The Essentials to Streaming: #1 The Basics

Over the course of the next week I will be publishing a series called "The Essentials of Streaming." This series is meant to be your starter kit into the world of streaming and Twitch! This segment focuses on basic concepts often overlooked by up-and-coming streamers.



So you’ve decided you’re going to do it; you’re going to create your own stream. You’re going to become a huge internet celebrity, and everyone is going to want to watch you! Before you reach your goal of internet fame, you may want to keep these basics in mind when getting started.  These three points are essential to your success. If you follow them, you’ll attract the right people to your stream; the kind of people that make every time you hit that broadcast button a great memory. 

1. Do it for Fun!

I get a lot of questions on my stream daily about viewers wanting to get into streaming and make it a full-time thing. I don’t blame them, who wouldn’t want to have a job that involves playing video games and talking to people on the internet. Here’s the bottom line though; money should not be your main goal when you stream. Streaming should be about having fun. Yes, some people are able to turn their hobby into something they get to do for a living, but it’s definitely not easy, and it  doesn't happen overnight.  Most streamers spent many days, months, and years to get their streams to the level that they are at now, and most of them were able to do that because they were passionate about what they did, not because there were endless amounts of cash at the end of the tunnel. If all you care about is dolla dolla, you will burn out really fast, and you won’t enjoy yourself. If you’re not enjoying yourself, your viewers won’t enjoy the stream either, and you’ll have a hard time even growing.

I see a lot of streamers give up because they aren’t getting the numbers they want from their stream right at the start. It takes time, and a lot of patience. If you’re focusing on the fun of streaming, and not how popular you are going to become, you won’t worry so much about how fast your stream grows. It’ll just gradually start to happen. This is the right approach, don’t expect wild growth. Be happy with the small battles and always remember, stay true.

2. Be Yourself

There are thousands upon thousands of streamers on Twitch. As Twitch continues to get bigger that number will continue to grow. One of the biggest trends that I see on Twitch is the copycat strategy. Streamers will take an idea or gimmick that works for a certain streamer and then try to duplicate it on their own channel.  While this might work on rare occasions, the likelihood of you being able to successfully replicate that is pretty slim. Take for example the insanely popular “Twitch Plays Pokemon.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with the stream, the premise was simple: Pokemon Red would be played to completion over the course of a few weeks through viewers inputting the buttons via typing them in a chat. The stream started out as a few hundred, and as word spread, it quickly grew to finally reaching over 100,000 viewers. Like anything that was successful, people quickly ran to copy this successful stream. Streams ranged from more Twitch Plays Different versions of pokemon, Twitch Plays FF7, Twitch Plays Runescape, to Fish Plays Pokemon, and most of these failed miserably and were unable to secure a following.

You’re better off just being you. Viewers want to watch someone that is real and down to earth, not someone who is fake and looking to be someone they are not. Remember, if you’re really looking to get into streaming, you’ll be doing it a lot, so there’s no reason to hide who you are. Being yourself allows viewers to connect with you on a personal level and really get to know you. You’ll be a lot more comfortable as well, and it’ll make streaming a lot less stressful.

3. Play Games You Enjoy!

This point seems pretty self-explanatory, but you would be surprised how many streamers don’t follow this rule. I’ll be honest, I’ve done it myself. There was a time where I was playing a game that I truly enjoyed, but somewhere along the line I was too scared to do something else because I was scared of losing my viewer base. The moment I broke free from that mindset, and just played what I wanted to play, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. So many streamers simply look at the top 15 games on Twitch and say “What game gets me the most viewers, that’s the one ill start with.” I’m not saying don’t play a game because it’s popular, just  make sure you play a game that you know you can enjoy and provide good content.  When streaming, never be afraid to take risks and try new things. Just remember, every streamer has made mistakes with streaming, the important thing is to learn from each mistake and grow. 

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If you follow these three easy steps you’re well on your way to becoming a successful streamer. While these steps don’t guarantee success, they are the building blocks to getting there and if you work hard enough and are patient enough, they will start to grow your stream.

Essentials #2 - Streaming Equipment

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