Your first TikTok live: a checklist.
A first live show goes wrong in the same few ways. Almost all of them are fixed before you start.
Work down this list in order.
Before the day
Your TikTok Shop is open and verified. That takes a couple of weeks. Start early.
Products are in the showcase with real titles and photos.
You know which products you are showing, and roughly in what order.
Before you press go
The live product set is built. You cannot do this once you have started.
Phone charged and plugged in. A two hour live will flatten a battery.
Put the light on the products, not behind them. A window behind you makes you a shadow.
Sound matters more than picture. A clip-on mic beats a better camera.
The first ten minutes
People arrive all the way through, not at the start. Say what you are selling more than once.
Hold something from the first second. A live that opens with talking loses people.
Answer questions out loud. Use the name of whoever asked. That is what makes a live show different from a video.
What not to worry about
Nobody expects a live show to look like TV. A bit rough is fine. It often does better.
Quiet spells happen. Keep showing what you have.
Common questions
- What if nobody watches the first one?
- That is normal. First live shows are usually quiet. The clips keep working after, and the second one starts better.
- What gear do I actually need?
- A phone, a light, and a clip-on microphone. That is genuinely it to start.
- How long before the first sale?
- Some live shows sell in ten minutes. Some sell nothing. What matters is whether people stayed and asked questions.