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You can choose to play on apps where you play with virtual coins or on sites with real money. But if you really want to earn a living from it, you should go for real money Teen Patti games. Secondlife is not a game but a large gaming website. It has over two million members currently active on the site. There are rumours that the. Apr 20, 2021 The apps to make money listed below generally won’t make you rich any time soon. But many can give you ways to earn just a bit of extra cash. Check them out if you want to earn a little money on.

If you want to learn how to make money on Twitch, you'll love this guide.

Unlike some business models, streaming is relatively simple.

Not quick.

Not easy.

But it is simple.

If you do everything outlined in this guide, you could make enough money streaming games on Twitch to quit your day job — and, if you're really committed, maybe even make multiple six figures per year like some popular streamers.

Let's get started.

Note: 'Streamer' and 'broadcaster' are used synonymously throughout this article. They are both referring to the same thing — someone who streams games on Twitch.

What Is Twitch?

Twitch is the world's leading live streaming platform for gamers.

You don't need to login to watch people all around the world play your favorite games, but creating a free account allows you to engage directly with your favorite streamer or stream your own content.

Twitch also has premium subscription options that unlock bonuses and freebies in certain games and allow users to support their favorite streamers.

Twitch averages in incredible 1.1 million viewers per day and over 4.5 million broadcasters per month. The platform has grown over 60% year-over-year for two years in a row, and it's not stopping.

Twitch's growth is just kicking into high gear, and that growth means more opportunity for new gamers like you to start earning a real income from your favorite pastime.

Part 1: How Do People Make Money On Twitch?

There are quite a few different ways to earn money through Twitch.

To start, we'll break down the income of Twitch's two most popular streamers: Ninja and Shroud.

The #1 Twitch streamer in the world right now is Ninja (aka Richard 'Tyler' Blevins), who earns over $5.5 million per year streaming Fortnite and other massively popular games. To get to that level, however, you would need about 12 million subscribers (the number Ninja currently has).

Here's an estimated breakdown of how much Ninja makes based on income stream. (Don't worry—we'll explore what each of these streams means in detail later in this article)

  • Subscriptions - $3,955,571
  • Ad Revenue - $509,521
  • Bit Donations - $316,354.92
  • Average Sponsorship - $600,000
  • Average Estimated YouTube Compensation - $36,000

The second-most-paid Twitch streamer is Shroud, who makes about $3.3 million per year. Here's the estimated breakdown of his revenue:

  • Subscription - $2,316,404
  • Ad - $182,751
  • Bit Donations - $57,942
  • Average Sponsorship - $600,000
  • Average Estimated YouTube Compensation - $36,000

As you can see, the majority of their income comes from subscriptions and sponsorships, as is common among most of the high earners on Twitch.

Now, let's take a closer look at each of the pieces that contribute to Twitch income.

A. Subscribers (Twitch Partner Program)

The #1 revenue source for Twitch streamers is their subscriber base.

On Twitch, viewers can opt for one of three subscription levels — $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99. Initially, as a streamer you split the income from a subscriber 50/50 with Twitch. As you become a larger broadcaster, however, you can earn a bigger percentage; up to 100% in some cases.

The best part about subscriptions is that it's a recurring income. You'll earn this revenue every month, which is great for stability and knowing you (probably) won't go broke in any given month.

However, you have to be invited to Twitch's Partner Program to be able to earn subscribers. And given there are only ~12,000 Twitch partners out of over 1.7 million active broadcasters, it's not the easiest thing to do. More on this in the 'How to Build a Profitable Twitch Audience' section.

B. Collecting Bit Donations

When you're first starting out, the most common revenue source from Twitch is through bit donations from your audience. 'Bits' are Twitch's virtual currency viewers can buy and redeem to use 'Cheer' emotes in their favorite streamer's chatroom.

These animated emoji (pictured above) are called 'Bit gems,' and when your subscribers use them in your chat room, Twitch pays you $0.01 per bit.

Broadcasters can also create their own custom emojis called 'Cheernotes' which work in the same way, but look different. (This feature is reserved for Twitch Partners.)

C. Advertising Revenue

According to CNBC, the average Twitch streamer makes $250 per 100 subscribers from ad revenue. Again, ads are reserved for Twitch Partners.

Twitch offers standard IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) pre-roll and display ads. They pay streamers using the CPM (Cost Per Impression) model—you get paid for every 1,000 views of your ads.

Note that ad revenue has been dropping lately due to the rise in ad blockers, but you can combat this by directly asking your viewers to turn off their ad blockers while streaming your content.

D. Paid Livestreams & Sponsorships

Once you gain a following and/or develop a relationship with companies looking to market their products, you can get sponsored by a company to promote them during your live streams, wear their merch, and use their products on camera.

For example, if we look at Ninja's room, we can see him promoting Bud Light and DXRacer chairs, both of which probably pay him to display them.

Another form of sponsorship is a paid live stream, where game developers will pay broadcasters to live stream their game and get it in front of a new audience in the hopes some of them will start playing the game as well.

E. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing simply means promoting a product or service and giving your audience a coupon code. Any time someone purchases the product using your coupon code, you get a cut of the sale (or a flat fee).

For example, let's say you love the gaming chair you use. So you work out a deal with the company that manufactures it, and they give you a coupon code which you then share with your followers. Any time someone uses your coupon code and buys that gaming chair, the gaming chair company cuts you some of the profit.

Here's an explanation chart of how this works from BigCommerce:

Note: You can use coupon codes, tracking links, or cookies to verify that the sale came from your audience.

It's like a sponsorship, but rather than being paid just to show the product, you have to actually get people to purchase one. If you have a large following, affiliate relationships can often be more profitable, because you can make more in commissions than you would from the sponsorship.

Of course, this depends on the commission you're making and how much your audience actually buys, so you'll have to run the numbers to figure this out. Affiliates are one of the first ways you can make money on Twitch without becoming a Twitch Partner, though!

F. Getting Signed To An Esports Org

Did you know the average esports salary is about $60,000 per year? The top esports players even make $1-$3 million per year.

While this income won't come directly from Twitch, showing off your skills on stream can get you seen by and signed to an eSports team.

It's a long shot admittedly, but then again, making a full time income via any method on Twitch is a long shot for most streamers as well.

Part 2: How To Build A Profitable Twitch Audience

Now that you understand the different methods to monetize a Twitch channel, it's time to actually do it.

Just like blogging or social media marketing, making twitch is all about building an active, engaged audience.

In order to start making consistent income on the Twitch, you need to hit around 500 concurrent viewers.

That means you need around 500 people actively watching your channel for the majority of your stream.

Here's a step-by-step guide to building your own profitable audience on Twitch.

1. Identify How You Plan To Stand Out

Before you even make a Twitch account, you first need a plan of action. In order to stand out from the millions of other streamers, you have to decide what your angle is.

For example, you could...

  • Be an exceptionally good player at a game
  • Be a notably entertaining personality
  • Leverage a gimmick designed to create buzz (like talking about politics while playing a game or something else unique)
  • Forge unusually strong relationships with your viewers (knowing them by name, asking about their family, that kind of thing)
  • Teach your viewers how to play better and explain your decision-making process
  • Etc.

Really, the limit on your approach is your own creativity. Ideally, you'll want a combination of the above strategies (i.e. entertaining while also teaching players how to play better).

Now — before you start promoting your channel, figure out what you want to do.

Do you want Twitch to be a full-time job or just a hobby? Will you be able to stream 8+ hours per day, 5 days a week or more? How long will you commit to it before giving up or deciding if it's for you?

Sit down and really think about this. Because your answers will determine how hard you'll try, whether you'll be successful, and your approach to gaining an audience.

2. Promote Your Content Across Multiple Platforms

Once you've committed to being a streamer, it's time to grind. Again, you have to stand out from millions of other streamers — and to do that, you need to learn marketing and have a unique angle.

There are a LOT of eyeballs on the internet. Google, YouTube, and Facebook are the top three most-visited sites on the web. Reddit, Twitch, Instagram and the other social media channels are also up there.

Your challenge? To get people to watch YOU over the tons of other stuff on the internet.

Not exactly easy, but something you need to master to become a highly paid Twitch streamer. (Don't let that scare you—the fact that you're even reading about marketing puts you ahead of 80% of Twitch streamers already.)

Develop a strategy where you promote your channel across multiple sites, such as:

  • Live stream a coaching session on a multiplayer game (such as League of Legends).
  • Record the session and upload it to YouTube, being sure to optimize for YouTube search and related videos. And don't forget to mention in the YouTube video that you stream on Twitch, with a link to your Twitch channel!
  • Go on forums (Reddit, Quora, etc.) and look for people asking questions about the game you just did a coaching session on. Answer their question, then link back to your YouTube video you just uploaded. Do this on multiple threads across multiple forums.
  • Share the YouTube video on social media (Facebook, IG, Twitter, etc.) and tag your viewers who watched the live stream. Ask them to share the link.

You get the idea — there are a lot of ways to promote your content. The key is to go out there and learn by doing. You can read all you want, but experience is the best teacher.

(Want a real-life example of this? Check out NightBlue's channel.)

3. Network With Streamers & Organizations

Have you ever heard the saying 'your network is your net worth'?

Basically, one key to creating wealth is building strong relationships with other people who are already successful or on their way to success.

This applies to Twitch as well. The more partnerships you can make with successful and rising streamers, the more your own stream will benefit.

Such strategies include:

  • Partnering with other streamers to promote each other.
  • Play games with other streamers on stream at the same time.
  • Partnering with organizations to promote them for free in exchange for them promoting you in return.
  • Etc.

If you choose to master just one piece of the streaming puzzle, let relationships be it. If you become friends with someone like Ninja, it can skyrocket you to success—even if you're not the best at the game or the funniest person.

Again, do it ethically and be genuine. But get hustlin'!

4. Stay Consistent Over Time

Set up a streaming schedule every week and stick to that schedule. People will come to expect you to be there at those days and times, and if you lose that consistency, you'll lose your audience's trust. This is extremely important if you want to make this your full-time job.

One last thing...

You will most likely hit a point where you feel like it's not working. This is normal! You're basically an entrepreneur now, and entrepreneur's journeys look a lot like this:

You'll work hard and you won't see anything for it. You'll probably question your choice to do this and think things like 'Who am I kidding? What makes me think I can do this?'

Don't listen to these self-defeating thoughts!

You CAN do this, you DO deserve it, and your brain is just trying to rationalize so you don't get hurt. But when you hear these thoughts in your head, it's time to stay consistent and double-down your efforts.

It might take you six months, it might take you two years, but you can and will make it work if you just keep trying. You got this!

Alternative Business Options

If your #1 goal is to be able to make some extra income while playing video games, Twitch is the likely the right path for you.

Games I Can Make Money

If you are really just looking for a good way to earn money or build a business, however, Twitch probably isn't your best bet.

Just like an MLM, only a small percentage of streamers make six figure plus incomes. The vast majority of even profitable streamers aren't clearing anywhere close to that, and they have to essentially treat streaming like a full time job without making a reasonable full time income.

There are many better options out there for building a successful, lucrative business of your own, and here at Consulting.com, we've helped over 3,000 of our students build successful businesses that allowed them to quit their jobs and work for themselves.

If that sounds interesting to you, click below to try our premium training, completely free.

There are two things about live streaming in 2021 everyone should understand. The first is that live streaming is not only about playing video games and inviting other people to watch you as you do it, even though there’s plenty of that happening around. The second, and maybe even more important, is that for many people live streaming is more than just a hobby – it’s a bona fide revenue stream. So much so that some people can call it a day job.

But don’t quit yours yet. It’s true that it’s incredibly easy to start live streaming. It’s also true that some people know how to make money streaming, and there’s no reason why you might not learn how to do it, too. You might even be able to learn a thing or two from businesses that are using it – that’s how widespread live streaming has become.

Getting to the point where you pretty much get paid to live stream takes time, energy, and that certain something that will make people want to watch you. The people who are getting rich streaming are an incredibly small minority. On Twitch, for example, the top 5,000 channels get 75% of all viewing time. Twitch has more than two million channels. But if you’re ready to put in the work into making money by live streaming, get ready.

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Here are some of the most common, hassle-free ways to do it, followed by the ones that require more involvement or are just unorthodox.

1. Getting donations or tips from fans

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If you’re looking for proof that your live video streaming hobby/side gig/career is moving in a good direction, the first donation or a tip is a good one. You’ll get a very special feeling when it dawns on you that someone, somewhere, is appreciating what you’re doing enough to send you a couple of bucks.

Most live-streaming platforms and websites allow you to make money streaming by letting viewers send you donations or tips. They usually have integrated services, or even their own “virtual goods” or “currencies” viewers can use for the transaction.

Here’s a breakdown of what some of the major platforms use:

  • YouTube’s main tipping service is Super Chat. Viewers can use tips to pin messages in your channel’s chat window, making them more noticeable. YouTube also lets users buy chat animations called Super Stickers, and you get a cut of each purchase.
  • Twitch allows viewers to “cheer” using Bits, the platform’s virtual good. If you’re a Twitch affiliate or a partner, you get around a cent for every Bit viewers use when cheering. The viewers get to write a message that appears together with a special kind of emote, a Cheemote.
  • Facebook’s tipping service revolves around Stars, a type of virtual good viewers can buy and send to you, giving you a cent per Star. You need to be a part of Facebook’s Level Up program to enable Stars. Facebook also supports fundraising charitable donations for a U.S.-based 501(c)(3).
  • Mixer has a system where viewers accrue Sparks by watching streams and spend them on Skills – animation and gifs. Getting enough Skills will get you a payout. Viewers can also buy Embers and trade them for more impressive Skills, which get you bigger payouts.
  • DLive lets viewers make blockchain-based Lino points by interacting with people’s streams. They can send these points to you as a gift.

When receiving tips, remember to give a shout out to the person giving it. If the tip comes with a message or a question during a live AMA, it would be a good idea to prioritize it over regular questions for answers.

2. Regular viewer payments on the streaming platform

What’s better than getting an occasional tip from your viewers? Getting a regular payment, of course. These regular payments usually net you a couple of bucks each, but if you can get enough of them, they sure can add up.

You usually need to meet certain requirements for enabling this kind of support, as platforms keep it for members of their content creator programs. The platforms that don’t have it yet will probably role out this feature in the future, as it’s proving to be a popular way to make money streaming.

Here’s how some of the platforms are handling this:

  • YouTube has a channel membership program that allows users to join channels with monthly payments. To open your channel to this opportunity, you need to be in the YouTube Partner Program and meet additional eligibility requirements.
  • Twitch has a paid subscription program that lets you earn from paid subscriptions if you’re an Affiliate or Partner. Your viewers get one subscription for free through Twitch Prime, or they can pay for them using PayPal, Amazon Pay, or credit cards.
  • Facebook Gaming has a subscription program in the works.
  • Mixer has a Partner Payments program with subscriptions, letting users set up payments with cards or PayPal.

If the platform you use allows it, you should make content that’s available just to your subscribers. This is a nice way to give your most loyal viewers a little bit more for their support. Also, remember to give a shout out to the people who subscribed, and maybe even give them a mention on their subscription anniversary.

3. Tips and regular payments via third-party platforms

You might not want all your streaming revenue to go through the streaming platform. It’s not like everyone has to be super interested in joining the partnership programs, for example. You might also be afraid of what happens if you lose your status and your standing with the platform. Maybe you just want to keep things separate to make it easier to move from one platform to another, or operate on several platforms at the same time.

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For whatever reason, you may find yourself in a need of a third-party platform you can use to process donations and subscriptions. There’s plenty you can choose from. Some of the most popular options include:

  • Streamlabs for one-time donations. It integrates easily with Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, Facebook, Twitter, and Picarto, and it offers six different payment options.
  • Patreon for regular donations/subscriptions. With its ability to let patrons set monthly pledges, Patreon is about the closest thing you can get to the subscription system platforms are increasingly adopting.
  • GoFundMe or Kickstarter for project-based funding. If you have a project you’d like to complete and you’re looking for funding, set up pages on these websites and use your live streams to promote your project.

For some of these services, if not most, you’ll need to think about creating special rewards and content for people who support you. Be careful when deciding what goes behind the paywall and what stays part of your core – and free – content, though. You can’t keep all your best stuff behind the wall. Some of it has to stay free to attract new viewers.

4. Revenue from ads

Why not use ads to fund your live streaming? Advertising bucks are already used to power half the internet, including Google services and Facebook. If you join the right streaming platform or social network, you can start earning the advertising money, too.

You will literally need to join the right streaming platform, though, because not all of them offer ads. In fact, some are decidedly anti-ads, such as DLive. Others, such as Mixer, for example, have not yet included a third-party advertising service.

If ads are what you want to make money from, these are the platforms to join:

  • YouTube offers pre-roll and mid-roll ads, as well as display and overlay ads.
  • Facebook Live offers mid-roll ads if you meet the viewership number criteria.
  • Twitch offers in-stream ads, as well as display and native ad opportunities.

Advertising in live streaming is a hot topic and a regular cause of controversy. You might want to exercise as much control as you can over the advertisements displayed during your streams or on your channel. Also, remember that viewers can use ad-blocking software to prevent some ads from showing. It’s not the best idea to have ads as the sole monetization option for your live streaming.

You may also like:

5. Brand deals and sponsorships

Less controversial than regular ads, brand deals and sponsorships are another way you can engage with businesses in a mutually beneficial arrangement. If you have a large following on streaming platforms and you’ve made a name for yourself, brands will reach out to you with offers. If they don’t, you’ll have to do the reaching out.

Either way, when dealing with brands, it pays to be professional and detail-oriented. You’ll want to negotiate the minutiae of the deal, to be 100% sure you’re on the same page regarding your commitment.

Some of the ways you make money streaming through deals with brands include:

  • Sponsorships, where your whole streams are sponsored by a brand.
  • Banners and other types of advertisements you can display during your streams or on your channel or profile page on the platform.
  • Sponsored content, like when a game developer pays you to play their game.

Your audience is what will get the brands’ attention. You should be able to pull decent audiences and have a clear understanding of who they are, what are their interests, what types of problems they need solving. The deal you strike is how you make money streaming. Just be careful not to do deals that will make you appear as a sellout. Your audiences might not like that, and if you lose them, you lose the sponsors.

Reach a wider audience by streaming to multiple platforms simultaneously.

6. Affiliate sales

A membership in an affiliate program will allow you to get a commission every time a shopper clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase. You don’t even have to post a link, as sometimes everything you need is a promo or coupon code they can use when they shop at the place you’re promoting.

The way this usually works is that you place the link or the code somewhere in your stream description. You might even mention the coupon code once or twice during the stream. The link or the code are provided to you once you join the affiliate program.

The important thing to remember is that, unless it has a deal with the partnership program, the platform isn’t profiting from your affiliate sales. So, make sure to keep your content to the point, and the products or services you recommend relevant to the content. Don’t make content only for the sake of making sales - how you make money streaming should be second to creating good content.

7. Create and sell your own merch

Merch is an important revenue stream for many people who live-stream video content. The streaming platforms have recognized it, giving users plenty of advice and offering them some truly great tools to help boost merch sales.

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Even with these tools, you’ll still have plenty of things to figure out on your own, if this is your choice of how to make money streaming. The kind of products you want to sell, for example. T-shirts, mugs, and even plush toys are a good choice. You can also sell digital products and goods, such as music or eBooks.

You’ll also have to think about the design, production, inventory, and shipping. There are a couple of ways you can do this, for example:

  • Build your own online store, handle production, store inventory, and ship products, all on your own.
  • Get in charge of the design but let one of the platform-approved companies take care of the rest for a cut.
  • Partner with stores that let you take advantage of special opportunities on select platforms, such as YouTube merch shelf.

Each of these solutions will offer you different profit margins and will require different levels of involvement. You can handle everything and take on both the expenses and the profits. You can outsource some of it for a cut of the profits. Either way, you can tie your merchandize business with your live stream.

8. Develop pay-per-view content

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Developing live content and selling tickets for it is becoming more interesting by the day. The popularity of streaming is on the rise, and even the platforms that were traditionally shy with content adoption are taking up live streaming. With that, new opportunities for content production are opening.

It’s not just gaming content people want to watch live online. There are people with all kinds of interests and hobbies that are turning to live streams to learn and exchange opinions with like minded individuals. If you can create content that’s appealing to them, that’s how you make money streaming: start selling tickets for your live stream.

First, you need to be able to create content people will want to pay to watch. That usually means some level of exclusivity or at least something that will make it different from anything that’s already available for free. You need a platform that lets you sell tickets to streams, or a service like StreamTick that lets you do it on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. With that, you have everything you need to put your content behind a paywall.

9. Coach/teach/offer lessons

If you think that sharing your knowledge through seminars, workshops, or classes you hold sounds too academic for your taste, how about you become someone’s mentor, a coach, or a teacher? As long as you have the skills or the knowledge that other people might find useful, you can earn money off them, and live streaming can help.

The idea is that you spend one-on-one time with someone who is paying for it, ideally helping them achieve some goals. For example, you can offer a couple of one-on-one lessons every month for the people who pledge your highest tier of support on Patreon. You can also do it for one-off transactions.

The great thing is the way platforms are evolving is actually helping you. An increasing number of platforms are allowing co-streaming, for example, which can be perfect for coaching someone in playing a game. Platforms are also significantly decreasing the dreaded lag, making it easier to communicate via chats. Plus, some platforms allow call-ins. With the right combination of platform and service, you can start critiquing people’s in-game builds, showing them new skills, or even preparing them for jobs, in no time.

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Conclusion

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Ever since it became available to the public, the internet was full of opportunities to do interesting new things and earn some money in the process. Just as blogging was all the rage a while back, live streaming is currently one of the most interesting frontiers you can try yourself in. You can pick one of the money-making methods from this list, or all of them – it’s up to you. With a little help from a multistreaming tool like Restream, you can even try them out on several streaming platforms all at once. But remember – you’ll need to be able to create content people will look forward to seeing. Once you build that audience, you need to make sure you keep it. When it comes to live streaming and making money, your audience is your biggest asset.