Have you ever watched Twitched? You will agree that it is very exciting to follow other people doing different activities. It is not a secret that most of the streamers get paid for their broadcasts and everyone can join them to earn in this way. Naturally, there are over 2.2 million users registered on the platform and not all of them manage to get income. In fact, only about 20,000 have become Affiliates and Partners of the platform and found the answer to the question of how to make money on Twitch. At the same time, even novice users can start earning funds on the streaming platform – it is enough to learn several secrets about how to do that.
Look: this article will explain to you how to get paid on Twitch and make it your additional or even primary income.
How to make money on Twitch
Being an incredibly popular live streaming platform with over 15 million users Twitch has been originally established for broadcasting games, but now there are no limits of the video themes and people with different hobbies and spheres of interest can share their streams and attract followers and subscribers.
If you plan to start streaming on Twitch, you will need a web camera and microphone to film your activities and sound produced. The platform works round the clock so you can start your streaming career at any time of the day. It is very easy to sign up the website: you can use your Facebook account or create your own username and password for this purpose. As soon as you adjust all the settings and make your video clear and visually appealing, you can start paving your way to the top of Twitch streamers. Naturally, not only video shown matters for followers. They enjoy live communication with streamers, tiny gifts in the form of badges and emojis etc.
When you are ready to start your live streaming career, it is important to understand what sources can bring revenue to you. It goes without saying that sometimes it is necessary to make certain achievements to be able to earn in some ways. These are 11 ways how to make money on streaming explaining to you who can take advantage of them and how much it is possible to earn.
Become a Twitch partner
Suitable for: Twitch users, Twitch Affiliates
Income: from $100 to $500,000
Every person who joins the platform and starts broadcasting realizes that the first goal to be achieved on the way to success is to become a Twitch Partner. They can earn more thanks to the affiliate program available for them and receive a number of benefits, unlike other users. In fact, it is not easy to join the Partner program and only 1% of all Twitch streamers manage to do that. It is possible to become a Twitch partner only if you apply for it and meet the following requirements:
- It is necessary to broadcast minimum 3 times a week;
- There should be a steady growth in the number of followers and audience;
- The average number of concurrent viewers should be over 500 people;
- The content streamed should comply with Terms of Service and DMCA Guidelines approved by the platform.
It is also possible to become a Twitch Partner if you have already established a strong and popular channel on YouTube. There is no need to start your career from the very beginning since it is allowed to apply for the Partner program if the number of your subscribers is over 100k and every video you have added has about 15k views.
Why should you become a Partner? In fact, this status opens you potential supremacy since now you can earn on advertising and subscription (which is usually the most rewarding type of income on Twitch) as well as open up to 50 channel emotes to attract more followers.
What should you do to be one of that 1% of Twitch users? Successful streamers and experts suggest to follow these tips:
- Find out a sphere of how to stand out and make up a detailed plan of how to achieve that.
- Use different ways of content promotion including social media platforms, forums, YouTube etc.
- Cooperate with other streamers and companies to promote each other.
- Remain consistent and persistent on your way to the goal.
Affiliate
Suitable for: Twitch users
Income: from $1 to $1,000
How do twitch streamers make money if they are not Partners? It is possible to generate income even if you are a member of the Twitch Affiliate Program. However, there are certain criteria to meet to be able to join it too:
- The total time of streams for the last 30 days should be over 8 hours;
- The total number of days you have streamed on for the last 30 days should be 7 and more;
- Every stream of yours should have 3 viewers on average;
- You should attract a minimum of 50 followers.
When you manage to beat this threshold, you will be invited to the Affiliate Program automatically and it is a very important stage on your way to the Partner Program.
Why should you put effort to become a Twitch Affiliate? These users receive an opportunity to get a percentage of money paid by subscribers because they get the ‘Subscribe’ button along with a new status. They also receive one global subscriber emote and a possibility to enable Bits so that others could cheer to them and make donations. One more way of income available for Affiliates is the sale of games and in-game items.
Donations
Suitable for: Twitch users, Affiliates, Partners
Income: from $10 to $10,000
Novice streamers who have not achieved any Twitch status yet can earn funds on donations. In fact, it is the main source of income for them along with advertising.
Every broadcaster can get donations if he or she registers a PayPal account and adds its address to the channel. Users can reward streamers by sending funds directly to the PayPal account displayed on the channel page. It is an easy and fast way to deliver all the funds you have sent and show your passion for high-quality and interesting live videos.
Make money on advertising
Suitable for: Twitch Partners
Income: from $20 to $10,000
Only Twitch Partners can switch on the advertising block, so it is important to put effort to be able to earn in this way. However, there are reasons to do that since advertising revenue is rather high. A streamer can select the number of ads to show within the 1-hour period (usually, no more than 3) and their length. The revenue from advertising is calculated on the basis of views and clicks made. A streamer is paid on the basis of the cost-per-click model – for every 1,000 views. Naturally, there are users who can block ads and minimizes a possible advertising revenue, but there is no need to worry since the number of ways how to make money on Twitch is quite big.
Sell merchandise
Suitable for: Twitch Partners, Affiliates, users
Income: from $1 to $1,000
Streamers can take advantage of their popularity and encourage their dedicated audience to buy things related to their channels. These are T-shirts, mugs, stickers, hoodies and a variety of other accessories to be used or given to anyone as a gift. This way of monetization requires using services of other platforms such as TeePublic or SpreadShop. You can create a stockfront there and all your goods, while your channel can be used for advertising and promoting.
It is also possible to organize contests and use your merchandise as a prize. Why not reward a user who has made the largest donation or was the first to buy a whole set of your things?
Selling Games and In-Game Items
Suitable for: Twitch Partners, Affiliates, users
Income: from $1 to $1,000
It is not a secret that Twitch is owned by Amazon and it can be used by streamers for getting income. You may wonder how? Affiliate marketing is a source of additional income for thousands of people all around the world. If you are a streamer who adores playing certain games, you can advise them or some in-game items used by heroes to enhance their gaming experience too. You can add the ‘Buy now’ button taking viewers to these goods for sale and receive from 5% from every sale made.
Video Ads
Suitable for: Twitch Partners, Affiliates, users
Income: from $2 to $1,000
Not only games, in-game items, and unique merchandise can bring about income on the streaming platform. In fact, you can sell almost everything, but it is important to remember that too much advertising discourages viewers, so be reasonable in the choice of video ads added to your streams. Experts advise cooperating with brands and companies only if you really use their products and are satisfied with their quality. Whether a streamer has a great microphone or a comfortable chair, powerful hardware or an interactive mouse, it is better for him to advertise these goods rather than disturb users with a variety of useless products. Other important tips to consider when you place video ads look as follows:
- Avoid interrupting an exciting stream with ads. It is better to launch them when you need to make a pause or have complete the round.
- The months when companies order the biggest number of video ads are June, October, November, and December. The cheapest months are January, February, April, and July.
- It is possible to earn from $2 to $10 for every 1,000 clicks depending on how fruitful the advertising time is.
- You should have a minimum of $100 on your balance from ads payouts to be able to withdraw these funds.
Subscriptions
Suitable for: Twitch Partners
Income: from $3 to $500,000
Only Twitch Partners can get the ‘Subscribe’ button on their channel and get revenue. Why is it so? It goes without saying that income from subs is shared between streamers and the platform, and only popular broadcasters can attract subscribers who are ready to pay money for watching their streams. Consequently, you should prove Twitch that you have enough concurrent viewers and only then apply for the Partner status.
Is it possible to earn money on Twitch via subscribers? Undoubtedly. Moreover, this way of earning money is one of the most rewarding ones. Top streamers of the platform claim that income from subs constitutes 70% of their total revenue, so it is very important to focus on this goal.
As you might have heard, there are three types of Twitch subscription. Depending on the number of additional features, each of the subs costs $4.99, $9.99 and $24.99. Usually, streamers get only half of this income to their balance, but when they grow into influential broadcasters, the percentage can grow up to 100%.
It is the only stable income on Twitch so thousands of streamers dream to have it.
Sponsorships
Suitable for: Twitch Partners, Affiliates, users
Income: from $10 to $5,000
Sometimes, there is no need to sell anything to get money from sponsors. It is enough to use or simply display products of the company to earn funds. Naturally, sponsors will pay only influential and popular streamers for using their products, but this way of getting revenue does exist too.
A bright example is the highest-paid streamer Ninja who is using chairs of such companies as Bud Light and DXRacer. The titles of the companies can be clearly seen in his videos and there are very high chances that he receives a monetary reward for that.
One more way to attract sponsors is to play newly released games. Twitch is watched by millions of gamers who look for new and exciting games to play. A stream can show all the benefits of the new game and encourage users to buy it, so many broadcasters do not refuse to live stream new games being paid for this service.
Twitch Bits
Suitable for: Twitch Partners, Affiliates, users
Income: from $0.01 to $100,000
It is a common truth that the platform has its own digital currency called bits and most of the donations are received in it. What is great about this currency for ordinary viewers is a possibility to get it absolutely free of charge. They can watch ads and get bits for that. If a user wants to get more bits to show appreciation to the streamers he or she likes, it is possible to buy them. The minimum number of bits available for purchase is 100 and they cost $1.40, while the maximum is 25,000 bits that cost $308. The more bits you buy, the cheaper each bit is for you. In addition to bits, users receive Cheermotes that they can use in the chatroom making donations.
How much will you get for every bit sent? In fact, Twitch pays out $0.01 for every bit donated. Though it may seem a tiny amount, a streamer can set the minimum amount of bit he accepts and by doing so encourage viewers to send more.
Other options
Though it may seem that this list of ways how to monetize a Twitch account is full, it includes only the most popular approaches of earning money. If you start streaming on the platform, you can use this experience for getting income in other ways including:
Taking part in tournaments
Keen gamblers manage to attract viewers only if they play at the professional level. You will agree that it is not interesting to see how a streamer fails every round, so only talented and skillful gamers will survive on the platform. If you are one of them, you can get extra profits participating in different contests and tournaments. The prizes range from several hundred to several hundred thousand dollars. Even if you do not manage to become a winner but will show good results, you can be invited to one of the esports team and earn a decent salary there.
Speedrunning
Similar to customary live streaming speedrunning is a process when a player tries to complete a certain level as fast as possible. It is a great way to take your unique niche on the platform and attract subscribers, followers, and advertisers.
Hosting talk shows
Excellent broadcasting skills can make you popular not only on the streaming platform but also on TwitchTV. You can be invited there as a guest or you can create your own show and invite popular streamers and not only.
Play in the casino
Not only such games as World of Warcraft, Dota 2 are popular with viewers. Many followers are interested in how to build a perfect winning strategy of the casino games and watch videos related to that. If the casino industry is your passion, you can share your winning experience and get funds not only winning coins or chips but also attracting viewers to your channel.
Taking advantage of different categories
Twitch is not limited only to people who love games. Nowadays, there are many categories available for streaming, so you can play table games, cook delicacies, read books, dance, sing, teach and do a variety of other activities you like. Such streams have their own circle of fans and can be used for getting revenue next to computer games.
How much you can make?
When you have learned the ways how to get profits on Twitch, one more question left unanswered. Naturally, everyone is interested in accurate numbers of possible earnings, but unfortunately, it is impossible to give a response to this question directly. Undoubtedly, Twitch income is not stable and depends on many factors including the number of followers and subscribers, cooperation with brands, frequency and length of streams, their themes and many others. Persistence and perseverance in your streaming experience can help you to earn up to a couple of hundred bucks on a monthly basis. It is worth mentioning that such top streamers as Ninja and Shroud have already earned their first millions on Twitch and even multiplied them. However, there is good news for novice streamers since the number of people who started earning on Twitch has increased by 86% since 2018 and it means that almost everyone can start his or her mini-livestream business online.
Conclusion
Twitch is a global live-streaming platform that takes second place in the number of viewers and holds its first prize in the number of concurrent viewers. Moreover, nowadays it can be considered a source of additional income for thousands of streamers who receive payouts on a regular basis. You could see that there are many ways to monetize a Twitch channel and get income thanks to it. Now when you have learned all the ways of earning money on Twitch, you can start a new account or develop an existing one to get your first funds for broadcasting.
