If you like playing the game you can make money streaming on Twitch.
What kind of income do anchors make and what are the conditions for live streaming?
Want to make money through game live streaming? Then you can try to make money live streaming on Twitch. There are thousands of people streaming themselves on Twitch. There are also many sources of income for anchors. Whether it’s live gaming, live cooking, making crafts, or just chatting with viewers, there are countless niches to watch. You may ask what are the conditions for live streaming? Are the live streaming conditions high? Today we will talk about making money live broadcasting on Twitch in detail, what income do anchors make, and what are the conditions for live broadcasting? Live streaming on Twitch is not a quick way to make money. If you like live streaming, you can spend some time and effort and believe that you will make a considerable income. We’re here to show you how to start making money.
What is Twitch?
Twitch is an online video streaming service where you can stream and watch live content. Live streaming essentially means sending video in real time over the internet. This way, you can interact with your viewers while they watch your livestream. With approximately 38 million daily active users, Twitch is one of the best and largest platforms in this regard. While the site is primarily focused on video games, there’s a lot of other content on Twitch — cooking, coding, arts and crafts, making music, you name it. Twitch also makes it relatively easy to monetize live streams, allowing streamers to make extra money.
Can you make money streaming on Twitch?
How much streamers make on Twitch varies widely. Earnings depend on a variety of factors, such as how many viewers and subscribers you have, as well as how often and how long you play. And, as we explain below, there are many other ways to make money on Twitch that don’t involve paid subscribers or ads.
Twitch doesn’t typically disclose how much their highest-paid streamers earn on the platform, but a leaked document reveals some information. It said the top-grossing channel earned more than $9.6 million over 2 years. While this sounds exciting, most people who stream on Twitch don’t make that much money. Still, becoming a Twitch streamer is a great way to make money playing games.
Sources of income for anchors
1. Tips from viewers
Once you become a Twitch member or partner, you can accept bits on your channel. It’s Twitch’s virtual currency — viewers can buy it and send tips to their favorite streamers to support them.
There is also the option to add leaderboards to your channel to show who has donated the most bits. Additionally, there are Twitch badges to be earned and animated emotions that can be used in chat when donating Bitcoin.
How much Bitcoin is there on Twitch?
One donated bit is worth $0.01 — this is how much the streamer earns per donated bit. As a viewer, their purchase price is higher because Twitch also takes a small cut. However, small discounts are available when purchasing in bulk.
2. Twitch Subscribers
In addition to the ability to tip, affiliate and partner programs also allow you to start gaining paying subscribers — another great way to make money on Twitch.
If people enjoy watching your live streams, they can choose to subscribe to your channel on a monthly basis. In return, they get some perks. These may include subscriber badges, access to custom emoticons, and the ability to watch ad-free streaming.
There are three different tiers, each with additional benefits (usually additional custom emotes, but this depends on the streamer):
Tier 1 — $4.96/month
Tier 2 — $9.9/month
Tier 3 — $24/month
If you get to this stage, it’s best to hire a freelancer to create the best expressions for your audience. Especially since your subscribers will be able to use them in all chats on Twitch, so you want to make sure they stand out!
In addition to paying to be a subscriber, people can also gift subscription content to other viewers. You can gift subscriptions to specific individuals or communities (and then reward subscriptions to random active viewers within the community).
Since Twitch is owned by Amazon, everyone with an active Amazon Prime account can subscribe to a channel of their choice for free each month.
3. Twitch Ads
Ads will appear on any Twitch stream, but you can only make money from them if you are an affiliate or partner. These ads will be shown to viewers during the live broadcast, and those who are paid subscribers to the channel will not see the ads. As a Twitch affiliate or partner, you can decide when and how long your ads will be played. However, it’s best not to overload your streams with ads and build a lasting community — especially since there are so many other ways to make money on Twitch.
4. Donate
We’ve already mentioned donating bits as a way to make money on Twitch. However, if you are not yet eligible to become a Twitch affiliate or partner, you can still accept other donations. You can do this by adding a PayPal donation button in your channel description.
But even if you do already accept Bitcoin, the PayPal donation button is still a great way to make extra money. This means you get 100% of what people donate (instead of taking a cut of Bitcoin like Twitch does).
While viewers won’t get donation badges in chat like Bits, you can still set up leaderboards for PayPal donations and make loud calls to donate using PayPal during your live stream.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Many Twitch streamers make money by utilizing affiliate marketing. Essentially, this means posting links to products or services and if someone purchases through those links, you will earn a commission.
You can sign up for affiliate networks like Awin and Impact, which gives you access to hundreds of brands to promote. The types of products and services you can promote depend on your content. For example, as a video game streamer, you could promote the equipment you use to play your games. If you are live-streaming food, you can promote kitchen supplies or ingredients, seasonings, etc.
6. Sponsorship from brands
Once you start growing your audience, brands will take notice. And you don’t need millions of followers or viewers. If brands are aligned with your content and your audience is engaged, your live stream will perform well.
You can get sponsorship from brands. For example, you can mention products, add a brand logo to your feed, or link to the brand in your description. Or, if the brand has a promotional program, you can combine promotions with sponsorships to increase revenue.
7. Commodity
If your community on Twitch grows, you can eventually even create your merchandise. Especially since Twitch is a community-driven platform, loyal fans are often keen to participate. You can use your logo for merchandise. Don’t think of this as a quick money grab! Make sure the product is of good quality and something you would also be happy to buy. You don’t want to disappoint the people who support your stream.
8. Patreon Subscribers
Patreon is a project founded by Jack Conte and Sam Yam in 2013. On Patreon, artists can sell their work directly to fans. Patreon users can donate a certain amount of money to the artists they support to help them create new content. Patreon takes a 5% fee. Starting a Patreon page does require some extra work on your part, but it’s a great way to diversify your income from Twitch.
This is an especially good option if you haven’t joined an affiliate or partner program yet, as you can still start growing your paid subscriber base. On Patreon, you can provide content unique to the platform, and in Twitch you can allow viewers to access your Patreon to achieve direct sales to fans.
9. YouTube advertising revenue
Creating additional content on other platforms can help you further increase your Twitch revenue. There are several ways to do this, but repurposing your Twitch streams and turning them into YouTube videos is a great option.
For example, you can create a live video highlight compilation. Or, another option is for you to make a video game creation tutorial. Not only can you earn YouTube ad revenue from it, but you can also reach new viewers who will join you on Twitch in the future.
To speed up the process, choose to hire a freelancer to help you create awesome videos for streaming. They can even create TikToks or Instagram Reels with highlights to further grow your audience on other social media platforms. Of course, it would be better if you could edit the video yourself. You can make and edit your live broadcast content on Twitch for secondary editing and creation.
10. Prize money for tournaments organized through the platform
If you are a professional at a certain video game, you might consider participating in a tournament. While large-scale tournaments are usually held for esports professionals, there are also many smaller tournaments keen to invite streamers to participate.
Depending on the game, you can do this as an individual or as a team (e.g. with other streamers). Contests can bring some great content to your community. If you do it well, you might even gain some new fans.
11. The gift of the audience
There are some great plugins you can use on your channel that allow your viewers to send you physical items. While it’s not exactly making money from Twitch, it can save you money.
For example, you can use Throne to create an Amazon wishlist. The viewer can then decide to buy you a gift from this list.
This service keeps your personal information private, so you don’t have to worry about any viewers finding out your address.
12. Counseling
Once you gain experience streaming and growing an audience on Twitch, you might even consider offering your expertise as a service. By offering coaching sessions, you can help new Twitch streamers avoid any of the mistakes you’ve made in the past.
Consider which areas to focus on. These may include tips on how to set up your channel, find niches, and maintain live stream engagement. You can even help them with things outside of Twitch, such as merchandise or growing on other social media channels.
Your knowledge and experience are valuable!
What are the conditions for live streaming?
There is no right way to stream on Twitch, and it also depends on the type of content you plan to post there. Luckily, you don’t need much to get started. However, some prerequisites are still required.
Here are the prerequisites you need to set up your Twitch stream:
Twitch Account — You can get a free Twitch account and start setting up your channel in minutes.
Laptop/PC — While you can stream from a console or mobile phone, having a laptop or PC helps improve the quality of your stream.
Camera — This can be the webcam on your laptop to start with, but you can also connect a more professional camera to your computer.
Microphone — Chatting with your viewers is crucial to keeping them engaged, so make sure you have a microphone set up for your stream
Live streaming software — With free software like OBS or Twitch Studios, you can start streaming directly to Twitch.
Once your channel starts growing, you can improve some of your equipment to create better content. But when you’re first starting, focus on being innovative with your live content. It would also be helpful to have a schedule in place so people know when they will have time to go live. And, most importantly, be an attractive version of yourself!
