Tip
My Introduction To Webcasting
By Matt Mernagh at 5:40 pm on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 // 3 Comments
Webcasting my opinions was easier than I thought, but becoming great at broadcasting over the Internet is a real challenge. Listening to some friends I began a three hour live show every Tuesday on Ustream for marijuana enthusiasts back in November. My extensive media experience gives me a bit of an edge, but I’m still community television (think Wayne and Garth) level amateur. HD webcams are affordable and web streaming service are free, but to be a great webcaster you need to employee the five ‘P’s.’
Webcasting requires preparation, persistence, patience, promotion and practice.
Unless you’re a seriously popular pro blogger your practice before the web camera can be done live. Why not? Chances are 10 people, including your friend’s mom, will be tuning in to see you’re new webcast. Do your show, but interact frequently with your few viewers in the chat room. They can provide live performance feedback right on the spot! At the end of the show remind them when your next webcast is. Tweet and target them to ensure they return next week. Make it fun for them by making them part of the show.
Persistence is important
Persistence is important because your big debut probably happened before an audience of ten. The following episode will be, hopefully, double or triple that. The stage size, especially if you’re practising live, doesn’t really matter as long as your show grows as you get better. This is where persistence and promotion pays-off.
Cannabis Culture picked up my live feed in the third week of what I kept referring to as practice episodes. Many people thought it was the show debut. Caught unaware by Cannabis Culture awesomeness, the number of viewers began growing from 50 to 100 then suddenly 200 and before you know it we’re hitting 420 viewers. My co-host asked, “Dude what’s going on?” CC tweeted they put us on their homepage.
During the week we casually prep what’s going to go on The Mernahuana Show. We jot down ideas on a legal pad to create a potential running order. I run through ideas for segments in my creative mind while I’m out walking. Using positive visualization to picture how it may work out. To ensure we got back on the Cannabis Culture homepage the following week we cranked called them at their office. Now we’re a regular feature.
Producing and hosting the show creates a good lively chaos.
Keeping it orderly is a challenge because I’m also talking while trying to arrange the next segment. Wait until big media figure out a host can also produce their own show. Wow, the producer layoffs will be looming. The banter between my co-host and I is simply our personalities amped up to professional broadcaster levels. We both have experience in this field. Our guests are friends we invite to stop by on Tuesdays from 4:20 – 7:20 at Vapor Central, a Toronto bring your own bud café. Everyone has an opportunity to talk about their passions while inhaling pot. The only hook through-out the show is the constant vaporization and inhalation of marijuana.
Our last webcast ended with slightly less than a thousand viewers. I’ll have much more insight on webcasting in the future, but instead of writing about it, I’m going to webcast live from 49 Spadina Ave, Toronto’s #1 digital agency office, Pixel Dreams. Anticipate this show soon.
