about the numbers — focus on delivering the content and nothing else. If people comment during the live you can always answer them after you finish talking or later follow up after the broadcast
• Remind yourself your live broadcast doesn’t have to be perfect and that you’re probably going to mess up — it’s ok!

If going live on video is just way too much for you to start, then go live from you phone and Facebook actually allows you to switch from video to audio (tap on the 3 dots in the lower right corner).

Remember, your only job here is to show up and deliver the content. Anything else is just extra!

After the broadcast, be sure to breath, pat yourself on the back and then follow-up to any comments you have. Always comment and use Facebook emotions, not just a like as this will help boost your post too!

If you want to see how I do it you can tune in live to my show Ed Talk TV on Facebook or watch the replay! All the details can be found here at Ed Talk TV. When you stop by drop a comment on my page and let me know you found me from this post. This is how the conversation and connections start!