10 Reasons Why Twitch Might Be Exactly What You Need Right Now!

1- Community

With everyone staying in and social distancing it is easy to become isolated and lonely these days. Twitch offers an easy way to connect with communities who share your interests and passions. As both a viewer and streamer you have endless possibilities for new connections. Not only is there a massive built-in community on twitch but you can also use it as a way to connect more personally with your current social media audience as a recognized artist, musician, chef, YouTuber, or any type of popular figure.

I began streaming shortly after being laid off due to Covid-19. Quarantined in my house and no longer spending 8-10 hours of my day working, I felt lonely and purposeless. Streaming gave me a reason to get up in the morning, put on pants, and show up for my community. They have become my sounding board for new ideas and best friends over the past year.

2- Share your passion and knowledge

The possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to the type of content you can stream. Whether you’re a gamer, creative, teacher, or just looking for a good chat, there is a community on Twitch for you. Whatever your skills or passions are you can build a stream around them (as long as it is legal and within terms and conditions of course). With everyone stuck at home lately, people have been ravenously seeking new skills they can hone at home such as artwork, baking, gaming, meditation, the list goes on. The world has never been more ready to learn what you have to offer.

3- Learn from other people who have similar passions

You don’t have to be an expert on anything to start streaming. The virtual community is a great place to enhance your skills and learn from like-minded individuals. Many people actually enjoy watching streamers try new games or activities and are more than happy to help you through the learning process. Allowing your community to help you learn new things not only makes them feel more included in the content, but also helps other community members who may be new to an activity learn more as well.

4- Monetization

Twitch affiliates and partners can make money on the platform through subscriptions, bits, advertising, and donations; but this is only the tip of the iceberg.

As an artisan, you could monetize special skills by hosting classes or promoting lessons you teach off-stream. Twitch is also a great platform to promote and sell products you make that are related to your community. As a digital artist and gamer, I find Twitch has been my best promotion device for my print-on-demand clothing that relates to the Fallout fandom (as those are the games I stream constantly). As a writer, I can also promote new articles to boost my potential readership. If you create physical items and stream your creative process it raises your chances of finding a buyer for your products and makes your viewers feel more personally connected to the items you offer. Many streamers also offer merchandise for their community to purchase. This may not make you much money until you have gained a larger community but it’s never too early to try. Print-on-demand services such as Redbubble make it easy for you to upload your merchandise designs and offer them right away with no cost upfront to you.

5- Show off your skills in games or whatever they may be

Do you have a unique or especially impressive skill? Is it something you can teach others? Don’t be afraid to show off a little no matter what your skillset may be. If you can teach the skill to others it can be a great building block for your community. Sharing your skills and knowledge adds value to your stream. If your hoping to monetize your stream this added value can help you gain paying subscribers.

6- It’s therapeutic

This is a personal anecdote, but also a story I have seen related by countless streamers. Shortly before I began streaming I lost my job and had to leave my home because I could no longer pay the rent. Thankfully I had a supportive friend who took me in. I fell quickly into a depression and felt immensely useless having lost not only my income but my sense of purpose. I tried to fill the hole with my favorite video games, hoping the virtual accomplishments would keep me going. This worked for a short time but what I truly craved was to find a sense of purpose that I could control. Something solid that I could build for myself to get my independence back. I discovered Twitch and soon after started streaming myself. Finally, I had a reason to get out of bed again. I had people to show up for who became genuine friends over time. Twitch has saved my sanity and given me control over my purpose in life.

7- learn more about the world from a global community

You may be surprised at the variety of locations your viewers come from. As a Canadian streamer, I have found that most of my viewers are from the UK or USA. While these are most common I also have had the opportunity to talk to people from Chile, Russia, Portugal, and various other faraway places I would otherwise not have had the opportunity to meet. You have a chance to learn about other people and their cultures in a live conversational format. Sharing our unique cultures has sparked numerous amusing and educational chats in my community from learning new languages or helping people in other countries work on their English skills to topics such as the nature of poutine. If you are bilingual you can use that to your advantage in growing your community as well!

8- It’s the city that never sleeps

You can work your regular job at any hour and still stream in your spare time. With a huge global community coming together on twitch you have the opportunity to stream any time of day and still build a community. If you speak more than one language showcase that to improve your chances of gaining a larger audience wold wide. I have personally had viewers from various countries who use twitch chats to practice and improve their English skills.

9- Freedom

Once you have created a community that is loyal to you it opens up opportunities to try new things without losing viewership. If your community comes to see you, and not just a specific game or activity, you can change up your content and viewers will follow. Asking your community what they would like to see you do next is also a great way to get new ideas and make your viewers feel more involved in your content.

Aside from the freedom to choose your content style, succeeding as a content creator means greater personal freedom as well. Say you have always dreamed of moving to a picturesque beach or traveling the world in a tiny home. As a successful content creator, you can move anywhere that meets your basic work needs (such as a decent internet connection) and spend your free time doing the things you love. You could travel with your family and never have to think about booking time off work. In fact, if you can create awesome content revolving around your trip it might just pay for itself! Don’t get me wrong, that goal takes a lot of hard work. It won’t be all margaritas and easy money but seeing the results of your hard work come together is a reward in its own right.

10- Because it’s FUN!

Whatever your content type may be the most important factor is to HAVE FUN WITH IT! If you're having fun your viewers will have fun. Don’t stress over the numbers too much, it can suck all the enjoyment right out of streaming if you become ensnared by statistics. Be yourself and do things you enjoy. Your community will find you! (A little push from some well-placed promotion in related online communities goes a long way as well)

A few quick tips for those looking to start their first stream:

Be yourself (unless you're doing a character) because being yourself is effortless and you will find people who love you just the way you are. Being fake all day is not only emotionally taxing and exhausting for you but it also prevents you from creating a real personal bond with your community. You don’t have to give out any personal information or even use your real name, just be the real you.

Don’t get too caught up in the numbers right away. Yes, the statistics are important, but as a new streamer your main focus should be on simply building your community. Stressing over view counts and revenue can quickly suck all of the fun out of your streaming experience. This can be very discouraging for a new creator and distracts you from putting out the best content you can. Once you have a monetizable community and find your niche you can keep closer track of the numbers and use them to determine which types of content perform best and what direction you should move your content in to keep those people coming back.

You don’t have to break the bank but a few things will help you put your best foot forward. A camera and something to stream from (pc, console, etc) are the only pieces of technology you absolutely need to get started. A good camera is not exactly essential (if you only plan to play games) but people will be much more likely to stick around for a longer stream if they're interacting with a person and not just watching gameplay. A microphone is also a great starting item if you have the money but a built-in laptop mic will do the trick if you don’t want to invest in new technology right away.

Focus on building a community of friends not a fandom of customers. Many people prefer a small stream because of the more personal experience. When you’re watching with thousands of other people it’s difficult to participate in the conversation. Many larger streams only allow paid subscribers to use the chat which can leave new viewers feeling left out. Be sure to keep up with your chat conversation and take an interest in people. This will keep them coming back for the camaraderie and connections they make with you as well as other members of your community. Feeling this personal connection with your content will increase the value for your viewers making them more likely to subscribe or contribute to your growth. This is also a great way to promote interest in your other work if you make physical items or sell digital products.

You don’t have to do what’s popular to get views. Choosing something with a small but dedicated niche can actually be more useful for building up your community. I was once one of only two people playing a certain game in the entire Twitch world. I got several new followers that day who came by simply because they thought it was great to see someone playing an old game that they love. When you play the big games that everyone is doing you have hundreds to thousands of other accounts, often more established accounts, to battle with for viewers. If your one of 5 people streaming a great niche game you have exponentially higher chances of grabbing up those views. If you love what you play you don’t have to be great at it to keep your viewers around. Be yourself, be entertaining, and always remember to put community first.

If you want to check out my stream you can find me HERE! Feel free to send me your questions!