You’re now part of a unique community where you can have your own channel, own live shows, and sell your products at anytime — from anywhere. You can chat with your audience and have direct access to your orders within minutes of buyers purchasing. You have full control over how, when and how much you sell.
This is a guide to give you tips on everything from how to promote your shows to how to effectively list your products and fulfill your orders.
Table of Contents
Activation
Channel Setup
Success as a Seller on TSL begins from the moment you set up your channel. Your channel is the place your fans will come to learn about you and find your shows. It’s also what they “subscribe” to so they can follow you on talkshoplive. We want you to make the most of our channel functionality to build your audience, hear from them, and sell your products.
Think through your profile picture and cover image carefully.
- Showcase the product or brand logo.
- Use a clear, high-res brand logo or image.
- Provide followers an overall feel of your brand in your cover photo.
On-Boarding Fans
- Encourage your existing social media followers to register and "Follow" your channel to get notified when you go live (include link to your channel's page in your posts)
- The day before, post the product you are going live with and emphasize the special you are running and incentivize as to why they want to purchase tomorrow
- Consider using social channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and/or Snapchat for promotion.
To maximize the sales opportunity of your live show, share to your social channels before you go live, while you are live, and a few days after your live.
Before you go live: Alert your followers on all social channels and through your email list that you will be going live with your product at a specific date/time.
When you go live: Share to your socials in real-time utilizing the share buttons. You want to give your followers the opportunity to be part of the action IN REAL TIME.
Promoting Your Channel
Pre-Production
- Get set up on all social channels
- Continue to encourage your fans to follow your channel. Include link to your channel.
- Pick a date a time when you will go live, and commit to it — your fans will count on you!
1 Week Before Going Live
- Begin promoting 1 week in advance across all social platforms/email list
- If you know what product you will be selling, start sharing it to encourage fans to tune in
- Consider offering a deal/incentive for your show and let your fans know
1 Day Before Going Live
- Count down to your live show via social channels.Build momentum and excitement for your show. Example: "Remember: tomorrow I’ll be live at noon ET with a special show! Are you tuning in?"
- Consider creating a special graphic for your show that includes: a) The product you’re selling; and b) Why it's special (discount? gift with purchase? free shipping?)
- Ask fans who is tuning in and encourage questions when you’re live.
- Ask fans to “invite a friend”— thus, sharing your show even further.
Day of Show
- When going live, share to your Facebook page, Twitter page and Instagram story (if verified) simultaneously while you are live.
- Behind-the-Scenes: Ask your friends to join and ask questions, so that you can encourage other users watching to ask questions as well. It’s always important to have questions, but viewers may be afraid to go first. So, to get things moving, ask a friend or two to tune in and ask questions. This allows you, the seller, to reiterate some important points about your product.
- Name your show. Your product name will appear on your show, so think of a different name than your product name.
Show Production
Lighting
Situate yourself with a light or natural light of the sun coming from behind the camera. This lighting keeps you from being backlit.
Camera
If using the app or desktop, situate yourself close to the camera so the viewers feel they are right there with you. If someone else is shooting you, make sure that they stay close.
- When showing the product you are selling, hold it close to the camera and show all sides/views of the product — move it slowly — so viewers get a true sense of what it is, what it looks like and how it's used.
- Talk to the camera as if you are talking directly to a friend or group of friends. Maybe have a few questions that people typically ask about the product that you can raise.
- Have fun! Do something different for certain shows, while also maintaining your brand identity. For example, if there is a new product launch, or a holiday, do something that aligns to show that this is a special show.
Production
While you can go live from anywhere at any time, you also have the flexibility to create your own studio!
- Test your Wi-Fi or LTE to confirm that you have a strong connection
- Choose a place that is authentically you — your show be as produced as you prefer
Content
Conversation
Whether you are the founder or a representative of the product being sold, give background on the product.
Talk about your brand as a whole, introduce the brand to new and existing fans the way you want to tell the narrative.What makes it unique?
- How it can enhance one’s life?
- Why it was created?
- What it’s made of, size, color offerings? (if applicable)
- How to use it?
- Why should the viewers purchase it right now? (provide incentive)
Length of Show
- You have up to 60 minutes per show. Contact us if you are interested in longer shows
- Food and beauty shows tend use the entire 60 minutes for tutorials.
- If your audience is asking questions, commenting and generally engaging while live, we recommend staying on longer- and continuing the conversation.
Pacing
Do a test run-through for your first show (like a dress rehearsal to get comfortable and hit important points)
Have a white board or sheet of paper with talking points
- Take your time. Spend the first 45 seconds to a minute telling your brand story and giving your audience a chance to join you live.
- Check for questions and comments around the 2-minute mark and try to respond to them while live.
- Pace out driving to the buy button — try every 2.5-3 minutes (e.g. “Purchase before they're sold out! Click the buy button!”)
- Alert your fans when your time is expiring — “I have a few minutes left, so ask your questions now!”
- Let fans know when you’re getting close to a limited number of inventory remaining — “I only have a few caps left. Hit the buy button now before they're all gone!”
- Before you sign off, remind your viewers to follow your channel, it’s free, and they can get notified to join you every time you are live.
Fan Questions
- Choose the questions that you are able to answer easily - you can always go back and answer the harder ones once the show has concluded (using the chat feature).
- Do your best to acknowledge who has asked the question — “Betsy is asking how big the mesh bag is. Great question, Betsy!”
- Acknowledge comments from fans stating that they have purchased your item. This drives excitement and future orders.
Pricing & Closing the Sale
Pricing
- For your first show, to drive new subscribers to your channel, go live with something that your fans would feel comfortable buying "in the moment" at a reasonable price point.
- As you go live more and more, try different price points to establish what works for your fans. This is different for everyone.
- Offer new products or special discounts exclusively on TSL, or bundles to encourage your followers to view your shows as a must-watch so they don’t miss out on a specials.
- Consider offering a “gift with purchase” that your viewers cannot get anywhere else.
- Consider offering free shipping.
Product
- Drive to the buy button. Remember, you are providing your followers a product experience but you are also selling your product. What makes TSL so unique is that fans can click buy and execute their order while watching you live.
- To mention the buy button without being too pushy, say phrases like, "So, if you can relate, and would like to try this out yourself, click the buy button" and "I only have a limited amount today, so get them before they’re gone!"
- Interact with viewer questions and call them by name. This is a community and the opportunity to continue to grow yours.
- Remember, while telling your stories always keep the product visible, you don’t want the buyer to forget what you are selling.
- Have something extra to offer? Throw in a free gift on-the-fly during your show!
- Tease what you are selling on your next show to encourage viewers to subscribe to get notified when you go live again.
Followers
- Remind your viewers, even if they aren’t buying today, to support you by following your channel to get notified when you go live and sharing your shows across their social channels. It's free and their support means so much to you! In turn, also follow and share shows of other TSL sellers — this is how community is formed and how you become a part of and even a leader in it.
- Remember, your subscribers will be your social currency on talkshoplive — and for long term success, you’ll want to reach as many people as possible every time you go live.
After the Show
Thanking Viewers
Thank your viewers on your social channels as well as your live show in the comments section. If you’ve sold out, let them know and answer any questions regarding restocking.
Keeping in Touch
- Check back on your comments often, and stay in touch with your viewers.
- Remember, some viewers will watch your show as a replay. They may ask questions, so be sure to answer them.
- Share your show to your email list, or in your next newsletter!
After Live Show
- Your show will be available on your channel for 30 days or until you choose to expire it (prior to 30 days). So, you have a lot of time to continue to promote your sale.
- Share the show link with your social audience, email lists and friends.
- Continue to check back often for customer questions and comments, and respond to them promptly with a like or a reply.
- You may opt to expire your show before the 30-day window in order to encourage quicker sales. If you decide to do this, let your fans know that they have a limited amount of time to purchase and the sale will be ending.
Replay Shows
Give your live sale a second life. A few days after your live show, share it again to your social channels to encourage those that might have missed it to take advantage of the opportunity.
- Craft posts that use language like, “In Case You Missed It,” “We only have a few left,” etc.
- Share the direct link to the show with the product.
- Create an email blast that alerts your followers of the special offer and to take action now before the sale is over.
Customer Service & Fulfillment
You may access your orders on your seller dashboard under Settings > Orders. You may download a CSV file of all the details of your orders. You will also receive email notifications for each order placed.
- If you choose to use a TSL shipping label, you will also receive pre-paid shipping labels.
- If you choose to ship on your own, remember to come back to the dashboard and provide the tracking number for each order. You will only get paid if TSL can verify the package has been delivered by providing tracking through the order management dashboard.
- If you are a brand that is using our TSL Developer API, you will be able to access and share information through the API.