Top 10 Nuggets from a Year of Livestreams...

I made it. I completed a whole year, a whole 365 consecutive days of Facebook Lives.

You might be wondering, but Jenny why did you do it? What did you learn? Would you do it again? Are you going to continue or even stop?

I promised that I would pull together 10 insights from my experience, and when I shared the last live it happened on a Saturday night of all nights!

In fact, at the time that I recorded it, it was just gone 10 o'clock at night.

I hope you enjoy and find some value from these insights.

In the Be Seen Bite, I'll cover 10 insights from a year of Facebook Lives and then in part two, I'll share the things I would do differently next time.

If you have any questions, please feel free to type them below.

So here it goes, 10 insights and things that I learned about doing a whole year of consecutive Facebook Lives

Insight number one. You have to be visible for you.

If you're going to attempt being more visible and do anything like this whether it be reels, YouTube shorts, livestreams or any videos, you have to do it for you, here’s why, because if you don't, and you expect others to follow your journey you may expect a crescendo in viewers, followers, sales and commenters.? Should that not happen, it’s easy to fall off the visibility wagon and it's likely that you're going to feel some way.

For me, it was about keeping promises to myself and showing myself that I could commit to doing something that I wanted to long term.

So if you decide to do something like this, you have to do it for you.

Insight number two. The day I cried on camera…

Of course everyone watched it then!

Funnily enough, I remember that I was less than a couple of weeks in and of course I didn't intend to but I got upset about something on camera and up until that point, probably 50 people would watch the videos within the first 24 hours, only on that day, within a couple of hours, it had over 400 views, what a way to be seen on screen!

I learned that when it’s caught on camera, everybody seems to wants to come and see it, I don't recommend that as a strategy mind you, I’ve come to learn (and teach) that a bit of genuine vulnerability is good for them and great for you, that was insight two

Insight number three. We really do and can create the time for visibility.

People have expressed a struggle to do 5 to 12 video’s consistently, I has to re-test my work to ensure the I wasn’t asking to much for them to create an impact.

In order to lead by example and walk my talk I decided to explore.

No excuses and with this I had 365 consecutive days to do and in order to follow through I had to take a no excuses approach. I was amazed, some of those lives were longer and ended up being 25 to 45 minutes on some days down to some really short ones that were 60 seconds to 90 seconds.

It made me realise that in terms of life, business and spending time with the people you love or time doing the things that you want to do, it could be going out, watching TV, jigsaws, knitting, exercise, sport or whatever floats your boat.

I realised that the deeper lesson about time is that we create time, we prioritise our time to and who we create the actual time for.

Insight number four. Confidence and snowballs!

I was deeply intrigued that by choosing to create the time that we want to for consistency, it actually builds our confidence. Now I knew this because I see it through the lens of some of the people I work with, one of the things I talked about is consistency. Somehow it's meaning got twisted in this modern world that consistency equates to pushing, burning out and overdoing it…it doesn't. It doesn't mean any of those things, but the more consistency I had as I went through these Facebook Lives, it was like a snowball effect.

Consistency as I went on very quickly built more confidence and that confidence then let me know I could do this.

Whatever the thing is for you that you're building consistency on. keep on keeping on because it really does build confidence especially when it comes to consistency.

As I’ve often said… “Visibility is an inside job

Insight number five. Acting for algorithms is not being visible.

Whenever you talk about social media, people will talk a lot about algorithms I think it's interesting, I’m not an expert in them and I don't know the nuances of what goes on behind the algorithms scenes! I noted down a lot of what I learned this last year and the visibility nugget here is that up to two weeks ago, there were still people who've been my Facebook friends for years, who only just seen that I was doing a year of Facebook Lives.

Think about this for a minute, they’d only just seen their first video in close to a whole year!

My advice is to forget about the algorithms. It goes back to Insight number one, do the things that YOU want to do, regardless of the awards, the applause or anything else.

That includes not worrying about algorithms just put it out there anyway.

Insight number six. Some watch, others comment!

One interesting thing about this year of livestreams was that I noticed a lot of people who watched the lives but never ever commented. It's not a complete surprise to me because a few years ago, I taught a Facebook Live masterclass on how to do Facebook Lives and really excel at them.

Back then I remember a couple fellow coaches talked about being introverted, definitely not shy, just introverted, they voiced that the kind of the energy it takes as a viewer, something that until that point I hadn’t considered.? They shared that one of the things they hated about Facebook Lives was having to comment, react and share.

It was an interesting insight for me because I've worked with people who are introverted, extroverted and ambi-verted and I didn't realise that this was such a big thing for some who are the deeply introverted. (I later also discovered through my work that for the neuro-diverse there are many other layers to this.

The deeper insight to share here is... if you're the person putting a post out, doing a video, creating a live, shorts or anything else like that, know that people will watch and some people never comment. Many people will watch but never comment be okay with that If your sole purpose for being visible are for the comments.? If there had been comments for every view that I’d had over a year, there would have been 1000’s, don’t let a perceived lack (or abundance) of comments get to you.

Remember why you do what you do.

The other finding that is rarely said is that if you are visible in some way and you have a business. Some people that watch your videos will purely watch it just to find out what you're sharing, doing or talking about.

Be prepared as they might even regurgitate bit’s of what you share and you have to be okay with elements of that, if not, it could potentially drive you to distraction, chip away at your confidence and intensify imposter syndrome.

Insight number six. Document your life, for visibility and other hilarity!

It’s worth saying that I dive into this much more deeply with 1:1 and group clients. My partner witnesses a lot of this and finds it hilarious because he noted how when specifically on video, I document and narrate my life the tonality of my voice changes. According to him, I have a completely different voice coming through. He enjoys mimicking this back to me for my entertainment. He’s not wrong, I hear it myself and once I was made aware, I have also heard it in other peoples video’s and livestreams too.

So I wonder which came first in a chicken and egg kind of way? Who knows!

I also want to add that if you’ve booked me to speak to your people, train your teams or are in one of my masterclasses or LinkedIn audio rooms, feel free to ask me to demonstrate it, it’s far easier to say it than convey it through the page.

Insight number seven. Keep calm and carry on, even when in delayed shock!

Some memorable things happened throughout the year so I wanted to share a couple.

This one was a lesson in keep-calm-and-carry-on. Preceding one livestream, I’d travelled into London and arrived back to Deptford.

I do remember that as I got off the train If you’ve never been to Deptford station what you won’t know is that there's a significant gap between the train and the platform. They do warn you on the train and at the station, but it’s huge and I’d been nervously navigating it for a number of years.

On this particular day. I got off the train and as I got off the train I heard a shriek in sheer panic, when I looked further up the platform, someone had fallen in between the train and the platform. Their shoulders were literally level with the floor of the train.

“A thing I know about myself is when it matters I default into act first and think (or panic) later”

Thankfully, passengers were already there trying to help him, but it occurred to me that the train driver didn't know that this was going on, the doors started to shut and I just remember shouting to the people inside. “Open the doors, ring the alarm and don't let the train leave”.

As the doors were about to shut, a passenger inside, pushed them open with his arms and body like some sort of superhero!

Meanwhile we helped the passenger who by chance was absolutely fine, but understandably shaken, who had to be hauled out and then, navigate the gap, alight the train and make their onward journey.

I remember that I’d plan to do a facebook live from the platform and even though I was a bit shaken, I still did it anyway.

Insight number eight Protect your privacy

I’m an advocate for protecting privacy and this has become even more important to me in recent years. Pre pandemic I would create a video, make a post and tag where I was. The tracking used during the pandemic made me think more about security and privacy.

I understand that I'm not famous, I do feel I have a duty of care to secure my privacy and so should you. I think about September when all the UK kids go back to school and parents are;

• taking pictures of their children
• standing in front of their house door often with a house name or door number on it
• wearing their new school blazers with the names of their schools on them

I don't say this to scare anyone because nine times out of 10 everything's perfectly fine. The lives reminded me of the importance of thinking in advance about the kind of information that you're happy to share online and the kind of information you're not.

It's the reason why all of those years I lived in London I’ve never publicly disclosed exactly where? I lived, it was primarily to have a modicum of privacy.

Insight number nine Why Over-planning and overthinking kills a desire to be visible.

I initially planned the topics that I wanted to speak about for the first 6 days, but this ties into the documenting or narrating my life. Instead I chose to cover things that had happened before I went live that I thought would be more relevant.

Rather than trying to preach or teach, I searched the previous 24 hours for what would be? relevant for me to share. For a majority of the lives, I would literally, be ready to broadcast and think about what I want to speak about that day

This meant even if I was upset, unwell, excited (excitement happens a lot for me), I figured that others might be inspired or motivated in some way to hear about it and regain their excitement too.

Insight number ten. Do you know this about me…?

I say this often but am not sure whether people believe it, but I deliver all of my livestreams and videos script free.? People ask me whether there's an app you can get and use like a teleprompter, but in truth no one wants to see you talking with your face and eyes darting from left to right. There’s no quicker way to disconnect with your audience in a hurry.

If you don’t believe it, try having an in person conversation and moving your head from left to right or right to left)… you’ll see!

Many of the videos, (and there are thousands) are script free. Those who have completed Confidence on Camera will know the little secrets that I share in there.

Whether it's a few words on a Post-It? note, or a few words on a piece of paper, or even a few bullet points that I can refer to and remind myself of what I want to say, that works well because It's not a memory test!

The reason many dislike video is because they feel like they have to get on camera and perform or be perfect, it’s okay to look down at your notes and check back when the message is really important.

You are human, so that's okay.

In the next Be Seen Bite, I’ll share what I would have done differently, as some of you have expressed an interest to try this yourselves, be sure to subscribe to receive the next nuggets on here.

About Jenny Kovacs (She | Her) | Visibility Specialist is known as "The Queen of Being Seen".

Jenny Speaks, Consults, Coaches, Mentors & Trains People on how to be Visible in a way that raises their profile and has them confidently seen.

As an award winning mentor and business, Jenny has appeared on the BBC throughout the UK speaking on business topics and professional visibility.

The creator of the Visibility Activator System? and Visibility VIBES? Framework, Jenny’s five key pillars show you ways to be visible, and how to raise your professional profile. Jenny’s trainings and talks have spanned well known corporations, brands, companies and have been delivered to thousands of clients worldwide, in person and online. The "VIBES" cover the mindset, insights and practical tools to having you and your work be seen with credibility, without feeling forceful, pushy or like a show off.

Jenny Kovacs' work focusses on visibility that helps clients to:

?? Convey high impact visibility that raises their professional profile within their organisation and industry.

?? Deliver business presentations that sell their services, without the hard sell or hard pitch

?? Provide engaging, talks to their potential clients at executive, senior and junior levels

?? Be confidently visible on camera via video to exude credibility and gravitas? ?

?? Raise their conversion rates by 20 - 40% through sales trainings and mindset coaching

Consider booking Jenny to speak to your audience or work with your teams for high impact visibility.