The dream of many gamers is to be able to play a moderate amount to make enough money to live comfortably. In the past this would have taken massive amounts of practice as there were only a few big money tournaments a year. With the emergence of streaming and instructional YouTube videos the opportunities to earn revenue due to your gaming skills has expanded. There are some popular streamers who have received massive donations that can be life changing. LegendaryLea who streams games of hearthstone received a donation of $22,000 during one of her streams.FaZe Censor is a great example of a streamer that also has had great success on the gaming circuit. He has made millions due to his skills as well as being an engaging streamer to watch. The following are tactics to build a Twitch following as well as a brand that will have sponsors flocking to you with deals.
Stand Out From Other Streamers
Standing out from the other Twitch streamers can be done in a variety of ways. There are streamers that keep their hair bright colors as this is part of the brand they have built. Other streamers wear certain types of hats or have sign off slogans when they are ending a stream. Standing out from other streams starts with picking a name that is unlike any even moderately popular streamers.Having conversations with the viewers of your stream while dominating in-game is the best way to attract viewers consistently to your page. Keep the conversation light and steer away from hot button issues like politics or religion as you do not want to alienate an entire demographic of potential viewers.
Keep Your Trash Talk Family Friendly
One thing that can ruin a Twitch streamer’s chances of building a respectable brand is trash talking over the edge. The use of personal insults that include anything to do with race or abusive language can ruin your brand. The younger demographic of Twitch viewers could be banned by their parents from watching your channel. Be creative with your trash talk but do not cross the line. This does not mean you cannot have fun with other streamers with witty banter but keep it as clean as you can. Antics of particular kinds like following a person unknowingly only to shoot them once they turn around in Fortnite are some of the most viewed streams out there. Of course you are going to have be incredibly good at the game as nobody wants to see a person taunting another player only to be killed. Trolling other players is something that can garner millions of views on Twitch as well as YouTube.
Interact Via Social Media With Fans
The gaming community is quite involved on message boards, Reddit, and other platforms of social media. Interacting on these platforms is important so search hashtags that are specific to your channel. This can be your calling card when fans have a question or even want to play on a stream with you. Fans that have quite a few followers being invited on your stream is a great way to expose your gaming channel to a different group of viewers. Trolls are quite common in the gaming community as well so do not get sucked into the trap of a troll or you can end up a gaming meme.
Encourage Discussion in Comments of Streams
The building of a loyal community can allow viewers of your stream to build relationships with each other. People can be found on streamers pages discussing sports or anything that is going on in the world. The stream can be a place that people go to talk with other likeminded people with similar interests. Guiding the conversation will be your job as the streamer as sometimes the discussion in the comments can go in the wrong direction. Before your stream put together talking points of things that gamers usually enjoy discussing can help engage viewers in discussion. Asking for opinions of games or what would make a game more enjoyable can spark great debate. Again keep the conversations civil so let people know they will be banned if they continue to break the rules.
The money available for those that stream their games online is immense for the right gamer. This gamer needs to be engaging personally as well an incredible at the type of games they specialize in. Use the above tips to build a Twitch following and test your channel against giants in the streaming industry.
