How cool it would be if you could connect with your favorite online people in real time?
How fun (and useful) would it be if you could hang with your mentors via live streaming video and ask questions that you get direct answers to immediately?
Sounds kinda like a dream come true, right?
Well, if you’ve heard of Periscope, then you know it’s actually quite real.
If you have no idea what Periscope is, I’m happy to introduce you…
You meet Periscope. Periscope meet you.
Periscope is a new-ish social media platform for your smart phone or iPad. It’s a live streaming app created by Twitter that allows you to connect with people all over the world with video.
Basically, it’s AWESOME.
It’s like vlogging with instant comments and feedback.
I stumbled into Periscope less than a week ago.
A lovely B-Belle family member, Erin Southerland (Periscope handle: @BeautifulBegin_ ), emailed me, telling me that I should be on Periscope and that she’d like to follow me there to connect further.
My first thought was, “What de heeeeeeck is Periscope?” (said in my best Miranda Sings voice)
I’d never heard of it and usually I’m a bit hesitant about jumping on social media platforms that I’ve never heard much about cause I’ve got that hermit (introverted) side that screams, “Not another social media platform! Noooooo!”
But, the side of me that loves connecting with you won the should-I-really-join-another-social-media-site debate.
I downloaded the app with the thought that I was ‘just checking things out.
During the first couple of days, I watched Nikki Ellege Brown, Amber McCue, Alex Beadon and Laura Husson live while they were scoping. I was able to comment and chat. And, I found myself wanting to spend more and more time on Periscope.
I’ve never been an early adopter of any social media platform.
Facebook was a thing for over five years before I joined. Twitter was up and running for about a year before I finally registered and sent my first tweet.
And, my friend, Mayi Carles, had to beg me to join Instagram for eight months before I finally succumbed to peer pressure.
I’m never eva eva one of the first entrepreneurs using a new form of social media.
So, I figured I’d check out Periscope and possibly start using it months down the line. I didn’t think it would quickly become part of my social media plan.
But, again, the part of me that loves connecting with you regularly won out. I didn’t make any excuses to procrastinate (which would’ve been really easy to do). Instead, I did my first scope two days after I logged into Periscope for the first time.
It was a little bit nerve-racking…live video in which anyone in the world could comment, including mean trolls. But after doing five scopes, it feels a lot more natural and I’m having a blast.
And, here are five reasons that you should join Periscope and start using it NOW (not eight months from now):
1. We can hang out daily.
I’ve been scoping every day since Sunday and going forward, my plan is to scope at least once a day, five days a week.
If you join (even if you don’t scope right away), we could hang out for 10-30 minutes each day. You can ask me questions and I’m happy to help you with any and all business struggles. It’s kinda like free group coaching. Whoop! Whoop!
If that’s not enough to get you to join, we’re no longer friends. (Just teasing. Sort of.)
2. You can be a pro by the time everyone joins.
Even though I’ve never been an early adopter of social media, I wish I had been, especially for Instagram. If I could do anything differently when it comes to social media, I would’ve joined Instagram the minute Mayi told me about it.
For one, I totally trust Mayi and should’ve listened to her. Also, I could’ve been growing my following on that platform so much sooner. And, when there are less people to compete with, it’s easier to gain followers.
You’ve the chance to start connecting with people now on Periscope and get comfortable with the platform. That way, when everyone starts to join in a few months, you’ll be one of the pros. Everyone will be looking to you for guidance and your know how.
3. You can connect with your target market in an authentic, natural way.
Here’s the thing about live streaming video: it’s raw and authentic. You feel like you’re actually seeing the person as they are—not as the edited version you get from their blogs and emails.
When your potential customers connect to YOU, they’re going to want to buy from you and support you.
This is a pretty easy (and totally FREE) way to break down the barriers between you and your customers.
4. It’s really fun.
If you enjoy watching vlogs or you get a little thrill from the behind-the-scenes stuff from your favorite online entrepreneurs, you’re going to have a lot of fun with Periscope. And, why not join something that’s going to add more fun into your day?
5. There’s not a lot of pressure to be perfect.
In the past year, Instagram has become less about sharing real life and more about sharing the perfect life and business. Your photos need to be edited and pretty and your captions need to be clever and entertaining. Everything you upload needs to be branded.
That’s okay. I kinda like Instagram that way, because I love pretty photos. They inspire me.
But, it feels nice to join a social media platform that’s new which means that there aren’t many pros, which also means there’s less pressure to be perfect.
There are a handful of people I’ve found so far that seem to have this down, but that’s five compared to the hundred of others I’ve checked out that all seem to be on a similar playing field.
Joining something when there isn’t as much pressure to be as good as all the people who’ve been using the platform for a year makes it easier to jump in and get started. Plus, it’s fun to learn how to use the site at the same time.
So, that’s my spiel on why you should join Periscope TODAY.
FUN!
I discovered this one about a week ago too. I haven’t done anything but watch a few scopes so far, but I will jump on it in the next few weeks to announce my next big thing (squee) to whoever follows lil ole me.
I’m @TweetWithaK…and I have all of 36 followers right now, 0 hearts and 0 broadcasts.
I will change all of those numbers soon though. I promise 🙂 AND I loved seeing a quick little hello from you today too! It’s going to be an interesting thing to watch grow.
xo
K
Do it, friend! 😀 I’m waiting to tune in.
I can’t wait to see your first scope!!! 😀
I can’t wait to see your Periscopes! It’s gonna be so fun to connect that way.
I’m also super excited to see where this platform goes! I’ve got high hopes.
@folkhearts
Vicki Allwardt
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your handle.
I joined but I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Eager to see what everyone else does. I’m
@Kyoti13
Yay Janet! We’re starting to have so much fun. So excited for you to join the fun.
So glad you joined!! I’m loving it. Found it about a month ago. It’s so fun to connect with everyone there. It’s my new fave social media platform. I’ve been sharing my morning rituals + getting such a good response. I’m @theindielovely there. Can’t wait to follow more awesome ladies from this post.
I’m definitely gonna check out your scopes. So excited to connect there! 🙂
I literally downloaded it two whole days ago…I’ve broadcasted twice and hope to do many more in the future. I like how easy it feels. Sorta like just hanging out with friends.
You all can find me at @amanda_creek
So excited for the possibilities with this one.
P.S. 8 months to join instagram?! I love following your beautiful photos there.
I’m sooooooooooo proud of you that you jumped into it despite your shyness. 🙂 WAY TO GO! HIGH FIVE!
P.S. I know…so ridiculous but that’s normally how I roll.
Thank you! I didn’t do any over the weekend because I was waiting for my new phone to come in the mail. Woot woot. 😀 I totally used Periscope to convince my hubby to let me upgrade. haha
Loved all your Periscope videos this week! I’m there @randomolive.
I started on July 4th and have posted 4 videos of brush lettering. Eek. More to come for sure!
You guys…follow Olivia if you like brush lettering or hand lettering. Her periscopes are on point!
Thanks lady! I’m so happy that we’re connecting on that platform. So fun!
Your hair is totes adorbs girl 🙂 Okay, gonna check out Periscope, because, what the hell, why not? ….But only because you keep talking about it 😉
Thank you! Milkmaid braids for the win!
So glad you’re on there! I loved that you were on my scope today my friend!
I discovered Periscope about a month ago and I’m looooving it!!!! I’m just not courageous enough to make a broadcast yet. Yet!!! Sooner or later I’ll HAVE to make the jump 🙂
Don’t give yourself any reason to procrastinate. Just set a deadline of like tomorrow and do it. Your first handful of scopes will probably suck so the sooner the better. It’s just like anything else…in the beginning, you struggle but it gets better and better the more you do it!
Giving you a big supportive hug… 🙂
I joined just a couple days ago but I have 0 followers and I haven’t done a broadcast yet. Can you make them however long or short you want? I’m @jodittw
You can broadcast for any amount of time…5 seconds or 5 hours if your phone will last that long I guess. 🙂
So excited to connect with you there!
Because I trust your advice and you’ve never led me wrong, I went ahead and joined. I’m with Janet, and I’ll have to see how everyone uses it. It will be fun and exciting to see where this goes, and obviously, I would love to hang out with you and ask questions from time to time. People can find me @PrettyMuchDesign Can’t wait to check it out in the next couple weeks!
AWESOME Renay! I’ve seen you on some of my scopes recently! Oh yeah!
We’re gonna have so much fun hanging out on Periscope. 🙂 Pinky promise!
@andreaklunder
Intrigued… I may have finally found a social media platform I like!
I’m your newest follower!
WOOT WOOT! YES!
Oh.My.Goodness. I just did it!! I’m @jewelsbytrish
Now to figure out how to follow everybody. 🙂
I think you even found me, and I hadn’t commented on here yet!!! 😀
YESSSSSSSS Trish!
April! I am EXACTLY the same way. Always the last one to join something so I am taking your advice taking the plunge and am going to be one of the firsts on this one! YAY!
@wendycranford is my name on there.
So excited! Thank you sooooooooo much for joining my last Periscope. I loved loved loved your input. 🙂
I’m on there but no clue what to do on there yet but am enjoying other people broadcasting. I think it will be a great tool for my new travel blog so I’m on @fouraroundworld and may use it when we are somewhere interesting travelling.
Hello,
I’m there following you. And I think I’m going to follow all of you here that are there.
I’m not a Twitter user but I really like their products.
I’m @raquel_deville or @raqueldeville there, still haven’t figured out if I’m using my number or my Twitter account.
Thank you for this post!
I’m really excited about Periscope too, April, and have watched a couple of your scopes. Unfortunately I haven’t caught them live because of the time difference with the UK.
TBH I’m wondering where everyone’s getting the time from to do all this scoping…. I’m really excited to be able to connect in a genuine way with people all over the world and have already learned lots from the people who are scoping. I think I just need to work out my scoping strategy and not let watching other people’s take over my life (as it has done a little bit this week).
I did my first scope last Saturday as a test and it was fun. You can find me @LucyCParsons.
Love this idea! I created an account a couple days ago, but didn’t do much with it. Now I have a reason to really use it! 🙂 I will try to find and follow you all there.
Oh, and one of the best things about being an early adopter is that I was finally able to get my name as a handle!
I’m @flaviabernardes
I join Periscope a month ago and I have no clue of what to do with it :(. …. I am sure I will figure it out, in the meant time I follow you guys to get inspired 🙂
I am there as @MarcelAcolinastudio 🙂
See ya at Periscope!
I’m @wingswormswondr
! got on periscope a little over a week ago and did my 1st live scope last thursday. It went well and it was cool how people i didn’t even know showed up and were giving me hearts. So decided that I would do a scope every Thursday at 3pm est for the month of july to try it out!
Today we’ll be looking at 3 garden pests in my back garden and everyone can ask questions about how to manage summer garden bugs organically!
Just signed up
@christafor
Will start posting soon – looks like fun
I’ve been hearing about Periscope, but I think yours was the “push” I needed. I’m following you April! @JulieAbrell
Very cool April!! I just followed you! I see SO many possibilities for this not just for my business but also for the university where I work. A colleague of mine and I are looking at it right now and coming up with all sorts of ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Just checking this out … looks like fun. I did my first test ‘scope’ and will play around a bit more. Thanks for introducing me to this new platform! I’m @starlightcori and my website is http://www.dearmissmillionaire.com
Thanks!!
I’m glad you joined! I’ve always been a late adopter of social media too, but I got on Periscope like 2 weeks ago and I was sad to see you weren’t on there at first. But now you are!! Woop woop.
I love it–my target demographic is moms, and I think moms all need an outlet to chat and get support from other like-minded people. I have just been finding it difficult to get moms on board. It seems like most of the people on Periscope are entrepreneurs or have some kind of business-minded goal and are following a coach or an instructor of some kind.
So I’m throwing stuff out there and seeing if it sticks. I love the platform, i love being able to chat in real time, and I love that I don’t have to worry about editing a video and being perfect.
My handle is @gabymerediz if you want to follow!! xoxo
OK, I’m in. Let’s see how this works. You can find me at @MomentsPhoto
I bowed out for about a week and a half, ’cause people were irritating me (doing things like claiming to be social media experts, but yakking about wearing bras on a dare), but I bounced back in with a vengeance the other day. 😀
I even scoped me getting ready for my biziversary webinar, and that was fun… like behind the scenes kinda deal. 😀
And, as always, I can be found @amandasuehowell
I was happy to see you on periscope and follow. I joined a few weeks ago and haven’t scoped yet but enjoying watching. I am getting ready to jump in and start scoping soon.
I joined about a month ago. Have not done my first periscope yet, but will soon. If you like you can follow at @cyndeejewelry
Loved your ‘Scope’ April! I’ve been enjoying the quick ‘n easy LIVE sharing that happens with Periscope – I hope to see some of you there 🙂 Looking forward to doing the first, of many, of my own, too <3 @2nspire4gr8ness
I loved watching Cindy @JunqueArt yesterday! I am going to keep searching for more people to follow and then hopefully will be able to incorporate this awesome tool into my social media toolbox.
I’ve just followed you and can’t wait to see what you’ve got for all of us, April! <3
( BTW: My handle is @bookscents – would love to connect with more of you all!)
okay, April, you got me on there. I’m @shastablasta. Everything I popped into today’s was very strange but I’ll keep checking it out and will try broadcasting at some point. I was a little disturbed to see someone driving while broadcasting and reading the messages coming through. He even said he accidentally turned down a wrong way street…
oh, and I couldn’t figure out how to see any of your old vids. Are they time sensitive?
Hey Shasta!
A couple of things: 1) yes there is definitely some weird stuff on Periscope (I think that’s true of every social media platform but because this one is live streaming video it gets even weirder!) but once you find some awesome people to follow, you’ll enjoy what you’re watching 2) the videos are only available for 24 hours I believe (I’m thinking about recording my videos via reflector 2 and uploading them on YouTube…I’ll let you know if I do) so we’ll see if they ever change that feature…however, it makes people tune in right away and not procrastinate which I kinda love.
So excited to connect with you on Periscope!
P.S. Next week’s blog post is gonna be a list of people to follow on Periscope who use the platform well and I enjoy watching and get valuable content from. 🙂
mine is justtiffanik I dont get how to actually broadcast…but following lots of great peeps!
Okay I joined @traciwilkes_art
How fun! Heres mine @funkypeacelove
Been hearing about this all over the place and you make some good points, so will have to try. I’ve never been an early adopter either… always miss the boat! LOL.
At least I should claim my name now, I suppose… I’m @tortagialla
periscope down!!! Im in!! Hoping this will help me do more video
periscope down!! im in, hoping this will help me me grt inline with video
I signed up for Periscope like 2 months ago but i’m too scared to actually do it! I wanted to ‘scope from CL last week, but chickened out every day.
🙁
xo,
rs
You have to join us! We are having so much fun!! 🙂
Hello there, okay I’m feeling very tech savy and this time maybe I’ll be one of those stories where they say that all of their success is due to the new platform they joined before it was inundated with loads of competition.
@lucyajennings
I had to look up my twitter handle, shows how much I do twitter!
Hi April,
Saw your replay and I am doing the social media that feels good. For me it is Twitter, Instagram and now Periscope.
My first scope epic fail. I was upside down and sideways on the screen. Will do more next week.
Hi, I meant to add my handle here, but I got interupted, story of my life these days! Fittingly your scope today reminded me to do it 🙂
@caravincens
Then, I was watching and you meantioned me, eeeeee! I got all excited and started dripping water from the dishes I was doing all over the floor! But, it cut out and I missed it LOL
PS hope you are having a fan-tabulous birthday!!!
Alright guys I think you all have convinced me to bite the bullet and actually do a scope as apposed to just watching everyone else. Besides I think this could really lend itself well to my goal of building awareness of the importance of being in pictures and the printed image. I’m @tlrphotostl on Periscope. Hope to see you there.
Alright, this post was the final straw. I signed up! I’ve been thinking about it for a week or two and now I’m on it! @rubyandsass Can’t wait to figure out how this works!
I’ve been hearing about Periscope all over the place recently so thanks for enlightening me! I hate video (well, scared of it really) so this might be a good way to ease myself in…. I’m @lizplummer PS love your CreativeLive courses!
Just gave periscope a try- thanks for the suggestion. Looking forward to the your livecast. I added you here is my handle : @laughingmatter
I’ve enjoyed watching all the scopes when I can! My handle is @ameliawritesblog
You got me on periscope and my handle is @breadcrumbsmary! I’ve joined in on two of your ‘scopes but was so torn when I got the ding on my phone just as my daughter was falling asleep – do I stay and she falls asleep or do I leave and join and risk taking another hour to get her to sleep! Oh, the choices!
Seriously, I love it and keep doing them! I think the fast pace and authenticity is awesome. Just one question – what do the hearts mean and how do you make them happen?
Thanks for this post, April! I’m @rachaelgrad
I downloaded the app and think I’m in love – so thanks for the heads up. But how to dare just turn the camera on and broadcast? For that I think I need a few friends to follow me first. 🙂
I’m @iHanna there as well as on twitter!
Oh snap!!! You’ve given me the kick in the booty I need to hop on Periscope! Following you now. I’m at @teachgoodstuff. Woohoo.
Oh girl, this app is so dangerous, hahaha…
my scope is @vivayne
and I love you for sharing it, even if it will lead to my demise 😉
I’ve been following you for over a year (since I discovered you through Creative Live) and have found a lot of inspiration from you. I also attempted to do the instagram challenge in April, but didn’t quite finish. I’ve never commented on your posts either, I guess I’ve been what they call a “lurker” but ever since you started periscoping I’ve been more engaged and less nervous to participate. You’ve convinced me to do my first scope over the weekend! I’m still deciding what it will be about, but I will definitely do one. My handle is @pnaikk, stay tuned! 🙂 Thank you!!!
I recently joined and my username is @nelchee
I plan on sharing tips on branding, creative productivity and some live sketching sessions!
I’d be so glad to connect with other creative entrepreneurs.
Hello!
I’m just getting started on Periscope, and made my first scope. No one saw it… good for practice!
@Lucy Anne Jennings
Hello!
I’m just getting started on Periscope, and made my first scope. No one saw it… good for practice!
Lucy Anne Jennings
@lucyajennings
Just joined – @Swiss_Robin. Excited to start exploring!
Hi April! I just joined today and watched your replay. Once again, you helped motivate to keep going.
Question: do the posts get deleted after a certain timeframe? I couldn’t find your earlier ones.
Thanks!
@nuvea
Hi, April. I’ve joined and am following you. I’m @BeadSophy. Also signed up for the Creative Live class, very excited about that. Can’t wait to see what you do!
Signed up, first broadcast probably during a shoot in Oct. at the Tulsa State Fair
I’d love to chat with you on Periscope! @yogaFLIGHT