Streamer Beginners Guide

So, you’ve decided to go forth with your journey in becoming a streamer?

Well then, let’s get started!

Before we hop on to all the exciting stuff I’d just like to intervene & forewarn you about the following;

Consistency is key; Mental Health days are very important; Set boundaries; & Remember why you’re doing this in the first place.

Great, now that we have that down, I’d like to elaborate on the above-mentioned points.

Consistency is crucial in any aspect of life when it comes to results. Gym needs Consistency. Physio needs Consistency. Antibiotics needs Consistency... You get the drill. So to grow your channel, you need – ?

On to the next. Mental Health is something to take note in this change of scenery. It can vary from having low views and a slow growth, to trolls, to follow-bots and even something as extreme as being harassed & getting hate-raided. It’s not easy to not take these things to heart, but knowing that you have supporters & taking a good break every so often will help elevate your spirits.

Your body needs a break from sitting for long periods at a time & constantly talking for 2 – 4 hours, from the lights in your face or even a poorly lit room, so a breath of fresh air won’t hurt anyone. Start by setting up a schedule for x3 times to x5 times a week as this would be healthy, as opposed to every single day for 7 days a week. This also helps you hold out for longer periods at a time in being able to entertain & be creative.

Boundaries are one of the top most important aspects to preserve your peace as people tend to overstep by testing the waters, seeing how much you will tolerate before taking action which leads to fake accounts trolling your streams & even harassment.

Be clear & concise about this & don’t play around or hesitate to take action. You need to be fair toward yourself too.

If you have moments of doubt, always remember why you’re doing this in the first place, most people do it for entertainment or something specifically related to their community & with that alone, it will keep you pushing onwards. If you’re simply doing this to make money, the odds might not be in your favour, although not shutting down the entire parade of that idea; simply trusting that there is more to it than financial gain.

Personally, I believe it should be more about giving, than receiving.

As an example, there was an incident about some time ago where a streamer made a large sum of money out of donations solely for herself by playing on the community’s emotions by mentioning they were a victim of a supposed crime. A good part of the community is in denial of the deception, but others were wiser and chose not to abide by this type of attitude.

We don’t support that here either. Don’t be that person. It’s one thing to start a charity & have it for a specific welfare or cause, but it’s another thing if it’s for personal gain, because after that, there hasn’t been, from what we are aware of, any financial support in that grand aspect to assist a sole person in regards to medical bills, items being stolen or anything of the sort unless it was to possibly save a company from liquidation, which seems more plausible.

If you are looking at financial gain for whatever the reason may be, take note that on Twitch specifically you, need to become an affiliate first before payment is considered. Thereafter, every subscription that occurs, Twitch takes 50% of the cut, meaning you need to work twice as hard. Donations on the other hand go directly to your Paypal with their minimal account holder fee, which I personally feel is the far better option.

Let’s say you have had a decent amount of financial support, Twitch has now, thankfully, lowered the payment release option from $100 to $50. Meaning, you need to have reached your cap of $50 before Twitch pays out. But take heed, you only get half of that. So $25 gets pocketed, not the full $50.

Youtube’s form of payment needs monetisation, as most of us know, since we most likely wanted to be YouTube Stars in our youth. Unfortunately, payment only happens once you have over 1000 views, & depending on the total watched ads, your revenue will fluctuate. Google will then pay an average total of R65 per 1000 views.

Facebook has in short terms, especially by local streamers, been boycotted as terms & conditions have changed making financial gain slightly more difficult so most people don’t care for Facebook Streaming.

Suck it Zuckerberg! However Facebook is the far greater way to get exposure.

Gadgets & Gizmos

We know that people can stream with minimalistic gear. You don’t always need flashy overlays or even a webcam. Your audience would prefer someone authentic that they can relate to or a very specific persona that would captivate them.

Few people are phased about seeing the streamer although it is very comforting as far as human senses go – to be visually appeased. One thing I do believe everyone could agree on would be good audio, if we can’t see you, at least audibly be comme il faut. So if anything, invest into a good mic.

For the streamers on a low budget, seeking decent gaming gear yet being cost effective, or even parents wanting to support their kids in starting up, feel free to turn to VX Gaming with gaming peripheral products widely distributed at the following stores:

Takealot / Matrix Warehouse / Incredible Connection / Computer Mania

However the following brands will be more expensive, understandably so, for the streamers looking to upgrade or becoming more hardcore or professional; feel free to look at the following brands: Logitech, SteelSeries, Razer, Roccat at any of the local stores:

Rebel Tech / Wootware / Evetech / Riottech / Dreamware Tech

If you wish to show yourself without “showing face”, look at setting up a 3-D Avatar for something known as V-tubing. There’s plenty of characters to choose from with few of them being customisable. That should ease the anxiousness.

The top mentioned apps would be the following:

Facerig / V Magic Mirror / VSeeFace

If there is no problem with yourself showing face and you are on a low budget regarding a web cam, make sure that lighting is on the top of your list. Be it a ring light, LED strips or even a room window with a well placed setup. Good lighting will definitely assist in decent visual quality.

Overlays on the other hand can vary, depending on your personality. Most well known streamers have minimalistic overlays, which keeps things clean & formal with all the attention on themselves & their stream. To make the search easier, gander through the various options of elements that jitter.video has to offer.

If you have a specific style suited to your personality, don’t let that stop you from being creative, as long as the main focus is still your stream. Overlays are more often than none free to download online like StreamElements, but there are some that are up for purchase so if you don’t wish to break bank, have a look around online at free or cost effective overlays that are your cup of tea. Another option would be to browse TikTok for creators that promote their work as Stream Overlay Designers, selling their Stream Packs on Etsy. Otherwise, if you have video editing skills, you could create your own.

Personality that Pops

If you are within the few people that have successfully set up a streaming room, with a decent camera as well as a strong rig including all the necessities in regards to lighting, a second screen, a generator, & good internet, let’s hope you have the final thing to complete the package. No no.. Not a good appearance, but a quirky personality.

Your audience would love something out of the ordinary or even something to relate to, as before-mentioned. Most starting streamers, & very few growing ones too, have such a dead beat horse, monotone personality. If it works, stick to it, but more often than none have I seen these small streamers average at a view count of 2 or at most 4 people yet nothing changes.

Engage with chat as often as possible, try out something different like, cosplay streams, face-paint streams, spicy noodle streams, goal achievement streams, introduce your plushies or wardrobe, puzzle building & the list goes on. Community streams also are great for growth; word puzzle games, marbles on stream, stream raiders and many more.

Building a Community

One of the important things to building a community is discoverability. There’s a few ways to go about this because if you’d like to be a Twitch streamer solely, take note that Twitch has poor discoverability.

1. You could always engage within a specific community (Facebook Groups for Gamers or Streamers), getting people to befriend you, sharing interests, cracking jokes & overall making a good impression.
2. Marketing – if you do not wish to do #1. Create content & promote it on your best/favourite social media platforms in forms of trending phases (shorts, reels, clips or general videos).
3. By doing both, you would bare greater results & it would be more beneficial, understandably so. Create a Facebook page to help with promoting your content dedicated to who you are as well as a possible TikTok account & Youtube channel.
4. Networking is also a wonderful way to get support. The type where you engage with other content creator’s community without blatantly self promoting.

Also on the note of community building, in some cases locally, follow 4 follow might be considered supportive but overall in overseas communities this is something other fellow working streamers will figuratively spit at. Very few will make posts where they ask for f4f & if you feel this will be reciprocated, go for it, otherwise I’d advise to steer clear from that avenue.

However, take note that there will always be someone that wouldn’t support you or like you, and for whichever reason, your content simply won’t vibe with them. It could be your personality, vulgar language, persona, success, the way you dress or anything for that matter. Pay no mind to them, simply keep your head up, look forward & keep pushing on.

Saucy Sponsorships

Once you feel confident with your following, & you have all the good things working in your favour, don’t feel scared to reach out to brands for sponsorship. If some of them decline the offer, take note that “Every no brings you closer to a yes.” This could be anything from paid partnerships to gear sponsorships & something all viewers love – giveaways!

Streamers could reach out to their favourite brands if they haven’t already partnered with anyone as of yet or go online seeing which companies are willing to partner with growing content creators by searching [Insert Platform of Choice Here] Sponsorships or even ask local start up companies to promote their brand for them.

Spread Your Digital Wings

For the streamers that are night owls or have time to kill by going to bed late or simply waking up early, this will be of great benefit to you as overseas viewers might catch your streams & therefore you get to engage with people outside of local time zones. Through this you might have more support as other countries are highly likely to be more supportive than our current local scene.

With the abovementioned, South Africa has been one of the countries on the backburner in regards to a lot of entertainment sources & apps so with regards to streaming everyone is more focused on self growth than supporting one another. However this is not the entire case with every single soul but it is to an extent slow pacing.

Should you find your group of like-minded family & friends willing to support you, ride that wave & use it to your advantage.

Now my young padawan, since I have shown you the ropes, spread your wings & go forth into the content creator world & thrive. Wishing you all the best in your journey.