Can you make money on Facebook or YouTube with a limited budget? Yes, you definitely can – with live streaming! Let me share with you how you can use live video to expand your small business and eventually increase your revenue. Read on to find out how to make money with streaming!

Live Streaming as a Powerful Marketing Tool

Decades ago, making money through social media seemed to be a pipe dream for businesses and entrepreneurs. Marketing plans involved elaborate and expensive endeavors that can drain a startup’s limited resources. Small business owners end up dismissing marketing and advertising efforts for lack of budget. 

Now, social media has changed that perception. With just a few well-structured words and a few clicks, small businesses can reach out to a potential global audience. But beyond the promotional status or announcements, live streaming has become an essential, powerful tool in establishing a strong connection between business owners and their clientele. 

Live streaming has become an essential, powerful tool in establishing a strong connection between business owners and their clientele. 

Live streaming on Facebook or YouTube helps your business improve your revenue and make a mark in the industry you’re in. According to Niel Patel, it’s an effective strategy to increase brand awareness, noting that live video has outgrown other forms of video content in the past few years.

So how exactly can you earn money through live streaming? Let’s take a look at what this marketing strategy can do for your business.

Instead of just figuring out how to make money on Facebook or YouTube, live streaming helps you create relationships with your customers.

Building Relationships with Customers

Streaming live on Facebook or YouTube helps your brand become more recognizable to potential customers online by giving your business a face. Knowing there are actual people your customers can see and talk to makes consumers warm up better to a company. 

The more time you spend on a live video, the better your customers will see and appreciate the humanity of your business.

The more time you spend on a live video, the better your customers will see and appreciate the humanity of your business.

Faster ROI

Pre-recorded and edited videos take time to make. Yes, they may look better produced, but in the business world, time is gold. The more time you spend perfecting a video, the further you are from the return of your investment.

That’s not the case with live streaming. When you go live, you immediately see the impact of that video through comments, reactions, and reach in real-time. When the live ends, other people can watch the replay and continue reacting and commenting.

Plus, the fun doesn’t stop when you end your stream. You can repurpose one single video into several other marketing platforms including:

• Blogs
• Short clips for a YouTube playlist
• Daily stories for Instagram and Facebook
• Clips for Twitter
• Sharing on the social media groups

Don’t know how to repurpose videos using sophisticated editing software? Online tools like Wave.video allow you to edit just one live stream video into several creative clips! The more you repurpose your video, the better chance of a faster return to your investment.

Improving Credibility and Building Trust

Thanks to live streaming’s interactive nature, you are able to listen to what your potential customers want in real-time. You then have a chance to make changes with your product or service to improve customer satisfaction. 

You can turn an irate customer into a loyal follower by showing them that you’re willing to listen, help, and improve your service. Live streaming allows you to show your sincerity effectively and immediately.

Live streaming allows you to show your sincerity effectively and immediately

Remember, one satisfied client will recommend your business to two to three others. That’s free marketing right there.

Ways to Make Money from Live Streaming 

With that said, there are several ways to turn your live streaming on Facebook or YouTube into a means to earn money. And no, it’s not just video monetization. 

Here are some ways to make money from your live videos:

Live Selling

Online shopping has taken over the way people buy things. However, static websites take away the customer service experience that buyers get when they shop in actual brick and mortar stores. 

Live streaming can bring together both the customer service and online shopping experience with just a few clicks. Small businesses selling clothes, jewelry, or other items interact with their audience during the live, answering questions one by one in real-time. 

That’s why BeLive added the Live Shopping feature to make selling online easier and more affordable. After all, creating a website and setting up an online shopping system can cost an arm and a leg. That is an investment small businesses may not be able to afford.

Live shopping is an easier and cost-effective alternative to creating a site similar to Amazon. You just have to upload photos of your product in the BeLive Studio, then input the name, price, and description. Once you go live, you can pull it up on the screen with you and talk about the products as you flip through them. Of course, showing the actual item onscreen with you is welcome, too.

Private Coaching / Consultations

Coaches don’t need to be confined to face-to-face sessions with their clients. They can certainly expand to a more global scale through live streaming. 

People pay for expertise on certain subjects, especially for business management, direct selling, marketing, and more. Aside from the more technical topics, personal development coaching is also quite popular. 

Live streaming for coaches is not confined to only one video either. They can cut and edit that video into several clips using Wave.video to post on other platforms. The snippets produced after just one live stream can be transformed into a blog, podcast, or even a special giveaway for the next live stream! 

One example of a successful coaching business using live streaming is Camera Confidence, which is run by the amazing Molly Mahoney. Going live helped her go from zero sales to a million in just three years! 

How did she do it? She switched from edited videos to consistent weekly live streams, and the rest is history! Check out her story here!

If you’re qualified to teach in these areas, here’s how to do live streaming on Facebook or YouTube for paying clients.

• Create a private Facebook group with paying members.
• Schedule weekly lives for special classes and even a free coaching on your general page.
• One-on-one sessions can be done through Zoom or similar tools.
• For YouTube: Create an unlisted or private stream and share to your paying clients

Sponsorships, Partnerships, and Affiliate Marketing

YouTubers don’t just rely on their earnings from the views on the videos they publish. They also make money from partnerships and affiliate links.

Live streamers partner with companies to promote their product or service in exchange for a fee. They can also get commissions by sharing affiliate links to viewers. This works for live streaming as well. 

These partnerships are usually offered to influencers with a huge following. Some companies offer to sponsor one or two videos, while others come up with a more long-term contract.

The Cost of Streaming Live to Facebook or YouTube

Do you need to invest in sophisticated equipment to effectively earn with live streaming? The short answer? No. 

The most basic equipment you need is a laptop and an internet connection. It’s so easy and practically free to start live streaming, especially if you go live with tools like BeLive. 

Because it’s a browser-based tool, you just have to log in with your Facebook or YouTube account, load all your material on Studio2, invite your guest if you have any, set your streaming destination, and start engaging with your audience!

Of course, if you want to give your audience a more polished, professional look, you may need to purchase more equipment. It’s totally up to you if you want to invest in more expensive equipment. The most common upgrades would be for an HD web camera, a better microphone, and lights.

Meanwhile, watch this video on how to use Facebook Live to get more customers for your business from the awesome Owen Video!

Don’t be stuck with the traditional way of expanding your business. New marketing means, like live streaming, gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to reach more potential customers without having to rob a bank. 

Remember to repurpose, repurpose, repurpose! Repurposing will help you build your business brand and expand your reach even with just one single video.