by Beth K. Vogt, @bethvogt
Back in the spring, I started doing Facebook Live videos on my Author Facebook page. I’d heard the benefits of Facebook Live videos, specifically how Facebook prioritizes showing live video in people’s feeds, making it a great way to increase your visibility to readers.
Even knowing this, the introvert in me hung back longer than I should have. I confess to a bit of dramatic wailing and gnashing my teeth while I got ready for my first video. Made putting on my makeup a bit of a challenge, but I got it done.
I’ve been doing live videos for four months now, starting once a week on Mondays and moving quickly to twice a week, adding Friday mornings. Guess what? I have fun with my Facebook Live videos now.
Consider these five tips if you want to try Facebook Live videos:
- Select a topic for your video. It helps to focus on a specific subject. On Mondays I highlight a motivational quote, including a graphic that I post on my Facebook page and also share to Instagram. On Fridays I share first lines from upcoming releases. It’s fun to introduce writer-friends’ books or to tell readers about my favorite books, both fiction and nonfiction.
- Choose a specific day and time –and then stick with it. I started with Mondays at 9 a.m. (MT) and then added Fridays. I try to stay very close to that time frame. Sometimes if I have an appointment I can’t avoid, I go live earlier. I know I could also post “Hey, I’m going live in half an hour” to give people a head’s up about the FB Live, but I’m trying to keep things informal with my morning videos.
- Check how you and your background look before going live. Even though my videos are casual, I do a quick check that my background looks good, that I’m centered in the camera, and that the lighting is the best. Yes, I asked my VA how the first few videos looked and adjusted. Invest in a light ring so you don’t look washed out. I also always double check my audio and lighting level on my computer. It doesn’t help to be muted when you go live. Ask me how I know this.
- Don’t forget your audience. If someone comments while you’re talking, go ahead and say hello. It’s nice to answer if someone posts a question or comment, but don’t get caught up in the comment box. Stay focused on your topic. Go back and reply to comments after you finish your video. Also, some people will watch your video on replay, so make sure to reply to those comments too.
- Be careful about how long your Facebook Live video runs. Videos are a great way to connect with readers, but it’s important to respect people’s time. Don’t talk forever. Know what you want to say. Say it. Thank people for joining you. And then say goodbye. Five minutes is a good length for a Facebook Live video – no more than ten minutes.
And there you have it: five quick tips to help you give Facebook Live videos a try. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being yourself and connecting with people in a genuine way.
How can you choose what is right for you when your decision will break the heart of someone you love? Having abandoned her childhood dream years ago, Johanna Thatcher knows what she wants from life. Discovering that her fiancé was cheating on her only convinces Johanna it’s best to maintain control and protect her heart.
Despite years of distance and friction, Johanna and her sisters, Jillian and Payton, have moved from a truce toward a fragile friendship. But then Johanna reveals she has the one thing Jillian wants most and may never have—and Johanna doesn’t want it. As Johanna wrestles with a choice that will change her life and her relationships with her sisters forever, the cracks in Jillian’s marriage and faith deepen. Through it all, the Thatcher sisters must decide once and for all what it means to be family.
Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, releases May 2020. Other books in the series include Things I Never Told You, which one the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget.
Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding Series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us.
An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people. Connect with Beth at bethvogt.com.