Jeff Sieh - Where Live Video Started

Jeff Sieh - Where Live Video Started

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Jim Fuhs: [00:00:00] Are you worried about how you look and sound on camera? Do you ever stop your content idea right in its tracks when that fear grips you right before you go live?

Chris Stone: On this episode of deal Casters, we're joined by the Manly Pinterest guy, who's also the international speaker and visual marketing consultant, Jeff C, who specializes in Pinterest, Instagram, and also live video.

He's also worked with some of the largest brands in the space. And brings his knowledge, expertise, and experience to the deal casters table.

Jim Fuhs: So pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and get ready to get manly.

Jeff Sieh: Well, thank you so much. This is fun. I love, I love not having to press all the buttons, which is really, really nice.

Exactly. You know, you just show up and that's, you guys did great job. You're the talent

Chris Stone: today. Lean back and.

Jim Fuhs: Right. So, so Jeff, tell us [00:01:00] about, you know, how did you end up in social media? I know you've been in it for, for quite a while, te tell us the Jeff Cs story. 'cause it, it probably could be a movie or, or even a book if it isn't already. Uh, yeah.

Jeff Sieh: And Brad pitch would be, play Me I think. Nice. It would be is a good thing.

So, no. So the funny thing is Jim and I, and Jim and I met over here, uh, at Google Plus, that's where it all. Started for me, actually. Uh, what I did is I had this little, um, uh, like digital agency here in Longview. I did, you know, commercials, I got into video when non-linear editing systems first came out, like Adobe Premier, which I've been using since it came out.

Um, and I started doing the social media thing and started telling my clients they needed to do it. And I'm like, well, I better do it too. Started writing a blog and I wrote this blog called Mainly Pinterest Tips number one, where it was, uh, my daughter and I sharing a secret board. It kind of blew up and back then in the day before Facebook and all these other places, Google Plus and Google Hangouts were like the wild West.

Um, live video. I remember [00:02:00] we went, I went to South by Southwest with Ronnie Ben, who was this Google Hangouts guy about video, and we interviewed Guy Kawasaki before I knew him with this contraption, like on this pole with, we duct tape like a, like a, a cell phone. And we called people back and it was just, and it had the speakers that we had hanging off of it.

It was live. Google Plus went nuts. I started a, a live show over there in Hangouts called Manly Pinterest Tips 'cause everybody wanted me to do one. Uh, that led to me getting a gig at Social Media Examiner, um, doing their Pinterest and then they had me speak and then I've been speaking there ever since.

I think I spoke there. The, I was, the fifth time I did it and. That's it. I mean, that's how it all started. I could trace it all back to those little circles on Google Plus.

Jim Fuhs: Well, and I can tell you Chris, uh, one of the most eye-opening things to me, and this was probably, I think it was 2017, uh, when Jeff was [00:03:00] speaking and it's like I learned all this stuff about fonts and colors, and that's like, it was like mind blowing to me.

'cause, you know, I had just started in social media and, you know, I, I, it's like, wow. I'm thinking way too simple, but. You know, Jeff, I, I know that's something I, I'll never forget. And of course I, you know, you, I think you were also even, uh, doing something with, uh, Rebecca Reis as well. Yeah. And, uh, and yeah.

And then we've, uh, had a chance, you know, it was unfortunate this past year we didn't get to hang out in, uh, San Diego, but it's always, it's always been fun to get to, to hang out with you and Eric and, and, and some of the other folks that, uh, that we see. And what was, what was neat, like pre pandemic? I know you weren't able to make it, but, um.

Eric came to Social Media Week, Lima, which is in August this year. And I don't know, dunno if you guys are gonna be able to make it. 'cause I know you guys have a lot on your schedule, but that was a great, uh, got to know your, you know, as I get used to say, your, your other half, Eric, uh, quite a bit better.

Yeah. Another, another [00:04:00] amazing human being.

Jeff Sieh: So just I want to like go back and how important like these relationships are and you know, people say, ah, it's social media, whatever. I can trace everything back to like the gig I have with Guy Kawasaki right now. Uh, I produced his, his live show and also his podcast.

Remarkable People, which is goes crazy. I mean, we were on Clubhouse the other day with Jane Goodall and he's had Martha Stewart on. I mean, it's like I get to listen and edit really interesting conversations and make money doing it. So, uh, but I can trace that all back to a post that I made. Commenting on on on Peg Fitzpatrick's Post, and then a friendship developed and I helped her with stuff.

She helped me, she runs all guys social. So five, seven years later here I am producing his show. But it all came from those relationships that you make on this, you know, these goofy little platforms, but you can really. Jim and I had a little fun debate about Clubhouse 'cause you know, I kind of poo poo it.

A lot of people like it and so I mean it, my thing is it doesn't matter. Google Plus isn't [00:05:00] even around anymore and I built my business off of it and so, and I'm still re repeating the benefits. So it doesn't matter if you're building good relationships.

Chris Stone: Yeah, I think people forget that the first part of social media is social.

Right? And a lot of people will take social media and they'll use it to trumpet a bunch of things that's related to their business. Well, you gotta be on this, you gotta be on this, gotta be on this, you gotta be this. And of course you can't be. And lean into everything. Nobody's got all the time right to do that.

But I think where you find the platform that you're in, whether it's Pinterest or whether it's Twitter, or whether it's Clubhouse, or whether lean into that and actually be social, it can turn into some really great relationships. Um, personally and like from a business perspective, I'm sure you've gotten a ton of business just because you actually were a social person, believe it or not, on Pinterest.

Or on, you know, Google Plus or, or these things that it, you know, may have sunset at this point.

Jeff Sieh: Yeah. And it's just making, I mean, and you, I did a lot of stuff for free for a lot of people when you first get started, [00:06:00] you just are making relationships and stuff and you never ask. You know, I, you guys, I'm sure since you started doing this show and the success that you've had over there, you probably get pitches every day.

Like, I need to be on your show and here's why. And you know, you can tell that they haven't even watched your show. They just saw you have some numbers. That's the classic one. You don't, you just don't do the ask. Most of the times when people ask on your show, they're not a good fit to be on your show. Um, and so it's just, it's, you do things for people and that organically happens.

Like I knew Jim from a long time, I mean, back and forth. And we, you know, I ask him questions like offline, like, are you doing this Amazon thing? And then I'm like, oh my gosh, he's an expert. He needs to be on our show. All this stuff. And it just, it just happens organically. You can't force it or it really, really.

Chris Stone: Yeah, there's a ton of people that are doing live shows or they're doing a podcast, uh, you know, and that's great. But then there's a lot of people that may be writing a book or they're a keynote speaker, or they're doing these things and they're using a podcast or a live [00:07:00] stream as their marketing.

They're free marketing. Like, I'm just gonna target a bunch of people, or I'm gonna hire someone that's just gonna scattershot so that I can show up. Talk about everything that I want to talk about on a particular platform, but it's like when you're on this show, of course you're, you know, you're the, you're the feature, um, you know, you're the, the quote unquote star, but you're here to just talk, to serve to, mm-hmm.

Uh, to, to do what you're gonna do. It's not like you're going through, okay, here's my list of 32 things that I have to talk about. I always up. Right. Buy my, buy my stuff and do all of that stuff. And, and I think that comes across, um, in, in both ways. If somebody's showing up and doing that other stuff where they're drilling down, guess what?

There's 32 podcasts that that person did. They all sound alike. I. And it just doesn't, it just doesn't come across. And, and, and is a, is a good podcast doing something that is, or organic and social, like a lot of what you guys do is what resonates with people.

Jeff Sieh: Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. And, and you can tell [00:08:00] like, um, and you've interviewed enough people that this has happened and this is something that, you know, if you do this, you probably need to work on.

And if you don't, this is a, a skill that you have. Is that like when you interview somebody like Jim, both of you guys do this is. You don't, you can tell when people are just waiting for you to stop talking, to bring it back to you. And you've had guests on here who have liked that. You're like, they're just waiting.

Okay, lemme tell you about my new course because I've got this really course. And all you have to do is go here, here, and here. And it just seems like, I call them mute. Use car salesman, like mm-hmm. Guests, you know? And, and if you get lucky enough and you've been blessed enough that people are asking you to come provide value for Online Summit, for a podcast episode, for a live video.

Um, if you're, if you are doing the interviewing, you are gonna make you always make, make the guests the feature like you guys have done here. When I had Jim on my show, I wasn't talking about everything that I did. I was like, Jim, so how do you feel about this and [00:09:00] why do you do this that way? They are the focus of the attention like you guys do, and if you can learn that.

Then you are gonna be super valuable to be on other shows because, 'cause people really want that kind of conversation and relationship.

Chris Stone: Yeah. And your show won't be boring,

Jeff Sieh: you know,

Chris Stone: because it'll be the same thing every time. It's like, right. Yeah. Um, yeah. That's fantastic. It's that, that's great advice I think for.

For podcasters, for live streamers, for content creators, um, just, you know, be, be real, um, in that, in that situation. And, you know, if you wanna market yourself, just make yourself searchable, right? Mm-hmm. And, and, and, and then when you show up in places like this, yeah. Don't, don't. Don't be spilling the same thing.

Sales information you did on 48 prior podcasts. That's awesome.

Jim Fuhs: And, and you know, that's the thing too, Chris, you know, watching Jeff, whether it was when he was on social media examiner's show with Eric, or just even with his new show. That's one thing I always admire about Jeff is he's, you know, he [00:10:00] practices what he preaches, right?

He's always helping everyone learn, get better. I mean, even when I saw him speak in person, right? It wasn't like he was like, you know, hey, if you wanna become part of my course, do this or that, it's like, you know, Hey guys, here's some free stuff to make you smarter. I've never felt like, like Jeff is a, is a salesy guy and I think, you know, and like you said, we've done a lot of, uh.

Behind the scenes communication. You know, uh, they used to, you know, they were struggling for a while to get on LinkedIn live and, you know, I was humbled that he would reach out to me. 'cause I was like, I got kinda lucky how I got on LinkedIn live. And we know there's still a ton of people out there like, how do I get on LinkedIn live?

It's, you know, I don't know. That's a good question. Yeah. It's a crapshoot.

Chris Stone: Yes. Do we want to now

Jeff Sieh: I I, I don't know. I, we, we've, we've, I've really enjoyed the engagement that I have had because we, so us as you guys have this. Amazon Live. If you're watching somewhere else, you need to come to Amazon Live because that's the focus of this.

Ours is just like going news and going everywhere. And Amazon is a [00:11:00] destination, which has been great because we're making money over there. But, um, LinkedIn Live has a great community and I've had some really good success of, um, of building that up because I just, I don't know, just people are talking and it's still awesome.

It just feels more than Facebook is sometimes, I guess.

Chris Stone: Oh, I would definitely, and maybe it's the right show. It's the right show on LinkedIn. I think there's a.

Jeff Sieh: Yeah, because it's, it's about news and social media and stuff, so you're probably right about that, Chris. Yeah.

Jim Fuhs: So Jeff, what, what really got you started, I guess, in live streaming?

'cause even like, and, and I know we talked about this the other day, that maybe you're gonna bring it back this summer, but like, you know, you've even had some fun stuff where like you were, uh, doing wood carving, right? And while you're wood carving these projects, right? Like Chris, he literally does this over like a series of shows.

And he has a conversation with the audience. It was, it was, it's really, uh, a lot of fun. So who knows what carving could be coming to Amazon Live?

Jeff Sieh: You know, I thought about doing it 'cause that would make sense over an Amazon 'cause I, people always asking me where they get the [00:12:00] knives and the tools and all that stuff.

And I was doing it on Twitch. I originally started that just because, um, I saw Mark Schafer, uh, do some painting and I thought, that's really good. It was right when Covid started and everyone was locked down. Everyone's kind of freaking out. And I just did it mainly like. I went live every day for like two or three weeks and just sit there and just talked.

I had a topic like, what's your favorite movie and whatever, and I just carved and showed the processes and people thought it was like. Asmr, you know, where the people, Hey, hello. Like, I was like the wood carving, bearded Bob Ross is what it turned out to be. And they really liked it. And that's the one thing, and I, I don't know why I haven't done it.

I just, it's time, you know how that is. But it was, um, um, everybody. Has more, more about that than anything else, so really crazy.

Chris Stone: Very cool. Very cool. And I know we've got some people, um, joining in the chat and, uh, Gina Capone on over on Amazon says, yes, the exact same thing happened to me. I ran chat to chat rooms from 2001 to 2010.

I. A healthcare [00:13:00] blogger from 2005 to two 2008, and that's how I became a healthcare speaker and a community manager for dot orgs as well. I feel like Jeff's story is mine. That's cool. So thanks Gina. Ka Cool. For chiming in. That's a that's great. And I think the other great thing I think, um, about Amazon speaking of is just like how massive you're, you're casting a net, right?

And so it, of course, it's not as lean in as some of these other platforms are. Mm-hmm. But when you do kind of poke in, and I know your show is more like, Hey, um, this, this works here. Um, but when you do poke in on Amazon and you've taken, um, you know, the, the, all the great information that Jim shared with you on your show and whatnot, what have you learned from your experience on Amazon?

What have, what have you sort of taken away?

Jeff Sieh: Well, that, that it's, it's, it reminds me of the Wild West of Hangouts on Google Plus, it really does. But I think that. I mean the views that you get and even the time watched are really higher [00:14:00] compared to some of the other platforms. Uh, if you look at kind of the analytics, and I love the analytics they give you, it's still kind of clunky.

It's like Periscope where you have to start it here and then hit your phone and then that kind of stuff, they'll get better. And I really wish I could bring comments on screen. Right. That's one of the other things 'cause everybody likes to see their face and I think if they could do that on Amazon Live Oh my gosh.

Because people would love to see that. I feel like Amazon's more of the public. Arena of the, it's like you're at the mall. Like, you know, when they, you see and you go and have your choir and you'd stand and sing at the mall, your mom would have to come and it's like that. I mean, you're there and you're, you're, you're in front of all these people walking by at the mall and, and, and depending on how well, like you have a very, and I actually use some of your ideas when I was even crafting my own lower thirds and stuff.

For my show is because you're wanting to catch the eye. When somebody walking by the mall, it's like window shopping. What are they? Oh, deal casters. Unmute. What? You know? And doing that, I mean, that's really catchy. And I think, [00:15:00] so I took some of that stuff and if you look at my show, I've got this moving background and I also went to like, um, CNN and all that stuff.

Mm-hmm. And I actually did a screenshot and then built my graphics by, you know, yeah. Putting them in Photoshop and building them exactly the same way, the same dimensions and stuff. There's a lot of stuff you can learn from that, but, uh, Amazon Live, I think it is, it's like the mall. You're there. Um, people stop, the people who really want to learn more than they go in the store or they put it, you know, anything you see down below here, make sure you add it to your, uh, your, your cart.

You may not want to get it now, but let's go ahead and add it, you know, that kind of a thing, because, you know, it's good for us. But I mean, it's, I just think it's. The, there, there seems to be less friction. Mm-hmm. Like shoppers are already on Amazon. Right. Right. And those people are, we've talked about this before, are prime to buy.

Um, and so I've really enjoyed too, it's kind of been a bonus for me as I get a a, like we had Holly Homer on our show who did Quirky Mamas a Million Plus. [00:16:00] Facebook group. Uh, she has like five books. I put all her books underneath there, but Big Go Buy her books right from, from where I was doing it. I did the same with Mark Schafer.

Uh, I had, um, uh, Lou Ello, one of my favorite guys who does Walt Disney World Radio on the show. He has like five books and I could put his audio, you know, tours everything on there. And that makes them feel good if like.

This is really, and I, I mean, Holly has reached out like, how do I do this? How do I get on Amazon Live? Yeah. So it's really, really, it's good as you as a host to offer that to your guests, especially if they're an author.

Chris Stone: I really love, and you touched on this, uh, your show and I just, you spoke about the, the whole CNN vibe and the whole news vibe.

I think that's what struck me, uh, first and foremost when I jumped on this stream is like, this looks like as good. Or in better, in some cases, any sort of news show. And, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot that I know went into this. You, you said, [00:17:00] oh, I just, I, I copied services, you know, a CNN vibe and you, you did that.

But I mean, you're obviously, you know, skilled in video editing and, and graphic editing. As well, but you use a couple of different things as far as, uh, you know, putting this, this stuff together. I'd be interested to, um, to find out, and I know the, the viewers would be interested as well. I know E cam here has gotta be in the mix.

Jeff Sieh: Mm-hmm. But if you notice that blue, that blue background, and I Seriously, from your stuff. Chris is, when I looked at the deal caster stuff, it's like, man, that really pops. And you know, first of all, it kind of looks like showy. You're like, uh mm-hmm. But you're trying to catch those people walking by at the mall.

That's right. And you're trying, it's the same thing on Facebook. I'm trying to get people to stop the scroll. So things that I would do different for like a webinar is I would do a different background than I, what I'm using there. That blue background that was going, that is totally designed for them to catch the.

I've also broken all of our shows. And Grace Duffy, my co-host, is she's been on it and she came with me from Social Media Examiner. [00:18:00] She's always been the producer behind the scenes. And we break down the show and we kind of streamlined it to three segments that we have. All those segments are programmed into my stream deck, so I can bring up like the opening title that comes up, and then I can bring up the, the, uh, segment and like, and I have all them laid off across the top.

Right below each of my guests, I have their title so I can bring up their lower third. So like I already have this, still programmed this, I'm not Jim Fs, but I still have Jim Fs programmed on my stream deck that I can just talk do there right underneath where I can toggle his camera. And then I have the same thing for Grace, so I have them laid out.

Grids in the same way with all my calls to actions and also all of my, uh, titles and whatnot that I'm bringing up. Like when Jim was on our title for the show was getting started on Amazon Live. And so I just had that going and then when we went to the next segment, it was setting up how do we set it up and so I could just easily toggle that, right?

And then, you know, that was, and then why should you go live? So we had those three segments [00:19:00] that I have ProMED programmed into the stream deck. And so it's really simple if you set them up. To do, and I love the stream deck for switching cameras and doing all that kind of stuff. Uh, doing live, I mean, I really, it's overwhelming if you think about it.

Uh, and I've been doing this, like I said, through the Google plus days. You don't need to do all that fancy manky stuff when you first start going live, but. Just like Jim, uh, I mean, uh, Chris does at the beginning where he has the unmute thing, all that stuff. You can add those things as you start getting more comfortable.

And if you, the cool thing about live video is like if you mess up, it's not that big a deal. No one has ever went, I'm not watching your show anymore because you had the wrong lower third up. Nobody's, because I'm all the time. I'll put, like, Jim was up the other day and I may have had Grace, you know, Grace's thing up and I'm like, um, sorry.

You know, it just happens. But nobody's ever left my show because of that.

Jim Fuhs: Yeah. So Gina's got a question, uh, Jeff, and she's like, uh, that she's always been more of like behind the, the, as you said, computer [00:20:00] screen type of person wants to get started with, I guess being on camera, but she's. Nervous. Do you have any tips on how to make that transition?

Jeff Sieh: Yeah, so I get nervous every time I go live. I got nervous before I went on this show. It's just use that to kind of spur you on to go on. So the other thing you do is practice. I practiced before. Um, I really like when I even did this new show layout that, that, uh, Chris showed at the beginning. Uh, I practiced with that.

I practiced my camera switches. Um, but you can also go live. What I've done is I create a, a private Facebook group that only I have access to and I stream to that. So I pretend it's like a real stream. I've even had, uh, I have friends come on so I can see how I can bring on guests and how I'll use those, those different layouts.

So I can streamy yard, you have the different ones. You can, you can bring up. Uh, I played with that till I was comfortable and you do that live in a private group. So that's what I would do. And then, um, the other [00:21:00] thing is. Is have a run of show, which means like, like I showed you at the beginning, I had like the opening title had segment one, segment two, segment three.

Think of those. Don't just go live and think, I'm just gonna answer questions from the audience, because when you do that, you'll get there. There won't be an audience and you won't have anybody. You'll be like, okay, I'm waiting for people to come in, and that just doesn't look good. So I have a habit and I've done this.

For every show and everything that I do is I, when I go live, I have 10 questions. I may not use them. Um, and if, the cool thing is, if like an audience member asks something similar, I'll use their question instead of mine because I want to bring them up on screen. I wanna highlight them. And so that's what I would do.

And then if you, if you like, you're still struggling half, I was a magician for a while in college too, so. Have in your audience. There's nothing wrong with asking your friends to show up live and.

Chris Stone: A lot of it's [00:22:00] getting the reps in, which you touched on. Yes. It's like you, you know, and, and sometimes, sometimes, like when I first started doing it, I wouldn't go live. I would record myself. And of course, you're your own worst critic and eventually you gotta hit that big red button and, and go live. But the great news is the first show you do live hardly anybody's watching.

So yeah. You know, uh, it's, you know, maybe no one, like you said, no one's gonna remember it and the second one's gonna be better. The third one's gonna be better than that. Um, man, great advice. This is, uh. This is amazing,

Jeff Sieh: but there's, I wanna tell a funny, so I remember the first, like my first big guest, I got Guy Kawasaki to come on the show, and if you don't know who he was, he's the, was the chief evangelist for when, when Steve Jobs was at Apple, he was like selling the Mac.

I mean, he's a big guy in the tech space and founders and all this stuff. So cashed in all my chefs. I had p ask if he'd be on my show. I got him on the show. We're getting ready to go live. We're in the green room. It's like 3, 2, 1, and I have a water bottle like this. It's a plastic one. I turned and I hit the bottom of this thing and it [00:23:00] cracked and it just dropped out.

And all of a sudden, oosh, my whole crotch is soaking wet and we're live with Guy Kawasaki. Hello everybody. It was, I had this really nice surprise look at my face. It was probably some false, you know, false excitement. Yes. But the thing is, so you're sitting there at the wet undies for the entire show. But the thing is, is you just got, things will go wrong.

Your internet will go down, your guests won't show up. You try to plan for as much as you can, but just know things are gonna happen and you're gonna mess up. There's some days I can't get, I stumble over words, I say the wrong, it's just gonna happen, and you're just gonna have to, you just have to go. So I hope that helped.

Jim Fuhs: Well, and do you feel like Jeff, I think that. Because there's been so much live video, I feel like people are more forgiving and I think even sometimes, you know, the, the folks on it, we'll just say on some of the other tubes, are so worried about making a perfect video to upload it. It's like just, you know, [00:24:00] you.

Just do it and yeah, you can edit and post. Yeah. Yeah. I just think it's kind of funny that, that, uh, it's gotten in the way. I mean, 'cause you know, we don't even know what we're gonna say five minutes from now, but, uh, but we know it's gonna be fun.

Jeff Sieh: Yeah. But, and, and a lot, I mean, there is that kinda, you wanna be professional of course.

I mean, Jim's not saying not to be professional and you wanna make the best show possible. You plan for the best you can. You think of like, okay, if my guest doesn't show up, what am I gonna do? What happens is if they drop out, you need to have a plan for like. Because I've had that to happen. Mm-hmm. Like all of a sudden the guest freezes and you are on stage and what are you gonna do?

You gonna cancel the show? Are you gonna talk a while, get back, make those kind of plans? But your audience, I've never had somebody that's, this is stupid, I'm leaving. They've never done that. And I've done thousands of hours of live streaming.

Chris Stone: Right. And this has kind of come full circle 'cause uh, Phil Hill has joined us in, uh, on Amazon Live.

And, uh, we had Phil on last week. Mm-hmm. And so this completely, um, you [00:25:00] know, correlates to this. And so we, uh, had our little, you know, get together at the front end, getting ready to go live. And we noticed there was some sound issues. We were trying to solve those sound issues before we go live. And so we kind of kept kicking the can down the road to, you know, 'cause like you said, it's like, are people really waiting for you to go live?

You can kind of wait and go later and get everything solved. So that sounds right. But even though we thought we had it right, when we actually did go live, those sound issues were there and they were actually a little worse. And so we were live, you know, and so we're live here on Amazon, you know, tens of thousands of the, you know, the car buying public mm-hmm.

Is here to, to hear these sound issues. Jim and I didn't, we didn't freak out, Phil, to his credit, he didn't freak out. And we just kind of were like, you know what, there's, there's some sound issues going on. We're gonna, we're gonna pop you backstage. Let's make sure, just give us a high sign, make sure that everything's cool.

Jim and I just kind of went on, we brought him back on still some sound issues, but we just went and, and for whatever reason, 10 [00:26:00] minutes in, they just solved themselves. Mm-hmm. And everything was fine. But I know some people, you know, Jeff would probably like. Freak out and like, you know, wet themselves, it wouldn't be actual water.

Right. Um, you know, and then, and then hit stop. Just like go cry and cower in the corner. Right? And it works against you. In that situation, if we didn't hit red and go live, you know, we wouldn't have learned something. And had I, I felt like a great interview with Phil Hill. Absolutely.

Jeff Sieh: And the lady who had the question before about nervous going live at first, it is a lot easier and that's why I did it.

When I first started the Manly Pinterest tip show, I had four other guys. We pretty much ask one question and we go down the line and the show was over. I mean, that was, it was really easy. So it's always easier if you do have a partner you can go live with, because. I call 'em like Periscope videos when it's just you talking and you're like, eh, you know, trying to figure out, it's a lot easier if you have somebody else, a guest that you can interview or you have like [00:27:00] what Chris and Jim have done and what I do with Grace on my show.

Have somebody there that you can bounce things off if things don't go right. I mean, grace and I are always talking. We have the notes up, doc. We'll.

And that that's a skill that you'll develop as you do more and more. But there's stuff that happens behind the scenes and it's easy. Like if I'm like, I need a drink of water, I can leave her on, right. You know, full screen while I'm getting something. Or if I'm trying to diagnose a problem like why does this guest have an echo?

Or something like that, having another person, uh, uh, really helpful to have that kind of buffer.

Jim Fuhs: I think that's a great point. In fact, you know, 'cause I started my live streaming with Tim, so. I think that was the whole thing. If I didn't have Tim as my cohost. I don't know that I would've stuck to it. Right.

I think even mm-hmm. It's that whole, like, it's an accountability partner. Like, okay, we're going live every week. Every week. You know? And so it's like that pressure's on. You don't want to be the one that says, oh, I don't [00:28:00] want to go live this week. You do it with without me. Yeah. Right. You know, and so I think, you know, I that's something Gina, that you might want to consider.

Is there someone that you, uh, get along with that maybe you could start a show together? I, I definitely that think that helps. I mean, it was funny is when I got approved for Amazon Live, I. You know, I, I think, well, Chris was the first person I talked to when I, I mean, I was like, I was like, Hey Chris, I just got approved for Amazon Live.

You wanna do a show with me? And we thought of the show name and everything because it's like. I watched and you've watched them as well, Jeff, some of what these other people do, and it's like, I'm not gonna be this guy that's gonna sit there by myself and say, Hey, this is the, uh, the stand of the station KU to you.

This is great.

Chris Stone: What do you think, Jim? Never, never try to sell that one Jim. That comes with the mic.

Jeff Sieh: Yeah. But not a good salesman right there. Yeah. Yeah. So,

Chris Stone: Jeff, you, um, let's talk a little bit about social media news Live, if we could, and those that are mm-hmm. Watching on Amazon, or maybe they're, they're listening to a podcast at, uh, [00:29:00] later when, when we repurpose it.

I think what you guys do from a, from a run of show perspective, and you've, you've touched on it, how you and Grace sort of work together really well as a, as a team. But you also, you start the show and then there's a. Kind of a pre-show sort of conversation, and then you fire up the podcast, uh, machine right as well.

And so for those that, um, are on Amazon right now and they're watching and they're listening to us and you don't know that there are podcasts available to you on Amazon, all you gotta do is download an Amazon music app for free and look and, you know, download social media News live. Here it is, um, on Amazon Live.

Uh, with, uh, the Manly bearded one, Jeff c on the cover. Why is Grace not on the cover? By the way, Jeff? I know we need to, we,

Jeff Sieh: we, so when we first started, it was still up in the air. She's gonna be able to join me or not. And so luckily I, we need to redo some, a lot of different artwork. So you know how it is, it's all work in [00:30:00] progress, right?

Chris Stone: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And look at, look at this latest episode is with some guy named Jim Fs. I know. Um, talking about Amazon Live. How amazing is that? So, and that was a good show. That was a really good show. But you've had really some, and you. And this is a, this is a testament to how not, you know, not just the people you know, but how connected you are and how, and there these are incredible amounts of information, like how to maximize, you know, Facebook, but specific Facebook stuff from experts.

That's current TikTok, um, right here, the Rachel Peterson show. And of course Mark Schafer is a legend as well. And you know, YouTube shorts with, uh, Rob Ba, who's with two buddy. This is a fantastic podcast. And um, so for those of you who, um, you know, are. On Amazon, didn't know that this existed for free. Uh, be sure, of course you can listen to deal casters later, but go listen to Social Media News Live.

So Jeff, when you guys are doing your run of show and you're, um, and you're doing that, [00:31:00] are you just basically, okay, this is where we're gonna start, basically the recording of what becomes this audio podcast. Is that how that that's going? Y

Jeff Sieh: yeah, so, and I've debated on how to, and Grays always kind of refining the beginning of the show.

Um, because, you know, we, like, we started really had a, when we look at our, our earlier episodes, we had kind of a long lead in before we got to what I call the kind of the meet. I like to have that, like, Hey, welcome to, because usually we're, I'm laughing with like, Jim behind stage and it's hard to have like a clean break when you go live.

You're like, you're still laughing about something somebody said or somebody didn't like. Are we li you know, that kind of thing. And so, and also I like to talk to my audience. Then I like to like, hey, you know, because as you do this more and more. Some, the same people will show up every time. Well, those are your super fans, right?

And I really want to call those people out like, Hey Sally, how you come watch everything? Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it. We'd love for you guys to share this out among the, the socials, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Calling anybody who wants to know about this kind of stuff. I like to do [00:32:00] that.

And then kind of, you know, 'cause somebody may have a really good question that I want to have, and it also lets the live kind of kick off. You know, it doesn't, unless people have signed up. Other people they're discovering in their feed. And I like to have a little bit of time, it's not long. Mm-hmm. And um, and then we go into like, Hey, I'm gonna start the podcast machine that gives me a clean break for when I repurpose it for YouTube and when I also repurpose it for um, um, my podcast.

But I also go back and I edit that pre-show stuff out on Facebook and LinkedIn and that gives me a hard break to do that in. So smart. If people watch the replay, boom. Here, we're starting the show. So that's kind why I do that. And the same thing at the end. I'm like, usually there's some questions that I haven't got to, but I'm, I wanna make sure that the, the guests have time if need.

But we'll cut it off and say, Hey, you know, Jim, this was great. That was so funny you said that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you know, and I'll, I'll bring in some more questions. Sometimes we'll go, Hey, we're going live to Clubhouse. You guys wanna continue this conversation? Or, you know, just some fun [00:33:00] stuff at the end.

Like, um, when we had Lou Ello, I did a Disney trivia thing where I bought a t-shirt of his and gave it away and that kind of stuff. So. We kind of do that kind of fun stuff at the end, but that's, that's kind of what we're, and then we may change it. I mean, the show format will probably stay the same.

Mm-hmm. But that we may trim or move or try different contests or whatever. But that's kinda what we're doing now.

Chris Stone: That's great. And, and that's one of the great things about podcasting and. A lot of times in livestream, I know there are some rules, but generally there isn't rules. You can kind of like, right.

Let your, let your viewers, let your super fans, as you say, kind of dictate the way you should kind of flow. I mean, you gotta stay true to what you, you feel is, is your. Your thing and your show. But that's the cool thing is you don't have to go, oh, well we have to take a break here because this company said I have to do this, that, or the other.

It's like, you don't have to do anything. You can, you could do, you know, that kind of stuff. And buy a shirt and go live on Clubhouse and, and do all that fun stuff. Experiment. See what works and see what sticks if it doesn't stick. All [00:34:00] right, cool. We shot our shot and now we'll move on something else.

That's great. That's right.

Jeff Sieh: Right. So I mean it's, I mean, the show flow, getting that down to where you're comfortable I think is. Pretty is something that's pretty important. And so, and, and Jim knows this from being on the show, so we like, we have questions that we give to the guests before the show, but I will go ahead and like, oh, you said something that I really wanna focus on, da da da.

And we'll, we'll go back and then like, I, and, and we have certain section, and it's usually after each segment is I have a time where I go back to the audience and like pull those questions. Or if I see a question that I already had in the document, I was gonna ask. Somebody asked that was similar, like, you know, what do you, what are the levels on Amazon live?

Well, I was gonna ask that anyway of Jim, but I would rather pull up, you know, my superfans comment, get them on the screen and make it like they were gonna, that I'm listening to them than something else. So that's what I really like to do. So it is a skill and it [00:35:00] takes time. 'cause you're bouncing between a document.

The comments like running the show. It's a lot when first get started. That's why it's great like we've talked about before, is having a, you know, a, a guest or a, a, a co-host that you can count on and, and that kind of thing. So it'd be really hard to do all that by yourself.

Jim Fuhs: Yeah. Now, Jeff, what, what, um, so what did, what really, uh, drove you to start Social Media News live?

'cause I know I'm sure you had other, uh, opportunities, uh, that you could have gone with, but what, uh, what made you think of, of this format?

Jeff Sieh: Well, and Grace, so. One of the shows that we did before for the company that shall not be named, no, we've already talked about, but we were doing shows over there and like our, one of our Instagram episodes had like 15,000 uh, views on, on am, on uh, uh, YouTube.

And we had like 2000, I mean, I, I remember looking at the, 'cause the stream deck, um, actually has how many viewers you can program to. So how many view people are [00:36:00] watching you. And I'm like, we have five people watching the show right now live. I'm like, okay. And I knew Grace and I worked well together and when they, you know, Mike wanted to take over the show, and I'm like, I still wanna do that.

The show, the way we did it, and we had some limitations. We couldn't do, I couldn't ask certain people and you know, and I, I like to ask people who interest me, right? Like, I want Jim on the show because he helped me with stuff and he's, this is valuable information and I know Jim. Knows his stuff. I wanna have him on the show.

I can ask who I want, so I'm in control. So that was a big thing and I knew there was already an audience for it. I knew that it's, it is a struggle starting from zero after you've had so many people watching you live on one channel going and starting from nothing. It's really tough and it's a big blow to your ego.

And you, there's five people like, oh hey, hey everybody. Um, so, but long term, I thought it would be a great thing. We could do some really cool stuff. I could do a podcast. Build up a YouTube channel, that kind of [00:37:00] stuff. And so that's, I already knew it. And I, and I also do a live show with Tailwind, which is kind of that Pinterest stuff we talked about before.

And like we have 200 to 300 people watching live on that one. And so I know, I know that I can do a show, so I'm like, this makes sense for me to do. So that's kinda why we did that. And I love, it's in my industry and I love talking to these people like. Mark Shafer and Jim, and you know, it's, you know, it's fun.

Chris Stone: I think that's important if you love doing it. Yeah. And that's, you know, Jim and I say this all the time, like, if we didn't like doing this, we wouldn't do it. I mean, I, you know, even if there were, you know, if there was all kinds of, if there was more money than whatever we're making now, it's just sort of like, if it isn't fun, you know?

Right. Don't do it. And what the, the thing I love about your show, uh, you're in Grace's show, Jeff is like, I think so many times. We've watched shows and the content is like, oh man, this is so great. But I, I wish the camera wasn't pointing, you know, pointed up their nose and there's a thumbprint on the, you know, or the lighting.

It's just [00:38:00] kind of bugging me, the, like, there's a clicky sound happening or, you know, but the content's just so awesome. You can kind of ignore that. But my squirrel brain, right. It's hard. Yeah. Just can't, and, you know, but then there's these shows where it's like, it's just glamorous, like. Fantastic mirrorless stuff, flashing and transitions and all the stuff.

And if you close your eyes and listen, it's like, what are they even talking about? And so the, the great thing I like about your show is it has that fantastic balance of. Like nothing's distracting you from what you guys are talking about and that it, like, so, so many people miss that. And um, you want to have that professional slick look and you wanna have those pattern interrupts and you wanna go, you know, all of that stuff, but not.

Um, for the, you know, at the sake or at the risk of losing what you're trying to say and what you guys is, what you guys are talking about is, is just fantastic. The, the guests that you guys are having just fantastic. And, and the show is [00:39:00] really pro. So those that are, that are watching right now are listening on Amazon.

Please go to Social Media News Live and check out this show. It's, um. It's kind of the best of both of those worlds. Oh, thank you. So congrats and kudos.

Jeff Sieh: Well, I think it's fun too, is like, like I mentioned before, is the, I I, I interview people who interest me, like who I've seen. I'm like, I always wanna talk to him.

Like, and to be honest, I would rather have Jim Fs on and Chris Stone than I would Gary Vanerchuk. I mean, Gary would probably bring in some numbers. Mm-hmm. But I would rather talk to somebody. I'm like, now, now what did you say? And not be worried about like, uh, you know, him just taking over. I mean, I wanna ask questions that my audience I know is wanting to ask.

You know, you don't see what, do you see what I'm saying? Yeah. I mean, it's not always about the big names, right? Because I've had some of the big names and on, on some other shows, and it's like pulling teeth to get 'em to answer questions or they'll not answer. What do I do now? I just asked like, pretty, and they just danced, so.

Right. [00:40:00] Um, but I mean, to be honest, I mean, and I think that comes across to your audience. It's like if you are asking those great questions, and that's the other thing is learn how to ask great questions. Like watch, you know, like Jimmy Fallon, you know, the old, I love the old, um, Johnny Carson. He is the amazing entertainer and the way he ask questions, I know he old school, but, and be entertaining.

And so how do. Into your show. So,

Jim Fuhs: yeah, I think you hit on it, Jeff, right? It's, it's more about draw out the expertise from your guest as opposed to trying to be the smartest person on the screen. And I think that that, you know, is it, I think it's a skill that can be developed. I think it goes back to you've gotta watch your show.

It's like, oh, am I being too talkative? Am I overtalking my guest? Or am I letting my guest talk? But I also like your point too, is like. As much as you may say, oh, I could get this really big name. Does it make sense? Or are they gonna take over the show? And it's like, you know, was it really [00:41:00] that great of a show?

Especially if they're everywhere already. Uh, you know, I think there's a lot of, uh, hidden talent out there. Um, which, uh, you know, and, and Jeff, something that you do and that I guess a lot of people don't think about is, is you repurpose your show and you do a lot of this yourself. Um, talk, talk about how.

How do you do that? What are some, maybe some of the, the tools that you like to use?

Jeff Sieh: Yeah, so my, this quarter I'm really trying to build up my YouTube channel and I, I've had some other channels, but the social media, live news, live channel specifically, and we've only got like three or four, I mean, all the lives go live there, but I'm trying to take those and make them com like YouTube videos, like where you have a hook and then the, like a clip.

So, uh, everything for me starts with a transcript. So I love script. I mean, that's what we use for show. And so upload that. As soon as we're done with the show, that gives me that transcript. That also gives me a way that I can go inside of the script and highlight things and make a clip of [00:42:00] that. And so once I have made a clip of all those, like I think we make good sound bites, like usually a question and an answer like from last week there's some great where I asked Jim a question and he answered it and it's like two to three minutes, which is perfect for social media.

So I can actually go and take that and make it a video and I plug it in. Anoth one. Another thing I looked at you guys, how you repurposing with your, on Facebook, the square video with your lo your all your, your kind of marketing look. And I, you know, kind of copied that and used it for some of my stuff.

So that's what I, I love the script. I also use to script to take out that beginning part, like I said, when I'm starting the podcast machine and the ending part I use to script to export my audio for my podcast. So I use it for that. And then, um, some of the tools, like, you know, we talked about the stream deck, but I just started, it's probably been the last, uh, two or three weeks, is using the loop deck, which is really cool.

Like if you're scaling video or if you're nudging clips or all sorts of stuff that [00:43:00] you have to do a lot with your mouse and keyboard. It's just, it makes it faster and a lot more fun. So I love it. That's my biggest new tool that I, um. I love for editing and repurposing. The thing that I've used that's probably changed my show for the better other than the Stream deck, um, is like I told you, we had show notes that we did.

Like if, when Jim came on, we have his like bio and, and the questions and on those kind of things. And I didn't like it 'cause my, you know, I'm looking at my camera right here. And when I get to that time where I introduced Jim, I'd go and then Jim Fs, he's an amazing guy. He does Amazon live and, and my eyes were knocked.

Tracking. So the best thing I've done is gotten the, uh, teleprompter that it's the podcaster. Oh. And I stick my phone underneath there. And so I use a piece of software called Teleprompter Premium. Mm-hmm. That allows me, I have all my questions, I have all my segments in there. And so when I'm asking questions, I don't look down at my document, I'm looking inside [00:44:00] of my, my podcaster, and I can read.

Jim's bio, I can ask the next question. And so I actually have, it's really cool. The teleprompter premium software lets you connect with your phone or your iPad. So I have it on my desktop and I also have my iPad, uh, because my phone's in there that I have to use for the, the teleprompter, and that has changed.

I, you know, Chris, you were talking about how the. The professional look of the thing. Being able not to look down when I'm talking or asking questions is a huge deal. It is. And that's probably the thing that changed my show for the better, the most. It's

Jim Fuhs: funny you say that too, 'cause I, Chris and I joked about this a few weeks ago.

Uh, 'cause in case you don't know folks, you can actually watch Amazon live on your TV set through the Amazon shopping app on the Fire Stick. And I think probably the, the Fire TV. So I, I, you know, 'cause my wife, uh, maybe your guys' wives do, doesn't always watch my show. And so she was watching this show and she was like, I [00:45:00] can't watch your show.

I'm like, why? Well, you keep looking down. Well, it's because I was looking at the Amazon app on the phone, right? And so to your point, right, I now have this iPad that's elevated so I can just glance and change things and I'm getting the teleprompter as well because you don't, it is right. It's frustrating 'cause there's things you wanna make sure you don't.

Forget, and you don't want your eyes all over the place, but that just, you know, just comes with time. And so it's interesting to hear, Jeff, that even as seasoned as you are right, you're still finding things that you feel that you can improve at.

Jeff Sieh: Yeah, and I used to have my notes, like I make 'em really small and close to the camera as possible.

Mm-hmm. But there's still this thing, and it also makes it really easy. When I repurpose these videos, I usually am, I'm recording my own hook for those and so I can have that and I'd be like, da da da, da. Hey, you know, Jim Fuse was on the the show yesterday, and I can do my hook and record it and do it really quickly with that.

The only thing is, is the first time I had it all set up, I'm ready to go and I'm like, oh crap. My phone's in there. [00:46:00] I've gotta start Amazon Live. So luckily I had it on my am, my iPad, and I was like, oh, okay. There I go. It'd started a little bit late, but I was like, oh, you have that moment of like, oh crap, how do I do that now?

Chris Stone: So, yeah, it wasn't as bad as water being spilled into your lap. No, I, I think you always have something. It, it's not just for content creators though. I think, I think, you know, everything is, there's so much virtual stuff going on, job interviews, uh, you know, a sales, uh, virtual presentations for, you know, your business, uh, as an entrepreneur or whatever.

Eye contact is key. If, if they're not right connecting with you. Um, and, and you have trouble, you know, trying to look at yourself. 'cause myself is right over here. Where, you know? Right. And if I were talking like this the entire time, nobody's gonna, nobody's really gonna connect with me. So I have to get used to not looking at my own face.

Right. Or, or having a, like you, like you have invest in a, in a teleprompter, and then you get used to it and you know, you just, you knock it out.

Jeff Sieh: And so in habit [00:47:00] now, like. You're still like, all this stuff is down below me, but habit I've just got made that I look at my, at my camera for years, I had a yellow, uh, sticky note that had an arrow that pointed to the camera because I would always forget.

And so now it's just kind of second nature when I start talking, I, I'm just ignoring the stuff below me, where you guys are and talking to the camera. Uh, but I've tried like three different, um, uh, teleprompters and I tell you the podcast caster is the best by far. I have a Cannon M 50, which is what I use to stream with.

It actually has these mounts that go right on the front of your camera and you just slide the podcaster right on top of it. And so it's amazing. So I love that. I mean, I've tried like three of them. Like I even have a big iPad, one that mounts on my big camera and all that stuff. But, uh, it's, it's the best.

So I love it. But you don't have to do all this at the beginning. Like, like I, you look back at the first stuff I did, I didn't have a background. I was using my iMac camera. I had probably the cam, the mic that was [00:48:00] on my, my iMac and I eventually got a, a Yeti. And then two years ago, uh, IL sent me the PR 40, which is what you're hearing right now.

Great. Mike. Yeah. Um, and so I love the PR 40. It's a great, amazing Mike. And so, uh, guy Kawasaki actually. Um, bought that after he bought, so I use that and I use the Road Caster Pro because I like to do all the, you know, the sound effects and all that kind of stuff and do all the cool stuff. And it also does a backup recording and it goes my works with that.

Well, guy bought two of those, one for upstairs in, one for downstairs. Wow. 'cause he likes to look, he likes to sit and, and I actually am able to plug in my, um, phone into the back of the road caster. And use my good mike when I do clubhouse. And so Guy saw that and he wanted, he wanted to have a different setup for his clubhouse studio versus his, I'm like, okay.

Third world problems there, I guess. So, you know. Gosh, this is awesome.

Jim Fuhs: Yeah, I mean, uh, we gotta, we're gonna have to have, uh, we're [00:49:00] gonna have to have you back, Jeff. This has been, uh, amazing conversation. Oh, it's been fun. Um, nerding out about all this stuff. Yeah, we'll do, we'll maybe we'll do a, an episode.

You can teach us how to use the loop deck. Oh yeah.

Chris Stone: See, it's amazing. Jim wants me to empty my bank account right now, Jeff, that's what he wants. Just one of those guitars behind you're props. That's a green.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. This has been awesome, Jeff. I mean, you've given so much of your time and uh, this is one of those ones where I get to the end of it. And of course, you know, this being somebody who's, who's doing production kind of behind the scenes. I, you know, there was so much information and Phil Hill mentioned as well, he is like, he couldn't write fast enough, um, with, with all the great stuff that you were given.

So this is one of those ones where I gotta go back and I'm gonna be team replay. Um, on, on, on this because I know there was probably something that I missed because I was hammering out a banner or, [00:50:00] or, you know, uh, switching this or switching that. But man, thank you so much for, for this. This has been awesome.

And, uh, you know, an honor for us to have you aboard, man.

Jim Fuhs: Yeah. Thank you Jeff so much. Thanks for having. That was all fun. Appreciate it. I did,

Chris Stone: yeah. Awesome. Thanks to everybody that joined us, uh, on Amazon and all the other tubes. Um, and as always, don't fear the gear. Thanks

Jim Fuhs: for listening to deal casters.

Congratulations, you've taken another step forward. In your content creation journey, please don't forget to hit the subscribe or follow button here in your favorite podcast player so you can be reminded every time we drop an episode,

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Jim Fuhs: If you have questions about this [00:51:00] episode or have something you want us to review, you can also email us at deal casters@dealcasters.live. Thanks again for listening and you know the deal.

Don't fear the.