[00:00:00] Jeff Sieh: Welcome to Social Media News Live. I’m Jeff Sieh and you’re not.

[00:00:04] Conor Brown: And I’m excited at St. Patrick’s Day and I’m also Conor Brown. And this is the show that keeps you up to date on what’s happening in the world of social media and more.

[00:00:14] Jeff Sieh: And have you ever wondered how the future of shopping looks like and what makes a live shopping host stand out from the rest? Well, you’re not alone as live shopping takes the world of e-commerce and social media by storm. Many are curious about the secrets behind this phenomena from choosing the perfect platform to creating and engaging and authentic experience.

[00:00:35] Live shopping hosts face several challenges in their. Quest to captivate audiences and drive sales, but worry not because we’ve got you covered, faithful viewer today we are thrilled to have the amazing Stephanie Garcia join us to explore the world of live selling platforms and share her valuable insights on what it takes to be a successful live shopping host.

[00:00:55] So get ready to be inspired and take notes as we dive into the future of live, [00:01:00] uh, shopping together. Stephanie, how are you doing?

[00:01:03] Stephanie Garcia: I am doing Outstanding. I’m excited. I know.

[00:01:06] Jeff Sieh: I mean, you are one of my favorite people, so I’ll just get that outta the way. But if you guys don’t know who Stephanie is, let me introduce you.

[00:01:12] She, Stephanie Garcia is a live video strategist for brands and entrepreneurs from moon Walkers to master chefs who want to go from unknown to unforgettable. She’s a digital marketing expert. With 15 years of ad agency experience, she has helped thousands of her clients and students get on the fascination fast track to ignite their ideas and become confident on camera with her per, uh, with her proven system.

[00:01:37] Clients discover how to create crave worthy content, get audiences buzzing with excitement, and how to deliver a spellbinding presentation that hooks viewers in her client. Master Chef Claudia Sandoval drove 178,000 downloads of her first book from the her first live Restream within 24 hours. She also coached astronaut Jessica Meer and her team for a live interview in space.[00:02:00]

[00:02:00] Named as one of the top 50 digital marketing thought leaders by the University of Missouri St. Louis. Her work has been recognized and awarded by Forbes Online Marketing, media and advertising, pr Daley Forrester, and Gartner, one-to-One Media. She is the host of Lights Camera, live and co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Social Media, and also my friend.

[00:02:18] Thank you Stephanie for being here today. I’m just so excited. Can you tell?

[00:02:22] Stephanie Garcia: I’m excited to. You’re the best. You, you nailed that. Well done, sir. Well

[00:02:26] Jeff Sieh: done. Well, yeah. You, you right. She’s a good writer too, so that her bio’s amazing. But I’m wanna give a big shout out to our friend Martin Bucklin, who is over on LinkedIn watching us today.

[00:02:35] Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you, my friend. Thanks for doing that. We’ve got another person over LinkedIn saying, Hey everybody. Hey, back to you LinkedIn user. I don’t know why it didn’t come through, but anyway, uh, we’re gonna be talking all about. This, uh, the future of live selling. So I just wanna dive in right away to this, uh, Stephanie, because, uh, this is really, really important, the different live selling platforms.

[00:02:58] So I want to talk [00:03:00] about. . You know, I, I’m big on Amazon Live. That’s what I use. Yeah. I use Amazon Live all the time. Uh, you and then like Jim Fuse and Chris Stone from the deal, casters really helped me with that. So I’ve been finding success there, but there’s more than just Amazon Live. So what are some of the top live selling platforms that are like, dominating the market and what makes them kind of stand out from the rest?

[00:03:21] Stephanie Garcia: Okay. I, I love that you asked this question because I do feel like most people, when they think of live shopping, they think of it in a very limited scope. When you, what you should be thinking about live shopping platforms is that there’s really five different categories. Mm-hmm. . The first one is the marketplace, which you and I are so familiar with.

[00:03:37] It’s your Amazon Live. It’s your shop shop. It’s where people are already shopping on and they’re just, you know, kind of search based marketing, and then they find your live Restream there. Mm-hmm. . So those are like your marketplace. Then you also have the white label category for live shopping platforms.

[00:03:52] This would be like your live scale.tv, where brands can host their own live shopping. Event on their website or on some third [00:04:00] party website, but it looks branded in that sense. The third one is what everyone is most PO most like familiar with? Mm-hmm. . And that would be your Facebook, your TikTok, your Instagram, your YouTube.

[00:04:10] Those are your social platforms. The fourth one is event based. And so those would be things like brand Live or Bibo. And then you have the fifth one, which is virtual assistants, where you actually have a live shopping assistant pop up and say, oh, Jeff, what are you looking for today? Is there anything that I could help you with and answer your questions?

[00:04:27] And of those, I would say that are probably the most popular, I would say bauser, Amazon Live, it’s going to be your live scale.tv as well, and then as well as your social media platforms. But I think anyone first diving into. They probably hear about live shopping first on the social media channels because they’re the ones that are out there with a big megaphone saying, this is new, this is what’s happening.

[00:04:51] Mm-hmm. . And then you have your QVC and your home shopping networks like we’ve been doing this .

[00:04:56] Jeff Sieh: Right, exactly. So is, is [00:05:00] there a, I mean, you mentioned all the different kind of tiers and I I, I’d love to kind of dive into that a little bit more, and Conor, I know you have some questions too, but is it, is it, what is it different for what you’re trying to sell?

[00:05:13] Do you, are those different platforms for like, okay, this is more for fashion and this is more for, you know, another thing or it, do they all kind of, it doesn’t matter what it, they, they fall into? I

[00:05:23] Stephanie Garcia: don’t think it really matters what it falls into. I think it really depends on what your. what your goals are for the campaign.

[00:05:30] So, for example, what I like about Amazon Live is that it’s a destination site for people that are already doing search based commerce. Mm-hmm. . So they’re searching for something online, they’re gonna take a a look at reviews. If you’re live Streaming at that moment, that’s awesome. That’s great. But are people most likely just hanging out there?

[00:05:48] Not really. If you think about where people are usually hanging out and it’s interest-based commerce, that would be your TikTok and TikTok. Live shopping is where you’re hanging out and you’re just consuming content. You’re being [00:06:00] entertained. Oh hey. , I’m now seeing a live shopping segment based off of my interest because the algorithm knows me so well.

[00:06:06] Does that make

[00:06:07] Jeff Sieh: sense? Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, cuz that’s what Amazon is, cuz when, you know, there are people who go to Amazon and just love to watch the QVC type of thing, but they’re also the, the, the, the people who just, it shows up on the, the product page. If you’re Streaming live, if I’m, if I’m Streaming live and I have in my carousel, like the Restream deck, which I’m using to switch back and forth, um, that my live show will pop up there.

[00:06:29] So it’s really, I I see what you’re saying, how there’s some discovery based stuff and then there’s things like brands will say, uh, in fact we have, uh, uh, Randall Con even said that, uh, Walmart will have one, uh, two, they’ve already started promoting that. So do you think that big companies like Walmart, best Buy Target and all those will have their own platforms or.

[00:06:50] go into something else and, you know, what are your thoughts about Absolutely.

[00:06:53] Stephanie Garcia: Okay. I I, I think all retailers will eventually launch their own a live shopping platform or at [00:07:00] least be integrated with another existing live shopping platform that’s already out there. We’ve seen Walmart, target all of these other user, these, these live shopping platforms where people will go to consistently.

[00:07:12] And then you think about if you integrate that into the actual app itself, now you have even more opportunity to capture your audience and drive more commerce through that app.

[00:07:23] Jeff Sieh: Gotcha. Gotcha. Conor, do you have a question?

[00:07:25] Conor Brown: Yeah. You know, it’s interesting when we hear about all of these platforms and, and what’s going on, but Stephanie, you teach people how to have success when it comes to live, Streaming, live shopping, all of that.

[00:07:37] So when it comes to these platforms, do you have any success stories of businesses not only achieving, you know, their revenue goals, but expanding their audience through live selling.

[00:07:51] Stephanie Garcia: Absolutely. So one of my favorite projects last year was doing a three day workshop for a big Fortune 100 [00:08:00] brand, and I really have to tip the hat to their chief brand officer because what they did is they realized live shopping is really doing well in other countries outside of the United States.

[00:08:12] They’re, they see what’s trending in China and whatnot, and they actually brought all of their brand managers from Latin America to say, we want to teach you the proper way of how to be successful with live shopping. It might not be popular in your region just yet, but let’s start to get ahead of that and start learning what’s working and what’s not working.

[00:08:32] And so what I saw from this particular. You know, they were just like, okay, so I’m gonna focus on Instagram. I’m going, I’m going to focus on TikTok, I’m gonna do this. And we saw that they were able to really, really expand their audience and grow awareness of who they were. Not only that, but start to get additional spokespersons within the company.

[00:08:52] because if you think about it, influencer marketing is nice. You could tap a specific influencer, has millions of followers, but you’re competing now [00:09:00] you’re competing with other brands that want to capture that attention. So for example, uh, there’s another live streamer whom I’m very fond of, it’s mother could, right?

[00:09:08] She has 1.2 million followers on Instagram, I think probably about 730,000 on TikTok. And her videos alone have probably racked up about 11.7 billion views. And before she ever goes live on Amazon, she’ll go to the different platforms first and let her audience know, Hey, I’m about to go live. So she’s taking these rented social media properties and now driving them over to Amazon.

[00:09:32] So it’s really interesting to see how Amazon, first off, and you, you probably already know this, Jeff, Amazon saying like, great onsite is nice, but if you could get me offsite traffic, that’s even more exciting for. .

[00:09:44] Jeff Sieh: Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So, and, and actually your commission rates are different. Like, you know, from being onsite for like, when I have a video up there, it’s lower than if I bring somebody in, which makes sense.

[00:09:53] Like I’m bringing somebody into the platform, uh, and doing it that way. So yeah, you’re right. They really are trying to get As, and they’ve even said [00:10:00] it, wic, we want that offsite traffic to come in and using social media, like you were mentioning there, uh, to drive people into one spot is really, really smart.

[00:10:08] Um, is there any like, specific developments that you’re seeing in these life selling platforms that we should keep an eye on? Are there, is there, I know AI’s everywhere and, you know, one of the things that we talked about a couple weeks ago is I don’t think, you know, it’s gonna, a, AI’s not gonna replace what we do, like being a host or that kind of thing.

[00:10:29] I think it’d be really hard for that to happen. But do you think see any new trends on, on these platforms of some new technologies or techniques that they’re doing? ,

[00:10:38] Stephanie Garcia: I mean, from technologies and techniques, definitely I’m seeing the AI integration in it, um, as well as augmented reality. I think it was Lancome, that was maybe in 2019, they started to do a skin diagnostic app.

[00:10:51] So while you’re watching a live shopping event to choose what would be the best skincare routine for you, you would download the app, you know, turn it [00:11:00] on and say, actually, because you’re watching the live shopping event, this would be the best product that you should purchase based off of what we’re analyzing.

[00:11:08] And I think if most people actually did that from a, from let’s say the, the health and beauty brand, that can really, really skyrocket. Because now you’re no longer thinking, okay, gosh, like what’s the best color, what’s, what would be best for this type of condition that I have? Or the look that I’m trying to get, makeup, all that other stuff.

[00:11:26] One of my favorite things to do too is, okay, we’ve all seen the bold glamor filter on TikTok. Yes. I’m not the only one that’s hanging out on TikTok. Right. . But what I love about these TikTok filters is now they’re, they’re becoming even much more advanced. They’re incorporating that AI into it. And my, one of my favorites is that it’ll show you how to do your makeup.

[00:11:45] So like, contouring. So some of us that wear makeup, Jeff, you know, sometimes, sometimes it’ll, it’ll tell you like, oh, this is the best place for you to contour or for you to highlight. And I wouldn’t have known that. I would’ve just [00:12:00] continually done my makeup the way that I usually do it, unless I was watching like a makeup artist on YouTube.

[00:12:05] And so it kind of forces you to think differently, try something new. And so when you integrate this augmented reality into your live shopping event, it makes it fun. You’re like, oh, okay. So if this is my before, this is, this is what it could look like. But the bridge to that, the contextual bridge is going to be your product.

[00:12:25] Okay, now you’ve captured my attention. Does that make sense?

[00:12:28] Jeff Sieh: Yes. Yeah. In fact, they’re, they’re doing that right now, uh, on Pinterest. They’re actually, you can try on, you know, just inside their pins. They can try on different lipsticks. You can try on, you know, like you said, different makeup colors. Not that I’ve tried it, but I know that it’s there.

[00:12:39] Uh, but I, I also wanna do a, a shout out really quick to, uh, melody Johnson, who is, um, incredible over on Amazon Live. If you haven’t checked her out over there, uh, Melanie, feel free to drop your link in, uh, there on LinkedIn and let everybody know where to find you. She’s, she does an amazing job. I’ve learned a ton from Melody.

[00:12:56] Uh, so. Um, really quick bef and I was so excited. I have [00:13:00] Stephanie on. I forgot to mention that this show is brought to you by our friends at Ecamm. They’re what makes this show possible so you can find out more about them at socialmedianewslive.com/ecamm, but I wanna give you a little sneak peek of something.

[00:13:12] There is a cool new thing coming called Leap into live selling that they’re gonna start, and it’s right, it’s gonna be on April 24th and 25th. You can actually go ahead right now, go to Leap until live.com and register for that. But it’s going to be amazing. They’re gonna have Interactive Virtual Summit this year.

[00:13:29] They’re gonna help take Leap into this live selling. Like I mentioned, they have this amazing lineup of speakers, which Stephanie and I are gonna be talking there, and they’re gonna cover all, uh, aspects of life selling shoppable video monetization from getting started on these platforms that we’ve just been talking about, finding clients, repurposing your life, selling skills, and a ton more.

[00:13:47] And so by the end of this, You’ll be ready to take live, selling the live selling space by Storm. So make sure to check it out at Leap into live.com. My friends at Ecamm, and Stephanie is a big part of this. Um, I really appreciate [00:14:00] them for sponsoring the show, but I know, Stephanie, you’re excited because I know there’s, you’re gonna be all up in that,

[00:14:05] Stephanie Garcia: so Oh, yeah.

[00:14:07] Beyond excited for what we’re gonna bring to that. I, I mean, Katie and I, we really sat down and, and the rest of the team were like, what do we really wanna showcase this year? What’s the difference that’s going to make the difference? What are the trends? Because in live shopping, live selling in general, you have the host mm-hmm.

[00:14:23] you have the producer, you also have the marketer who’s doing the pre-promotion, the promotion during, and then after the show. There’s so many different facets to it, and I think when people start to realize that live shopping as an industry and the different roles that it plays into, you get to decide if you wanna be one of those roles or all encompassing.

[00:14:44] Jeff Sieh: Hmm. Yeah, so we got a comment here real quick, uh, from Maurice, uh, says, uh, I was there for the first Leap in the Live Giant. Just signed up for this one. Thank you, uh, Maurice, for doing that. It’s, it is an amazing event. So it’s, I’m so excited that it’s coming up and you guys make sure to go there [00:15:00] and sign up for your own spot.

[00:15:02] Uh, and then Robert says, the home shopping concept has been proven success for decades, only natural to bring it into a hyper niche online environment. Totally agree, Robert. Um, and I wanna move on to our next section where we’ll be talking about the art of live selling. And a lot of this has to do with the host.

[00:15:19] And if you ever have a chance to get to, to watch Stephanie on one of the live selling stages, she is incredible. Take notes because she does it really, really well. But there’s a question that I wanted to bring up from, because I think a lot of people feel this way, and this is Jim over on YouTube. He goes, can you do effective life selling as an individual or do you have to assemble a team and have a support group and all that stuff.

[00:15:40] So what would you tell Jim Stephanie. .

[00:15:43] Stephanie Garcia: I think it really depends on your production, right? If, let’s say, if, if I am a solopreneur doing a course creator, I could probably do it myself. If my checkout, my point of sale transaction isn’t that, um, isn’t that complex? Mm-hmm. , right? If I’m on a shopping platform where [00:16:00] you could check out while watching the Restream, that’s awesome, that’s great.

[00:16:03] But if I’m taking people from a live shopping event and then having to direct them somewhere else, I may want to have someone in the comments to help moderate the chat and keep reminding them to come back to the original show. Does that make sense? Yeah. So, . I feel like if you are, if it’s not a complicated show, if you have the proper integrations in it, then it makes it easier for people to, if you’re consulting, book a call.

[00:16:27] If you are purchasing within the platform, like something like live scale tv, you could automatically do that. But if it’s not connected, if you’re trying to like zap your way into this, right. mm-hmm. , then it’s helpful to have a team because when you know this, and we, we both know this, when you are the host and the producer at the same time, it’s hard to also be customer support because when someone is ready to buy, they just, there might just be that one Quest question that they just need the answer to.

[00:16:55] It’s like, what’s that one question that you need answered in order for you just to like put in your credit [00:17:00] card and be. .

[00:17:01] Jeff Sieh: Mm-hmm. . Yeah, that is, it is. That’s why I have Conor on here because he, he helps me, you know, I, I can cut to him while I take a drink or, or do what? Not drink water. I’m not drinking during the show, drinking water.

[00:17:11] Wow. And so, but Maurice says this and he goes, I have to admit, I’ve been wondering how to, to, about how to start such a good topic. Well, one of the things we mentioned Amazon Live, and I would say Amazon Live is probably the easiest way to dip your, you know, if you become an influencer, is to dip your feet into doing live selling.

[00:17:28] And I just gotta give another shout out to our friends over at Ecamm because they now integrate with Amazon Live. So when I’m going and doing my Amazon lives, I can actually bring comments up, uh, now from Amazon. And so that’s really amazing. So, uh, if you’re wanting to get into that and you’re an influencer and you have access to Amazon Live, make sure you check out Ecamm at socialmedianewslive.com/ecamm slash Ecamm because they have some really cool stuff now to help with that.

[00:17:51] So, sorry Conor, I jumped on you, but go ahead. No, it’s all

[00:17:54] Conor Brown: this. You talked about getting a team together and, and that’ll help you out a lot, but I [00:18:00] have to think there’s a lot of other steps before you even click. Go live on the computer machine. Of course. So when it comes to a successful live shopping show, how do you prepare and, and what are some tips we can take away from you?

[00:18:16] Oh, oh,

[00:18:17] Jeff Sieh: co-parenting. Yeah, she’s, she had to. No, no problem. So, um, let’s talk about really quickly, Conor, um, lemme pull you in here. Wrong. Let’s see. Stick with us folks. We’ve got, there he is. Uh, Conor Brown. Where’d he go? You’re there. Nope. Sorry folks. Little bit of, uh, what is going on? Okay, well anyway, uh, we’ll go back to this.

[00:18:42] Now. Conor’s gone. What is going on? There he is. Okay. Conor, you’re back. Okay, let’s talk about Amazon Live cuz you’re new to it. So what are your struggles with when you first started going on uh, Amazon Live? Like

[00:18:56] Conor Brown: my struggles, I would say is, is what? To [00:19:00] sell, what to kind of start a show with and just start talking about.

[00:19:04] I think when we all come to this, you know, we’ve established ourselves as experts in whatever field we are in. Maybe that field uses a lot of products, maybe it doesn’t, maybe it’s all online. So for me it was always kind of difficult to make that transition from, I’m a guy that talks about Disney all the time, right?

[00:19:23] How do I go from having that vacation helping people plan for that vacation to selling products? For me, what I found was, was interesting and a good tie was you need to have a successful trip. You gotta bring these four things into the parks, you know, whatever that might be. So I think finding that tie, cuz there’s always a tie.

[00:19:45] There’s always products and tools that we like to use. Mm-hmm. , we might just. , I’m the only person using that. But you never know until you put it out there. It could be totally helpful for someone else, but I feel like that’s something that I, I still struggle with early on in the [00:20:00] live selling, uh, facet of my life

[00:20:02] Jeff Sieh: right now.

[00:20:03] Gotcha. Well, Steph’s, uh, Stephanie’s back, so let’s, let’s ask that question again. Like, um, what do you do to prepare for, I mean, cuz I know I’ve seen some of your checklists, I’ve seen, you know, some of the things you’ve done before to get ready for a live show. What are the, the things that you have to have to have a successful live.

[00:20:21] a live selling

[00:20:22] Stephanie Garcia: show. Yeah. For a successful live selling show, my biggest suggestion would be you really have to look at the product in itself and know how you would use it, so that way you could have your own story. But when I’ve worked with other live shopping hosts, they say that they also look at reviews online from other people.

[00:20:42] because they wanna see what their stories are because how you use it, yes, that’s awesome, that’s great. But if you’re trying to sell across different demographics across different industries, then it’s helpful to know how other people are using it. They might have something that is so iconic that you didn’t even think about that probably even customer support [00:21:00] wasn’t even aware of.

[00:21:01] And sometimes, like, I actually had Juliana White who was on my show last week, and we were talking about, how do you do this? Because she actually, she moved from NASCAR to the newsroom into live shopping. Wow. And she said, Stephanie, I take pages and pages of notes. I’ll see the product detail page, but then I’ll also try to tie it to a story.

[00:21:20] And if I don’t have a story for it, then I’ll go ahead and take a look at the reviews. And then I’ll try to sit down with my family and say like, okay, I’m working on this project. This is the product. What questions do you have for me? Because these are real questions that are unscripted that she’ll most likely get on air.

[00:21:36] So she’ll do her best to be prepared. as much as possible. Mm-hmm. .

[00:21:42] Jeff Sieh: So I think, cuz it’s funny cuz I think, and you can tell me if I’m wrong, but it’s almost a balance between preparation, but also knowing improv because like, like we had to do a little bit of improv earlier at the show, which was a very, we had a little rough spot.

[00:21:57] But anyway, um, the, we were, we were, [00:22:00] we were going, you know, we were digging deep for that one. Um, but the, there’s that balance because you wanna be prepared, but you also wanna have that spontaneity. Like, I wanna be able to go in, and this is a great example, like Melody says, the best way to focus on is what resonated with your, uh, audience.

[00:22:15] If you’re a tech guy, talk about the products, you know, niche down. So, um, being able to pull that kind of stuff in while you’re going and doing your live selling thing. Because if you’re just sitting there and being the sham wow guy over and over and over again, that’s not gonna, you know, that’s not gonna resonate with your audience and it could actually turn them off.

[00:22:32] So have you found, like, cuz I, I know you prepare like I do. , but do you have like spots that you put in for? Okay, this is when I’m gonna take a break and pull in a comment or, oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. Oh yeah. Can you talk about that a little bit? How it’s improv, but it really isn’t, you’re planning for improv, I guess, is what

[00:22:48] Stephanie Garcia: I’m saying.

[00:22:48] That’s very true. So oftentimes to, what I don’t think people realize is that I also produce live shopping events for my clients. And oftentimes they’ll have this idea of, we want to do this, we have this [00:23:00] bundled package, we wanna put it out there. Here is the script . And then when I take a look out of it, look at it, I have to.

[00:23:10] Translate it into a run of show. And when we’re looking at the run of show, there are certain elements that I have to bring up cuz it’s nice to have these visual cues. These are your visual anchors to get people excited about the product. Cause they’re like, okay, what is that? You know, peak that curiosity and then you give the contextual bridge of like, and this is why you want it.

[00:23:30] Mm-hmm . And so in the run of show I’ll say, okay, so when we’re introducing the product, how do you wanna introduce it? Is there a bumper video? Are you holding up the product? Is it something that fits within the palm of my hand? Do I need an overhead shot? So those are the visual cues. Then I think about what are additional cues that I could put on there.

[00:23:50] Just like what you have right now, you have this lower third so that whenever someone’s popping into the newsfeed, they know who I am, they know what it is that I’m doing. [00:24:00] Other things that I, I take into consideration when I’m working with a live shopping host is okay. , Juliana, did you see this? This is an eight page run of show.

[00:24:09] Are you gonna memorize all this ? Right? That’s right. You know, do, do you like breathing like ? At what point would you like to have a sip of water? Right? And so I think even as a live shopping producer, I have to say to the client, okay, she’s been going on for like a good five minutes. She’s picked up the product, she’s demoed the product.

[00:24:29] Okay? So this, the example for this is Oxyon, which, you know, sometimes you’re having to deal with demos with actual water and mm-hmm , you know, you have to wipe it off. You have to move to the next product. Are we giving her enough time? Cuz. Those are a lot of things to take into consideration. And so when it’s engaging your audience, it’s what are all the different elements to keep them engaged, beginning, middle, end?

[00:24:54] What are the visual cues? How do you create those breaks so that way your live shopping host [00:25:00] doesn’t feel like they’re like, oh my gosh. Okay, and what’s next? How many products does Jeff have in his carousel right now? Right. .

[00:25:07] Jeff Sieh: Right, exactly. So. Go ahead, Conor. I’m sorry. So I,

[00:25:12] Conor Brown: I think that that’s great that you bring that up and, and a lot of that I think just comes back to repetition, right?

[00:25:18] Spontaneity in the beginning. Improv in the beginning can seem like a, such a daunting, daunting task. But the more you do it, the more you get into a flow, you know what’s gonna come next, the more opportunity you have to just kind of riff like what I just did with that last sentence. I didn’t know where I was going, but now here we are.

[00:25:33] And when you talk about the people that you’ve worked with that have been successful, you’ve already mentioned a few of them, but what in your mind sets a successful live selling host, apart from maybe one that’s kind of struggling to, to get their F feet right in, in the live selling?

[00:25:52] Stephanie Garcia: What separates them first?

[00:25:54] I would definitely say confidence. Confidence is something that when you are talking about a product, you [00:26:00] have to be confident in that product. I can’t tell you how many times I have produced an event. The client says, well, we found this influencer who’s super great on Instagram. Like, great pictures look awesome.

[00:26:10] Mm. Now it’s time for you to drop the price. Are you gonna drop the price in a way that it’s like, I’m confident in this price, or does it come off like, well, it’s only 1997, you know? Right. Mm-hmm. , and then you feel cringey and you’re like, oh my God, okay, this broadcast has officially ended. Right. You know, so.

[00:26:27] I think confidence in the product. Um, also storytelling. How do you tell a story? I was, once I, I’m gonna tell you a few horror stories. I once produced an event, and in the run of show it said, okay, explain how you discovered the product. This influencer goes and says, well, I was walking down Costco and I saw it, and I said, Hmm, that looks cool.

[00:26:48] I’ll give it a try. I was like, babe, we’ve got a 45 minute live shopping segment. You gotta gimme more. You know, like, come on. That’s not a story. That’s just a fact. Right? So I think [00:27:00] storytelling, wrapping that in order to really captivate your audience is gonna be helpful knowledge in the product knowledge, how it’s used, um, by different demographics.

[00:27:09] As we already said before, improv. Improv is always, mm-hmm. to your benefit. I think even just public speaking, the, the live shopping hosts that I have worked with that I know have that do so well have. Have practiced their public speaking. They’ve eliminated their hers, their ums, their filler words. But most importantly, I’d say have fun with it.

[00:27:32] You know, laugh and smile. You might have like your run of show, your scripts, your bullet points, but really you’re engaging with the audience at the end of the

[00:27:40] Jeff Sieh: day. Yeah, I totally, I, and I’m being, I know we say this word a lot, but authentic, but mm-hmm. , that’s I think why people will come tune into this show.

[00:27:47] Cause they know I’m gonna bring their questions in. They know that sometimes things will go wrong and we just will dance a little bit and then move on just the way it is. And, um, I wanna bring up, uh, Randall, I know who, cuz I [00:28:00] know Randall and I watch his stuff. Um, he says I have 45 years in the food industry on Amazon Live.

[00:28:04] I talked all about the items that cook the food. So we were talking about like, you know, what do you do it on and how you niche down. And, and Randall is a great example. Like he, you know, food’s a hard sell on Amazon, but he actually sells, he goes and does a show on the stuff to prepare the food that he knows so well.

[00:28:18] So being creative in that way, I think is a great example. Uh, porta says, uh, spontaneity is great. It gives a synth authenticity. And when you’re engaging with the audience, answering their questions on the spot and having the audience input is great. I agree that and somebody else’s confident is so important and you don’t, and, and, and there’s a, there’s a line between.

[00:28:38] I think confidence and arrogance because we’ve all seen, when they’ve gone over too far, they’re like, yeah, look at me. I can, I’m gonna bring every conversation back to me. And when you’re doing life selling, you are supposed to be entertaining and actually talking about the product. So I would like to ask you, Stephanie, what’s the difference between, you know, running your, your own live show?

[00:28:59] Like, say you’re [00:29:00] doing it on TikTok or Instagram Live, where you’re just, you, you are kind of in charge and you pick the products and all that stuff, versus working with a brand, having a brand deal, they give you the products and you’re supposed to be, um, you know, pitching their stuff and selling their stuff live.

[00:29:15] Stephanie Garcia: Oh gosh. What’s the difference? I feel like with me as a personal brand, when I’m doing my own personal life selling, I’ll tell you my whole entire workflow, how this product actually fits in my day-to-day life. What’s my for workflow, how does it make my life easier? And then I insert a segment where I ask questions.

[00:29:33] Um, , you know, I’ll, I’ll be on air as long as I need to in order to answer all of those questions, and then I go beyond further. And I think it’s mostly because I, I’m a marketer at heart, so I’ll repurpose the content, I’ll turn it into clips. It’ll be a blog post in and of itself. There’s, I think of, and maybe I’m just kind of different from everyone else, but it, it’s really, I look at, this is what I love.

[00:29:58] This is what I want you to know [00:30:00] about it. This is how you use it, and if you wanna learn more, these are all the different places that you could find this specific content. When I’m working with the brand, it’s very, . You have the creative department where it says it needs to look this way. Right? You have to say this particular line.

[00:30:16] And sometimes working with the brand, they want it to be so structured. But you, I think as a content creator, you know what works best for your audience, right? And I would always suggest to work with a brand that gives you that creativity, that that room, that space to be a little bit more creative. And not only that though, but be open to giveaways and all these other different things.

[00:30:36] Because a brand is a brand. It’s a logo. Yeah. Yeah. But when you have a live selling host, they’re that bridge. They’re that conduit between the consumer and the actual product to create that commerce. So the more that you work together with the brand, the better. Sometimes I’ll even have a brand where like, Hey, here, here are some new lights that you could install in your office.

[00:30:57] I’m like, oh. But if they don’t give me [00:31:00] any guidance on what to say or the specs and I have to do it myself, sometimes that makes it a little bit harder too. Cuz if they come back to me and say like, oh, well we really wanted you to show this feature, and it’s like, babe, I would’ve never used that feature because , that’s just not a thing.

[00:31:14] Right. .

[00:31:15] Jeff Sieh: Yeah. Got it. So on that, that same note, and I would love to know you guys, uh, who are watching live, let, I, I really wanna do a show on brand deals. Let me know if that’s be something that’d be interested in doing. Because brands, uh, more and more are wanting to partner with even not just the huge like Kardashians, but with micro and nano influencers.

[00:31:35] And there’s kind of an art to doing some brand deals, but a lot of times, like you were saying, Stephanie, they’ll have certain requirements that they want you to hit like you wanna do, you wanna make sure you only shoot in vertical and you only do this and this and this. Do you think it’s, and you mentioned, you know, having creativity, is it okay to push back and say like, listen, I, I really think that this would really showcase it better instead of just like taking it and like, okay, I’ll do whatever you say is [00:32:00] doing that little, you know, that that pushback a little bit.

[00:32:02] Like, you know, that’s a great idea, but, you know, that kind of thing with

[00:32:06] Stephanie Garcia: brands, I always say that there’s the, there’s power in knowing, so knowing what works and knowing when to say no to a client, right? Right, right. Yeah. So there, there are times as a content creator, you know your platform best, you know your audience best, you know what works.

[00:32:21] You know how to keep their attention span within that, right? So sometimes you’ll even see these live, live, live streamers in China where they have like little things that they’ll wear, right? Or they’ll have sound effects and all these things. They’ll do giveaways just to keep the audience entertained.

[00:32:37] But for a brand, they’re like, oh, that’s cringey. We’re like, no, listen, you’re competing with everything else that’s happening on that specific platform. And so, oftentimes, me, myself, I think for you, for those of you that wanna do brand deals, ask for a run of show. What are the major requirements? You know, what are the absolute must haves?

[00:32:55] Because there are must haves that you need to have in the show, right? Obviously [00:33:00] the pricing, the product, the reviews, and the urgency. Everything else about like, oh, and here’s what’s coming up next and blah, blah, blah. Those are nice to haves because as we all know, anything can happen on a live shopping segment.

[00:33:12] And as much as we want to control it, you know, there are some things because of the flow of the conversation just might, you know, it might go a different direction. You don’t wanna just be like, oh, I know you’re all interested in brand deals, but we’re totally gonna move on to the next question. Right.

[00:33:26] that’s so fun. Yeah.

[00:33:28] Jeff Sieh: Gotcha. So, Conor, go ahead. You had a question.

[00:33:31] Conor Brown: I think, you know, when it comes to, giving worth and value and entertaining. There’s so many things we have to do when we’re live selling. Right. Of course, the selling part I think, is at the forefront, but we don’t want to come off as cringey or, or too salesy.

[00:33:47] You know? It’s, it’s that fine balance that we ha we have to, you know, walk across the tightrope for. So when it comes to a live selling show, how do you balance the need to actually sell products [00:34:00] with the need to provide value for eye content, provide entertainment to your

[00:34:05] Jeff Sieh: audience?

[00:34:07] Stephanie Garcia: So how would you divide that?

[00:34:08] It, it’s interesting because the questions that the both of you are asking, it, it makes sense to me because it’s coming from. Uh, one side of the world. Um, and when I say that, to me, it’s more like North American questions versus mm-hmm. , when I’m working with clients that are well versed in what’s happening in Asia, right?

[00:34:27] Oh. So in North America, there, there really is this like, oh, we need to have visuals and contacts and be entertaining, and we don’t wanna be cringey and constantly try push, push, push in, sell, sell, sell. Yeah. However, if you watch a live streamer in China on TBA and all these other ones, like they have learned rapid succession of selling points.

[00:34:48] Mm-hmm. So as soon as they see the numbers rise, they go back, boom. And PS by the way, here are the benefits that you need. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Okay, what was your other question? And they’ll show the product again. PS by the way, boom. And they’ll go into rapid succession [00:35:00] Again, the difference I feel like between live selling hosts in America versus outside, um, and the other parts of the world is that, let’s say in China, they actually have like two day boot camps that teaches live shallow live selling hosts on how to be a good host.

[00:35:15] and that’s different because I think many of us that became live selling hosts, right? Like we were live streamers, now we’re doing live selling. We’re incorporating what we think works best from our live Streaming background. What I see in live selling hosts in other countries is they know what works best because they’ve seen the sales behind it.

[00:35:37] So they’ve, they’re actually much more well advanced than North America, to be honest. Right? Um, and so they’ll see the data as far as, like, if I say this, boom, sales have spiked tremendously. Uh, so we don’t always see that, like, let’s say online Amazon Live, right? You don’t find that out until after the, the live Restream has actually ended.

[00:35:54] Does that help? Does that answer your question? Yeah.

[00:35:56] Jeff Sieh: So would you say some of that is, some of it cultural and [00:36:00] it, you can’t take, you know, I can’t just go watch the, the, the live selling over in China and apply all that. What I do can though You can, but you think so? Are you saying that? That’s

[00:36:10] Stephanie Garcia: what I wanna know.

[00:36:11] Yeah. Okay. So here, so it was fascinating. So as I was preparing for the show, I was like, what can I tell Jeff that he hasn’t heard yet? And it’s that two day Bootcamp where these live selling hosts are now teaching these amateurs on, you know, it’s not about winging it, it’s not about this, it’s about the excitement, it’s about the urgency.

[00:36:31] And you now see them. So the, here, here’s what happened. So there’s these existing live shopping platforms that have evolved in China. They already have, you know, their, their head honchos, like the best live shopping hosts out there. They have their Austin Lees and whatnot. But these new live shopping hosts can’t compete with them.

[00:36:53] So what’s the next best interest? Live shopping platform that they could tap into. It’s [00:37:00] TikTok. So now these boot camps, and this is the part that’s interesting, they actually teach them English slang. . So last night, Jeff, I was watching this live, live shopping host, and it, it was like she was taking little words.

[00:37:14] She was like, oh, yeah, hun, I got you hun. Take a look at this. Right? And it was like, what? Right. But it was, it was rehearsed, but it was, um, they were trying to take that style and move it over into Westerners. Mm-hmm. . Now your question of like, does that actually work, man, I was sitting there watching this TikTok live and the comments were flying by and they’re like, okay, what color do you have it?

[00:37:39] And do, and then someone would be like, oh, how do I purchase this? And she’s like, let me show you how. So she’s on camera and then she’s like, she pulls up her own live Restream. Like, this is how you buy it. Like, nailed it. I was like, oh my god, on fire. So, Yeah, I mean, does that answer question? I was, yeah. So, so it’s coming over

[00:37:58] Jeff Sieh: now.

[00:37:58] Yeah. So, [00:38:00] and, and, uh, somebody, I think it’s, I’m not sure if it’s Randall or not, says, uh, the US market has so much more potential. Totally agree. The thing that I think that you should do if you’re wanting to become a better live, uh, seller is, uh, a live selling host is to do, like, I have a whole Google sheet of live sellers that I follow over on Amazon.

[00:38:20] So I’ve, I’ve look at their storefront, how they’re doing that, what their products are doing, how long they’re going, how many, you know, are they doing their full carousel? Are we gonna do a couple? How fast are they moving through it? And I have like, do your research. Like, I think what you’re saying, Stephanie, is like, look at people for examples and then really, you know, try to dive in and see what’s working.

[00:38:39] Because you’re right, some things that we’re used to as live, you know, doing these live shows and podcasts and stuff, it’s a different skillset on that, you know, you have to learn for selling On that note, . I want to talk a little bit about, because I think it’s fascinating, is when you coach Jessica Muir, uh, the astronaut for doing her first live in space, so [00:39:00] she’s super smart to be an astronaut for the first place, for sure.

[00:39:02] Yeah. But you had to teach her some skills. Um, are any of those skills that you had to teach her, like applicable to what we’re talking about today, about life selling? Because I know that one, that’s just a cool story. And two, like what did you teach her? Like, I mean, I’m sure your time was compressed and you had some, you, you know, you really had to give her like the, the kind of the nitty gritty on how to do it, but how did you teach that to her?

[00:39:24] Stephanie Garcia: So, I was very beneficial in the sense that there were two segments. So one was actually onsite, and then the second follow up one was gonna be when she was gonna be in outer space. Mm-hmm. . And so the first time when she was onsite, I was like, okay, you’re an astronaut. You got this , right? Like you’re doing things that not most of us can do.

[00:39:43] But what I realized is that what most people struggle with, no matter what industry you’re in, it’s always gonna be confidence. Confidence is something that you’re always taught or that you learn naturally. Sometimes you need someone to coach you. And so it’s like, yeah, I may know this, this, and [00:40:00] this and this, but for some reason this camera frightens me.

[00:40:03] And I’m like, well, just imagine that it’s that little girl that you’re gonna inspire. Because she’s like, can I be an astronaut? And once I said that, I was like, boop. Okay. Got it. That’s who I’m talking to. It’s not about me, it’s about the person that’s watching me and how I could tell them what’s possible.

[00:40:22] What are the opportunities, what are the potential? And I think for most people, confidence and like tying that back to why you’re actually on camera is really the, the difference that makes the difference.

[00:40:34] Jeff Sieh: Difference. So that leads back to this live selling what we’re talking about. How important is it, and I know the answer to this when I ask anyway, how is important to it to really believe in the product?

[00:40:45] Like, I see a lot of Amazon people were on, on doing live streams. I’m like, I don’t think they have actually tried it. You know, or I mean, I have it and it broke like in three seconds. So, um, how important, I mean, there is some times where it’s, it’s a mu you have to do things [00:41:00] for brands, like it’s a money deal.

[00:41:01] You’re, this is how you make a living, but how important is it that you really believe in the

[00:41:06] Stephanie Garcia: product? I think it’s absolutely important. Um, I, the, one of my favorite stories about a popular live selling host is Austin Lee, and he’s known as the lipstick king in China, and he did a live shopping segment where he worked this deal with the brand and said, okay, if I’m going to introduce you to my audience, you have to promise me that this is the best price out there.

[00:41:29] And they said, yes, sign the contract. Okay, great. This man has sold over a billion lipsticks in a matter of 15 minutes. He knows his stuff, he knows how to get his audience from browsers into buyers. Well come to Findel like a couple weeks later, the brand says, that was so good, let’s do it again, but this time let’s do an even lower price.

[00:41:52] So he catches wind of this and goes, oh, no, no, no, no. You can’t do that. Yeah, because we made a. And I stand by [00:42:00] my word. And so he went back to his audience and he said, if you purchase this item during this live shopping segment, I want every single one of you return it. Return it right now, because they broke a promise.

[00:42:13] And that was him saying to his audience, I’m putting my reputation on the line for you. This brand said that they were going to do this if, can you imagine that he sold a billion ? Oh my gosh. Yeah. And then now you’re, now it’s like all of this returned item is being shipped back over to you. So I think us as live selling hosts, we have to stand by our word because people really want our opinions on it.

[00:42:38] Does it work? How does it fit into your day-to-day? This could be like the best camera. This just happened to be on my desk. Don’t mind me . Right? But this, this could be like the best Osmo pocket, right? Mm-hmm. . But when I tell people, you know why I like it, I don’t necessarily tell ’em like the pixels and all this other side.

[00:42:55] I’m like, Yo, this literally fits in my purse, right? I could put it , [00:43:00] I could put it in my bag, get in the Uber, and be on my way without having to mess around with like this clunky, right. Big, you know, camera on my hand. But it’s like, boom, here I am. Now I’m blogging in the car.

[00:43:11] Jeff Sieh: Great. Yeah, that’s, and I think that’s, that can even go, even like what Conor and I do on Amazon Live is like, you can tell when we really believe in, like, I talk about a solo stove, which is a, um, I have a fire pit out in my, in my backyard, and I’ve had it for like three years.

[00:43:25] It looks grungy, but I’m like, look, it still works. It doesn’t, I mean, after like five years, it still, it may look like this, but it still works exactly the same as it did when I, and so I like it. I believe in it. You can tell in the sound of my voice, you can tell with my expression, and people can pick up on that.

[00:43:40] And I think, um, what you just said about, you know, being authentic and being, you know, believing in your product is so important and not just to go for the, for the quick sale. So, um, sorry, I had to, I, I, I always call audibles in this show, but O’Conor, go ahead. You had a question? No, I mean, I think. ,

[00:43:55] Conor Brown: it’s not so much a question as as kind of a a, just a statement.

[00:43:59] We’re [00:44:00] always selling, right? Yeah. Whether it’s a product or our service or we’re selling us. So I think when it comes to this sort of idea of life selling of maybe it’s a product that, yeah, we use every once in a while. We’ve done this before, whether it was on a podcast or in social media or in email marketing or whatever it is.

[00:44:19] I think it’s just taking those things that we already know and applying them to this new kind of outlet and with this new kind of outlet, there’s a lot of stuff coming for the future. So. So Stephanie, when it comes to people actually purchasing, how do you think live shopping might just change the way of how we think about e-commerce?

[00:44:39] Just, just in general?

[00:44:42] Stephanie Garcia: Oh gosh. There’s so much that live shopping is changing how consumer. Are purchasing right now. They have pointed questions. They want to know. They want you to pick it up. They, they want this guarantee. I think it all, it’s also helpful when I think about, if I go on [00:45:00] LinkedIn right now, if you did it right now too, and you just searched for on-Air Host or a live shopping host, you’re gonna see so many brands that are looking to hire, Hey, can you just hop on TikTok Live for about two to three hours a week promoting our products?

[00:45:16] Like this is changing. They’re looking for people and they’re looking for a variety of people that look different. So it could be. , the Gen Z, the millennial, the Gen X, the boomer, I almost forgot Gen X. That was, that would’ve been classic . You never heard about that, but you get what I’m saying. It’s like different demographics.

[00:45:35] Um, sometimes you may have a run of show, as I said before, um, you give it to one live shopping host, but if you want to have another live shopping host, talk about it, you’re gonna have to make changes to the script. There’s different, uh, etiquette, different slang and things that you would say that you wouldn’t say.

[00:45:51] Like I was, I was sitting next to someone today and my, my C M O, or was it my C m O, someone had said to me like, oh, let’s go ahead and take pictures [00:46:00] and make sure that we’re promoting this swanky event. And I was like, swanky. I haven’t heard that for a while. . And then I was sitting to someone else and they’re like, what is swanky

[00:46:10] And I was like, oh, you know, that means like, cool. They’re like, I thought that meant swingers. And I was like, what?

[00:46:19] What’s going on here? But you know, again, you have to bear in mind your audience that’s gonna be turning in, right?

[00:46:25] Jeff Sieh: Mm-hmm. . I used to use a line in one of my presentations where I talk about, um, yeah, it was just like, I just heard a dial tone. Nobody knows what a dial tone is anymore. You know? It’s like they just don’t see Conor does, like I, you can look at Wikipedia afterwards, Conor, and you’ll, you’ll find it.

[00:46:38] Oh, okay. Um, but one more question before we move on to the next section, cuz I still wanna talking about becoming a good live shopping host. Um, what are the biggest mistakes that you see when people start live hosting for the first time? Live selling for the first time?

[00:46:55] Stephanie Garcia: One of the biggest mistakes that I see when live shopping hosts get [00:47:00] started is they’re reading from a script.

[00:47:03] And they’re not so much invested in the story, cuz I really feel like it’s the stories that sell, it’s facts, tell, story, sell. We all know this, uh, but live shopping host for some reason, I don’t know why it is, but I feel like if it’s your, if it’s your first live shopping event, it’s like their spirit goes away.

[00:47:19] All of a sudden they become possessed and, and you’re the producer. You’re like, come on Jeff, that’s not you. Like, come back. Right. Somebody resuscitate him, like, what’s going on? Um, I, I think that’s the biggest thing is sometimes when you take on a different role, like you’re moving from live streamer podcaster into live selling host, you’re like, oh, well then I need to be the Forbes Riley.

[00:47:40] I need to be this. You know, but really you just need to be you because that’s why people are tuning in. They’re tuning into you, but you also have to be mindful of what makes a live selling show successful. So saying the, the price once isn’t going to do it. Uh, repeating where to purchase it and all that other stuff isn’t going to do it if you [00:48:00] only say it once.

[00:48:00] People need those visual cues because if they’re watching on a mobile device, probably like me, they’re moving around the house. Mm-hmm. , you have to say certain call to actions in the middle of it where you’re like, look at this . Right? And they’re like, oh wait, I have to look at this, something. But you have to direct them.

[00:48:17] So I, I think that’s always helpful. Those are very when you’re,

[00:48:20] Jeff Sieh: when you’re beginning out. Yeah. I think not read from a script. And once again, it goes back to what you were talking about with confidence is like you have to be, and you can, you can build up your confidence. Like you can go and practice. I mean, everybody started with zero followers.

[00:48:33] Everybody started doing a live show, turning on the camera for the first time. Everybody has been there. So, uh, I think just continuing to practice. And one of, uh, the guys who talks about confidence a lot, it’s my friend Ian Anderson Gray, uh, who is amazing. He says, my American friends don’t see, uh, or know what faff about means.

[00:48:49] It means mess around or do nothing. So you have to think about your international people too. Yeah, I said, um, yeah, I was just fiddle farting around and nobody knew what that meant. Um, no one

[00:48:59] Conor Brown: in this country [00:49:00] knows what they be, but,

[00:49:00] Stephanie Garcia: but okay, so can I, I’ll I’ll add to that. Yeah. So when I’m not, when I’m not doing live selling or the production piece, There are times where I’m in front of the camera and I’m filming a digital course for a client.

[00:49:15] Mm-hmm. , and we were doing the, the scripting and they challenged me on a particular word. I’m like, but everyone calls it that. They’re like, everyone in America calls it that . But our target audience actually lives in Australia, so international. So we have to change that. And that to me was really eye-opening just to realize, okay, not everything is North America, so how do I make this more appealing to an international audience?

[00:49:42] And I think for those of you that are live Streaming hosts right now, if you want to expand your opportunities, again, look outside of North America, see what’s happening in different countries. Look at different trends. I actually have my VA just saying, tell me what’s going on. Like, what are, what are some things that are happening on these [00:50:00] apps that North American people don’t know?

[00:50:02] And do we see those apps making their way into here? Do we see any connections between, uh, the product roadmap? , what should we be looking out for? Mm-hmm. .

[00:50:12] Jeff Sieh: That’s great. Yeah, man. Um, so I know you and I are both, all gungho about live shopping. Mm-hmm. , I wanna talk about the future of it, um, because I think, you know, you mentioned, you know, it’s, it’s a whole nother thing over in China and some of these other, uh, other countries.

[00:50:29] Like, it’s, it’s, I mean, they are celebrities, those live sellers, like, you know, they’re like top tier celebrities that we have here in the United States. But where do you think the future is going? Like if you had to predict and say, listen, I have X amount of money, I want to, you know, throw it towards this and it’s live.

[00:50:45] I mean, where would, what would you be looking at? What would you be investing in your personal time and even like technology you should be learning? What do you, where do you think this future is happening with this live shopping?

[00:50:58] Stephanie Garcia: I’ll say this from a B2B [00:51:00] perspective. If I was a, if I was a B2C brand right now, , I would be looking at hiring or developing talent within my organization to be in front of the camera.

[00:51:13] So what I’ve seen trending in the other countries is that they have these live shopping hosts and they’ll have them go live for hours on end. They’ll take a break, swap ’em out with another live shopping host. So you and I we’re used to live shopping segments being, you know, maybe 30 minutes to an hour long.

[00:51:30] What we’re seeing in other countries is that you actually have 24 7 live shopping happening. . So that to me is, is fascinating because if I were a global brand, I could say, okay, north America, you kick it off and then now, now you move on to a different country. So those are things that I, that I’m seeing happening.

[00:51:51] And that’s why I mentioned if you go to LinkedIn right now and you search for live shopping host, if you wanted a side gig, just a side hustle to see what these new [00:52:00] apps are doing, dedicate maybe, you know, two, three hours a week to be like, yeah, okay, I’ll hop, I’ll hop on TikTok live for you and, and do this product for you.

[00:52:08] And what you and I will notice, Jeff, because we’re so well versed in the live shopping world, is that some of these. Companies that are asking for a live shopping host may not have the infrastructure. So for me, who’s a consultant for me, for someone that does the whole production piece of it, I’d be like, look, I know you’re looking for a live shopping host, but what you really need is this

[00:52:26] Right? Right. What you really need is a producer. And I think what, because you’re, you’re hiring all these on-air hosts, you actually need a training Bootcamp for them. And so what would that Bootcamp look like if they didn’t have the stuff that you and I have, like the teleprompter and the lights and all that other stuff?

[00:52:45] Okay. How would you use something like this and why is it important for you to have a desk with enough space? So I think that, I think we’re gonna see changes in that. I also think from a live selling perspective, . If you really want to [00:53:00] start earning more brand deals, it’s gonna be more than just having a media kit.

[00:53:04] Now, this is me like, Hey, friends, , right? Remember, I remember was like, what’s a media kit? You’re like, oh, we just did a

[00:53:09] Jeff Sieh: show about it. We just did a show before.

[00:53:11] Stephanie Garcia: Yeah, yeah. Put put your, put your numbers on there, your links and some testimonials and all that other stuff. I think if you really wanna go far and beyond as a live shopping host, you need to put together a sizzle reel.

[00:53:22] You need to give me case studies. You need to show me what people are saying in the comments about how much they loved seeing you on camera. Not only that though, but I wanna s I wanna see testimonials from your clients that said like, wow, working with Stephanie Garcia, oh my gosh, we saw 10 x in sales.

[00:53:38] That to me is gonna be much more compelling than just seeing what your audience size is going to be. I wanna know if you mesh well with others, can you collaborate? Like, what’s your whole system in your process? I’m also even curious to know what is your editorial calendar? So are there certain sections in the year you’re like, okay, in q1 I focus on this q2, is this q3, q4 I can slot you in [00:54:00] here.

[00:54:00] I think if you came to the table as a live shopping host, I’m like, oh, I’m available whenever you want me to. I’m like, okay, well, alright. There’s no urgency in that. So we talk about live selling where you’re selling a product, but I think as a live shopping host, you also have to learn how to sell yourself.

[00:54:14] Jeff Sieh: Hmm. Those are, that’s great. Yeah. Good stuff. Yeah. I

[00:54:19] Conor Brown: think as, as this, this, you know, expands and grows, there’s of course going to be new potential, new opportunities, but there’s also gonna be new challenges. So, so Stephanie, as the industry grows, as the live shopping networks, platforms, whatever it is, can.

[00:54:36] In growth, what are the potential challenges and opportunities, not just for businesses, but also live shopping hosts might start to face?

[00:54:46] Stephanie Garcia: Well, one of the benefits of live shopping is that if Jeff or Conor, if you had a question, the live shopping host, we’ll most likely answer it on air. So now you’ve already set this expectation of immediate gratification, [00:55:00] yes.

[00:55:00] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. . So now, if I purchase the product and it’s now come into my home, and I still have questions on there, who’s gonna be delivering on that customer service? Because when I bought it, I got my questions answered right then and there. But now if I call you and it’s like, oh, I have to call a 800 number.

[00:55:15] I have to send an email, and it takes 24 hours. Now we’re relying on customer support to also match that level of customer support that we’re doing on air. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. . Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So being able to have that reliable customer service. While you’re live, like in the customer support section is gonna be very helpful, and then the whole entire customer journey process.

[00:55:38] I think that’s gonna be a challenge for the live shopping industry because as I said before, if the lipstick king can sell billions of lipstick in 15 minutes, my gosh, can you imagine The Warehouse? They’re like, okay, Jeff, I don’t know if you had plans this weekend, but now we are shipping and we’re packing stuff this

[00:55:55] Conor Brown: weekend where the Warehouse went.

[00:55:56] All that stuff comes back too. That seems like,

[00:55:59] Jeff Sieh: [00:56:00] yeah, it’s like that. What was that? That was that commercial. It was, I think it was a Superbowl where they had it, like they just launched their e-store and they saw their sales and then it started ticking up and going really quickly. They just kinda looked at each other.

[00:56:09] Oh my gosh. So I think you’re right, Stephanie. I think having that, and, and this actually may be where AI can help fill some of that gap with that customer service, um, because it can do that personalized help, uh, if it makes sense. I mean, we’re still a ways away from that, I think, but, uh, that could be one way that that could dive in there.

[00:56:27] So I wanna pull up this last comment from Maurice Burke. He says, wow, Stephanie, I just saw a live shopping job with traveling requirement. My mind is blown. Well, hopefully you guys mind was completely blown about, uh, what’s what Stephanie has said today because she is amazing. I wish we had. Another hour because I have so many questions and she is so smart.

[00:56:47] I love picking a brain. That’s why I do this show. It’s, it’s free consult consulting folks. So, uh, that’s why I do it. But, um, Stephanie is amazing. I wanna give her a chance to tell everybody where to find her, where to, you know, get some of your stuff. Stephanie, the floor

[00:56:59] Stephanie Garcia: [00:57:00] is yours. Absolutely. So I’m Stephanie Garcia, I’m a live video strategist.

[00:57:04] I help my clients go from unknown to unforgettable by leveraging live video. If you wanna come hang out with me, you can find me on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the best place. So it’s linkedin.com/in/stephanie-lou. So go ahead and find me there. Uh, if you wanna learn more about the production services, if you want coaching, if you want a VIP strategy day, you can find me at lights camera live dot.

[00:57:30] Jeff Sieh: And she comes up with a, a ton of stuff, follow her everywhere because she, like I said, she is a wealth of knowledge in this space and she, she knows all this stuff. And thank you Jim. Jim says such a great topic and presenter. Yes, she is. Amazing. Uh, thanks Jim for watching today and, uh, Conor Brown. Where can people find out all things, Conor?

[00:57:49] Well, I hope

[00:57:50] Conor Brown: to the one day become unforgettable . Cause that’s the greatest tagline I’ve ever heard. Yeah, you can check out all my stuff@wdwopinion.com and at [00:58:00] WDW opinion across all social channels. I talk Walt Disney World. What’s more fun than that? And. Follow me, you’ll start seeing my live shopping journey as well.

[00:58:10] That’s

[00:58:10] Jeff Sieh: right. He’s, uh, he’s on his way. Uh, he’s done some great stuff over there. And by the way, do not forget our friends, uh, over at Ecamm. You can find out more about them at socialmedianewslive.com/ecamm. And do not forget about Leap into live selling, what we’ve been talking about today. We’re gonna even dive in deeper, uh, during this, in April 24th through the 25th.

[00:58:27] You can find out more at Leap into live.com. Stephanie will be presenting, I’ll be presenting, we’ll be talking, I’ll be talking about repurposing. I know Stephanie will be talking all about what she’s been talking about today. So Leap into live.com. Make sure you guys go check that out. And with that, thank you guys so much for being here.

[00:58:42] We’ll see you next time. Thank you, Maurice. Thank you Ian and Jim and all. Everybody who left comments today and made this show what it is, we couldn’t do it without you. And with that, we’ll see you guys next time. Bye everybody.[00:59:00]