I want to get real here for a few paragraphs. A lot of people want to be big on Twitch and rise to the top, not just you. If only everyone could just turn on their stream and get famous….get rich…
Listen, don't be alarmed. Not all is lost.
But the fact is that you haven't been growing. I'm going to go over three reasons that might be. Let's get you focused and on a path to success.
You aren't putting fun first
Gaming is something that many of us really enjoy. We race home from work to play, we make time in our busy schedules to play, we fight out partners about how much we play. Gaming is a lifestyle.
But for some reason when people start streaming, it becomes so serious. Like I don't even know how to laugh or smile serious.
It's like the camera goes on and the love for the game just goes away.
Stop and think about this all for a moment. Your goal is to grow your audience on Twitch so that you can start earning revenue from those eyeballs. You also want to turn viewers into long-term supporters.
It simply won't happen without a huge amount of fun being displayed. Fun can be a lot of different things. It can be laughter, it can be passion, it can be determination, it can even be rage. But it has to be real and authentic. Fun is about putting the game first, putting the fans first, putting the energy first. Money comes later. Not visa versa.
If you are turning on your stream and thinking about money you will not last. What will happen is you will start to identify with results rather than the process. That leads to fear and discomfort anytime things get slow. If people aren't entering your stream you will begin to feel negative about it. But you games for 10 years without viewers and that never bothered you before – it's the expectations.
You shouldn't even worry about a single metric until you are having fun every single time you are streaming. Make sure you love streaming as a job before you put that expectation on yourself. For now just enjoy the fact that you somehow have the time and opportunity to even make this happen.
There are over 1.5 million broadcasters on Twitch. 1% of them are partnered and making a decent amount of money.
But instead of wondering why you aren't in that 1% consider that there are probably over 100 million people in this world who would give up their life to be in yours. Think about that. You are already in the 1%. Expectations are killing you. Gratefulness will take you where you want to go.
Put having fun as your number one priority and you will see growth. You will start making better content. You will share your work more.
Get out of that box!
You aren't working on yourself
So maybe you are having fun. But for some reason you believe that you should be famous or popular or rich just as you are. Wrong. I'm sorry – no I'm not. Get real.
If you want to be the best you have to start out-working the best. That means getting up earlier, eating better, workout out more, making more content, streaming more, promoting better.
Go look at what the best are doing and do your damn best to start surpassing them. Cause guess what – THEY AIN'T SLOWING DOWN. They want it more than you. They don't expect anything they just work hard and drive towards their goals.
Everyone needs to finds ways to constantly improve themselves.
Whether its personal health so you have more energy and confidence.
Whether its better production quality so your viewers have a better experience.
Or maybe its taking public speaking and improvisation courses to improve your streamer capabilities.
There is always something you can do to improve. If you want to move the needle forward then you need to hone in on what these things are.
Bring awareness to your weaknesses and they will fade away. Too many of us ignore our weaknesses and somehow expect things to get better.
The best of the best are constantly shoring up weaknesses or collaborating with others who can do that for them. Either way, there is energy going into self-development.
Top streamers are required to be amazing people. Multi-talented and self-driven.
I can't stress enough how important it is to look in the mirror and be honest about what you could be better at.
Check out the 7 Habits of Highly Productive Twitch Streamers to start.
You aren't being honest about your production quality
And lets finish with a real simple one. Let's say you are having fun and you are improving yourself, then here is where you go to seek growth.
You need to be highly critical of your own work. You have to DEMAND it to be better. You are your boss now. You must set a high standard.
Go back and watch your VODs and take notes. Ugh, doesn't that sound like a waste of time. Fine just do it once a month but be 100% focused on finding spots to improve.
Dead air, bad engagement, lack of chat and commentary, getting tired, there are a million things to look for.
Ask people for direct feedback. Setup a Survey Monkey and ask your audience to help you improve.
We might all be equivalent in that we are just humans who want to entertain, but now there is a barrier to entry – people expect high quality production.
They want great video AND audio. They want a clean professional overlay. They want engagement.
Now you see why you better make this about fun. Because Twitch streaming is a marathon not a sprint. Day by day, you can iterate and improve your self and your stream.
The key is being radically honest with yourself.
So many of us can't even look in the mirror yet we expect others to come flocking in and give us donations and subs.
Don't look to others to fill your cup. You must take the first step. Start empowering yourself with self-development and being honest about where you can improve.
People will notice and appreciate your efforts. Many audiences have actually been formed around vulnerabilities and personal weaknesses.
Why? Because people can related to that. Most people get turned off by the over-confident streamer. They want real people!
This wasn't an easy post to write and I don't want people to feel bad, but the one thing that has constantly improved my life is being able to look at myself honestly and make changes so that I can make room for new successes in my life.
If you want something new in your life (like Twitch success) then something has got to go. Get rid of TV, stop going out every night, wake up earlier. Something has to go. Up to you to figure that out.
Stay live,
Lake
Love how real this article is. There is for sure a lot of quality content for new and veteran streamers on this site. Thank you for all the work you put in. This article alone has convinced me to take a second look at myself and how I go about my day to better my stream quality.
Thanks for the insightful post! I definitely agree that self-improvement is the way to go for sustained growth in anything, let alone Twitch. Thanks for the reminder to keep at it 😀
I must agree, I have been working on all the above, but the biggest responses I’ve received have been for being real, raw and honest. If you’re putting on a mask, it will slip at some point and ruin the illusion. Be yourself and you can relax and never worry about making mistakes, we all make them.