Money

Becoming popular on Twitch can be a pain in the butt process, however I do want to throw you a bone on how to get more viewers on Twitch.

Almost every streamer hits that mental breaking point where they want to throw in the towel because spending all of this effort just isn’t turning out much in the way of viewers.

Even though turning on your stream & playing games doesn’t seem like something that would cause someone to hit a breaking point, it certainly can.

Watching something you’ve put your time into, not make any progress can be demoralizing which is why I’m hoping to help out as much as I can with this article.

Everyone Keeps Leaving My Stream

Before we start to work on your Twitch channel growth we need to identify where the issues are.

If you have people coming into your streams but not sticking around, then it might be a setup issue

By setup I don’t mean an actual technical difficulty like the stream not loading but maybe something along the lines your game might be laggy as hell.

If you have a high bounce rate of users coming but not staying then here is a checklist to go over which might help.

• Trying Changing The Style Of Music You Play In Stream
• Make Sure Your Title & Game Selection Actually Match The Game You’re Playing
• Check Your Mic Sound Quality
• Be Quick To Respond Back To Your Chat
• Are You Commentating Any Or Just Playing The Game Ignoring Everyone?
• Identify Any Actual Technical Difficulties Like Stream Cutting In & Out

No One Even Comes Into My Stream!

If no one is even coming into your stream then that gives us a separate checklist to go over.

If you fall into this category then just make a mental note of that checklist mentioned above for the future.

I’m going to cover this in many steps so if you already know the answer to any steps then just jump over to the next one. I don’t want to leave anyone hanging here.

How Does Twitch Determine Who They Put Higher Up On The Page

Here’s a look the channels I see at the top of the page when I select the game World of Warcraft.

Twitch has a simple ranking system where they show the streamer with the most current viewers 1st, next highest second & so on as you can get an idea from the pic above.

What this means for you with few or no viewers is that people will have to scroll all the way down to past all of these other tempting channels to get to yours.

Now that we have that understood it brings up our next point…

How To Compete Against Popular Twitch Streamers

I know it seems like with how Twitch ranks the popular channels higher it gives a, the rich get richer type of feeling.

First off get it out of your head where you think, “whats the point no one will ever find me past these other 100 streamers”.

This is where most streamers get this wrong.

There are plenty of users who are looking for some specific type of stream they want to watch.

So I wanted to watch a streamer playing WoW who is doing PvP as a Warlock.

This is the first one I found with it being mentioned in their Title.

Moving past my bad paint editing skills I still wanted to show you this.

So now with me in their stream if their any good PvP wise or fun to watch then I could potentially become a follower.

Even though it may not have you bringing in 50 followers a day, these do start to add up.

 

Okay with that fresh on your mind I want to stay on the focus of this to show you another way to use this process.

Pick A Less Popular Game

With games like WoW or Overwatch their are hundreds of different people that you are competing with for viewers, even if you do niche down you’re still losing the ones that just want to watch someone play the game.

This is where going after a game with less streamer competition comes into play.

Like I said there are hundreds of people streaming WoW, well I’m a viewer & I’m tired of WoW. I want to watch someone play through the South Park: The Stick of Truth game.

When I go over to that game I find only 29 total streams for it. With the top viewer numbers looking like this.

What a lot of streamers will see when looking at that is, there are not enough people watching this game to even try.

A smarter way to look at this is, realizing people do want to watch people play this game & the viewer competition to break into the top 5 is super easy.

I’ll end this section with a fitting quote for it.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Themed Streams

A cool way to set your stream apart is adding in a little twist to it.

I’ve seen this work in multiple ways like…

1. Someone did shots for every donation
2. Tried to teach his mom how to play LoL on Stream
3. 24 Hour Stream

This is only limited by your creativity, well & Twitchs rules but just come up with some good stuff that Twitch will allow & you’re good to go!

Working With Other Streamers

Don’t look at other streamers as competition, but instead as a way to work together to grow each others viewer base.

Twitch has a cool method of helping promote other streamers channels through its host mode feature.

This lets someone stream like they normally would but instead of showing their stream, they’re showing whoever stream they’re hosting.

This can be a win/win for both parties, not such the person being hosted.

Sometimes, you just are not feeling it but you’ve got a stream schedule setup & don’t want to leave your followers hanging.

The host gets the benefit of still doing a stream & the hostee gets some exposure to the hosts viewer base.

This is an underused method for both parties to gain value.

Promote Your Stream Outside Of Twitch

If you want to take a more proactive approach then you’re my kind of person.

Instead of just waiting for the viewers to find your channel, let’s give those viewers a little heads up about you.

This can be difficult because anywhere that focuses on people to promote anything, especially for free is going to be flooded with others.

Let’s skip that BS & shoot for some areas where it really has nothing to do with streaming.

Where To Advertise Your Twitch Channel

Forums

These can be great, especially specific forums that games you stream.

Some forums actually have a section dedicated to promoting your channel.

Mods in forums have to constantly ban spammers trying to promote all kinds of stuff.  So making a new account, promoting your stream in your first post is not going to look good.

Become a part of the community; answer or ask questions, add your avatar, be active.

Then if they allow it, add your twitch stream profile information in your forum signature.

This way it shows up under each post you make.

In Game Promotion

Online games where you can speak to other people is a great way to get promote.

Best thing about this, is that it usually takes less than a minute to do.

For example if you were playing WoW & you were chilling in Orgimmar, simply say something like, “Pryo Mage PVP Stream Starting Up – Check it out at Twitch.tv/yourstreamname”

Something along those lines, get creative with it.

There’s really no need to spam this, just say it once then start doing your PVP.

Social Media

This is a big hit or miss & requires more time than the others I’ve mentioned.

If you actively work at growing your streams social accounts then this can turn a good way to let others know about your stream.

Try to focus on building out 1 social media channel rather than having to spread your time across many.

Tip: Rather than focusing on reaching new viewers, find the streams of other twitch streamers & try to connect with them. Doing this could open doors for you to work together & potentially get them to host your streams.

I personally find social media to be the least effective, however some streamers have had great success with it.

Giveaways

If you have a little money to spend then doing a giveaway on your stream would help get some eyes on your stream.

Unfortunately, most of the viewers you’ll get here will unfollow/stop watching right after the giveaway if over.

However, if your stream is any good then maybe some of them will stick it out to be part of your base of viewers.

 

 

Add Some Variety To Your Stream (Examples Included)

First off, you can about about this many way & there is no wrong way.

With that being said, I’ve seen some cool ways some streamers I had gotten bored with had reeled me back in as a viewer because they started adding in different types of stuff to their stream routine.

Here is a great example.

I’ve enjoyed watching a popular twitch streamer called Bajheera.

His popularity came from being good at WoW PVP as a warrior & while I enjoyed watching him play WOW I got tired of it.

Well he is also big into fitness so he does streams in the IRL section of Twitch where he works out & just answers questions/gives tips on working out.

Bring In A Co-Host

If you normally stream alone then looking into adding someone else to your stream that your personalizes vibe well together.

This can be someone together in the same room like a girlfriend or a friend where you’re both on camera together.

However, it doesn’t have to be someone in the same room with you or even appear on the stream, it can be just their voice.

How Long Is Getting Viewers Going To Take

This is the million dollar question & there really is no answer anyone, including myself that will be able to tell you when viewers will come.

You could be chugging along at maybe 3-5 active viewers for a few months then a fellow Twitch streamers decides to host your stream, which bumps you up to 25-50 viewer range everyday.

There are just to many variables when it comes to growing as a streamer & yes, it can be frustrating as hell putting in lots of time without seeing an upward trend in viewers to match that time being put in.

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

Alas, We Have Come To The End…

Here are some of our other articles you might find useful; Getting a gaming sponsorship & gaming affiliate programs.

If you were sticking with me through the article hoping I would have some secret sauce for how to get more viewers on Twitch then I’m sorry to disappoint.

I’ve listed a good bit of everything I know throughout this article & it should be plenty to get you started.

The bitter sweet reality to becoming poplar on Twitch is just grinding it out.

The bitter speaks for itself but whats sweet about it is, that for every other streamer that throws in the towel while you continue to work at it means that there is just one less person in the race against you.

I know I said, “Don’t look at other streamers as competition” earlier in this article but hopefully you understand what I’m getting at with all of this.

Making your stream into something that will bring you in a nice income will be a emotion roller coaster.

First you’ll be stoked to get everything setup.

Next, you get your first follower, regular viewer, heck you even get excited to have your first troll.

Then comes a downward period where, you’re wondering if this is worth your time because its been 3 months & you’ve only got a $3 donation.

Next month, you make friends with a fellow streamer, who gives you a host & you stream is starting to look alive!

I could go on with this for days but instead I’m just going to make a picture because I’m tired of typing!

ow to go about getting sponsored as a gamer for your YouTube or Twitch is a simple yet difficult process.

The simple part is just applying, the difficult part is building up your resume, so to speak that will have sponsors interested in your application.

Now before we begin, I want to explain that there is a difference between a sponsorship and an affiliate program.

Let’s go over that briefly before going any further.

Also, be sure to read our sponsorship tips found towards the end of this article.

Sponsorship Vs Affiliate: What’s The Difference Between Them

The difference between these use to be black & white, however nowadays these are starting to come together as one in a way, which leaves some grey area.

Sponsorship: This is usually where a company is paying you to show that you’re using their products.

Example: At an eSports tournament a gamer will probably be wearing a ‘Brand Random Name’ shirt & hat.

Sponsorship pay is usually a set amount per month or however long the contract is for, but they usually require a certain amount of something, like you should be streaming 3 days a week or putting out this many videos, something along those lines.

Affiliate Program: An affiliate program is a much more popular system nowadays, especially online.

With an affiliate program, you earn an amount through however much product is sold through people clicking on your affiliate link & making purchases to whatever site/product you’re promoting.

See our list of top gamer affiliate programs.

Example: The same gamer mentioned above has a Twitch channel that he displays a list of products he uses; these products contain his personal affiliate link code which generates him $ each time they buy after clicking his link.

Grey Area: A lot of brands are starting to offer both, where they pay you for mentioning their brand through a sponsorship but also give you an affiliate link as well. This is usually the best case scenario for the gamer as the sponsorship usually guarantees a certain amount with the affiliate link purchases, acting more like a bonus so to speak.

This is a general setup for most brands but any company can set up their pay system however they want to, just be sure to read through their site to see what they offer.

Where To Look For Video Gamer Sponsors

If you’ve got a really popular channel, then the brands are usually approaching you.

However, for the other 99% of gamers, you’ll have to hunt them down yourself.

Before you start looking, there are somethings you’ll want to go ahead & get ready.

This is stuff like:

• Traffics Numbers
• Average Amount Of Viewers
• What Country Most Of Your Viewers Are From
• How Many Subscribers You Have
• Social Media Followers

You may not need all of that information, it just depends on how strict the brand is on its application process.

Here’s an example of a fairly simple starting point application from GamerSupps.GG

Now, this is usually just a starting point to weed out a lot of people who don’t have the numbers to consider.

If you do, then the next phase could be something like them watching one of your streams or videos & so on, maybe even an actual interview.

This is just for sponsors in general, I’m not sure of the actual process for GamerSupps.

What Are The Minimum Requirements To Become A Sponsored Gamer

The requirements in which companies set for their sponsorships are completely up to them so there is no one size fits all answer here.

There are also different types of gamers that will get sponsored so getting a sponsorship isn’t always about how popular you are, viewer-wise (but it sure helps!).

By that I mean you can have someone who is just a great personality that attracts tons of viewers on Twitch who gets sponsored.

Then there is another person who is an eSports gamer that doesn’t really stream much but participates in tournaments, who could also get sponsored by the same company.

For the most part, companies want to sell as much of their product as possible, so getting as much exposure to potential customers is where most a main focus will be when they select the people they want to sponsor.

Can You Still Make Money From Gaming Without Being Sponsored?

Absolutely, the percentage of gamers who are actually sponsored is insanely low.

This is where the affiliate program comes into play, which I mentioned about what this is above in this article.

Becoming an affiliate as a gamer is much easier than becoming sponsored.

The requirements are much lower (if any) because really if you don’t produce any sort of sales for them then they just don’t pay you, neither party really loses anything.

Aside from that, a lot of your income as a gamer will come from YouTube, Twitch or both.

I’m working on a guide for how to go about earning money from these two platforms in a separate article.

The most underestimated way of making income, especially when live streaming is donations.

I’ve been in Twitch streams where the user maybe has 20-30 max viewers at a time & still make a few hundred bucks a month because he has some loyal/generous followers.

So always be sure to set up your donation button, sooner rather than later.

Tips For Getting A Gaming Sponsorship

Let’s say your viewer/subscribers numbers are looking good, what steps can you take to help give yourself a better chance of getting a sponsorship over another gamer?

Note: These are just general tips, some companies may not care about these things but it’s nice to have them taken care of just in case.

Essentially look at it like a job interview because in a way it is.

Watch Your Social Media

Pay attention to what you’re posting on your social media channels, even if it’s not directly connected with your channel. Doing a background check on you to find that you’re constantly starting flame wars, posting inappropriate images, or just general stuff you probably wouldn’t want a boss to see.

Be Aware Of How You Look

Before I start, I’m not saying getting dressed up like you’re going into work.

Actually, it’s probably easy to give an example.

Try to avoid wearing a shirt that has inappropriate stuff on it (words or images).

Also, try to keep your gaming area looking good, I don’t necessarily mean clean, but maybe not keep your bong sitting on your computer desk while you’re streaming.

Pick Your Music Wisely

Using music dropping the f-bomb every other word can certainly be a deterrence for some sponsors to want to have you representing them.

Also, look into playing copyright free music. This is more for keeping you out of trouble Twitch/YouTube but some Sponsors may actually look at stuff like that.

Keep Control Of Your Chat/Comments

I really don’t know how much of a factor this would be but I figured to include it anyway.

I know you can’t determine who comes into your stream or watching your videos but you can control your chat/comments.

Try to have some good mods or have a system in place where trolls can’t post links, spam or really cause too much of an issue on your channels.

Make Connections With Other Gamers Who Stream or Upload Videos

This tip actually is more important than just helping you get a sponsorship but it can also be a huge way for you to gain more exposure to your channel.

If you have some buddies who you see are sponsored by a company, just ask them how difficult was it to get accepted.

If they think your content is good enough then they might put in a good word for you.

Don’t Wait For The Sponsor To Come To You

There’s only probably a handful of sponsors actually scanning through YouTube or Twitch to find gamers to sponsor.

Those sponsors that are actively searching will usually be looking at the top tier channels in terms of numbers.

This doesn’t mean that the small to mid-level gamers can’t get in on the sponsorship action but it will just take a little more effort on your end to find the opportunities.

I’m currently working on an article listing potential gamer sponsors so you can use that as a resource for applying.

There will, of course, be tons more not on that list, that it will take you scouring the internet to see if you can find some that will be a good fit for you.

Be Active & Consistent

Have a certain schedule for when you stream or being consistent to where you at least upload 1 video ever 2 weeks can look good to sponsors.

This lets them get an idea of what to expect in terms of potential viewer numbers they may get out of sponsoring you & also shows you’re reliable.

The last thing sponsors would want to do is give someone a sponsorship then that person goes ghost, only to pop up every now & again.

Don’t Just Go With The Flow

Just because you see a lot of company’s sponsor League of Legends players doesn’t mean that you have to play LoL to get a sponsorship.

The main thing sponsors are looking for is getting eyes on their products.

For example, let’s say you did decide to play LoL.

Instead of being an eSports level player, you’re a bronze level player who is fun to watch rage whenever you get killed.

Find your niche in the video game community & try to focus on getting as much exposure from it as you can.

Be Ready For Rejection

Most likely, getting sponsored is not going to happen on your first few attempts or maybe not even in your first 100.

My only advice is don’t take rejection personally & try to have thick skin.

The upside is at least the rejection from a sponsor will be much less harsh than it would be from a girl turning you down for a date, some chicks can be ruthless!

Anyways, even if you get rejected almost all sponsors will let you reapply again, (some require a certain timeframe before you resubmit)

Just keep grinding away at this & growing your channels like you would if you were leveling up in game.

Be Realistic…

Understand that this isn’t going to happen overnight or maybe not even within a year.

There’s a timeframe in between the excitement of just starting out & when you start earning money where you doubt whether or not if this is all just a waste of time.

Many people hit this stage & it’s usually where a lot of people throw in the towel or keep pushing.

Alas, We Have Come To The End…

Alright ladies & gents, I’m going to wrap up this article here.

I think this article has gone from a how to get sponsored as a video gamer on Twitch or YouTube into a full-on guide.

There was actually a lot more I could have added, especially in the tips section but I’ll hold off for now.

If this article has helped you and you would like me to add more tips into this section, then just leave a comment on this article.

Also, if there are any video game sponsors reading this that are accepting applications then just leave a comment below of which company you’re with & where people can go to apply.

I do have an idea in the works to interview sponsored gamers to see how long it took them to get that sponsorship, how they went about getting it & if they have any tips for others who don’t yet have one.

Not sure when this article, will be coming out as it takes a time finding people willing to participate & then getting their response back.

So since there is a lot of outside factors I don’t want to give any sort of ETA but just wanted to mention that this is something I’m working on because I know this could be a good push forward for those struggling.

When it comes to picking out the best gaming affiliate programs for gamers who stream on Twitch or upload videos on YouTube, there is a solid list of programs to choose from. Obviously, I’m not going to go over all of them here but I am going to go over my favorites. Before we start with the list, make sure that whatever platform you’re on (Youtube or Twitch), doesn’t have an issue with you posting affiliate links to any of these sites. I’m not aware of any issue for these at the time of writing this but things change and I would hate for you to lose your channel for such a lame reason.

 

Green Man Gaming Affiliate Program

  The Green Man Gaming program is probably one of the top affiliate programs that I’ve seen gamers use. The way you earn through them is your typical cookie, which means if someone clicks your affiliate link it adds a cookie to their browser & if they purchase a game through GMG after clicking your affiliate link then you get a commission from the purchase.   Something cool about this affiliate program is “Affiliates who perform exceptionally may get exclusive offers as an added bonus.” I’ve always been a fan of bonus incentives for rewarding hard work (in regular day jobs as well), so this was a nice touch by the people over at Green Man Gaming.

 

Chairs 4 Gaming Affiliate Program

Chairs4Gaming.com has an affiliate program that is hard to pass up. They have a tiered affiliate ranking system, like leveling up in a game. More sales = getting to higher tiers which lets you earn bonuses. As an example, the Level 5 affiliate gets a bonus of $100, 1 gaming chair to giveaway & a $100 PayPal bonus for every following month where you make 5 sales or more. I give a big thumbs up for whoever came up with their affiliate program system.

Amazons Affiliate Program

The Amazon affiliate program is the biggest affiliate program there is & for good reason. You can make some serious money with it. You have multiple different ways of promoting your affiliate link with Amazon, such as; banner ads, text links, & CPM ads. The CPM ads are newish & they’re much stricter about who they accept into that program. With that being said really all you need is the typical text affiliate links as these tend to be the most often clicked through for pretty much every affiliate I’ve ever spoken with, including myself. The flat-out best part about Amazon as an affiliate is that after someone clicks through your affiliate link, you get a commission on whatever is purchased, even if it wasn’t the item you were promoting. For example, if you’re affiliate link is going to a gaming headset & they click on it then decide not to purchase that headset but rather buy a gaming keyboard & also a green screen as well. You get a commission on that gaming keyboard & green screen! I’ve made a good bit of money from items, that I’ve never even heard of that people have bought through my Amazon affiliate link. Now the downside of them is their commission cookie is only 24 hours long. The commission rate they pay varies per category of the product so this is kind of a bittersweet type of feeling for us promoting video game type products. By that I mean, if a regular hard copy of a video game is purchased you’ll only get a 1% commission, but if they buy a digital copy of a video game then the commission is 10%. Disclaimer: This rate may change in the future as they just recently changed their commission rates a few months ago so this may happen again in the future.

 

Humble Bundle Affiliate

The Humble Bundle affiliate program is actually still in beta at the time of writing this & I haven’t actually used it but as someone who has made plenty of purchases through Humble Bundle, this could be a great income earner for gamers. For those who don’t know, Humble Bundle is games bundled together, in which a user can offer their price to get a bunch of games at a way cheaper price. For example, right now they have a bundle of games that is worth $242 that you can buy for $10 bucks, not even joking. That right there would show you how easy it should be to make money from their affiliate program because the deals are so insane that really all you have to do is get the sales page in front of the user which should convert very well in my opinion. The thing I like about this company is that it allows users to pay more if they would like to & with that, they can also determine how the money is distributed through the game developers, charities or give a tip to Humble. The fact that they have a strong focus on giving to charities is a thumbs up in my book.

Twitchlayouts.com Affiliate

You see those cool twitch overlays or well-designed channel that gamers have on Twitch? This affiliate program allows you to earn a commission from other gamers who are looking to get into the streaming game. When they ask you where you got your kickass Twitch layout, you can point them to Twitchlayouts.com & give them your promo code which usually has an incentive for the user to use the code, like 5% certain designs. This is not your traditional type affiliate program like the others I mentioned above where you click on an affiliate link. On the twitchlayouts site, they don’t even have anything mentioned they have an affiliate program, I only know about it because one of the streamers I watch (shout out to Brutepork!) is promoting their designs with his promo code. I have no clue how strict they are about accepting affiliate but it can’t hurt to shoot them an email to ask.

ClickBank Affiliate Program

The ClickBank affiliate program is focused on selling digital products. The types of gaming type products that you can focus on can be guides for how to get better at playing X, Y, Z game. You can also create your own product to promote on their & have other games promote your product. They have a pretty big selection of items that you can promote in their marketplace so just search around to find something that would resonate well with your viewers. The best part about ClickBank is the commission rates are usually very high (varies per product) compared to other affiliate programs.

Razer Affiliate Program

Razer is one of the biggest brands in the gaming equipment industry, I would say a large amount of that success should be contributed to them having some popular gamers promoting their product. That isn’t meant to take anything away from Razer as a company, I was more giving kudos to them for knowing how to market. Anyways, if you’re a fan of their products then why not promote them?

KontrolFreek Affiliate Program

The KontrolFreek affiliate program has a great incentive for help their affiliates promote their products. Usually, with an affiliate program, you just get the affiliate link & that’s it. They also give a 10% discount code on top of that. If you’re looking for an affiliate program for controller skins, grips, custom thumbsticks & other gaming accessories then this should be right up your alley.

Loot Crate Affiliate Program

Loot Crate has an impressive pricing payout that you could make some very good money from. Loot Crate widens your affiliate gap because if some of your viewers could care less about buying new gaming equipment but still like getting gaming accessories, apparel, toys & all kinds of other cool stuff then this will be the service that helps turn those viewers into customers.

Gamer Launch Affiliate

Gamer Launch provides an affiliate program for multiple services that tons of gamers need. Here a list of things that Gamer Launch offers that gamers would need.

• Create & Host A Guild Website With Your Custom Domain
• Raid & DKP Tracking
• Raid Scheduling, Attendance Tracking, Recruitment Tools…
• 25/50 slot Voice Server Through Ventrilo, Mumble or Teamspeak

Some of these are essential to running a guild, especially if you on the more serious sides of raiding or PVP. Sure, you can do each of these through a separate service but having all of this bundled together into one service is a very enticing offer for lots of gamers who run clans or guilds.

OriginPC Affiliate

Custom built gaming computers is a huge market with OriginPC being one of the most recognizable brands in the industry. Lots of gamers gladly spend $2k & more on their setups, so just think of the commission you can earn with even just a few of these every month.

GamerDating Affiliate

As you can tell by the different types of affiliate programs I’m listing that I want to give you a wide range of ways you can make money as a gamer. GamerDating adds in another avenue that most of us don’t even think about when searching for affiliate programs to join.

Alas, We Have Come To The End…

Note: If you’re looking into sponsorship’s then take a look at our, becoming a sponsored gamer article. This is our initial list of the best gaming affiliate programs. This will be an ongoing article that I will keep adding new affiliate programs as I come across them. For now, this is a great list to get you started & as you can tell I diversified the type of affiliate programs because I know not everyone wants to promote the same thing. If you recommend an affiliate program which would be great for gamers that is not mentioned on this list then feel free to shoot me an email so I can look into adding it. I realize there are lots more actual brands than Razer that have affiliate programs, like Corsair or Logitech for example. I was more aiming for variation of different types rather than just a full-on massive list of all affiliate programs, however, since this is just the initial draft then this might be added in later. If there are any companies reading this that would like to be added, shoot me an email with the URL of where to find your affiliate information. Just make sure it’s a product that would make sense for video gamers to promote it. Last thing, there is different ways to monetize your gaming channels so be sure to explore all of your options. 

Right now you have two main platform options that will allow you to make the most money while playing video games and that is Twitch Vs Youtube. Well, if you’re trying to figure out which is a better pick for you to spend most of your time trying to be successful on then I’ll be covering the differences between the two here in this article for you.

Pros And Cons Of Youtube Gaming

The best thing about making money through YouTube would be that it can actually be a passive income model once you put in enough time up front. As an example of what I mean by that is; let’s say you launch a cool video in June, well that video can continue to make you money even 10 months from then if people keep finding that video.

Now I don’t want you to read that and think you’re gonna go record 100 videos one weekend, upload them and expect to go sit on a beach while the checks just continue to roll in. The bar on YouTube videos has definitely been raised over the years and you definitely need something that separates you from the other thousands of people uploading their WOW arena videos.

You either need to be funny, skilled enough for people to expect to learn something from watching you or just be a super chill person who people will enjoy watching.

Obviously there is no one size fits all but you need some sort of niche in my opinion, whether that be a certain game or just your ‘entertainment’ style on why viewers would want to watch you over Joe blow. Also, learning some editing skills for videos is also another plus.

Pros And Cons Of Twitch Gaming

Twitch is the polar opposite of Youtube in the way it gains its viewers. Twitch tends to pull a majority of the live streaming viewer crowd, at least for now.

There has been some attempt by both Youtube & Twitch to go after it’s rivals main base by Youtube trying for the live streaming and vice versa for Twitch but not a huge shift from either base.

Now the coolest thing about Twitch is a low barrier to entry, no editing videos, just getting your setup going and start streaming away.

Another main benefit that Twitch has going for it is how well donations work there from it being a live event, where the streamer can actually thank the people donating live, which makes them so much more likely to give thanks right then and there.

Why Not Do Both?

I can see where a lot of people would be like, “Just do both and make more monies!”. While this is a solid idea, it usually takes a good bit of time doing just one of them.

If you happen to have some time on your hands, have a buddy who could edit videos for you or maybe have some money available to where you can pay someone to edit your videos then it could work.

My suggestion would be to focus on one until you’ve got it bringing in some money for you then reinvest it by maybe expanding to the other platform your not using.

Play To Your Strengths

I’ve seen so many good gamers out there who in general have a great stream but they literally hate having to talk to people in chat and answer questions.

Some people aren’t very social and with Twitch it tends to help out a lot if you do socialize with your chat, and that’s actually high up on my importance scale on having a successful stream.

This is just an example of what I mean though by play to your strengths. I’ll end this article here for now but I’ll continue to update this article as I think of more tips/thoughts for it.  

I couldn’t decide where to put this under the hobbies or money category, so it’s going under both!

There has been a huge surge in people wanting to flip items after shows like storage wars and flip this house starting airing.

Most people watching those shows probably think you can only flip stuff in the same way that they do, like flipping a house or selling a storage unit full of stuff.

While these are some good ways to go about it they can be both expensive and pretty risky to boot and also increasing in competition, with those shows becoming so popular.

This leads me to explaining about how you can make money in this same type of mindset but by flipping actual items that you buy in flea markets or yard sales.

Pros & Cons Of Flipping Flea Market & Yard Sale Items

Pros

1. Can Be A Fun Treasure Hunt Type Of Way To Make Some Money
2. Not A Huge Money Investment Compared To Flipping Other Things
3. Can Find Some Cool Stuff That You May Want To Keep
4. A Good Way To Get Some Extra Cardio In

Cons

1. You Need Patience
2. Be Prepared For A Grind To Make Consistent Money Or Be Lucky

Where To Begin

Find some flea markets around you and spend a few hours looking through them.Try to focus on some that you may be knowledgeable about.

As an example, I don’t know crap about sports memorabilia, so if I was to try to flip something I thought was priced low, then it’s a gamble.However, if I find something like collectors’ cards then I might have a better idea of what they might run for.

With that being said, you can always use your phone to look up to try and see how much an item is worth, so technically you can check on every item but this quickly becomes time consuming if you do this on every item that you see.

When I was younger I found a Dragon Ball Z card at a local flea market that was priced around $10 bucks and I knew this was actually a pretty rare card. I ended up selling that same card online for like $50 bucks, only reason I even looked twice at that card was because I use to collect them when I was younger.

This an idea of what I mean by focus on items you already know about.

Be Prepared To Sift Through Some Items

Depending on what type of flea market/yard sale you go to, you’re most likely going to have to go through a lot of stuff to find something good.If something is just sitting in plain sight, then there are going to be plenty of eyes hitting it.

One of the main flea markets I hit have two types of setups, which is a glass case area where everything is locked and big booth areas where you can pick up and look through the items.

It’s very hard (not impossible) to find anything that you can flip that are in the cases because most of the time the sellers that put items in the cases have done their homework and priced the items accordingly.

With that being said, the booths are usually a more of a cluster type of setup where you can tell it’s people just wanting to get rid of a lot of stuff.

Going through these booths is where I’ve found some really cool stuff that make me some money over the years.

Note that some flea markets will have different rules, so before you go touching items make sure that market is fine with it.

Bring Cash

This mainly applies to yard sales but, some flea markets as well.The last thing you want to do is find a great item and not be able to pay for it because it doesn’t take card/check.

Also be sure to have a variety of bills because plopping a 100 down wanting to buy a $5 item may not work for a yard sale that doesn’t have change.

Another good rule here is limit yourself to how much you can comfortably spend.

If your like myself you can get carried away with seeing all this cool stuff and go on a spending spree when you know you don’t really have the funds for it, by limiting how much you bring will put some sort of self-control system in place.

Conclusion

Hitting up flea markets/yard sales can not only be a great way to make some extra money but it’s actually a pretty fun hobby as well.

If you like digging through old stuff in hopes of finding a hidden gem, then you might enjoy this whether you actually make any money or not.

Overall just be realistic here, don’t go off quitting your job and thinking this is going to replace your day job pay, think of it more like a good way to make some beer money.

Hope you enjoyed this article!

I see this being asked a lot and the answer is yes you can make money by playing/streaming video games on Twitch but it’s easier said than done.

By that I mean don’t expect to just fire up your computer get your stream connected and just start making money day 1 or heck even day 100 if we’re talking serious money.

It takes a good amount of persistence, skill and/or personality with a little bit relationship building to start making any real money from your stream. I’m going to go into exactly what I mean by that below.

How Long Does It Take Before You Start Making Money On Twitch

This falls under the persistence part. Streaming on Twitch will take you awhile to start to get followers and it’s like a grind in a video game where you do the same thing every day but you’re slowly moving closer to your goal.

The only way around this is if you already have some connections with other streamers or already have a name for yourself in a certain game.

This is a hard question to answer though but I would safely say don’t expect any money for the first couple of months, you may get some generous followers who may donate to you so it’s hard to say.

If you’re talking about money from Twitch advertising in the form of a sub button, then you may never get one but can still earn a good bit through donations of your viewers so it’s always a good idea to setup a donation button asap.

Do You Have To Be Good At Video Games To Be A Twitch Streamer

This relates to the skill/personality part. I see this asked a lot, the answer is no not at all. Some of the most viewed streamers are average at best but they’re entertaining to watch because of how much they rage or because they just have a good personality and communicate well with their viewers.

On the flip side, this alienates certain viewers they only want to watch the best of the best because they are trying to learn themselves how to get better at that game/class.

If you have a good mix of this, then you’ll be making some serious money if you’re consistent.

TIP: Try to get a friend in your voice chat with you when streaming that your viewers may find funny, this helps take all of the pressure off of you to be one size fits all type of streamer.

How Much Time Do You Need To Invest Into Streaming To Be Successful?

This is where is causes most people to throw in the towel.

Streaming is actually causes you to actually be using your time for it, by that I mean there isn’t a passive income side to it really.

This causing the time investment to be high, sure you could only stream one day a week but if you want to make streaming a full time gig then you’re going to need to put more time into it. My suggestion is get a schedule setup, so your followers know when to expect you to be live.

You’d be amazed at how many people will log in to Twitch just to watch their favorite streamer at their startup time then log back off after they go offline.

I can’t give you an exact figure for this question but I would shoot for a minimum of 8 hours a week, with it being spread about between 2-3 streams. A good amount would be 12 hours between 3-4 streams. This is purely subjective of course, so this is in no way an actual guideline by any means.

Just try to put as much time as your schedule allows you and just be prepared for a grind.

How To Build Relationships With Other Streamers On Twitch

This is actually very easy and a great way to increase your followers that most streamers do not take enough advantage of.

Twitch has given its streamers a cool option of hosting another person’s stream, which allows you to basically broadcast as if you were live but it shows someone elses’ stream to your viewers. Got a head of myself there, before you do that it would be good to actually be in their stream and comment.

This way they can put get an idea of who you are before you start broadcasting their stream.

Now just because you do broadcast their stream doesn’t mean they will do it in return but this is a good networking start, especially if there are times when you don’t feel like streaming but still want to work on improving your stream.

Another great way is see if there are any streamers who play a similar game as you and see about getting in touch with them in game to possible get in chat with them to stream together.

These are just a couple of options but there are tons of them out there, just go about it like you’re making a friend in game and actually try to build a friendship with the person, not try to use them for their viewers.

Where Most People Go Wrong

I know tons of people who plan to to start streaming but they keep putting it off for whatever reason possible. Most of the time they’re either waiting for a game to come out to be able to stream or trying to get their setup perfect before starting.

This usually turns into a drawn out process where they basically never begin or it takes them awhile to get going and in that time they could have gotten a good amount of followers.

So my advice is just get started on your stream, everything doesn’t have to be perfect but take that biggest leap and just get going!

Thanks for reading and I hope this helped some of you out there, Ill try to add more to this article as more comes to mind or I learn about new things myself to share with all of you.