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If you are looking for business ideas or ways to make money online, you might be wondering how Twitch works. Twitch is a global network where users watch and make live stream content on gaming, entertainment, music, and sports. There are plenty of ways to make money on Twitch. These include donations, retail sales, brand deals, subscriptions, and Twitch bits — a virtual currency used by viewers to cheer on streamers. However, making money on Twitch, like any other business, takes time and a lot of work. But, don’t worry, we have got your back. Here's how to begin.
Why Twitch is Your Ticket to Financial Success
As we all know, Twitch is not the only way to make money. There are plenty of others like YouTube, Amazon, TikTok, and Instagram that can help earn some cash. These platforms allow you to earn via advertising, product sales, subscription fee, selling merchandise, publishing books, brand sponsorships, influencer partnerships, and much more.
With so many ways to make money, what makes Twitch so special?
Often dubbed “the next generation of entertainment,” around 31 million people use Twitch daily, along with 7 million unique streamers who go live every month. The distinctive feature between Twitch and its nemesis, YouTube, is the type of content users of both platforms associate with. Twitch is regarded as a live streaming center – mainly for gaming and other kinds of live broadcasts in real time. On the other hand, YouTube is known for recorded and edited video content like music videos, tutorials, and vlogs, documentaries, etc. You see, both of these platforms are poles apart.
Getting Started with Making Money on Twitch
Many Twitch users dream of making money full-time while streaming their most favorite games. It’s not that easy to achieve this goal but there are many things that you can do to multiply your chances of success.
- Choosing the right equipment before you start streaming is very important. You will need a good quality camera and microphone, along with a fast internet connection.
- You will also need a Twitch account, which is quite easy to create.
- Stating the obvious here, you must have followers to start making money on Twitch.
- Once you get followers, you can create subscriptions and donations on your Twitch channel. Or, you can search for affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and product sales.
- Be consistent! You need to stream regularly to grow your following and to make money.
Easy Ways to Make Money on Twitch
Collect Bits
Collecting Twitch Bits is the easiest way to make money, especially for beginners. What you need to do is enable Bit donations on Twitch. Viewers purchase and donate them to their favourite streamers who in return get 1 cent per every donated Bit. The cool part is that anyone can collect bits regardless of the number of followers or subscribers they have. Simply, add a PayPal donation button to your channel description or use a 3rd-party app like Streamlabs, to create a digital tip box.
Sell Merchandise
Once you've grown a small but loyal fan base, think about starting an online store to promote and sell custom gear on your Twitch channel. Caps, T-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, socks, tote bags, backpacks, mugs and stickers are all popular items.
Subscriptions
Let’s move on to the most famous way to make money on Twitch. Once viewers subscribe to your channel, they pay a monthly fee to support you and get several benefits in return. The streamer earns a percentage of the subscription cost as revenue. Depending on your streaming figures, you can earn up to 70% of what each user pays each month. However, making money from subscriptions is not available to everyone. Twitch has strict eligibility criteria for its Partner or Affiliate programs, which allow streamers to make money from subscriptions.
Twitch Partner Program
You can earn a percentage of ad revenue earned during your streams by joining the Twitch Partner program. To qualify for ad revenue, you must stream on a regular basis, have an established, engaged following, and be a role model in your Twitch community. You must also stream for 25 hours on 12 different days, with an average of 75 viewers.
Brand Sponsorships and Partnerships
Streamers can earn huge amounts of money through sponsorships by giving shoutouts or by advertising products during their live streams. Streamers can negotiate sponsorship deals with interested brands directly. Or, they can also collaborate with agencies that link streamers and sponsors. For example, computer, controller, hardware, software, gaming chair, and energy drink companies provide some of the best sponsorship and affiliate options.
Gaming Lessons and Coaching
Many streaming aspirants are ready to pay to learn how to succeed at popular games in a world where professional gamers make millions of dollars every year. If you have got a grip on a particular game or have expertise in something related to gaming, you can offer coaching or lessons to your viewers. It is up to you if you want to give one-on-one sessions, group sessions, or video-on-demand.
Successful Twitch Streamers Who Make Millions of Dollars
To give you a fair idea of how much a professional streamer can make on Twich, we have created a list of the most popular Twitch streamers.
PewDiePie
PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, got his fame on YouTube. He makes around $40 million. He has over 100 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.5 million followers on Twitch. Aside from live streaming, he also sells his own merchandise.
Ninja
Richard Tyler Blevins, known as Ninja, is one of highest earners on Twitch in 2023. He once claimed that he makes $5 million per month. However, this only happened during peak activity. On average, he makes around $500,000 per month, which is a lot more realistic for a famous Twitch streamer. As his track record grew, he was able to make much more money by combining several income sources. One of his most well-known income sources is his partnership with Red Bull, in which his face was printed on every special edition Ninja Red Bull can.
Auronplay
According to Twitchtracker, Auronplay is one of the highest paid Twitch streamers, earning an estimated $204,000 per month with over 26,000 subscribers. He had over 50,000 subscribers at one point. His content is in Spanish, which sets him apart from other Twitch streamers. This shows that non-English speakers can also succeed as Twitch streamers.
Ibai
Ibai is one of the most successful Spanish-speaking streamers on Twitch. You read that right! Spanish streamers appear to be taking over this site right now. Spanish is the fastest-growing language on Twitch, according to Bloomberg. Thanks to his unique personality, it is no wonder that Ibai has over 33,000 active subscribers. This has allowed him to become one of Twitch's highest-paid streamers, earning $261,000 every month. That's nearly double his earnings in 2021 of $164,827, according to a Twitch payout leak.
Pokimane
Pokimane is the highest-paid woman among the top male Twitch earners. Pokimane's earnings in 2021 were roughly $38,217, according to a payout leak. This will undoubtedly increase as she becomes more well-known in the upcoming years. Pokimane is thought to currently make at least $18,000 per month because of her enormous fan base. According to some reports, she has a net worth of $6 million thanks to her well-diversified income streams.
Tips for Increasing Your Twitch Audience
According to Red Bull gamer Hoa "Anakin" Luu, known as one of the best Tekken 7 players of all time, said that it takes time to build an audience and "you have to commit to a stream schedule, be engaging, and have good content ideas in order to connect with your viewers". Many of today's top streamers, as pointed out by Anakin, have spent years growing their fan base and figuring out fresh ways to build their personalities and content. You can grow your audience and community by using the following tips:
- Engage with your viewers. This creates a sense of connection between you and them. Eventually, they will want to return for more.
- Seek feedback from viewers. Know about their likes and dislikes, and create a content strategy accordingly.
- Cross-post your content on multiple platforms. Do not just stick to one. Anakin says that maintaining presence on many platforms and diversifying your content are excellent to reach key audiences. Twitch content can easily be repurposed into YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, short TikTok videos and so on.
- Choose appropriate games for streaming. Players of super popular games like League of Legends and Valorant, for instance, face fierce competition. Build up your fanbase by starting with less difficult games (but with potential for good content) before moving to more well-known ones. For example, PewDiePie became famous when he started his playthrough series of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a relatively lesser-known game at the time but with a lot of “meme potential”.
Twitch Affiliate or Twitch Partner
With the help of the Twitch Affiliate program, you can earn money off of your channel even if you’re still growing your subscriber base and on your way to become a Twitch partner. You must fulfil the following requirements in a 30-day period:
- Stream on 7 different days.
- Have an average of 3 or more viewers.
- Have a minimum 50 followers.
- Stream for a minimum of 8 hours.
Also, you are not required to manually apply to join the Affiliate program (unlike the Twitch Partner program). You get opted in automatically if you meet the conditions mentioned above. As an affiliate, you get access to some similar features as Twitch partners, for example, a subscription button for fans to support you and the ability to submit your own "emotes"— Twitch-exclusive emoticons that your viewers can use to engage with your channel.
What Payment Methods Does Twitch Use?
Twitch offers several payment options, including direct deposit/ACH, PayPal or CashApp, cheque, wire transfer, and eCheck, which is an easy option for affiliates and partners outside the US. If your account balance from your last withdrawal exceeds $100 for wire transfers or $50 for other payment methods, you will be paid once every month, usually on the 15th. Your balance will be carried over to the following month if it falls below this level.
Top Mistakes to Avoid When Trying to Make Money on Twitch
There are many types of Twitch streamers. While some prefer streaming on a set schedule, others prefer to stream whenever they feel like it. In the end, all you want to do is play games and enjoy it with your friends and other streamers. However, there are things you should avoid doing in a live stream that can embarrass you publicly or ruin your Twitch journey. Here the top mistakes that you must avoid when you are trying to make money on Twitch:
Not Speaking a Word
Beginners, in particular, tend to focus on the game and forget to engage with their audiences by talking and narrating. An average viewer gets bored if streamers fail to keep them hooked. The most popular streamers get a lot of views because of their colorful personalities and charisma they display while live streaming. So, if you want a successful Twitch career, don’t ignore your audiences.
Not Engaging With Audience
This might very well be the greatest blunder ever. To build lasting relationships, people engage with creators and watch live streams. Today's streamers have the same influence that celebrities did ten years ago. The best thing you can do is to interact with your viewers through Twitch chat and welcome new viewers. Take a look at the comments once in a while.
Not Having a Schedule
It's thrilling to start as a streamer because it almost feels like launching a new business. You feel like you can do anything you want, whenever you feel like it. However, it's not that simple. You should have a strict schedule for live streaming that you always stick to. Your audience must know when you go live.
Essential Tools for Twitch Streamers to Make Money
There are several resources and tools available for Twitch streamers who want to earn money on the platform. These include:
StreamLabs OBS
One of the most commonly used options for monetization on Twitch is StreamLabs OBS and for a good reason. The program allows you to supercharge your Twitch streaming income with premium features such as by opening a merch store, creating a dedicated website for viewer contributions, through exclusive overlays, simultaneous broadcast on multiple platforms and by receiving specialized creator support.
StreamLabs’ base version is completely free so you can start using it even if you’re just starting out. If you’re looking for more features, you can pay either $19 per month or $149 for a full year as your audience expands and you gain more experience with what works for you.
Steam Elements
Similar to StreamLabs, another streaming tool called Stream Elements is built using the OBS Studio source code. The main difference between the two is that Stream Elements is available to everyone for free and provides all of StreamLabs' premium features without additional costs. Along with live broadcasting on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook, you can also set up a merch store, activate a chatbot to assist with chat moderation, make or download custom overlays, use widgets, and create your own tip and donation pages.
Twitch Studio
Specially made for beginners, this user-friendly software offers one of the best streaming experiences. It is completely free and integrates with Twitch plugins, ensuring easy access to chat leaderboards, sound clips, and social media sharing. You can stay on top of your stats in real-time, including uptime, viewer count, followers, subscribers, and internet connection quality.
Why Paysenger Is the Next Step for Streamers
Looking to take your streaming and monetization journey to the next level? While Twitch is a popular platform for content creators, you should explore other options that can help you stand out and maximize your earning potential such as Paysenger. With Paysenger, you can increase your online presence and sell your content without having to worry about tough competition. On Twitch, it is challenging to compete with well-established streamers, especially if you are a newcomer on a tight budget.
Without a budget, it is nearly impossible to continuously produce high-quality content. By using a social marketplace like Paysenger, you can monetize your content and get a boost on your content creator journey. Some of the features it provides are as follows:
- On-demand content: Sponsors or UGC marketers can easily get in touch with you and request you to create content based on their ideas. You get paid each time you complete a request.
- Tokenized economy: Paysenger actively rewards creativity and has a create-to-earn economy powered by its native cryptocurrency called EGO tokens. If your posts get likes, comments and shares, you earn tokens that can be reinvested to promote your profile or purchase collaborations with other influencers. Tokens can also be withdrawn to your real-world bank account.
- Paid messaging: Your fans or potential business partners looking to work with you have to pay for your attention on Paysenger. Instead of going through spam, you can easily identify high-value opportunities by adding a paywall to every direct message you receive.
Additionally, it also gives you several collaboration features that you can use to interact with other streamers. By offering shoutouts or collaborating with you, these streamers will help you in growing your digital presence on platforms like Twitch.
Final Word
As you can see, there are many answers to the question of “how to make money on Twitch”, and many of them don’t even require you to join Twitch’s official affiliate program. If you have been considering launching a Twitch channel, you should absolutely go for it as it can help you tremendously on your journey to get known as a creator. Building solid foundations comes first. Viewers and cash, especially in the beginning, are secondary.
You can get a head start and access all monetization tools you need by joining Paysenger as an early adopter. Paysenger is a growing social platform designed for creators and streamers. It offers a chance for early exposure and an easy way to make money through your content. Start your streaming journey on Paysenger today and make the most of it.