I want to take a little time and address some quick ideas to the mindset that a streamer should have. I have recently been seeing a lot of new streamers advertising inside of popular streamer’s broadcasts and must say that this is NOT the way to become a popular streamer. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and the right attitude to really get far in this business.

Get ready to work!

This is not a walk in the park. This is actual work. Tons of streamers  put tons of their spare time or work time into their stream to produce the product that their viewers come to see. Everything that you see your favorite streamer doing has been thought about and thoroughly researched before it has been done. This is the approach you should take. Take your product and actually look at it. Watch your old broadcasts and think “Is this something that I want to watch?” If you can truthfully say no, put the ego away and mold your stream into something that is worthy of thousands of views.

Design something that you can truly be proud of and that you don’t mind putting your name to. Most of all, put in the time and work that this is going to take. Put in as much time as you can afford to do. Then, put in more. Then, after you’ve put in a lot of time, go back and do it again. Do you see a pattern here? Even after you have made it where you get a nice viewer base every time you stream and you are partnered, it doesn’t mean that the experience can’t get better. Maybe design a new logo. Find new music. Have an intro movie that brings in the viewers. Trust me, your regulars will adore the changes and your new viewers will appreciate that they found someone that doesn’t mind working to entertain.

Stop competing

Every Twitch streamer has a reason that they stream. Some do it because they love the community that comes with it. Some love to have an audience. Yes, some do it for the money only but those are rare. The ones that are trying so hard to just get money from streaming are the ones that don’t tend to succeed the greatest. The ones that have put in time, effort, and WANT to stream for streaming sakes are the ones that really shine.

So STOP trying to get to their level and STOP trying to steal their viewers. They have worked hard to build the viewers and community that support them every stream. Don’t think that dropping in, saying “Come see my channel” will get you tons of viewers. It will most likely do the opposite and you may ruin your name before you even start.

Twitch is not a competition. It is a huge community of people that LOVE video games. Some love MOBAs, some love RPGs, but we all love video games. We come to Twitch to not only play with people but to interact with our peers and to share our experience with whomever wants to view it. So be a part of this community. Dive into these streams and really get to know the streamers and their community. Become a regular in a few of their streams. Answer questions, enjoy their broadcasts, and help in any way that you can. The more that you integrate yourself into the actual Twitch community, the more you will grow in the end.

Why aren’t you having fun?

You are playing video games! You are doing something that a HUGE chunk of the world loves to do everyday. You also get an audience! Who doesn’t wanna show off their one-hit kills or how awesome they are in a dungeon! It’s the ultimate feeling to vanquish a foe and watch chat blow up with cheers of victory! It’s also amazing to watch your viewers give you a hard time when you fall off that cliff for the hundredth time!

Take it all in stride and ENJOY YOURSELF! When people see you having a good time, they tend to enjoy themselves and WANT  to come back to you. Which party do you want to go to, the one with the cheering, dancing people and loud music or the one with the weird foreign music and everyone awkwardly sitting around the room? Be a party thrower and let your viewers in to dance! Give them a GOOD reason to come to your channel and always keep it up! You’re playing a video game so show that you’re enjoying it!

This leads to an important point: play games that you enjoy, not what you think will get you the most viewers. If you aren’t having fun with the game you are playing, no matter how good you think you are at pretending to have fun, your viewers will notice and it will turn them away from your channel.

Drop the ego at the door

This one is going to come off kind of hard but bear with me. Starting off, you are just another name in the bunch. Sure, your name might be a funny one or something clever, but that is as far as you will get without having the personality or the channel to really back it up. So don’t think that you are something that every person needs to see and that they are dumb for not wanting to see you. That will get you no where fast.

Accept that you won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Accept that not everyone will enjoy that you curse or that you don’t curse. Accept that some people will get bored fast of what you are playing and leave. After you have accepted that, accept that you will not be a name on anyone’s tongue for a little while. This is something that is earned. From day one, work hard to MAKE a name for yourself instead of assuming that everyone will just show up. Give them a reason to show up and give them  another reason to stay.

Once you start getting popular, do not let it go to your head. Be grateful and courteous to each and every follower/subscriber that you get. It is their contribution to your channel that has gotten you this far and it is their word-of-mouth that will get your farther. Show them that you love and appreciate their time. After all, they ARE taking time that they could be doing ANYTHING else and watching you play a video game. That’s amazing in itself.

Numbers don’t matter, viewers do!

So many streamers get caught up in the idea that they need HUGE numbers every day or they have failed. This is farther from the truth than I could ever express. Viewers are people. These people have lives, jobs, and everything else outside of watching your stream. They choose to come to your channel and spend their time with you. Make it worth their time.

Get to know your viewers. I’m not saying know every detail of every viewer’s life! That would be impossible! Get to know your regulars though and make sure to ask them how they have been doing! Note important details about them like what they have planned or what games they life. It will go a long way, not just with that viewer but with all the viewers, to show that you care enough to know that this viewer’s kid was sick yesterday but is feeling better today. It shows you have compassion for your viewers and care that they are spending their time with you.

 

All of these will make you a better streamer and keep you in the best mindset every stream. A lot of streamers go the wayside now because they succumb to the work that streaming involves. Hopefully, this helps you get ahead a little on the one’s that are giving up and helps you build a community of your own.

Halios00

Writer/Streamer of Streamer Square

www.twitch.tv/halios00