How to Host a Global Livestream — and Connect With the World
Launch a video series and connect with buyers and investors all over the world.
Vivianne Swietelsky was looking for a way to connect with other members of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) during the pandemic lockdown when the idea hit her to launch a livestreamed real estate show.
“COVID put a halt to business travel and networking, and we could no longer travel or meet each other,” says the sales associate with Charter Realty Partners in Coral Gables. “I’d already been using Zoom for 18 months before [the pandemic], and I realized [it was all] I needed to broadcast around the world.”
Swietelsky launched her 30-minute “FIABCI Fridays” show in September 2020, featuring properties and investment opportunities from around the world—and a different guest lineup each week. “I wanted to make the show interesting and not just an hourlong webinar,” she says. Her instincts were right.
The show was such a hit that FIABCI-USA picked it up.
“They reached out and said, ‘Why don’t you put the show on our Facebook page?’ ” Now in her second season, Swietelsky has hosted more than 150 guests from 32 countries. In 2021, she received FIABCI-USA’s Best Programming award for her global business development efforts.
Viewers can join via Zoom or watch and comment on Facebook. Anyone can watch the show, but guests must be FIABCI members to be on the show. Swietelsky’s main expense is the cost of Zoom, and she does all the marketing and graphics herself. “The videos stay [on the FIABCI Facebook page] because they’re archived,” she says.
Here’s her strategy:
1. Aim to entertain
Swietelsky speaks five languages and prides herself on knowing how to talk to anyone about anything. “I know [my guests] and their stories,” she says, adding that even though guests talk about serious topics such as listings, business opportunities, real estate expertise and professional services, she tries to keep it upbeat and fun. “My friend from Indonesia says, ‘You’re the FIABCI Oprah.’ One time, we featured a colleague from Ukraine named Kateryna Pylypchuk, who started her career as a singer, and I said, ‘OK, Kateryna you have to sing for us.’ So she did.”
2. Set realistic goals
It’s important to figure out the optimal number of guests. Swietelsky initially envisioned five guests speaking three to four minutes apiece but soon realized it was unsustainable. “One show featuring four of our past world presidents—from India, Lebanon, New York and a retired Georgetown professor originally from the United Kingdom who’s a big deal in commercial real estate—ran about 90 minutes,” Swietelsky recalls. “I was worried about how to cut them off and realized I couldn’t! I’ve learned to have [fewer] guests.”
Two guests per show is ideal, she says. “They usually have a PowerPoint or a video they want to show, and we can all see each other during the broadcast.”
Sometimes people cancel at the last minute, which leaves Swietelsky scrambling to find a replacement—or figuring out what else to talk about. “One time, everyone canceled so I made a funny cartoon graphic with my hands up in the air, saying, ‘Sorry I can’t control when everyone cancels … so no show this week.’ That’s when I decided to switch the show from every Friday to every other week.”
3. Make valuable introductions
Swietelsky’s show gives her an opportunity to network and introduce people to other industry professionals. “I introduced Antonio Barbosa, a member with properties in Portugal, to Hugh Gilliam, immediate past president of the Southeastern Council of FIABCI-USA and director of the Atlanta metropolitan area,” she says. “Hugh also has a real estate magazine and Antonio [advertised] his properties in that publication and got buyers.”
Another time she featured Tony Grant, honorary world president of FIABCI. “He and his wife gave the money for the Grant Center for Real Estate and Economics at Coastal Carolina University (CCU),” she says. “He gave [the show] a sponsorship of $500, which went to the Miami council. We had the head of the [Miami] department on the show that day, too. He wanted FIABCI [members] to consider taking on CCU students as interns, so he had two or three of the students on. It makes me happy to connect people [who end up doing business together].”
4. Attract a sponsor
Swietelsky is actively involved in FIABCI and served as the 2020 president of FIABCI-Miami and the Caribbean Council, a director of the FIABCI-USA Board of Directors; and she is also president of the FIABCI International Marketing & Networking Committee, which advises the FIABCI global board on new proptech and marketing initiatives.
“Everyone knows me—FIABCI has given me the ability to brand myself, develop my niche and establish relationships all over the world,” she says, adding that she launched the federation’s Greater Miami council and helped to make it one of the biggest recruiters of members worldwide. “We also started the FIABCI-Miami Gateway Series, where we would host colleagues around from Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Italy or Germany.”
FIABCI-USA sponsors her show in exchange for a plug about the council at the beginning and end of each episode.
“Hosting my own show has made me grow as a person,” Swietelsky says. “I’ve learned how to look at the camera and how to speak. Facebook has become very good with all these real estate–related groups, so I can cross-promote [the show] across 20 different groups. I’m also going to investigate transitioning my videos to YouTube and recording some shows [on YouTube] from my colleagues in Asia because we have strong chapters in Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore.”
Leslie C. Stone is a Vero Beach-based freelance writer.