14: Playlist Live Mashup w/ Russell Vision & Chris - From Zero Social media experience to Top Streamer status

Today’s episode is the first in a series of episodes that were recorded at the recent Playlist Live conference. Playlist Live is a huge gathering of top content creators across a number of platforms and mediums from Youtube, to TikTok, to MeetMe. MeetMe showed up in a big way this year and we had dozens of top streamers converge upon the event.  Taking advantage of so many content creators in one place, we took Stream Wars podcast on the road and recorded a number of mini-interviews with MeetMe streamers as well as creators from other platforms.  This first mashup is with Russell Vision and Chris, both top streamers on MeetMe.  Russ brought everything to the table in this interview, sharing his emotional journey of using live streaming to help with anxiety and depression. What really hit me was when he shared how he never thought he was good enough to become a top streamer, and he shares what happened that changed that mindset. He also shares the emotional story of how he was able to pay for his trip to Playlist and the big takeaways that he got from the conference.  Then I chat with Chris, who told his story of getting into live streaming with no background in social media, never realizing he would be good at it or enjoy it as much as he does. Chris treats his live streams like a talk show, inviting audience members to jump in the guest box (which is like a video screen within a screen) and be interviewed. He shares his tips for having people in the box and emphasizes how important it is for streamers to create their own niche.  Additional notes: Russell vision  Instagram @russell__vision Got into streaming because of anxiety and depression He started streaming but nobody was coming to his streams, so he started to go to other streams and connect with streamers, become part of their communities, and because of that they started to go to his streams.  A top streamer believed in him, he started learning how to be a streamer, and then it just took off. And he appreciates so much that someone believed in him when he didn’t believe in himself.  Biggest takeaway from playlist was the energy other top streamers have, he feels like he needs to be bringing even more to his streams Likes to play video games and watch funny YouTube videos to pump himself up and get himself in a good mood for his streams How he got to Playlist Live - his fans pulled together and gave him enough gifts that he could travel to playlist  Chris Instagram: @chrisc4sper Chris barely used social media before he got on MeetMe. He feels live streaming is accessible for people even if they’ve never been involved in social media before How Chris uses the guest box feature He feels that going in the box is a stepping stone to live streaming Balancing responding to viewer comments with focusing on the guest in the box, the way he juggles it varies depending on what is going on in the box – heartfelt vs goofing around  Focus your talents on one area and you will grow more quickly  Why it’s essential to network with other people on the app  Be genuinely interested in live streaming and your audience Uses Instagram to drive people to his streams  Check out their streams on MeetMe and watch out for the next Playlist Live mashup coming out next week!