- August 21, 2023
- Kaitlyn
How To Become A
Streamer In 2023
If you love playing video games, you have probably thought of becoming a streamer every once in a while. Turn your hobby into a side hustle and make money while playing video games. That sounds like the best job in the world! But is it as easy as some may make it sound? I have worked as a social media manager and marketer for influencers of all kinds. So, let’s break down how to become a streamer in 2023 so you can start making money doing what you love.
Table of Contents
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What Is A Streamer?
A streamer plays a video game while live-streaming on apps for people to watch. People watch streamers to learn new strategies, find new games, or simply for entertainment. People can pay to subscribe to your channel for more content or merely gift you money throughout your stream. You can also run ads on some platforms!
What Can You Play As A Streamer?
You can play anything! Stream First-Person-Shooter games, Role-Playing games, indie, cozy, horror, and anything in between. Some streamers choose a niche (or type) of game they’d like to stream and only play those games. Choosing a niche is recommended if you’d like to grow fast. But if you love to play all sorts of games, you don’t have to choose a niche.
How Much Can You Make As A Streamer?
Your potential income as a streamer ultimately depends on the platform, income streams, and number of average viewers you get each time you stream. But, on average, you can make anywhere from $50/month-$200,000/month. So it’s absolutely possible to make a living playing video games. You just need to know the right strategies and know the tools to become a successful streamer!
What Platforms Can I Sign Up For To Become A Streamer?
There are many platforms you can sign up for if you’re considering becoming a streamer. Here are nine popular options:
Each platform has its pros and cons, as well as different streaming requirements. So, be sure that you do your research before deciding on the platform you’d like to use.
How To Market Yourself As A Streamer
As someone who has lived and breathed marketing for influencers, there are some key things you should consider before becoming a streamer. Know that it won’t be as easy as simply playing video games and streaming the gameplay on a platform.
You will have to market yourself on social media platforms, be consistent, have quality equipment, be engaging, and have a clean background. Let’s go over some of that!
Best Social Media Platforms For Streamers
Social media is incredibly essential if you want to become a streamer. But it can be exhausting worrying about social media content and streaming content. So, I’ll tell you what I tell all my clients. Repurposing is key!
Make sure you save your live stream to be published on your profile. Once that’s done, you can create clips and repurpose them for other social media platforms. Repurposing content will save you time and energy while still being great content!
If you want to use social media, the best platforms for streamers are:
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Twitter (X)
Take the best clips of each live stream, repurpose them for the platforms, and you’ll have new followers and subscribers in no time! The key is to optimize the clips for each platform. So, the YouTube clip may look slightly different than the TikTok clip.
Other Tips To Help You Become A Streamer
Marketing is just one strategy to help you become a successful streamer, but there are lots of other things to keep in mind on your journey.
Get Quality Equipment
If your audience can’t hear you well, chances are, they won’t stay around for long. So, make sure you invest in a great mic. If you don’t want to show your face, you don’t have to! Many successful streamers have built their platform with hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers without showing their faces. But, if you do want to show your face, make sure you purchase a good quality camera.
Have A Clean Background
Not only should you invest in a quality camera if you want to show your face, but you should ensure that you have a nice aesthetic background. Having a clean background may not seem like a big deal, but when potential followers first see your content, first impressions are everything.
So, good lighting is a must! Make sure the camera can clearly see your face. It’s also vital that anything behind you or on your desk is clean and tidy.
Be Engaging With Your Audience
Have you ever watched a live stream and realized the creator wasn’t responding to any of the messages? Eventually, you stop commenting. Well, commenting is important for success as a streamer, so you want as much as possible! Responding to comments is also crucial for building trust with your new audience. If you get them involved, streaming can be more fun and entertaining for your audience.
It’s incredibly important to talk during your stream. Talking while playing video games can be tricky, depending on the amount of concentration needed for the game, but watching a silent stream can get dull very quickly for your audience. Talking while playing will take practice!
Be Consistent!
Consistently posting and streaming is vital for your success as a streamer! Your audience needs to be able to expect when you will be going live, and the algorithm needs to trust that you will consistently post content on social media.
Although being consistent is incredibly important, it can easily lead to burnout. Before you leap streaming, make sure that you understand that your hobby may start to feel like a chore in the future. Evaluate if you’re okay with that or if you want to continue on your side hustle journey.
Conclusion – How To Become A Streamer
Becoming a streamer is more than just creating a Twitch account and going live. There is a lot of strategy and work that needs to happen behind the scenes to become successful. There is also a chance that you can get burnt out of playing video games. Listen to yourself and set realistic goals to help combat burnout!
Check out this free list of over 100 side hustles you can sign up for today! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at hello@strivehustles.com.