How to Host Your Live Session: Two Community Strategy
This is the live session strategy I teach because it works. Your paid community members get the Zoom link and join the live session in person — they can ask questions, get coached, and engage with you in real time. Your free community members watch the same session live-streamed inside the free community — but they can only watch. That gap between watching and participating is what creates FOMO, drives the Glass Wall conversion, and turns free members into paying customers. This article walks you through the full setup, with a video walkthrough showing every click. Quick note: This setup uses your free and paid communities inside the system along with Zoom. My Vision Agency is the white label brand, so whether you use your own account or an MVA-branded one through us, the steps work the exact same way.
What you'll learn:
- Why two communities convert better than one
- How paid members and free members experience the same session differently
- What you need before you start (the prep checklist)
- A full video walkthrough of the entire setup
- The order of operations that makes it work
- Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
The Strategy: Two Communities, One Session, Two Experiences
Here is how this works at a high level:
- Paid members get the actual Zoom link. They join the meeting or webinar in person. They can ask questions out loud, get coached live, network with each other, and participate fully.
- Free members see the same training live-streamed inside the free community post. They can watch — but they cannot join the Zoom. They are observing from outside the room.
This is the FOMO engine. Free members watch paid members get real-time coaching, ask questions, and engage with you directly. That gap between watching and participating is exactly what drives free members to upgrade. This is also where Glass Wall conversions happen — when a free member asks a question in the community comments that hits a paid-plan boundary, you give them a glimpse of the answer and point them to your offer.
Before You Start: The Prep Checklist
Have all of these ready before you go live:
- Your Free Community Post already generated from the Pre-Live Content page in MVA (title and body)
- Your Paid Community Post already generated and posted inside your paid community with the Zoom link
- A Zoom meeting or webinar created and ready to start
- Two browser tabs open — one for your community, one for Zoom
- About 10 minutes of setup time before your scheduled start
Heads up: Right now you cannot schedule the community live stream ahead of time. This setup has to happen at the time you are going live. Plan to start the setup about 10 minutes before your published start time so everything is ready when your audience arrives.
The Video Walkthrough
This video walks through every click — from grabbing your stream keys to going live in both Zoom and your community. Watch it once before your first live session and reference it any time you need a refresher.
The Order of Operations
The setup has four phases. The order matters — doing them out of sequence breaks the stream.
Phase 1: Grab Your Stream Keys From the Free Community
Open your free community, click Go Live, choose your channel, and click Streaming Software. You will see a Stream Key and a Server URL. Keep this tab open — you will need both pieces in the next phase.
Phase 2: Configure Zoom With Your Custom Stream
Open Zoom in a new tab. Copy your meeting or webinar invite link. Go to Live Streaming settings, click Configure Custom Streaming, and fill in the three fields:
- Live Streaming Page URL — paste your Zoom invite link
- Stream Key — paste the key from your community tab
- Stream URL — paste the server URL from your community tab
If you have the option, set the quality to 1080p for a sharper experience for your free viewers. Click Save.
Phase 3: Prep Your Free Community Post
Switch back to your community tab. Paste your Pre-Live Free Community Post (title and body) into the live post. This is what your free members will see alongside the stream.
Phase 4: Start the Stream
Start your Zoom meeting. Once inside, click More → Live Stream → Live on Custom Live Streaming Service. Zoom takes a few seconds to connect. While it connects, flip back to your community tab. Confirm the stream is connected, then click Go Live inside the community post. Return to Zoom and run your session.
Important: Keep your community tab open during the entire live session. If you close it, the stream into the community ends — even though Zoom keeps running for your paid members. Pin the tab if you tend to close tabs out of habit.
What This Setup Unlocks
You are now broadcasting in two places at once:
- In Zoom — your paid members are with you in person, asking questions, getting coached, engaging directly
- In your free community — your free members are watching the same session as a live stream
The Q&A is where this strategy pays off. Free members watch paid members get real interaction with you. They see the value of being inside the room. Some of them will ask questions in the community comments — and that is your Glass Wall moment. Answer in a way that hints at the depth available inside the paid plan, then point them to your Main Offer CTA.
One live = one self-selling system. Stop trading your life for a paycheck. The setup takes 10 minutes once you have done it twice. Every week after that, it is just rinse and repeat.
Common Pitfalls
Closing the community tab mid-session. The most common mistake. The stream ends. Always keep that tab open.
Configuring Zoom before grabbing the community keys. Order matters. The community generates fresh stream keys each time you click Go Live. Always start in the community, then move to Zoom.
Skipping the "Go Live" click inside the community post. Configuring the stream and seeing the Zoom feed connect is not enough — you have to click Go Live inside the community post for the stream to be visible to free members.
Not running through the setup before your first live. Do a test run the day before your first real session. You do not want to be troubleshooting at the start of a live training.
Forgetting to share the Zoom link with paid members. The Zoom link goes in your paid community post, generated through the Pre-Live workflow. Make sure that post is up before you start the stream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to do this setup every single week?
The custom streaming configuration inside Zoom usually saves between sessions, but the stream keys from the community refresh every time you go live. Plan to run through the key-grabbing steps weekly. After two or three weeks of doing it, the whole setup takes about 5 minutes.
Can I schedule the community stream in advance?
Not currently. The community stream has to be configured at the time you go live. That is why the setup happens right before each session.
What if my free members do not see the stream?
Check three things: (1) Your community tab is still open. (2) Zoom is actively streaming (look for the live indicator inside Zoom). (3) You clicked Go Live inside the community post — not just configured the stream. If all three are correct and members still cannot see it, restart the stream by going back into Zoom's More → Live Stream menu.
Why use Zoom at all? Can I just stream natively from the community?
You can if you have a small audience and prefer the one-community strategy (see related article). But Zoom gives your paid members a real interactive experience — they can ask questions out loud, share screens, and engage. Streaming the Zoom session to the free community is what creates the watching-vs-participating split that drives upgrades.
Where do the Zoom recordings live?
Inside Zoom. After the session, download the recording from Zoom and follow the Post-Live workflow to turn the transcript into your YouTube video and blog post.
What if a paid member can not make the live session?
The Zoom recording can be shared with them later as a replay. Many paid members will catch up on replays during the week.
Should I tell my free members they cannot join Zoom?
You do not have to spell it out — they will figure it out. But it is fine to mention in your community post that the live session is for paid members and the stream is for free members. Transparent works. The FOMO works either way.
Can I run this strategy without a Zoom paid account?
The custom live streaming feature requires a paid Zoom plan. The free Zoom plan does not include custom streaming. If you are on the free plan, use the one-community strategy until you upgrade.
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