Once in a while, there’s a game changer on the Internet that allows carpetbaggers to make it big. There was MySpace (and yeah, it’s dying a slow, horrible death, but people got rich by getting the medium and exploiting it), then Facebook, then Instagram – and the big money maker – iPhone apps. Folks that ‘got it’ at launch made quick money and big money by being the first to exploit the new app store paradigm in town. The new venture to take into your hands and run with is Periscope.
Periscope was acquired by Twitter in January and in April of 2015, Twitter launched the Twitter-entwined app in the App Store.
This app is sure to make even the most Twitter-resistant folks interested in Twitter. I admittedly was late to the Twittersphere. I had a Twitter account over 10 years ago, but never used it except to enter contests that required a tweet. I just didn’t get it. I had been building websites since 1993 and got on board with Facebook long before many people had heard of them. In 2006, when I joined, Facebook was bragging that it had about 400,000 members. It now had more members than China has people. It’s a country, people. So what in the heck did I need Twitter for? It only let you say a little bit. Yeah – I’m dumb. So about a year ago, I hunkered down for the weekend to figure out this Twitter thing. It wasn’t going anywhere and was insanely popular… and then I got it. For information geeks, Twitter is a goldmine if you know how to mine for the information you want.
Periscope allows you to use your iPad or iPhone to broadcast a live video stream any time you want – and the quality is decent. Because people are still learning about Periscope, there aren’t always live streams or a lot of them happening – so anyone is willing to jump into your Periscope feed as soon as you start broadcasting.
So – if you’re promoting yourself, your services, your skills, your products – now is the time to get Twitter followers and people into your stuff – because anyone from around the world will jump on board when you’re doing a live Periscope video. For some, it’s interesting to them to see you in your country, showing off something or other. I’ve only done a couple of Periscope feeds thus far – just a few minutes at a Texas Rangers baseball game – and I had people from around the world asking me questions about Texas, about the stadium, about the concessions, etc. Your viewers can send text questions for all to see. You 
can respond by voice or just recently via an app update, you can respond via text answer as well. For now, use of Periscope is completely free. My guess is that monetizing it will happen by saving videos on their server for longer than 24 hours – it’s anyone’s guess. But it’s new. If you’re trying to promote your business – whether you fix computers, give advice, provide online courses or sell some sort of widget, your time is now. Periscope is here. Use it before the wave of newness wears off. Meerkat is another player in this same space, but I’m unsure if they will survive now that Periscope has been acquired by Twitter. Meerkat will need to offer some incredible features to stay afloat, I think – but I’d love to hear your comments below regarding Meerkat vs. Periscope – how you’re using it, what you like/don’t like about one vs. the other, etc.
