There couldn’t be a better time to start your membership website! Of course, you already know this and that’s probably the reason why you’re looking for membership site ideas to start with!
Great! Because when it comes to membership website ideas, the options are endless. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing because you literally would have to surf through options the entire day.
In order to make things easy (and to save you some time), we’ve done the hard work ourselves! This read is all about the best membership site ideas (along with a few membership website examples) you should go for in 2021. But before we start discussing that, let’s take a quick look at the basics like we always do.
What Is a Membership Site?
A membership site is a website where you’d be offering your users private/exclusive content for a reasonable price. The payments are carried out on a monthly or an annual basis depending on your pricing model. Interested users can simply signup for your service, pay the amount upfront, and start enjoying your services.
All you need is a good membership site idea and a foundation (membership site platform) to start with.
How Should Your Chosen Membership Website Idea Be?
Your membership site idea is going to take off if it,
Has a strong audience base
Is a skill that’s needed in the future
Is a narrow niche
By saying narrow niche, we mean cutting down the big picture. For example, instead of providing extensive movies & tv shows like Netflix, you can cut down to provide language-specific movie streaming services!
That doesn’t mean a Netflix-like membership site idea is bad – anything is scalable provided you have the right marketing strategy and a few bucks to propel the engine!
Since you’re kind of new to this, we wanted to start off with the most profitable & scalable ones. Once done with the read and knowing the possibilities, you’ll be able to figure out what your membership site idea is going to be!
So, let’s get started, shall we?
5 Best Membership Website Ideas To Make Money
No more small talk – to the big picture straight away!
1. Fitness Enthusiasts
The reason why we came up with the fitness as a membership site idea is because of the huge demand the fitness industry has now!
Let’s be a bit frank here! You might have looked for fitness tips at least once in your lifetime. And you would have ended up reading an article or watching a video on YouTube. But what if there is a dedicated platform for this?
You’d at least visit once to take a look! And that there is a lead that you’ll be converting later!
Now speaking of fitness, this is quite a huge niche. Take a look at this membership website example here,
Carb Manager is a membership website that lets users to signup for premium membership. The goal is to help people lose weight by following the Keto Diet plan. There are lots of competitors as well!
Similarly, you can come up with a membership site idea where you’ll be teaching your audience to build muscle from home using simple workouts. Also, relevant diet food recipes and cooking videos can help you cover more audiences.
Quick Stat: The average amount an individual would spend for fitness in 2021 is an estimated USD 18.30!
And that indeed shows how lucrative this particular industry is! Find out your super special niche under the fitness and see how much you can deliver to your audience under the same.
2. Sports Streaming
Sports! Who wouldn’t love it? We do! You do! And so do the billions of people around the world. Building a sports streaming website with a membership model is an opportunity that’ll help you make huge revenue. And a perfect example of this is Dazn Boxing.
As you can see, Dazn Boxing streams matches of popular boxers around. In fact, during the year 2019. Dazn Boxing witnessed a 121% increase in revenue (from $277.6 million to $614.6 million). Users have to pay a monthly subscription fee in order to view the matches.
Quick Stat: Dazn Boxing witnessed a 25% increase in users when they streamed the Alvarez-Saunders fight.
Similarly, you can stream multiple live sporting events and grow your business. With live streaming software onboard, you can start your sports streaming website in no time!
So, to the next membership website idea!
3. Community Streaming
Another super cool membership website idea is community streaming! A community streaming website is which streams videos and documentaries to a specific community of people. And Alchemiya is a website that does the same!
The website streams movies and dramas about the Muslim world. Users have to pay a specific amount monthly to gain access to the videos.
Do you see how lucrative that is? You can also come up with a monthly subscription-based community streaming website in minutes. Since websites like these use a Netflix-like model, all you need is a Netflix clone streaming solution to start off with!
Let’s move on to the next best membership site idea in our read!
4. Music Streaming
Like video streaming, music streaming is another profitable membership website idea. There’s Spotify, there’s SoundCloud and yours could be next! If you think this stream isn’t lucrative enough, hear this!
“During the year 2020, music streaming revenue crossed over 10 billion US dollars!”
Also, you don’t have to compete with the giants! You can simply start by streaming a particular set of artists or create something like what we saw above – relevant audios for a set of community people with a membership subscription model!
The ideas are limitless! You’ve just got to push boundaries to find your ideal membership website idea!
5. Pet Management & Animals Related Streaming
Before we start to speak about this, if you think this membership site idea is crazy, then you’ve got to take a look at this!
Pet Management Animals Related Streaming
This membership site is purely for horses – training, documentaries, riding, etc. And they’re doing pretty much well already! Also, the popular Discovery TV channel is already offering its audience a paid membership service called Discovery Plus!
So, why not you?
You can create a membership site that teaches about how to handle pets (not only dogs but all animals), how to deal with the most common problems, sickness treatment, food preparation, and more.
During the year 2020 alone, Americans spent approximately $99 billion on their pets. They wouldn’t mind the few extra bucks provided your membership site has really good stuff!
What say😉?
The Bottom Line
So, yes! As we said, we just gave you the 5 most profitable membership site ideas for you to start with! And if you’re looking for a membership site platform, you should probably get in touch with our experts for a product walkthrough!
Membership site businesses are sustainable today, thanks to the recurring payment model and the strong OTT direction the world is moving towards. If you’re thinking about it twice, drop it because it’s going to be glory down the road!
Now that you have a handful of membership site ideas and a platform to start with as well, why don’t you start acting on it?
According to a MarketsandMarkets study, the global video streaming market is expected to touch the $15 billion mark by 2025, which would be a CAGR of 19.7% comparing it with the current $6.1 billion markets. As per multiple more studies, the factors which are responsible for this include access to mobile devices, improved video quality, OTT exclusive content, and availability of affordable solutions that can be used for building video streaming platforms.
Consequently, we could be seeing a lot of newer video streaming players joining the squad with Netflix, Disney, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, ESPN, Twitch, YouTube, and others.
While some of these platforms offer similar content, not all work on similar business models. For example, Netflix, HBO, and Hulu are purely subscription-based platforms, but YouTube uses advertisements as its major source of revenue.
Clearly, YouTube is the biggest of all since it uses advertisements as a way to offer free streaming services, but the recent years have surprisingly been good to the ad-free platforms. Although advertising is still one of the most common methods of video monetization, and its market size is expected to reach $47 billion by 2023, its popularity among the viewers is not following up the trend.
Even YouTube started offering an ad-free, premium alternative to keep some of its users happy. Not everybody wants to watch Ads before watching a video, hence many choose to rather pay.
Why video monetization is better than Ad-based models?
Video monetization is simply a way to generate revenue from video content one creates and shares online. Ads are also a way to monetize videos, but they don’t actually produce direct results for the content owners.
In fact, out of all the users who choose ads for free streaming capabilities, 40% use ad-blockers to avoid these ads. This translates into losses in millions of dollars to the advertisers and content publishers. Hence more and more content publishers are now moving towards video paywalls for monetization.
Why use Paywall to monetize your content?
Paywalls in general are used by online content publishers to generate direct revenue from their content. If you visit the websites of The Ney York Times or The Washington Post, you can see the pop-ups that ask you to subscribe before you can read anything. It because they have put their content behind a paywall.
Similarly, you can’t access Netflix without paying a subscription fee, which is because it’s also behind a paywall.
Now, there could be different ways to use a paywall and control the way your viewers can watch your content:
• SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)– Just like Netflix, you could ask your users to subscribe to a membership plan before they can watch your videos. • TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand)– You could ask your users to pay only for the individual video they want to watch. Just like Amazon Prime’s pay-per-video content.
Having a paywall gives you full control of your revenue model. You can keep your paywall high or low depending on the charges you demand from the users, or you can use a combination of monetization models to target different kinds of users at the same time. For example-
A. Netflix: Although Netflix relies on subscriptions for revenue, it has diversified into different membership plans to target all kinds of users: different levels of benefits at different levels of subscription fees:
In fact, the platform also improvises its pricing strategies depending on the region of operation. If you compare the pricing of Netflix in the US and India, there is a big gap-
While the cheapest plans in the US start at $8.99/month, a plan with the same benefits in India is available at around $6.84 (499 Rupees). Besides, an even cheaper plan is also available for Rupees 199 ($2.7).
B. Amazon Videos: Amazon uses a hybrid of SVOD and TVOD models to generate revenue from not just memberships but also renting and selling of individual content.
Amazon
C. YouTube: Uses a freemium model that uses everything from Ads to SVOD and TVOD to monetize their platform.
A paywall eliminates your dependence on ads for revenue. The future of revenue generation from videos is indeed shifting towards paywalls. Ads might remain in the game, but only when users who don’t like Ads get the option to avoid them through the premium alternatives. Between 2014 and 2018, the overall sales and rentals of content increased by 30%. In the US alone, the annual TVOD revenue was approximately $1.6 billion in 2020.
The ability to limit the access behind a paywall makes it perfect for selling or renting streaming access to events, music shows, sports, new movies, conferences, documentaries, and a lot more.
How to choose a video paywall for live streaming monetization?
There are mainly three ways to choose a video paywall solution for monetizing your live streams:
1. Using a third-party paywall platform
For now, this option is limited to Patreon users. Patreon has recently introduced the ability to let anyone with a website put up a paywall on it. It means anyone with a website can now use Patreon beyond the boundaries of patreon.com.
You can restrict the access to your website’s content to the users who have signed up to make recurring donations on your Patreon profile. This is the easiest way to implement a paywall on your live streaming website. So, if you already have a live streaming website and looking for a paywall solution, syncing it with your Patreon profile could be the best way to do it.
Pros:
• Easier to implement • No need to purchase a paywall separately
Cons:
• Available to only WordPress websites at the moment. • Limited to selected live streaming service providers like Crowdcast. • You are required to share your revenue with Patreon in return for its services.
2. Using a third-party paywall on your existing live streaming website
Another way to implement a paywall on your existing website is by purchasing the services of dedicated third-party paywall providers. Different paywall providers offer different kinds of benefits and features. Also, not all of them are suitable for live streaming monetization.
Pros:
• Better features than Patreon. • Better flexibility than Patreon. • May come inbuilt with Digital Rights Management. • Support for social media live streaming on Facebook. • Ready-made plugins for popular CMS platforms
Cons:
• Not all paywalls support your CMS and live streaming platform at the same time. • Revenue sharing with the paywall provider diminishes your profit margin. • Might require a dual subscription to paywall and live streaming service.
3. Using a live streaming platform with an integrated Paywall solution
If you don’t already have a live streaming website, or thinking about starting a full-fledged live streaming website with advanced monetization, this is an ideal option. You can choose a turnkey live streaming solution like StreamNow to get everything consolidated on a single platform, without depending on any third-party paywall tool or platform.
StreamNow is a ready-made live streaming solution that solves three problems at once:
• You get a live streaming platform to conduct your stream. • You get a live streaming website to embed your stream. • You get an advanced paywall for live stream monetization.
All three solutions, integrated into one makes it easier to not only manage your live streams seamlessly but also share and monetize them without any hassle.
StreamNow supports monetization using both the SVOD and TVOD models.
Pros:
• Advanced control over your business model. • No revenue-sharing with paywall provider. • Multiple monetization models. • Integrated live streaming tool. • Integrated payment gateways. • Multi-currency support. • Source-code access. • Can be self-hosted. • 100% white-labeled.
Cons:
• Implementation is trickier than using Patreon Paywall. • Responsibility for the security of the website on you.
Which video paywall one to choose?
Your selection from the above three options must purely be based on –
• Your current status: Do you already have a live streaming website? • Your goals: How do you want to monetize your platform? • Requirements: What features you want?
Irrespective of the types, you must additionally consider the following aspects to get the best out of your chosen method for paywall implementation:
• White-label: You must retain the ability to label your platform with your brand identity. The paywall provider must not put their forced branding on your website, video player, or invoices. • Security: It should follow a robust architecture to prevent hackers and attackers. • Different monetization options: It must support multiple monetization channels so you can choose the ones profitable in certain situations. • Discount management: It must come with a discount management system to offer and manage promotion and sales campaigns. • Video Preview: It must allow your streamers to offer a free preview to tease viewers into paying for it.
Monetization of your platform is one of the most crucial aspects of running a live streaming business. However, the architecture behind monetized live streaming websites is not always simple. Several integrated solutions work together to make such a platform: website, streaming service provider, paywall, payment solutions, notification services, etc.
Even though I suggest you choose a paywall strictly as per your requirements, budget, and business goals, a consolidated script like StreamNow could be the easiest, cheapest, and most versatile way to get an all-in-one solution to your needs. In a way, you get a ready-made solution for everything you need to run a live streaming business; and no revenue-sharing is required at all.
With the number of Coronavirus cases on the rise across the globe, churches are increasingly relying on live streaming to broadcast their worship services. There is probably not a single ministry right now that is not feeling the effects of COVID-19, everyone is learning to do ministry differently to keep the church communication with their congregation running. One area that has felt the most impact is church communication and there is a huge amount of pressure for the church to communicate more effectively with their congregation than ever before. And live streaming is an excellent way for churches to reach out to people due to the church closures and attend the service live from the comfort of their homes as it happens.
Impact of Coronavirus on church functioning
The COVID-19 has posed significant challenges for the global communion of churches due to sudden church closures. According toFaithlive’s new survey data, the majority of churches across the globe, while the majority of churches are returning to in-person gatherings imposing significant challenges for leaders to maintain church unity within their congregations.
Hence, churches need to re-evaluate the way they worship, gather, and disciple their congregation. Even after the church has opened, many pastors find it challenging to bring their congregation together as the pandemic has imposed strict restrictions and regulations on the number of attendees.
For this reason, church leaders are turning to the best live streaming software for churches that features a set of comprehensive tools to help them ensure that they are well equipped for digital worship and setting up a vibrant online congregation. Churches need efficient live streaming solutions for conducting live Sunday worship, organizing online giving, community outreach, online discipleship, and more.
Why use a church live streaming software to broadcast your services?
To broadcast your church services live without any restrictions, you have to consider building your own online video platform. A live streaming platform will give your team full control over your church broadcast as well as additional features and functionalities to engage your online audience.
With a church service streaming platform, you can perform the following.
Publish sermon and testimony videos
Using the best live streaming software for church, you can create a video library with your Sunday services, sermon videos, and testimony videos. Considering the fact that most churchgoers lookup for a church website first, it is probably a good idea to have a platform for hosting your church services.
Engage online worshippers
If you are brainstorming about how to stream church service, it is important to have a live video platform so that you can make your congregation feel like they are actually attending your services. This is a great opportunity for pastors to connect with their congregation after the sermon to interact with the audience and to establish a connection with the members.
You can incorporate other media
With a live video platform for your church in place, you can add additional media content like sermons, special teachings, a specific style of worship, gospel music, etc. besides the normal Sunday service.
Receive donations and tithe
In a church, over half of the people would like to give to their church online. While social media live streaming platforms don’t provide secure ways to receive online donations and tithing, church live streaming platforms do. So, if you want to accept tithing from your church community online, having your own live video platform will help you to set up a secure way to receive offerings from your congregation.
Privacy and security
When you are looking for how to stream church service, one important thing to consider is the security of your live streaming platform. When making your church service available to a worldwide audience, you don’t want any intervention from any third-party with ill intentions. By using a church live streaming software, you can ensure your church live streaming platform with the best security features like password protection, geo-restrictions, AES encryptions, etc.
Getting started with church live streaming
Though the live video is spontaneous, you need to spend significant time preparing and organizing your content to get the most out of the live church streaming experience.
Here is a short guide that helps you to get familiar with the steps you need to follow to meet your goals.
Research and planning
To start with, you must brainstorm about how and what you are going to live steam and what strategies you can adapt to drive the messages you want to share. Live videos are spontaneous, but to ensure success, quality it is important to do some planning and preparation to make sure everything goes well.
Choose which programs in your church are best suited for live streaming. The easiest way to start is to live stream your Sunday service. However, you can offer more value to your congregation if you consider adapting more programs for live streaming. For example, the pastor can consider offering a series of sermons directly to the camera to interact with the congregation in real-time. Or you can consider live streaming special programs in the church like baptism, marriages, special occasions, etc.
Set your expectations and goals
Before even buying essential live streaming equipment, set your expectations and goals regarding how you want your church live streaming and what you want to achieve with it. By setting your goals, you can also measure how well church broadcast services are working in favor of your church.
For example, are you aiming to expand your reach from 100 viewers to 1000 online viewers every week? Or do you want to increase your church membership or online tithing? Or you just want to increase engagement with your current congregation. Whatever your goals are, set them before getting started with live streaming. By setting the goals and using analytics, you can determine how valuable live streaming actually is for your church’s needs.
Choose the right church live streaming equipment
The first step for a church live stream is to have the best live stream setup for church, for successfully broadcasting your church services live. There are a plethora of options to choose from and it all depends on how much you are ready to spend. For example, you can stream your services with just a smartphone or with an HD camera if the budget allows.
To get the sermon across in a professional set up, you basically require church video equipment like a camera that has recording capabilities with an HDMI output. This is enough if you have a restrictive budget. Additionally, if your budget allows and you want to experiment with high-end video production, you can consider one of the top camcorders that capture video in ultra HD 4k quality. The next essential gear is a microphone that is necessary for a better sound recording. You may need an external microphone to connect to your camera along with a small mixer designed specifically for streaming live videos. This comes in handy in case you want to add multiple audio sources so that you can monitor the tones and volumes.
Other essential church live streaming equipment are:
Good lighting setup
Tripod
HDMI cable
HDMI extender (If your camera is apart from the camera or encoder)
Encoder to compress the raw video content so that it can be transported quickly over the web.
Video Switcher (If you are using multiple cameras)
Choose the best live streaming platform
You need a powerful live streaming platform to host your online church services. To begin with, you can always choose social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube or Instagram if you already have an active presence on these social platforms.
This makes sense not only because these platforms are free but because so many people are actively using it. For example, in the second quarter of 2020, Facebook reported over 2.45 billion monthly active users, according to Statista.
With over 2 billion monthly active users, YouTube live streaming is also another option that many churches take advantage of already. However, all of these free social live streaming platforms won’t replace the immense advantages of streaming your church service on your own live streaming platform.
If you want to build your live church streaming platform, that too on an affordable budget, the most viable option is to consider using a readymade script that is easily available in the market. These readymade live streaming solutions come with all essential features to stream your services to your congregation, monetization options, access to source code, and lifetime support. You can easily conduct Sunday services, bible studies, host prayer meetings, sermons, live stream gospel, conduct Sunday school, and offer all church-related services in your church live streaming platform.
Start slow and grow
When it comes to church live streaming, it is recommended to start slow and grow with time. Do your research to gain insights on best practices when you are just getting started with live streaming. You can decide to stream the entire Sunday services or just choose to broadcast our preaching or special sermons alone. Or if there are announcements you would like to give to your church members or specific issues you want to address if any, you can consider broadcasting your church programs live to potentially reach a global audience.
Test it out
Before you actually go live practice what you are planning to deliver, especially if you are live streaming your church service for the first time, that too to an exclusive live audience. Make it a practice to test the quality of your live streaming set up by checking the audio and video quality and other aspects to make sure everything is functioning well. Unless you test it out, you would never know how the audio, video, light, and background noise works. Check different camera angles and adjust the lighting to understand what works and what doesn’t.
Spread the word through social media
If a church service is broadcasted live on the internet and there is no one to watch it, it won’t make any impact. Your congregation can tune in to your online church services only if they know when and where to find it. So make sure to put in some work to spread the word through social media to increase the exposure. Share the information about your church live broadcast on your website, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Make your online audience an integral part of your broadcast
As you have chosen the right gear, live streaming services, announced the live stream on your website and social platforms, now you are ready for action. The faces in front of you are the top priority. When you are streaming your church services, make sure you address your online audience and make them an active part of your service. An occasional nod to the camera and acknowledgment of your online congregation can go a long way.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has really challenged many churches but it isn’t stopping them from preaching the word. While it is a learning curve for all churches, they are getting started with live streamingto minister to the people and connect with the church community. Live streaming comes in handy when it comes to spreading the word about your church services online and encouraging more people to join your community. Many churches have tried church live streaming and in turn, have experienced a decreased number of leaving members.
Live streaming not just engages the congregation who cannot physically attend the sermons, but they also bring the church straight peoples heart and inspire them to join your live services. To start with live streaming your church services, it is not mandatory to invest in a high quality set up. Just make sure you use a professional quality live streaming solution that comes with feature-rich functionalities that helps you to live streaming your church services efficiently. With a great live streaming solution in place, you can end up bringing in thousands of people around your online church services regardless of what gear you use. If you are looking for the best church live streaming software to broadcast your live services, we are here to guide you through the process. Get in touch with us right now!
In this digital world, the importance of integrating videos into your marketing techniques is only projected to rise. Innovative marketers are increasingly using videos and integrating these new ways to engage users to remain relevant and competitive in the industry. In the past decade, there has been a rapid shift from text and visual content to more engaging video content. Businesses who are slow to adapt to their transformation might find themselves dealing with underperforming sites and marketing campaigns. A visitor tends to spend 88% more time on a site with videos than they do with any other type of content.
Businesses can use videos for landing pages, YouTube, emails, training purposes, landing pages, and a lot more. Videos also help brands to introduce themselves to potential customers and build lasting relationships with existing customers and earn new customers.
Live Streaming and VOD
Video streaming is quickly gaining momentum these days with more online audiences embracing streaming like never before especially during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statista, the Coronavirus outbreak has led to increased digital media consumption in many countries across the globe ac
While most businesses understand the power of videos for promoting their brand and growing their business, they find it challenging to choose the right type of video content for various scenarios. For example, video on demand and live streaming are the two main types of video content which comes with its own advantages and disadvantages.
In recent years there has been a rise in popularity and usage of live streaming apps like Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram Live, etc. Likewise, video streaming services like Netflix, HBO Now, Disney Plus are gaining momentum as well among viewers who prefer viewing on demand videos. Live streaming probably is an easy way to introduce your brand to the online world. It is a great short-term option that will help you get online and start making money. But considering the longevity of your business, you must consider video on demand (VOD).
According to the type of your business and the demographics of your customers and their preference, any of these content types can be chosen. But, how to choose between VOD vs live streaming. Let’s find out. Once you finish reading this blog, you will have a clear idea about the two and so that you can make a decision fast.
What are on-demand videos?
Video on demand is a way of accessing content from online libraries according to the convenience of users, anywhere, anytime, and on any devices. When traditional broadcast services force users to view content on their schedule, video on demand platformsallow users to access videos at their time.
VOD offers a wide selection of online videos including entertainment, sports, educational programs, movies, TV shows, and feature films. VOD services allow customers to stream content through computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart TV, etc. delivered over the internet.
VOD streaming is not just confined to watching movies and shows on Netflix. You can create on demand videos in any niche like entertainment, sports, religion, education, etc. according to the interest of your audience.
Let’s look into the benefits of video on demand content.
Convenience of access
It is for no reason that video streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, and HBO now are gaining popularity among the audience. These video streaming services allow people to view content whenever they like, unlike traditional TV networks. Traditional broadcast services allow people to watch programs on their schedule, whereas the VOD platform allows viewers to watch programs in their own time according to their convenience and choice.
Fewer mistakes
Video on demand content is pre-produced and edited making adequate room for improvements. As making on demand videos take more time in producing and improvising the content, it leads to fewer mistakes as well. VOD allows content creators to improve the videos to a greater degree for delivering a better viewing experience to the audience.
Content varieties to select from
VOD content can be edited to be personalized according to the unique needs of your business before distributing the content. There is always a big space for customizations so that you can bring much-desired variety to your content. You can craft your videos in a way it can go viral than live broadcasts. VOD content is easier to implement if you want to provide the best video quality to your viewers provided that you have a lot of time to create and edit videos.
Ability to leverage editing tools
As on demand videos are pre-made, you can use different editing tools to create and make your videos appealing. You can use creative tools to implement your creative ideas and bring them into life with your videos, which cannot be used in live streaming.
Live Streaming
Live streaming or broadcasting your videos live is a modern streaming technology that lets you create, watch, and share live videos as it is shot. Considering the fact that the live streaming industry is projected to hit $70.05 billion by 2021, live videos are growing popular every year with a huge user base that enjoys and supports live streaming.
Unlike VOD content that is pre-produced and edited, live streaming is live, authentic, and unedited. You just need a smartphone and a stable internet connection, and a live streaming platform or an application to broadcast live from. Let’s explore some of the benefits of live broadcasts.
Simple to produce
When compared with VOD content, live videos are much easier to produce and fits into your budget as well. While you might just need a free social media platform to stream from, you might need a more professional setup including a live streaming software to broadcast your live videos with the best quality.
Takes less time to produce
Considering the time to produce a different type of content like blogs, and VOD content, live videos take quite less time to produce. While the time varies when it comes to traditional video production, it might take a couple of hours to create and edit even the simplest vlog. However, if you create live broadcasts that are 5 minutes long, it just takes 5 minutes.
Real time experience
Online audiences want to become a part of brand stories as they happen. This is why live streaming services for businesses are becoming a sensation today. Nothing is better than seeing your favorite brand showcase something right at the moment. Unlike years before, you can easily become part of your customer’s life instantly with live streaming.
Direct engagement
Live streaming helps to establish a direct and personal connection with brands and the audience. Through live chat and other engagement tools integrated into live streaming platforms, there is a huge possibility of direct engagement with customers is much more direct and personal than VOD.
It’s cheap
If you think about the cost of creating live videos, it is incredibly cheap. In fact, if you are planning to do on a small scale using free social media platforms it’s completely free. Even if you want to do it in a sophisticated professional setup, the cost is quite low making it an affordable option.
When to use video on demand and live streaming
Now that you know about live streaming and streaming video on demand, it’s time to find which is the best option that will help you take your business online to grow your business and generate revenue. VOD makes an effective online asset for your business to deliver more value to your audience for a longer time frame than a live streaming. Whereas, live streaming is an easy way to reach and connect with your audience due to its raw and instantly engaging nature.
Let’s find out when is the best time to use VOD and when you must use live streaming and the advantages of using it together.
When to use VOD
Launching a VOD service works great when you want to provide your target viewers with the convenience of choosing when to watch your content. People use VOD services pretty much every day for various purposes. One of the biggest advantages of streaming video on demand content is that you can produce videos in large batches and create a video library with the content your audience would love. If you want to use VOD to power your marketing activities, you can consider creating VOD service in any niche of your choice.
Corporate training is a good example of when VOD might be a better choice to adopt. You can also use VOD when you are running a business like an online fitness class, or running an online teaching business, or looking for streaming church services, or simply you want your audience to access your pre-made videos.
For example, Fiit is a fitness VOD platform which brings you high quality fitness experiences, regardless of where you are.
With easy integration and security, you can create a video on demand platform that offers the best quality video streams for all types of enterprise solutions.
When to use live streaming
Now that you know the difference between VOD streaming and live streaming and when to use VOD, let’s see when you must use live streaming for your business advantage. Live streaming suits scenarios when you have to establish a personal and authentic connection with your viewers in real-time. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people would rarely watch a live video again as the second time is not as exciting as the first time. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has changed how people consume live streams.
Online viewers enjoy watching live streams live and again to kill time. Moreover, as most businesses have shut down their services, most of them are shifting their business operations and activities online. As the setup is easy and cheap, more businesses are adapting live broadcasting.
Live streaming or VOD: Deciding factors
Video on demand services set the basics for video streaming for any business, whereas live streaming solutions help to enhance the viewing experience and engagement considerably. Most successful streaming businesses leverage both live streaming and VOD to power their business operations. Use both to create extra layers of value for your business.
An ideal online video streaming business makes use of both types of content. This is how you can utilize both live streaming and video on demand.
Use live streaming to create a premium viewing experience.
Build a foundation of the video library with VOD content.
When your live broadcast ends, you can save the content to repurpose it later and use it for on demand streaming. However, make sure you choose the right type of live streams that have long-term value like interviews with important personalities, Q&A videos, product information, etc. that can be repurposed for future viewing.
Using a combination of both will help you to create a reliable core offering to grow your business, and emotionally connect with your customers for better customer experience and engagement.
Conclusion
Live streaming is the best way to take your business online and reach out to a global target audience for better connectivity and engagement. Whereas, streaming video on demand holds equal significance if you want to ensure better performance of your marketing efforts and build a long term asset which you can count on.
While both live streaming and VOD comes with its own advantages, the best option is to use a combination of both live and on demand streaming for your streaming business that excites your customers, generates more money, and will help you grow your business through the challenges that come on your way. Both live streaming and VOD can be great ways to support your video streaming strategy, it just depends on who your audience is and what you are using your videos for. Regardless of the type of streaming type you choose, the content you create must always be exciting and niche relevant.
Deciding between VOD vs live streamingrequires a detailed analytics of your businesses and its unique requirements. Get in touch with us to know what suits your business the best and how to proceed with business idea execution. We have the expertise of helping businesses to realize their requirements and offering the right video streaming solution that suits them the best.
Communicating and collaborating with people has become much simpler today with the popularity of modern technology and social media. Live streaming is quickly gaining momentum and that is why visionary businesses are creating live streaming platforms and these businesses have high chances to succeed with the right planning and approach. It has never been easier for streamers to stream the live content of their choice and generate revenue.
Thousands of streamers are flocking to social media platforms and exclusive live streaming platforms like Twitch for the same. While these live streaming platforms offer immense opportunity to grow their brand and make money, changing payment structures and less stable income makes it difficult to reap success. Well, whether you are a business or live streamer looking to create your personal brand, it is time to get ahead of the curve and create an exclusive live streaming website.
With thelive streaming industry expected to hit $70.5 billion by 2021, there is no wonder that more businesses are looking for effective ways of building a streaming platform. So the question arises- how to make a live streaming website. In this blog, we will discuss the importance of creating a live streaming website, must-have features, business model, cost to create your own live streaming website, and a lot more.
Powerful advantages of live streaming
Live streaming is quickly gaining momentum among people who are always looking for brand new and innovative ways of delivering content.Social media platforms are the key source of live video content and live streaming is becoming a daily activity that facilitates social interaction. The number of viewership accessing live streaming is set to grow further and is changing consumer behavior to a great extent.
When it comes to the type of content live-streamed, here are the common types of content that are broadcasted live.
Currently, more brands are experimenting with live videos and the advantages that it offers is not just for businesses, but for users as well. Let’s quickly discuss the real power of live streaming and its effectiveness.
Viewers consume live content on your time
One of the biggest benefits of live broadcasts is that your viewers consume the live streams on your time as opposed to when it is convenient for them. This implies that you are engaging with the audience who care about your brand and find your content extremely helpful. This helps to automatically target people who are more likely to follow you further or convert.
Reach highly targeted niches
As we said just now, as users consume live content on your time, it is a deliberate choice that they make. It takes more commitment from your viewers as they must tune in at the time you decide regardless of whether it is convenient for them or not. Hence, this interest and dedication applies an automatic filter that opts out random audiences away.
Requires less production time
Live streaming takes less production time when compared with any other form of content like on demand videos, podcasts, or even blogs. While it might take hours to write a blog post and a lot more than that to create on demand videos, live streaming takes very little time to produce interactive and engaging content. If you want to produce a 5-minute live stream, it just takes 5 minutes and that’s it.
Better user engagement, that too in real-time
One of the primary reasons why live streaming is continuously making waves in content marketing is due to its capability to provide real-time user engagement. The real-time nature and the engagement factor makes live streaming interactive and a great way for you to engage in direct conversation with your users.
It’s cheap
Considering the costs to produce live streams, it is quite cheap compared to on demand videos. If you are doing it in a small set up, you just need a smartphone with a good camera and an internet connection, and an active account with a chosen live streaming platform to stream your content live. Whereas, if you need more of a sophisticated set up to produce professional-styled videos, you might need a few more additional equipment.
Analytics tracking
It is important to be able to track live streaming in terms of viewership and behavior of your users. Most professional live streaming services come with analytics dashboards and tracking tools to help you evaluate the outcome of your live videos. This data will help you identify more clearly who your audience really is. Assessing the performance of your broadcasts will help you refine your overall content and strategy.
Video monetization
Another advantage of live streaming is that; it is a great way to make money. One way is to charge your users to watch your live videos just like they would pay for a live show ticket. If you are building a streaming platform, you will have more control over choosing the monetization strategy that works for you and your goals. Whether you are a business looking to promote their brand or improvise marketing efforts or an independent streamer interested in making some extra money by cashing in on their hobby, monetizing live streaming is an excellent idea.
Repurpose your content
Live streams can be easily repurposed to other forms of content one the broadcast ends. Once transformed it can be published as on demand videos and uploaded to video streaming platforms like YouTube, the choices are actually limitless. Hence, it is always recommended to repurpose live content to broaden the reach of your message even long after your live broadcast ends.
Why you need to create a live streaming website in 2020
Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, Instagram Live, Periscope- there is no shortage of live streaming websites to select from, but they all share a common problem. They come with a lot of restrictions for users. When you make a live streaming website of your own, you gain control over the experience and the audience.
Having your own live streaming platform allows you to:
Build an interactive community of users
Secure the long term future of your brand
Keep the revenue generated with yourself
Having your own live streaming platform stops you from being at the mercy of some third-party platform and allows you to take complete control over the activities you do.
Building a live streaming platform- Must-Have Features to build a live streaming website
How to make a live streaming platform that is appealing and functional at the same time? The platform must have a lot of features to make the users satisfied and engaged.
When it comes to must-have features of a live streaming website, there are mainly 2 types- Basic and advanced. Basic features are the essential features that must satisfy the expectations of users from the site. It is common to release basic features and get the user’s feedback after which you can upgrade your website and go forward with adding advanced features. The web functionality and the features you add to your live streaming website affect the final cost.
Let’s look into some of the must-have features to build a live streaming website.
Signup/SignIn
Signing in up via email id, the phone number is a must-have feature for all live streaming platforms. Once registered, users must be able to login and create user profiles. To make it more convenient for your users, integrate social login sign-ups, too.
Search
A search is another essential feature that will help users filter and find relevant content. Integrate a content recommendation algorithm that will offer recommendations based on user interests and previously viewed videos.
Seamless Live streaming
Integrate functionality of seamless live streaming without buffering for a great viewing experience.
Peer to Peer Comment/ Real-time Chat System
The feature helps your uses to chat with each which helps to increase your brand value.
Multi-screen compatibility
Ensure your live streaming platform is compatible with various digital devices of different screen sizes.
Follow users
After creating an account, users can create user-profiles and follow each other. When the users you follow attend a live session, you will be notified about the same.
Settings
Integrate the functionality of modifying settings for users to make your live streaming website more user friendly. For example, users can set the account to public or private, turn message alerts, block users, etc.
Security
When you want to make a live streaming website, security is one of the most important aspects you need to consider. Integrate multiple security strategies to make sure you protect the videos in your platform and the payment information of your users.
Dynamic Admin Panel
An efficient admin dash is necessary to manage users effectively. Admin panel makes editing videos, moderating, and deleting content, banning users, etc. easy.
Analytics
Analytics is an essential feature that must be an integral part of the streaming platform. With the right analytics tools, you can understand the user behavior and the performance of your live videos based on the information you get.
Payment Gateways
Integrate secure payment gateways to make payments to access your live streaming. You can integrate payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, or Braintree.
Notifications
Push notifications can be used to alert your users about the new video releases, discounts on membership, live stream reminders, and other important information.
Native Apps
Develop scalable live streaming apps, both iOS, and Android that meet the tech and business requirements.
How To Create A Live Streaming Website
If you are planning on how to start a live streaming business, the first thing you need is a full-fledged streaming platform to power your offerings. To put your own live streams and attract other streaming in the industry to broadcast on your platform, you must build a live streaming site around a specific niche. It can be a personal platform for your personal brand or a platform for other streamers as well.
Using ready-made scripts that are easily available in the industry to create your live streaming platform is the best development approach. Ready-made solutions allow you to customize the script to integrate unique features and functionalities to your live streaming platform according to your needs in simple steps and affordable cost.
How does a live streaming video website make money?
Live streaming is not only streaming videos live and inviting other people to watch you, it is a great revenue stream to make money. How to create a live streaming site that is lucrative and brings in a significant amount of revenue? The money you can make from your live streaming website depends on the monetization techniques you adopt. In addition to the business models of your streaming platform, your live streaming platform must have good content as well.
Here are some of the monetization strategies you can implement when building a live streaming platform.
Subscriptions
Most live streaming websites make money through subscriptions. The subscription monetization model works in a way where your viewers can access your live streams by making quarterly, monthly, or yearly payments. You can combine a subscription business model with a free model where some live streams are offered to viewers for free but they need to pay to access exclusive content unlimitedly.
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view or transactional revenue model is where your viewers have to pay for individual videos they want to watch.
Revenue from ads
Advertising revenue is a great way to fund your live videos. You can integrate ads to your live streaming platform to start earning the advertising money. To get the best results, you need to exercise more control so that you don’t go overboard with advertisements during your streaming, annoying your customers. It is not the best idea to place ads as the sole monetization option for live streaming especially when you are starting out.
Brand deals and sponsorships
Brand deals and sponsorships are another great way you can engage with other brands in a mutually beneficial arrangement where you can generate revenue as well. If you have a large following on your live streaming platform and you have established a brand name for yourself, brands will come in search of you with offers. You don’t have to wait for people to approach, you can reach out to them as well.
Some of the ways you can make money through brand deals and sponsorships are:
Sponsorships– Where your entire live streams are sponsored by a particular brand.
Banner ads– You can display advertisements during your streams on your live streaming platform.
Sponsored content– You get paid by sponsors when you live stream their content.
However, when you choose the sponsorships, make sure it directly resonates with the interests of your audience. If your audience doesn’t like your content and if you lose them, you will lose the sponsors as well. When selecting the live streaming provider to partner with, ensure they offer support for the monetization strategies you want to implement.
Join an affiliate program
Affiliate programs have become a standard component of most online businesses. Affiliate marketing is when you promote products and make money as an affiliate. It works this way- You place the affiliate link in your live streams and whenever a viewer of yours purchases from the link, you get a share of the revenue. Instead of posting links, you can integrate a coupon code that your viewers can use when they shop from the brands you are promoting.
Cost to create your own live streaming website
Now, it is time to consider the most important aspect, what would be the cost of creating a live streaming site or how to start a live streaming business cost-effectively. As we have already seen, building a live streaming site using a clone script is an affordable and cost-efficient approach. Choose a live streaming provider with a blend of expertise and proficiency to customize services according to your requirements.
Besides software charges, here are some of the costs you have to bear when looking for how to create a live streaming website.
Domain name
When building a live streaming platform, you need a unique domain name for your live streaming site. Having a simple and relevant domain name makes it easy for your users to find you. You can buy your domain name from sites likeGoDaddy and the price would come around $10-$30 annually.
SSL
When looking for how to start a live streaming website, one of the most important aspects you need to consider is the security of your website. You need tosecure your live streaming site with an SSL certificate to show your visitors your site is authentic and trustworthy. You can purchase SSL certificates from Go daddy or from Wildcard which would come around $50-$75 annually.
Hosting server
To host your live streams, you need the service of a reliable hosting service provider. Consider reputed cloud solutions like Digital Ocean that would cost somewhere around $20 per month.
App Developer Account (Play Store and App store cost)
Along with your live streaming website, you also have to launch mobile applications. To submit your live streaming app to the Apple store and Google play store, you need to create app developer accounts that come for a price. The price ofcreating an account for the Apple store comes around $99 annually and the Google Play store is $25 which is a one-time fee.
How StreamHash can help you create a live streaming website
StreamNow from StreamHash is the live streaming software with which you can create a live streaming website of your own. It is a fully responsive one-stop solution that includes all the features and functionalities that servers as a UStream or Twitch clone. The flawless live streaming software comes with both advanced and unique features for fastest and bufferless live streaming. It comes with features like social login sign-ups, seamless live streaming, real-time chat system, monetization, payment gateway integrations, profile settings, admin panel, push notifications, native apps, and other features.
Here are some of the reasons why StreamHash makes a great live streaming provider for your business.
Customization to any degree
If you want to create your own live streaming websitewith the basic and advanced features customized according to your unique business requirements and goals, there is no other better solution than StreamNow from StreamHash. StreamHash offers complete customization over the features you need in your live streaming platform.
Valid expertise
With adequate expertise in the video streaming industry and reputed client base, StreamHash has the experience to create professionally styled live streaming websites in different niches including entertainment, fitness, online teaching, religion, and astrology.
Affordable solution
If you wonder how to createmy own live streaming website on a budget, StreamNow makes an excellent cost-effective live streaming solution. The price varies from $499 to $999 for a deluxe and premium version respectively which is quite cost-efficient when compared to the total cost to develop your live streaming platform from scratch.
Great customer support
StreamHash offers your excellent technical support and assistance both during the initial consultation time and once the product is delivered to you. Our expert team will be at your service to assist you with the customizations and the guidance you require even after the product delivery.
Conclusion
Live streaming is quickly gaining momentum and becoming more popular year by year, and so is the live streaming website. Live broadcasting is expanding into every industry like entertainment, education, online retail, religion, sports, and a lot more. With the immense popularity the technology enjoys, the number of entrepreneurs looking for how to start a live streaming business is increasing as well.
However, creating a live streaming platform requires an excellent business vision, a well-prepared business plan, and advanced technology to offer a highly live streaming experience to your viewers. If you need expert assistance and guidance on creating a live streaming website, do not hesitate, get in touch with us. We are here to guide you through the entire process of creating a professional and functional live streaming website to power your business.
Churches run regular events for sermons, prayer services, and bible study. So why would a church broadcast live when it already provides these events onsite and offers members a physical place to connect with god. On top of that, most churches put their service on YouTube after they record it during the service and it works fine. While many churches are big proponents of live streaming in the first place, others think live streaming is not essential.
However, as the COVID-19 spread forced church closures to practice social distancing, the number of churches taking their Sunday service online is increasing. If you are reading this blog, you might probably be interested in learning how to live stream your church service from your own website. Having a custom church platform to allow your viewers to access your worship services and events goes a long way in growing your congregation beyond the walls.
But, the first obvious question that comes to our mind is how much it will cost to create a live church streaming website. This blog is a comprehensive live video streaming setup guide in which you will be exploring the essential things you need to stream your church services live and the overall cost for the same. Let’s get started.
Reasons Your Church Should Be Live Streaming
Even if things go well for your church, if you are not live streaming, you are missing out on the opportunities to grow your church. In fact, as more people get to see your service online, the more likely they are to visit your church.
Before going into how much does it cost to live stream, let’s explore the benefits of live streaming your church services.
Reach a Global Audience
Live streaming your church services reaches a global audience outside the physical walls of your church. One of the main benefits of live streaming your church service is allowing members who cannot make to your service a chance to be a part of it. Homebound church members whether they are unwell or physically challenged can attend church service live from the comfort of their homes.
Communities and people who are not in the local vicinity of the church can also benefit from live streaming of your church services and sermons rather than missing out on the service completely. With live streaming, the worship community can come together to hear the message from the comforts of home.
Attract New Members
The live stream setup for the church has become the new front door to attract new members. When a church streams its services online, it invites new members to join the service to see how the sermon resonates with them. Live streaming not just attracts new members, but also keeps your members connected to your ministry when they can’t be there in person.
Leads to Greater Engagement for Church Members
When everyone watches your service at the same time, there are more opportunities for fostering interactions and engagement. If you take your church service live, participants can react to specific moments and everyone can comment and interact with other people’s comments in real-time. Members of the church who are traveling or who have moved away can tune into your live videos and experience being part of the church community.
Every year, churches would host several important events like holiday concerts, bible studies, weddings, baptism services, and more. Sometimes, church members who want to be part of these special moments won’t be able to make it to your church. If you host live broadcasts of such events, it would be easy for everyone to be a part of those important moments despite their physical distance.
Opens Channel for Donations and Giving
With live broadcasts of their church services, churches can encourage the viewers to make donations or contributions to the collection. It’s easier for the viewers who are willing to give donations when they are on the church website.
Essentials Required for Church Live Streaming Setup
If you have decided to dive into how to set up live streaming for your church, you need to consider investing in essential equipment. Starting out, you can live stream your church service with a minimum setup that goes along with your budget. Here is what is needed to live stream church service in high-quality.
Camera
The camera is one of the most important live streaming church service equipment as it is essential to shoot live videos of great quality. There is a rich assortment of church live streaming equipment from which you can select either more affordable or high budget cameras. It mainly depends on how much you are willing to spend. To stream your sermons live, you basically need a camera that records in HD and features an HDMI output. This is enough if you have a restricted budget but you can invest in a camcorder or a camera that costs over $1000. If you want to go ahead with high end live video production, it is recommended to invest in a camera that captures 4k videos up to 30 fps.
Webcam: Cheapest cameras that must be connected to a laptop or desktop.
Camcorder: Designed for shooting videos. Pick one with HDMI or WI-FI capabilities.
DSLR: Specially designed for best quality professional photos and videos.
Action Camera: Designed for more active video shooting. It gives more stability and is essential for live streaming if the pastor moves around often during the service.
Lighting
No matter how well your camera works in low light conditions, your videos can still end up suffering the quality. This is where investing in a lighting setup may come to your rescue. Arrange a church live streaming setup where there are a few lighting sources in the center of the platform where the pastor stands. If there are more people you want the camera to capture, you must install multiple lighting sources or use adjustable lighting that can be controlled from a single system.
Church Streaming Encoder
Another essential tool required in a live streaming setup for small churches which is required to transfer the information to a communicable format. Based on your unique requirements and purposes. You must choose between a hardware encoder or software encoder which we will be discussing in the upcoming section.
Live Streaming Accessories
In addition to the recording and lighting equipment, encoder, several other accessories are required to go live with your church services.
Microphone
The microphone is a piece of essential equipment required to make sure the congregation can clearly hear worship.
While your camera might have an inbuilt microphone, it is recommended to invest in a separate microphone so that you can ensure the audio delivery is prompt.
Tripod
To make your camera stay steady you need to use a tripod to ensure video stabilization.
HDMI Cable
HDMI cable ensures the video is smoothly fed from the camera.
HDMI Extender
If your camera is apart from the PC or encoder, you might need an HDMI extender as well.
Video Switcher
If you are using multiple cameras, a video switcher is essential to switch between multiple cameras.
What is Video Encoding?
Video encoding or video transcoding is the process of converting a given video stream to a digital format that is compatible with most web players and mobile devices. This is because different video players, browsers, and digital devices play videos in different formats. Your camera records that happen in your church with the top video quality. However, the resulting video streams would be larger in size and this raw content needs compression. That is why you need a video encoder. It ensures that video files are optimized so that they can be transmitted quickly over the web. The most significant point to keep in mind is that each video format comes with its own specifications like video codec with H264 and H265, WMV, HEV, WebM, VP8, VP9, and audio codecs like MP3 and WMA.
Now that you have a better understanding of video encoding and the purpose of an encoder, let’s take a close look into 2 different types of video encoders: Hardware and software encoders.
Hardware Encoders
Hardware video encoders are dedicated processors that leverage a designed algorithm to encode video and data into a streamable format. These encoders come in both small and portable sizes, and large fixtures. Considering the higher price point, only professional broadcasters use hardware encoders. They are highly specialized for encoding, and have a lot of advantages over software encoders.
With that said, the live video quality of hardware video encoders is generally constant. There is not a lot of room to modify the video quality. Not just that, hardware encoders take time to design, build, and manufacture which makes hardware variant very rigid compared to the flexible encoding software.
Software Encoders
Software video encoders are programs that run on your desktop, laptop, or any other digital devices. These encoders are very simple to set up and it is a way to change the aspects of the codecs to get the video quality and bitrate according to your requirements. You can easily update the software to a new version when the new updates become available. Software encoders are mostly used by beginner live streamers due to its affordable cost and customization features. OBS Studio, for example, is one of the free and popular open-source encoders. Adobe’s Flash Media live encoder is also a great option for beginners.
Do You Need Hardware or Software Encoders to Live Stream Your Church Services?
If you are looking for the best church streaming encoder and are confused between hardware or software encoders, the ultimate goal should be to choose the best possible option for the budget you have.
As both hardware and software encoders come with its own advantages, affordability plays a significant role in the decision making process. When compared to software encoders, hardware variants are expensive and you might also have to invest in additional tools to fill the gap due to the lack of functionality. While software encoders are affordable, high-end variants can also become quite expensive. To run the software encoders, you might even need a dedicated computer.
Another major benefit of software encoders is there are good free software encoders like OBS studio, which is beneficial for beginner churches. Whereas there are no free hardware encoders. Hence, it is recommended to choose a reasonably priced software encoder and a decent computer that showcases high performance. While a hardware encoder is mainly for professional broadcasters, software encoder is more flexible, less expensive, simple to use, and a winner in most scenarios especially for people who are just starting out with live streaming.
Live Church Streaming Service on Social Media
The most significant thing you want to figure out when learning how to live stream church service is to choose the right platform. To allow people to view your church sermons online, you will need a live streaming platform. When it comes to the free live streaming platforms, there are many free social media platforms out there but they are not exclusively for churches. The most relevant social media live streaming platforms include Facebook Live and YouTube Live.
Facebook Live
Facebook Live allows you to set up live videos including church services, sermons, bible studies, and special church events. If you already have a large Facebook following, it is a great option as it is free. Another major benefit is that live videos on Facebook would always be on autoplay mode, meaning your live church service starts directly playing when users are scrolling through their homepage, making it easy to get them hooked. Being one of the domain live streaming platforms on social media, live content of all types perform the best on the platform.
YouTube Live
The live streaming service of YouTube is another popular live streaming platform choice after Facebook. As it is one of the most popular and largest video streaming platforms where most users spend hours browsing videos, it makes sense to choose YouTube Live to stream your church services live.
While the free service works great the platform also offers dedicated support with paid services. Free platforms like these social media platforms are a great way to test it out when you are starting. However, if you want to bring in a professional touch to your live videos, nothing can beat the benefits of designing a dedicated space for streaming your live church services, and that makes our next point.
Live Church Streaming Service on Your Own Video Platform
As free social media live streaming platforms are not very effective when it comes to streaming your church services live, the best option is to learn how to set up streaming video for churchon your own platform.
If you want to build your live church streaming platform on a budget, the most viable option is to consider using readymade solutions that are easily available in the market to build your own website. This readymade solution helps to create a live streaming platform for your church in simple steps and in an affordable manner.
Features
After deciding on the important aspects of how to stream church service online, the next thing you need to decide is the features and functionalities of your church live streaming platform. Here are some of the essential features you must consider adding to your church live streaming platform.
Homepage
It is the main page of your church’s live streaming platform that your users land first.
Sign Up and User Profiles
Sign up allows your users to register to your platform via email id or social media accounts. After registering on the website, your users must be able to create user profiles on your platform.
Search
The search function allows your users to browse the videos easily to find the published videos.
Secure Payment Gateways
Allowing your users to pay on your live streaming platform through secure payment integrations is essential if you want to accept donations, tithing, etc on your platform.
Analytics
One of the important features you must integrate into your church live streaming platform is analytics and reporting tools. It helps to measure the performance of your live services and analyze how your users engage with your live streams.
Push Messages
Push notification integration allows you to notify your users about new live videos and other important updates.
Real-Time Chat
While watching your live broadcasts, users can share their comments and thoughts with each other.
Unlimited Live Streaming
You can broadcast unlimited live videos from your church live streaming platform.
Dynamic Admin Panel
Another integral feature your church live streaming platform need is the admin panel that helps to moderate content, manage user profiles, handle monetization, delete content, etc. easily and effortlessly.
Cost to Create a Live Church Streaming Service Platform
In this section, let’s look into the most significant aspect of creating a live streaming set up for your church- how much does it cost to live stream your church services?
The overall cost of creating a live church streaming website greatly depends on the development methods you choose to create your streaming website. As discussed, building a church live streaming service using a ready-made live streaming solution can be an affordable approach.
The following are some of the factors that you must consider when calculating the overall cost to build a live church streaming platform.
Live Video Streaming Platform
One of the best affordable live streaming solutions is StreamHash’s church live streaming software StreamChurch to help you live stream your churches efficiently. You can conduct Sunday services, sermons, bible studies, prayer meetings, broadcast gospel music, host Sunday school, and offer all related services to your congregation.
You just need a professional camera, a PC, and a stable internet connection. The software even features OBS integration, making it easy to convert your videos to desirable formats that suit different platforms and devices you are streaming to. If you wonder what is the cost of the live streaming solution, it just costs around $499 for a deluxe variant and $999 for the ultimate package with all essential features, lifetime support, and access to complete source code.
Ready to Start your own Live Church Streaming Website?
To create a church live streaming site, you need to register a domain name for your site and hosting to power your streaming platform. The hosting might cost you around $20-$30 for a year that you need to renew every year to continue enjoying the services.
Server Cost
To host your live videos, you need to invest in a powerful server. The server cost varies according to the RAM capacity you require to host your live videos. The cost of services might vary around $10-$20 per month based on the RAM space you need.
Equipment Cost
The camera is one of the most important church live streaming equipment and there are different types of cameras like webcams, DSLR, camcorders, and action cameras. Pricing for these cameras might range from under $100- $2000. Keep in mind that you don’t have to choose the most expensive or fanciest camera. It is important to purchase what’s right for your church.
The next important element of church live streaming setup is lighting equipment which might cost you $108 for a decent setup and can range upto $500 for a fully functional setup. A tripod is another essential equipment that might cost you around $25 to $300 for a sophisticated device that has built-in bonus features.
Hardware and Software Encoder Cost
As we have discussed in the previous section, hardware encoders feature a higher price and you won’t find any free hardware variants. The cost starts at $100 and might go up to $1000 or more. Whereas you can find free software encoders like OBS studio and premium options like Wirecast and Mix which might cost around $599 and $ 60-$1200 respectively. There are other software that starts at a price point of $99 as well but features vary widely.
Conclusion
The goal of any church is to reach people across the globe and touch lives. Live streaming is all about reaching as many people as possible to spread the gospel. By live streaming your church service and other related events, you can take your ministry beyond the walls of your church connecting with a global audience than ever before. A growing church is a healthy church that is used by God to do great things. If you need assistance on creating a live streaming website to broadcast your church services, get in touch with us.
