On the live-streaming video network Twitch, content producers can reach millions of people with their live streams. Gamers have the option of live streaming their video game play or uploading recorded content to their channel. Partners are permitted to make money by either displaying adverts on their videos or by requesting donations from their viewers. The website exclusively monetizes the channels. The website is hugely well-liked and was bought by Amazon.com for a sizable sum.
However, Twitch is quickly gaining popularity, and many streamers are making good money there. If you’re interested in learning how to monetize your Twitch channel, keep reading for some useful advice.
How to Make Money on Twitch and What You Need
Before we talk about how you can start making money on Twitch, you need to know what it takes to make money on this popular streaming site. First, you have to become a Twitch affiliate, which means you need the following:
- At least 50 people follow
- At least 500 minutes of airtime
- At least three well-kept simultaneous views in the last month. At least seven different broadcasting days.
How to Get Money from Twitch
If you want to know how to make money on Twitch, you should be ready to put in some extra work. There are different ways to make money on this platform. You can either get paid directly (if you become an affiliate or partner) or make money outside of the platform.
Being Paid Straight
As we’ve already said, you have to become an affiliate before you can start making money directly on Twitch. When you reach that level, you can start making money by:
Subscribers
People have to pay to subscribe to the channels they want to watch. But there are perks to subscribing to a channel, like getting extra videos and emojis that no one else has. The prices for subscriptions start at $4.99 and go up to $9.99 and $24.99. The broadcaster also gets 50% of the subscription fee, and if your channel grows, you can ask for more money, and Twitch will give it to you.
If you want more people to subscribe to your channel, you should give them good emotes. You can only choose different emotes when you reach different tiers. So, if someone wants cool emotes, you should try to get them to sign up for a higher tier. You can make your own emotes, though, using one of the many online emote makers. Streamers can also give their subscribers perks like subscriber badges, no ads, and chats and streams that are only for subscribers. With these perks, streamers can stand out from the crowd and build a strong community of loyal fans.
Bits of Twitch
Bits are just a way for broadcasters to get tips. People can buy them right from the platform, without having to leave the site. After making the purchase, they can give them to their favorite streamer. One Twitch bit is worth one US cent, and when users start giving their bits away, they can get special bonuses like Twitch Badges. Obviously, a viewer can only give a small amount to an affiliate user. If they could give more, there would be no point in trying to make money this way.
Bits make it easier for your viewers to talk to you and make your streams more interesting. After taking into account gifted subscriptions, many streamers say that they get just as many bits from free subs as they do from paid ones.
Donations
People like to show their support for their favorite streamers by giving them money. Getting donations is a lot easier than getting Twitch Bits because you don’t have to work to become an affiliate or partner. You can easily get donations through third-party service providers, though. You just need to add a “donate” button to your channel, and you can get donations through third-party sites like PayPal, Muxy, Donorbox, and more. But there are still two more ways for your viewers to give:
- The first is to add a “donate panel” to the “about me” part of your profile.
- The second is to use services like Nightbot or Moobot to share your donation link in the chat.
- The third way is to offer in-stream services to encourage people to give money to your cause.
- The best example we can think of is a musician who can play any song that a donor requests. Or, if you’re playing a first-person shooter game, you can ask your viewers what weapon you can use to beat your opponent.
Ads
Ads bring in the least money for a streamer, but they are necessary for a growing channel. Many things can affect how much money you make from ads, but the two most important are how long the ad is and how many people are watching it at the same time. But the number of people who follow you is the main thing that determines how much you’ll make from ads. Ads can help you make money, but if you show too many of them in your streams, you might lose viewers. So, it would be better to let your channel grow first and not risk losing viewers.
Streamers can get paid through ad revenue, which is often based on how many times each ad is seen. But because many people use ad blockers, this number is not always correct. So, streamers need to make ads that don’t get in the way of their games too much so they can still make money from them.
Besides adding to your income, there are other benefits to using Twitch Ads. If you run an ad in your stream, for example, you can take a break and keep your viewers from seeing “pre-roll ads.” When a new viewer comes to your site for the first time, they see a pre-roll ad. Many studies have shown that when people see a pre-roll ad, they click away and don’t even go to your site.
Subs Given
Gifted subs are subscriptions that someone other than the sub-recipient pays for. This person is often called the “sub-giver.” This is against Twitch’s terms of service, so you should never give your password to another person. A sub-giver can only pay for a Twitch user’s subscription if the user allows it in the “sub-giver” field of their profile.
It’s a very risky thing to do, so be careful if you let someone you don’t know become a sub-giver. Sub-givers are not linked to a user’s Twitch account, and the streaming service doesn’t do anything special for them. In fact, the sub-giver can log in at any time and cancel the subscription without the sub-recipient knowing. Your donations page is the only way to keep track of this. But at the top of the Twitch chat box, you can also see a list of the people who have given the most subs.
Other Ways to Make Money Besides Twitch
You can get paid directly from Twitch using the methods above, but there are also other ways to make money. Best of all, you don’t even have to become an affiliate if you use Monetize Outside of Twitch. Now that we’ve covered that, let’s look at some other ways you can make money besides Twitch.
Merchandise
As your channel grows, you get a fanbase. So, you can sell your merchandise to your fans and make a lot of money. You can show off your merch on Twitch, and you can even promote it on other social media sites. Shirts, bags, caps, phone cases, and other things are often sold as merch. With the help of some Twitch extensions, you can let your viewers stream your videos and look at your merchandise at the same time.
The best way to sell your products is to put your logos or other unique designs on them. You can easily find some great designers on different platforms or websites. These designers can make original designs or logos for you or give you permission to use their own designs. Once you’re in the partner program, selling merchandise on your Twitch channel is a great way to make extra money. And don’t worry, having things for sale on your channel usually doesn’t cost you anything. Over time, your goods can bring in money without you having to do anything.
Tips Every Month
If you’re wondering how to make money on Twitch, getting monthly tips is one way. Streamers who haven’t yet become affiliates can get tips from their fans once a month. You can get monthly tips on sites like Streamlabs, and guess what? There is no charge for that. Instead, the tip you get will be put back into your PayPal account, and it’s easy to choose whether you want one-time tips or tips every month from your supporters.
If you’re a streamer, you might think it’s rude to directly ask your viewers for tips, but if you do it the right way, it can be very helpful. Be humble, real, and honest, and remember that tips are never expected but are always appreciated. Remember that if your only goal with streaming is to make money, viewers will probably sense this and be very hesitant to give you their hard-earned money.
Brand Collaborations
A lot of companies pay Twitch streamers a lot of money to spread the word about their products. Partnership is basically what this is, and it’s a common way for Twitch streamers to make money. Most of the companies that talk to Twitch streamers are companies that sell hardware and software, energy drinks, and computer parts. Sponsorships can take many different forms, like selling games and in-game items, working with game developers to make exclusive content, and more. The way a sponsorship looks will, of course, depend on what the sponsor wants.
Last Words
As you can see, there are many ways to make money on Twitch. You can make a name for yourself with your content, sell premium memberships, and make money from sponsorships. You can also use Twitch to get more people to visit your website or subscribe to your YouTube channel. Many Twitch streamers have used sites like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn to get people to watch their streams so they can build a name for themselves and make money as well.
But it’s not simple or fast, especially if you don’t have a big audience. If you want to make a living by streaming, you should take things slow and steady over a long period of time. Be ready to work hard if you want to build a big, interested audience. Once you have a big audience, you can use a variety of ways to make money from them.