In this article, there will be no step-by-step instructions, but just a manual on how you can earn money by streaming on the Twitch platform.
What is Twitch:
Twitch is the world’s most popular video streaming site. The site features allow each user to create their broadcast, which will be watched by other users. Streamers start their broadcasts mainly to generate income. Today, online broadcasts show not only the passage of games but also travel, master classes, reviews, and other types of content.
How to make money on Twitch:
Making money on streams on Twitch is a very promising form of making money on the Internet if you approach it correctly. There are 7 main ways to earn money and consider each of them.
Sponsored advertising:
The more followers you have, the more likely advertisers will appear. The channel owner has the right to place advertising links in his profile or advertising on his stream. This does not require a partnership agreement. However, this option is only suitable for those streamers who have a large audience of viewers. But remember that measure is important: intrusive advertising can lead to the loss of viewers.
Embedded advertising:
You may enter into a contract with Twitch to serve embedded ads. This resource will use your streams as an advertising platform, and you will receive 3.5% for 1000 views of contextual advertising that Internet users will see during your broadcast. However, keep in mind that many users have AdBlock installed to block ads. Therefore, do not place high hopes on this way of earning.
Donat:
Donat is a voluntary donation to a streamer. Links to electronic wallets are left by each player. Now more and more users want to thank the streamer for interesting video broadcasts. Why would someone poison donations to a streamer? There are several reasons for this:
•Help achieve the goal — set a real goal for donations, for example, “on a webcam”. So viewers are more willing to send donations.
•Draw attention to yourself during the broadcast — when you donate, you can see the nickname and the message that the viewers will notice. It’s kind of like an advertisement.
•Advertise a game, website, or some other product.
To make money on streams in this way, you first need to get some kind of popularity.
Paid subscription:
The essence of a paid subscription is as follows: an Internet user becomes your subscriber by paying for this service. The profit is divided equally between the platform and the streamer. As a rule, users subscribe to a monthly subscription, and its cost is determined directly by the creator of the channel.
Not every user is willing to pay a streamer, especially if he is not so popular. Therefore, your potential subscriber should receive a nice bonus for subscribing. Here, the platform itself took care of the streamer: the user can get extended functionality (video in the best quality, chat, and so on) if he paid for a subscription. From this popular streamers have a good income.
Affiliate program:
The affiliate program is an alternative to sponsored advertising. To do this, you need to choose a service that will make a profit. The streamer is paid for placing an affiliate link in his broadcast: a percentage is charged for each purchase of the product. To become a member of the affiliate program and make money on it, you need to fulfill the following requirements:
•Broadcast regularly (at least 3 times a week).
•The average number of simultaneous stream views must exceed 500.
•The content of the stream must comply with all the rules of the platform.
Sale of products:
If a streamer has a large audience and an army of loyal viewers, then he can earn money by selling products. Popular streamers often work with direct advertisers, from pizza delivery to well-known computer brands. A banner appears on the streamer’s screen that cannot be blocked by programs. Therefore, the larger the audience, the higher the price of placing such advertisements.
Broadcast recording:
You can earn additional income in this way: save the recording of the broadcast using a special program, and then publish the video on YouTube. Firstly, this content can be monetized on the channel. Secondly, this is an opportunity to attract a new audience to Twitch itself.
An essential condition for making money on streams:
Even though the idea of earning money seems simple, there are many nuances and complexities. Just playing on Twitch and getting money will not work. It is necessary to attract an audience, having interested in interesting and high-quality content. What it will be — you decide. The main goal is to gain an audience. To speed up this process, pay attention to the following points:
- Develop a content plan. Think in advance about what you will broadcast on your channel, how often, and what your feature will be. To actively gain subscribers, you need to produce a lot of interesting content and do it regularly.
- Pick a game to stream. If you settled on game content, please select the popular games listed in the View section of the site.
- Release quality content. Beginners should practice their ability to broadcast and respond to comments without being distracted from the game.
- Develop. Constantly improve your gaming skills, and master new game techniques. Work on improving the content: write some scenarios in advance, and upgrade equipment that improves the quality of the broadcast.
What content should be used to make money on streams?
Today, broadcasting on Twitch is not only about passing games, although it all started with this format. With the development of the platform, a variety of content has also appeared. When choosing content for streaming, consider your interests and capabilities. If you are great at talking about the game, rather than playing it, then become a commentator — such content is also relevant and may be of interest to many. Content options that can be streamed on Twitch:
• game streams. As mentioned above, you can stream walkthroughs of popular games or comment on them.
•Entertaining content. Broadcasting of films, music videos, and series with commentary and communication with subscribers.
•Personal streams. In them, people can share their lives and interests, discuss some topics, and so on.
•Everyday vlog. In them, you talk about life. The most popular topic in this broadcast format is travel.
How to promote and promote the channel:
It is obvious that now, with the competent promotion of the channel, it is easier for a beginner to break through and gather his audience. There are free and paid methods of promotion. Let’s start with the ones you can save on:
•Registering multiple Twitch accounts. At the initial stage, you can create 3–5 accounts to log into your stream through them from different gadgets and create the appearance that someone is watching it. This increases the likelihood that the platform itself will start promoting your broadcast in the list of other streams.
•Find a gaming blogger of the same level as you, with a similar stream theme, and exchange restreams with him.
•Invite other streamers to your broadcasts to exchange audiences and diversify content.
Paid promotion methods include:
•Acquisition of restreams from other, more popular, and promoted streamers.
•Advertising your channel in thematic communities on social networks.
•Maintain and promote their social media accounts that will direct users to Twitch.
•Holding sweepstakes and competitions.
Tip: Do not use bots to promote accounts. If you want to become a full-fledged and long-term streamer, cheating bots can only make things worse for your Twitch channel.
What you need to earn:
Experienced streamers recommend considering the following conditions for making money on Twitch:
•Fast internet. The quality of the picture that the viewer sees depends on it.
•Quality equipment. Powerful computer, good webcam, lighting, microphone. Some streamers record videos with a chromakey background. In general, anything that can improve the quality of content is useful.
•A specific theme of the channel. No need to try to cover several topics and directions. It is better to choose one and collect the target audience on your channel.
•Broadcast regularly, several hours a day. Experiment with the time — as a rule, the activity on Twitch is much higher in the evening.
•Before you start the stream, announce the broadcast. For this, you need accounts on other social networks. At the initial stage, you can publish ads on the rights of advertising on Internet sites where your potential viewers are concentrated.
•Don’t forget about content design. Original titles for videos, a catchy channel cover — all these little things also affect the perception of content.
Also remember the rule: the more time you broadcast, the more users will learn about you and possibly become your subscribers.
How much can you earn on Twitch:
The amount of earnings on streams directly depends on the number of viewers and their activity on your channel. Let’s look at an example with paid subscriptions. Let’s say you have 1000 regular viewers. Of these, 200 signed up for a paid subscription to the channel. The subscription price is $5 — of which you get $2.50. In total, your monthly income will be $500.
You can add revenue from Twitch ad impressions to this. For example, you stream 3 hours a day and show 3 ads every hour. Total 9 ad impressions. For 1,000 viewers, this is 9,000 impressions, which is about $25 per day. Provided that you stream 3 times a week, then your monthly income will be $300.
If you combine different ways of earning, then the final amount can be increased several times.
The economy is clear, so you can calculate the expected earnings in your conditions. Of course, the numbers can fluctuate significantly.
Tip: When planning earnings, consider seasonal recessions. Experienced streamers note the following trends:
•Sales peaks are observed before the New Year holidays, at the beginning and end of summer.
•Minimum incomes are observed in January, February, April, and July.
•Income rises in March, May, August, and September.
•The maximum income is recorded in June, October, November, and December.
Subtleties of receiving payments and withdrawing money:
A beginner can earn 100–200 dollars in the first months. The larger the audience becomes, the higher the streamer’s income will be. So, let’s imagine that you have already earned your first money on Twitch and want to withdraw it from the platform. How to do it? There are five ways:
•Worldwide payment system PayPal.
•Transfer through a local bank or eCheck, with which you can exchange the payment in dollars for the currency of your country (although you will have to pay a commission).
•A check is a traditional way of withdrawing money. Its disadvantage is that the whole procedure will take from 1 to 2 weeks.
•ACH — payment is made directly to a bank account (only available for US residents).
•Standard bank transfer. You will have to pay a fee for the transfer and currency conversion.
Typically, Twitch releases payouts within 15 days from the date of application. In addition, a streamer can post e-wallet accounts or a bank card number on their channel, to which subscribers can transfer donations.
Summary
Many people think that streaming on Twitch is an easy way to make big money. Therefore, there are a lot of users on this and other similar platforms, and the competition is high. However, it should be understood that for real earnings it will take a lot of effort: to regularly generate high-quality content, develop the channel, and increase its audience.
To become successful in this business, it is not enough to play well and have charisma. You need to be ready to invest in promotion and equipment, develop a content plan, and so on. If such difficulties do not scare you, and you are ready to treat streams as your job, then try yourself in this. The main thing is to adequately assess your capabilities and not expect big money from the very first months.