The Public Secret and Honest Truth About Life as a Livestream’er

Looking good on the outside. Hanging on the cliff edge on the inside.

Yes, the life of a livestream’er is a public secret.

Public, because everyone can do it.

Secret, because you know the ups and downs in detail when you are doing it.

Yes, this article is about an honest truth about livestreaming.

It is not tautologous.

Truth, because I am a practitioner.

Honest, because I want to talk about the ugly side.

Asymmetry dominates our life.

Everyone talks about the good stuff.

They amplify it.

No one talks about the bad stuff.

They bury it.

Since I found the skeleton in my closet pretty cute this afternoon, I decided to showcase it. Life is only beautiful when we see the ugly.

This is the unfortunate truth.

Livestreaming is a Lonely Journey

Ugly truth number 1.

Unless you are a big shot, or some social media influencer, or a business mogul, you are going to talk to the parcel of air right in front of you.

Why?

Because no one will listen to you.

Why?

Because, like you, everyone else is livestreaming.

Okay, you may think I am exaggerating. I am not.

Everyone is trying to share their 2 cents. You see this in your smartphone notifications. Daily.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Who’s next?

I am sick of it. I am sure you are too.

When everyone is a consultant, coach, mentor, savior, media savant… you begin to wonder if you have an identity crisis. And, you start wondering if it is worth competing with the others.

When you share with non-practitioners, they don’t understand.

When you share your thoughts with practitioners, they start seeing an opportunity to monetize a consulting package to bring you better results.

Like I said, this journey is lonely.

The Struggle for Traction and Attention

Yes, all it takes is to push a button and you are live.

If only it was THAT EASY.

First, you need to have a topic. Otherwise, you will just be rumbling random points. I have been there, so I know that is not sustainable.

Maybe you believe in winging it. You might be thinking I can do an ASK ME ANYTHING!

That way, you need not prepare.

I agree with you.

That may work, theoretically.

Because then, you are assuming that people will actually want to ask you anything. Maybe, people are waiting anxiously for you to be online to pop their questions.

Nope, that is not happening.

People follow successful people. You may think you are successful. Sure. You may think your followers will be waiting for you. Sure.

Test it out.

One advice.

Keep your pride in the drawer.

Keep it safe and intact for things that matter.

The Unbelievable Workload (Without Pay)

I will keep this simple.

You need themes, so people will know what you are talking about in advance.

You may want to invite guests with broad appeal to boost viewership.

That takes weeks. Or months even.

People are busy. The successful ones are unreachable. I remember having to wait for 96 days just for a yes or no response.

That is life, people.

And team members wrestle with life. I work with 3 business owners and full-time employees. We may bail when shit hits the fan.

Do I blame anyone?

No.

Because we cover our asses.

We discuss a lot about current trends, viewership metrics, and S.E.O. tools to give our livestream a boost. We are our own trouble. We want everything without paying for anything.

Therefore, we default to evergreen content.

Because we know there will always be an audience for it.

You know, like writing for self-improvement.

Summary

You have to enjoy what you do to do what you do.

If you are doing livestreaming for the money, think hard and think again.

It may not be as easy as you think.

Yes, you will see many successful livestream’ers telling you just how god-darn-unbelievably easy to make billions from an hour a day.

I say this.

Only successful ones blow their trumpet.

Those who fail retreat to the closet silently.

That is life.

Enjoy it, or forget it.

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Written by : Aldric Chen