When you first set out to stream content online, you may think that you need an extremely expensive setup as well as deep knowledge in the process of streaming. While this may have been the case years ago, today, streaming content online is extremely easy and inexpensive. Don’t be discouraged by the learning curve needed to stream content. The best advice to get your content online is to just start and stop making excuses about why you can’t make it happen.
TikiLIVE has put together a basic list of what you’ll need to get off the ground running when it comes to your streaming content.
What You Need to Stream Content Online
You may think that you need expensive video equipment to stream content, but this is simply no longer the case. With the advances in technology surrounding camera equipment along with the drop in the prices of technology, a streaming setup will cost you much less than you think.
To stream content online you’ll likely need the following:
- Personal Computer
While it’s not absolutely required, having a personal computer will make streaming content online much easier. A PC allows you to easily record and manipulate your video content prior to streaming it to your fans or followers.
- Video Camera
In the past, video cameras were extremely expensive. Today, you can purchase an HD capable video camera for just a few hundred dollars. If you’re really strapped for cash you can even use your smartphone to stream content, but know that the quality will not be as good as if you use a dedicated video camera.
- Tripod
While not a necessity, a tripod allows you to record video that will look much more stable and professional on your streaming channel. Tripods can be picked up relatively inexpensively and there are even models that allow you to connect your mobile phone for added stability.
- Internet Connection
Your Internet connection is extremely important when streaming content online. You don’t want to skimp on your connection speed because it can lead to buffering and lagging issues for your viewers, especially if you are streaming live. This is why it’s recommended that you stream from an actual digital camera as opposed to a mobile phone where you’re reliant on the sometimes unreliable network speed of cell phone providers.
- Streaming Provider
When it comes to streaming content online, few things are as important as the content provider that you choose to host your content. While you have a large number of free options available, you want to be very careful who you choose to handle the hosting and streaming of your content.
Free providers may seem like a good choice initially, but as your content becomes more popular, you’ll likely experience issues with buffering and lagging, which is commonplace with free providers. You must remember that free streaming providers primarily make their money from advertising and are therefore not as concerned with video quality as other providers that are geared towards more professional video streaming users.
At TikiLIVE, we’ve developed one of the most robust content delivery networks in the world. With a bank of servers located in various regions of the world, we’re able to easily serve your content to your users, wherever they’re located.
Furthermore, as your popularity grows, our network will be more than up to the task of delivering your content as efficiently as possible. We want to have you as a customer for the long term, which is why we’ve invested millions in developing a rock solid infrastructure for our users.
Features That Set TikiLIVE Apart from Competitors
Aside from our robust content delivery network, there are a variety of ways that our service simply crushes the competition. A few of these features include:
- Mobile Ready – When you upload content to TikiLIVE it will be instantly accessible across all different types of devices. Whether your viewers access your content from a smartphone, tablet, computer or set top box, TikiLIVE will easily serve your content. With full HTML5 support your content will look great no matter what type of device your viewers are using.
- Customizable Playlists – TikiLIVE also offers channel owners the ability to control playlists to further cater to their viewing audiences. Channel owners can also change playlists on their smartphones via our apps for iOS and Android devices.
- Ability to Create a Radio Station – While most of the attention goes to our video streaming offerings, we also offer our clients the ability to launch their very own radio station over our cloud-based network.
- HD Wave Broadcaster – We also offer our HD Wave Broadcaster software to our channel owners, which allows almost anyone to instantly stream content to the cloud. There’s no need for you to have a background in video production when using HD Wave. Our interface is extremely intuitive and easy enough to master in no time at all.
- Social Media Capabilities – Creating your content is only half of the equation for success online. You also have to learn how to effectively market your content to grow your audience. Using our social media tools, you can instantly share your videos to all of your social media profiles.
This should allow you to effortlessly grow your audience over time. With the ability to insert your videos directly into your social media posts, you’ll quickly notice an uptick in conversions compared to standard text posts.
- Updated Channel Guide – Another recent update to our platform comes in the form of a completely revamped channel guide. While you may be used to a slow channel guide with your cable or satellite provider, our interface is much cleaner and quicker. Our clients have already expressed their approval after spending a few weeks using our new channel guide.
Ready to Start Your Streaming Adventure?
We hope that this guide will show you how easy it is to get up and running with your very own streaming channel. If you have any questions about TikiLIVE or what it takes to get started in the world of video streaming, don’t hesitate to contact our team today at 305-743-6722.
