The world has only shrunk in size through the rise of live streaming across various platforms. In fact, since 2021, the global live-streaming scene has earned a revenue of $1.49 billion and is predicted to earn up to $3.21 billion by 2027.
The sphere of Private Live Stream has made way for artists, businesses, and entrepreneurs to spread their work and word past geographical barriers in real-time. It has also given them the agency to regulate entry to their content and safeguard its integrity.
Considering these conveniences, there’s perhaps no better moment to integrate private broadcasts into your business than now. If you’ve been seeking to learn how to live stream events online, this article compiles all the necessary know-how for you.
What is private live streaming?
Live streaming allows individuals or organizations to transmit audio-visual media across various platforms in real-time. They can reach a massive audience in seconds, gaining creators and organizations immense exposure.
However, reaching a large audience might only sometimes be a good thing. Sometimes, creators might wish to limit their live streams to a selected number of people or regulate access as they host live events. This is where private live streaming comes in.
Private live streaming limits the broadcast of audio-visual media to fewer people by curating access in various ways. Some examples include:
- Lectures
- Webinars
- Entertainment streams like live concerts
- Other paid virtual events
These can be hosted on numerous platforms that allow media dissemination to select audiences.
Security Features for Private Live Streaming
When it comes to private live-streaming platforms, you should always look out for security features. Cybersecurity is of the utmost priority when it comes to hosting private events. 2023 recorded 87.3% of global cybercrime rates, with 50 out of every 1000 internet users being hacked.
Here are some security measures you should be aware of when you live stream events online :
1. Password protection:
Numerous private streaming platforms have opinions where you can restrict access to your video or stream through passwords. Streamers can privately distribute such passwords among select audience members to restrict their streams.
2. Paywall security
Another useful way that is used by most professional streamers and educators is paywalling or monetizing your streams. This way, audiences must pay a certain entry or subscription fee to access your material.
3. Content encryption
This is a major step to protect the confidentiality of the material you stream. To put it simply, encryption scrambles information to make it inaccessible or unreadable for people who don’t know the mathematical codes needed to decode the data. Using Data Encryption and Key Encryption Keys can help protect your stream from being distributed without consent.
4. IP restrictions
In this method, the live stream host can restrict people from accessing their streams based on their IP address. This can effectively block certain geographical locations, securing your stream from hackers.
5. Watermark
This is a tried and true method of claiming ownership of your streams by using a watermark to indicate that it’s yours. This will allow you to hold others legally responsible if they choose to distribute your private stream illegally.
6. Domain Blocking
Similar to IP restrictions, blocking domains also restricts certain internet addresses from being able to access your streams. This is especially useful when breaches to your private stream are found to be localized from certain areas.
7. HTTPS Delivery
People often conflate HTTPS with HTTP. However, the former comes with verification and encryption, which makes it safer.
8. Secure hosting
Streamers must choose their streaming strategies and video hosting platforms based on their security policies. Ideally, you should pick one that meets your stream’s privacy needs and upholds your broadcast’s integrity.
How to Set Up a Private Live Stream Event
Once all the security measures are dealt with and out of the way, it is finally time to begin streaming your private events. Here are all the steps you need to follow to do it:
1. Determine Your Goals
Before you start streaming, it is necessary to determine the purpose of your streams. This could include professional endeavors and earning money or simply creating value for audiences. For example, gamers amassed 7.2 billion hours worth of streams. Conversational and educational streams also amassed over 800 million hours of viewing time.
2. Target the Ideal Audience
After you figure out your niche, it is necessary to find your audience base who will be tuning in or purchasing your private streams. Often, streaming platforms are curated for specific genres of private streams. For example, some platforms may be purely educational, while others may be for specific entertainment genres. Selecting the right platform for your niche can help you find the right audience.
3. Formalize Event Content
In this step, you organize and curate all the material and content that you will be broadcasting in the streams and publish them to the viewers so that they are aware of the flow of the event.
4. Set Up Equipment & Software
Reach from Tech Radar states that 50% of audiences click out of streams within 90 seconds if they find the quality subpar. Sometimes, a good phone camera, mic, and internet are all you need. However, it’s always advisable to get the following types of equipment to make your streams more professional:
- Tripod
- Lighting
- Sound mixing software
- Good encoders
5. Employ security features.
Once you’ve set up your streaming platform, install and implement the security features discussed above as per what applies to you. This is necessary to make sure your stream is uninterrupted by poachers or hackers.
6. Spread the world.
With all your technical preparations in place, it’s finally time to broadcast the news. Video marketing is one of the most straightforward and effective ways to do this. The correct SEO strategies and tags can help your streams reach the correct audience. As you do this, remember to mention two things:
- The terms and conditions of your private stream
- How your audiences can access it
7. Perform a Test
Private live streams come with their fair share of hitches and hiccups. That’s why it’s always advisable to perform a test run before. This checks the health and accuracy of your equipment and internet connection and tells you if you need to troubleshoot anything beforehand.
8. Go Live
Once you’ve finished the steps above, it’s time to start privately streaming! This is where you finally broadcast the content and material you formalized and prepped. There are various ways to live stream an event, depending on your content and requirements.
Depending on your niche, you can make this as interactive as you want and curate ways your audience can communicate with you. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to have someone monitor your private stream so that they can intervene or inform you in case of issues.
9. After the Event
After the event, you can make the private stream have a scheduled recap or be available to view later for purchasing audiences. However, this is completely optional and depends on the model of your business or endeavor.
Conclusion
This article covered important live-streaming tips to guide you through the stages of broadcasting safely. Private live streams are an important means of remote communication and entertainment. It helps overcome various barriers in terms of geographical limitations and helps accommodate the requirements of your interested audience base.
When done in a professional capacity, this can be a lucrative business model. However, various security risks come with private streams, such as breaches or illegal distribution. That’s why creators and businesses must implement rigorous security measures.
At GUDSHO, we prioritize the integrity of our creators and make private streaming easy to help you achieve your business goals. So, with these tips, hosting your private events would be easier than ever!