How to kickstart your streaming career: 7 things you need to know Adam Fitzsimmons for DexertoBroadcasting on platforms like Twitch, Dlive, Mixer, and others is just one small step to jumpstarting a thriving career as a streamer. While there\u2019s routine tips like setting up your layout, making flashy banners, integrating notifications\/alerts and the like, that\u2019s more eye candy that helps retain viewers you already have instead of gaining brand new ones. Small-time streamers still looking for their big break are probably hurting their chances by not taking full advantage of what the internet offers, so following some of these tips could be the difference between streaming to 0-3 viewers and organically growing your viewership. 1. Restream or bust Former CLG CEO and thriving streamer Devin Nash explained in-depth why a small time broadcaster needs to get used to restreaming their content on multiple sites. For those who have already achieved Twitch Affiliate status (or similar agreements) and are locked into exclusivity, go to the next step, since this one isn\u2019t for you. Instead, this is for broadcasters who are stuck at four viewers or less per stream. Restreaming can get you a much higher exposure with content you\u2019ve already invested time in. It\u2019s nothing to be ashamed of at this point in your career, since you\u2019re probably only streaming on Twitch for a few viewers. While your numbers on Dlive, Facebook, YouTube, etc. might be similar, even after restreaming, it\u2019s exposure for your content that you wouldn\u2019t have had otherwise. Which leads into\u2026 2. Don\u2019t be married to one streaming platform If you\u2019re looking to \u201ckickstart\u201d your streaming career, you\u2019re likely not under the limitations of just one site. Huge streamers like shroud, Pokimane, Disguised Toast and more are on their respective platforms because they have lucrative deals or partnerships in place. You don\u2019t. After restreaming on different platforms, if you\u2019re getting much more engagement on other sites on a consistent basis, maybe it\u2019s worth making that your primary platform. Experiment by going live on the other platform that\u2019s been getting higher engagement, see how well your numbers do after a week or so, and figure out which is the best place to develop your community. Don\u2019t just grind on Twitch for years on end just to get discouraged that your viewers aren\u2019t increasing. There are other options out there. 3. There are other options out there No question that Twitch is the streaming site of choice for millions of viewers at the moment, but streaming sites like Facebook Gaming, YouTube, and Caffeine are bankrolled by huge names and companies in hopes of potentially dethroning them. Whether that happens or not isn\u2019t a concern for someone looking to jumpstart their stream. What you should consider is how this affects your viewership. Ninja didn\u2019t take viewers away from Twitch; rather, he introduced viewers to a site they probably weren\u2019t familiar with before he moved there. Even though there might not be a ton of spill in terms of viewers who are actively looking for other streamers on new sites, if your numbers are growing on these competitors, then it could be a crucial indicator to make a change. 4. Be your own advertiser Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, Facebook, Discord, or your favorite online forums; These are just a few examples of social media sites that you haven\u2019t used to tell people you\u2019re going live. Reading these tips won\u2019t get you over your internet-anxiety of self marketing. Small time streamers can sometimes feel like they look \u201cdesperate\u201d when posting their streams on these sites. But the funny part is, not doing it almost guarantees that no one on those sites will look at you at all. Don\u2019t be nervous to post on a social account where your third-grade teacher still follows you. Who knows, they might like your stream enough to show someone else, and that other person could be a consistent viewer. Use these platforms to not only connect with a new audience but to show them that they can expect a funny TikTok or an awkward Instagram post just before you\u2019re going live \u2013 thereby strengthening your connection with your potential audience. 5. Identify your brand Nash also made a point to say that if you have 0-3 viewers, it doesn\u2019t matter what your schtick is, you don\u2019t have a brand. He gave examples of streamers working off their brand like xQc\u2019s accent and shroud\u2019s god-tier FPS skills. It doesn\u2019t hurt to stick with what you love to stream \u2013 but if you\u2019re incredible at a game and don\u2019t enjoy streaming it, find something else to hook your viewers. Whether that means giving bad takes on the game, making music out of your gameplay, being known for a donation-triggered catapult that flings hotdogs to your face; be known for something. It could be cringey, it could be fun, it could be informative, but make sure your audience knows what they\u2019ll get when they tune it. 6. Compete with yourself, not others Services like Streamlabs send you an email after you\u2019ve wrapped up your broadcast to show you the stats for your last stream. Don\u2019t look at those numbers and compare it to the stats that summit1g would typically pull in. If you\u2019re trying to kickstart your stream, you\u2019re the ant at the bottom of Mount Everest. Climb, but at your own pace. Instead, if you have a stream that pulled in a 7% increase in viewership and 15% increase in chat\u2019s activity, then for your next stream, strive to beat those numbers \u2013 even if it\u2019s a marginal difference. Be proud of those numbers. Refer back to tip #4 and post those results on your socials to get your 1-3 fans hyped about your slight growth. Doing so could be the difference in getting other people to notice, too. 7. Remember you want this to be a career, not a hobby Streaming can 100% be a fun thing to do on the side, but if you\u2019re reading this, it\u2019s because you want to kickstart a streaming career. Careers in most industries take time, investment and sacrifice to make them flourish; streaming is no different. Take the time to post on socials while refining your stream schedule or layout. Sacrifice your favorite streaming platform for another if you\u2019re having more success there. Invest in equipment and finding the right audience for yourself to build a community. If you try something in your stream but fail, try something else until it works. That\u2019s what you do with careers. Kickstarting your stream could take adaptation to try new things and persistence to keep going when your gameplan eventually doesn\u2019t work out. Get creative and stay true to yourself, but make full use of the tools that the internet provides. If you have 0-3 viewers per stream, you have little to lose, so why not try something that could make a big difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How to kickstart your streaming career: 7 things you need to know Adam Fitzsimmons for DexertoBroadcasting on platforms like Twitch, Dlive, Mixer, and others is just one small step to jumpstarting a thriving career as a streamer. While there\u2019s routine tips like setting up your layout, making flashy banners, integrating notifications\/alerts and the like, that\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}