The interest in developing a Hangout on Air show is increasing daily. I’m seeing books, articles and new shows appearing every week. And with good reason.
Google+ Hangouts on Air are a game changer for small businesses and entrepreneurs. When you produce a successful show, it can be the fastest way to get seen, be heard, build trust and connect with your ideal audience.
The key phrase in that last sentence is “successful show.” Anyone can set up a Hangout on Air (HOA) and fumble their way through it. And many do, which is not a great experience for the audience.
HOAs are Better than TV
Why better than TV? The ability to connect intimately with your audience. Not only can you broadcast globally…
- You can interact in real time via the Event page
- You audience can watch anytime at their convenience
- Public Events are indexed by Google
- YouTube is the second largest search engine
- You can get the exact, highly-niched content you want
I was invited by Zara Altair to be a guest on her Midweek Zap HOA to discuss the process for setting up an HOA and some promotion tips. In 36 minutes we covered quite a bit, and yet there’s so much more I do for my own show, Adventures in Visibility. The conversation does not cover the steps for setting up an HOA. My program on Google+ 101 can help you with that.
10+ tips for making your Hangout on Air Show a Success
There are detailed timestamps for the tips in the video description on YouTube.
1. What is the purpose of your show: why, what, when and how are they going to support the growth of your business?
2. Before you create your first show, watch other shows first. RSVP, +1 and share. Participate during the live show to experience the live engagement. An excellent example of a highly engaged show is The Mia Connect.
3. Practice. Before you schedule a live event, do a couple of practice runs with a friend or colleague.
4. Brand your show. Create a header banner that tells your story. Google+ Business Spotlight is a great example.
5. Create a YouTube custom thumbnail. This can be used in place of a trailer video for your HOA as well as uploaded to your video as a branded custom thumbnail. You can see how I use a custom thumbnail here.
6. If you have guests on your show, get correct, up to date information from them: bio, headshot, social links and bullet points for the content they want to cover. It’s critical to make your guest(s) shine and you do that by providing your audience the best and easiest ways to connect with them.
7. Include calls to action in the Event description. Tell your audience to RSVP, +1 and share the event. Ask them to comment and ask questions for your guest.
8. Promote the heck out of your guest(s). Use Canva or PicMonkey to create images promoting your show and pithy quotes by your guest.
9. Promote your show on other social networks.
10. Show promotion doesn’t end when the show is over. Now, it’s time for you to post the video on your blog and then promote your post. Go the extra mile and transcribe the show and add captions to the video. At minute 25:00 in the video I share additional ways I get the word out post-show.
It doesn’t end there!
This is just the tip of the ice berg. I have a checklist of nearly 50 actions I take pre-, post- and during the HOA. The results are proof that the work pays off. My audience grows with every show. My guests love me and the audience gets tons of value from the information shared before, during and after the show.
