Is Periscope for business users? Yes, definitely. There are lots of business users actively watching and broadcasting, including some of the top Internet marketers, so it provides a great opportunity to showcase your expertise.  Here’s a quick description of what it is and 8 reasons why you should sign up for Periscope now.

What is Periscope?

Periscope is a phone app that allows you to create live video broadcasts across the Internet. Other Periscope users can watch your broadcasts (also known as scopes) and leave comments for you  on their phones.  And non-Periscope users can watch too via a web link. Your broadcasts remain available for 24 hours so there’s time for people to watch afterwards. And if you want them to last longer than that, there are ways to do that too.  It’s owned by Twitter so it’s easy to get your broadcasts linked to your Twitter feed to promote them to your existing followers which means you’re not starting from scratch.

8 reasons why you should use Periscope for your business

1. It’s a quick, cheap way to build your “know, like and trust” factor

By showcasing you and your business, potential clients will see your personality and your enthusiasm for your subject. They’ll learn more about how and what you do in a way that’s impossible to replicate with blog posts still images alone.  Yes, you could make videos for YouTube (and I highly recommend that you do) but the immediacy of a scope means you’re not having to worry about spending time editing to make your footage slick and professional before you release it to the world.  People understand your broadcast is live so they’re not expecting it to be 100% perfect – in fact, not being 100% shows your human side even more.

2. You can get live feedback from your clients and potential clients

Live viewers with the app can interact with you by leaving comments and questions. I’ve found it’s a great way to test out blog posts to see if the topic resonates with anyone, and learn what questions they have that I may not have thought about before. In each scope I do, I  encourage people who are watching via the desktop or watching a replay to interact with me via Twitter so they’ve still got an opportunity to comment.

3. It widens your reach

There’s a huge international audience out there. The test scope I did from our last Periscope Masterclass had viewers from Russia, Australia, Finland, Dubai and Florida as well as the UK, and those were just the ones who told me where they were from. I’ll be using it as a way to promote my online courses, for example.

4. You can use private scopes to communicate with your clients

You can restrict a specific broadcast so it’s only visible to certain named users. You may want to experiment with this as a free way of communicating with clients on your paid-for programmes, for example.

5. It enables you to connect with experts and influencers

It’s not just about you broadcasting to the world. You can watch and interact with other people too. I’ve asked questions of top marketers and photographers who would never reply to me if I just sent them an email.

6. Getting on now means you’re more likely to get noticed

You’re more likely to get noticed now than in a few years’ time when it’s grown even further. But you won’t be talking to yourself. Although it’s only a few months old, there are still over 10 million users already and it’s growing every day. So sign up now to bag your preferred username before someone else does.

7. It allows you to hone your presentation skills

There’s nothing like live broadcasting for getting you to be more fluent on camera! I’ve noticed that since I’ve started scoping, I’ve reduced the number of takes I need when I’m recording my normal videos. And if you don’t get many opportunities for public speaking, talking live on camera can help you gain more experience with that too.

8. It’s another way to stay in touch with your Twitter following

You can configure it to auto tweet links to your broadcasts so non-Periscope users can watch them too.  So you now have another way to communicate with all those followers you’ve built up on Twitter.  And you can share the link on other platforms too.

What next?

Hopefully I’ve convinced you that Periscope is worth looking at for your business.  You can find me on Periscope here.

If you’re in the Coventry/Warwickshire area, then come along to our next Free Periscope Masterclass on 1st December 2015 in Warwick.  I’ll be presenting along with business mentor and public speaker Sandra Garlick from De Marco Business Advisors.  And we’ve got two great special guests who are successfully using Periscope to promote what they do – Gary Jones from Leamington Hour and the Grow Leamington blog, and social media expert, Todd from Spaghett Agency.

UPDATE 2 DECEMBER 2015:  We’ll be scheduling in another date for Periscope Masterclass in early 2016. Sign up for my newsletter to be get notified of the date when it’s confirmed.