Live streaming and gaming evolved from hobby activities to professions for some people. They are undeniably life-altering, promising opportunities which may turn out to be super lucrative for the right people who invest time, creativity, and effort. There are a lot of ways you can turn your passion for gaming into money, be it casual gaming or aspiring to be a content creator. Here’s how you can get started and start making money with gaming and live streaming.
1. Choose Your Platform: Where Will You Stream?
The first step in monetizing your effort put into gaming and live streaming is choosing the right platform where you get started. Popular platforms include Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming. All of these allow live streaming games and the building of an audience. Whichever you choose depends on your sense of suitability for your style of content and target audience.
Twitch is currently the most extensive platform for gaming content. It has built-in monetization features such as subscriptions, bits, and ads. YouTube Gaming is similar, but further extends its advantages of its videos being viewable on-demand. Facebook Gaming is a new comer, offering creators rewards for community building, and probably would be a good choice for those streamers already connected through Facebook.
2. Monetize with Ads and Subscriptions
After selecting the platform, now is the time to start cashing in on your content. Each of the three platforms, Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming has different ways to do so, one of the most common of which is through ads and subscriptions.
– Advertisements: These can be before, during, or after your stream or video. Some platforms, like YouTube Gaming, share ad revenue. Twitch does, too, but it also lets streamers run ads during streams.
– Subscriptions: For one month, subscribers go all-in on your channel on Twitch and YouTube for cool perks such as exclusive content, badges, and emotes.
As your channel grows, so does the amount you can earn from these sources, and scaling up becomes huge.
3. Donations and Crowdfunding
Gaming live streaming is many times based on interaction with the audience, which gives opportunities to viewers for your financial support. Probably the most popular way to make this happen is donations or crowdfunding.
Among them are: Twitch Bits and Cheers: Twitch allows its users to donate through Bits, some form of virtual currency that viewers can purchase and use to cheer on streamers during a live broadcast. Every Bit earned adds up to the revenue.
– Patreon: Set up a Patreon account to offer your viewers exclusive content for a monthly subscription. This works especially well for streamers who can offer additional benefits like behind-the-scenes content, shout-outs, or even private gaming sessions.
Crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe or Kickstarter can also be used if you’re working on a specific gaming project or goal, such as improving your gaming setup or funding an event.
4. Affiliate Marketing and Sponsorships
As your audience builds up, so will the opportunities for affiliate marketing and sponsorships. Most gaming brands, ranging from hardware companies to game developers, have some form of an affiliate program or sponsor streamers/content creators.
Affiliate Marketing: You can earn a commission by promoting gaming products, such as controllers and consoles, or even in-game items, whenever your viewers make a purchase through your unique affiliate link.
– Sponsorships: As the viewership of your streams increases, you will either reach out to brands for potential sponsorships, or companies will find their way to you. During sponsored streams, there is product placement where the gamer is playing a game on behalf of a company, promoting some kind of service.
In time, relationships with game developers and technology companies, among other streamers, will result in greater streams of revenue and avenues of paid promotion.
5. Merchandise
As the following starts to grow solid, then merchandise becomes an excellent way of cashing in on one’s brand. One can sell tees, hats, and mugs, among other items, with one’s logo, catchphrases, or designs that relate to gaming, directly to the audience. Teespring and Merch by Amazon make it easy to create, promote, and sell your merchandise with no upfront costs while they handle production and shipping.
Selling merchandise is a great way to earn revenue, not just that, but also to involve the community of followers who want to represent you.
6. Create and Sell Content
But apart from the live streams, there are some offline content creation possibilities for earning. You can record gameplay, guide, or review and then upload it to YouTube. You can monetize your videos by allowing ads to pop up on them. You will be able to sell exclusive content, such as guides or tutorials for a particular game, through Gumroad or your website.
Many gamers take their streams and edit them into some sort of highlight reel, or even into a ‘tutorial’ and then stream those onto their YouTube channel as well for added views and revenue.
7. Game Developers’ Affiliate Networks
If you are excited about a particular game, most game developers have affiliate programs where you get to sell their games and receive a commission for each sale that comes through your reference. Green Man Gaming and Humble Bundle are a few websites that offer affiliation opportunities to gamers. Doing reviews or streaming such games would give them a better chance of making money from affiliate sales.
8. Expand Your Brand Through YouTube and Social Media
Live streaming has many uses outside of gaming as well. Having a large YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok following will develop your brand, bring in more viewers to watch your streams, and diversify streams of income. For instance, YouTube has ad monetization, while on Instagram and TikTok lie brand partnerships and influencer deals.
Cross-promotion between the services will further grow your audience and unlock further monetization opportunities.
Conclusion: The Future of Gaming and Live Streaming
The bottom line is that creators who are open to doing the work and engaging with their audiences will find endless possibilities in gaming and live streaming. Monetize your passion by means of ad revenue, donations, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, and a number of other means. Consistency in streams, community building, and diversification when growing are the cardinal keys to their success. Full-time gamer or sideline, if you’re ready to level up, there’s potential to turn your passion into profit.
Start small, stay committed, and your journey from gaming into a worthwhile career is well under way.
Related Posts
