The free online dictionary defines blab as:
blab (blăb)
v. blabbed, blab·bing, blabs
To reveal (secret matters), especially through indiscreet or unreserved talk.
n.
1. An incessant or indiscreet talker.
2. Lengthy chatter.
Blab.Im is my new social media obsession.
First it is was Periscope and now Blab!
I disagree with Mr. Online Webster, Blab does not have to be incessant, indiscreet or lengthy. Using Blab is a smart marketing move because this is no other platform that allows you to interact directly with your followers, fans, and prospects in real time.
[Tweet “Find out why using Blab is a smart marketing move!”]
The basics: Blab allows up to 4 “guests” to interview, chat, converse, solve the world’s problems (or maybe just a minor one) in real time as viewers watch. Those viewers can comment in the chat box as well as join in the main Blab if one of the guests “rotates out” of the main conversation window.
Directly from Blab: a few ways this new platform is being used:
Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started blabbing along with the rest of us!
First:
Blab works with Twitter, so when you create an account Blab will pull in information from your Twitter account so make sure that is up and running and current. You can also edit this to be Blab specific (I do like using that word!).
Second:
Your Blab title is important. But it can be tricky to get it right. Blab pre-populates the title with the usernames of your guests once the video is sent to Twitter so make sure you are concise yet choosey when picking words. Think SEO and think impact and think readability. Try for about 50- 60 characters to leave room for the rest so your entire important title shows up in the 140 character Twitter limit.
Third:
Think about pre-scheduling your Blab. This gives you a chance to promote it and engage guests ahead of time.
Fourth:
Before you jump in make sure to pop on to a few Blab’s as a visitor AND test out your own equipment and process. Some users like to use external mic’s for a better sound quality. There are a few technical pieces to Blab that make it fun but can be overwhelming if you are alone and new to the platform.
Always think about enlisting the help of a friend to be a moderator for you, where they can read comments, forward you questions from your viewers to answer so you don’t miss anything. The biggest part of Blab is the community behind it, so you definitely want to keep your viewers happy and most often we are happy when we are heard. So catch those questions and be sure to answer them as best you can!
One very smart tip I will pass on to you:
Before you start your Blab if you have any calls to action or websites you are going to point your viewers to – have those links listed on a separate screen/document so you can just copy and paste them into the chat screen when you are ready. Especially if you go it alone this is great advice to help you keep things running smooth instead of having to hunt for or Google (and swear under your breath) as you look for those pesky yet very important URLs to give out.
Now on to marketing your Blab!
I think Blab is partially such a great invention because of all the social media mileage you get out of one Blab video. Think of it this way, if you pre-schedule you can schedule a ton of Tweets, posts, pictures to go out to your crowd, even email to your list.
You can:
- talk about your upcoming Blab
- ask questions about content and conversation ideas
- invite more people to be guests
- and generally engage your followers on all your other platforms at the same time. It’s a total win-win!
When you are done with your Blab video you will receive an email of the audio and video content so from there you can start all over again with engaging your followers on social media using the links from that email to point them to the replay.
You can:
- thank your guests specifically
- thank your viewers and invite comments
- ask for critiques
- invite people to pick the next Blab topic you do
- create a blog post out of that one Blab
One really brilliant idea: Make sure to take screenshots as you go, so you have images of all the guests as they move in and out of your Blab. These images you can later use in social media where they add such nice color and visual appeal to your feeds. Remember people respond so much better to images than they do to text (for the most part) which is why so much of social media is swinging toward video now.
I really hope to see you jump into Blab and explore this new medium. Think of the great posts you will have ready to rock for LinkedIn – and videos you can use as media on your profile to make it shine!
Follow me on Blab and check out my next video to get you started: blab.im/karenyankovich
I’m on every Thursday at 2:30 pm Eastern talking about PR and Social Media with Christina Daves!
For more technical step-by-step instructions on the nitty gritty I found these two articles very helpful: go here and here.
Have questions, concerns or just need support of a like-minded entrepreneurial group? Join me in my LinkedIn group where we have some fun while conquering the world of entrepreneurial and small business online marketing together.
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