What Does It Take To Become A Professional Streamer?

Anyone can be a streamer, but not everyone can become a professional streamer. The daily life for pro streamers doesn’t just consist of playing games and cracking jokes. While it may look easy, the streamer life requires hard work and skill. Here’s what you need to know about living the life of a full-time professional streamer.

Living A Career As A Streamer

While playing games can be a form of entertainment with your friends, it is an actual job for streamers. Therefore, it should not be taken lightly if you wish to pursue a professional career. Here is an example of what a day as a streamer can look like:

• 7 AM: Wake up
• 8 AM-10 AM: Read and answer emails
• 1 PM-2 PM: Preparing for streaming
• 2 PM-6 PM: Record and edit videos, research promos etc.
• 6 PM: Have dinner
• 7 PM-11 PM: Stream

The total amount of work hours differs from streamer to streamer. But if you are a successful streamer, you must work around 40 hours a week. As seen on streamers haven, some of these streamers can earn up to tens of thousands of dollars every month. However, these streamers do take a lot of their day to play.  

Laying The Groundwork

Before you take on a professional career in streaming, laying the groundwork by setting goals and researching is crucial. How successful do you wish to become? Do you want to become a millionaire? Or are you satisfied with earning the salary of an average streamer, which was $1.290 in a year? Regardless, figuring this out before buying equipment and games is essential. 

It is also important to find out the difference between a job and a passion. If you are driven by passion, it might be easier to take on a career. While pursuing streaming for financial benefits is understandable, it will often result in burnout because of a lack of interest in gaming.  

Finding The Niche 

While it has become easier to be a streamer today because of technological developments and easy access to platforms, it has also increased competition. Just on Twitch, there are more than 8 million streamers. More and more people are jumping on the streaming train, but many unfortunately fail because there is too much competition. 

This is the case for some new streamers who play Call of Duty simply because it is trendy. The streamers who make a living from streaming are successful because A, they either have a contagious and unique personality or B, they have found a niche. Finding a game you enjoy that hasn’t gained a foothold in the gaming community is a good strategy, as there is a greater chance of building an engaged community.    

Knowing Monetization Strategies 

To become a successful professional streamer requires knowledge on how to make money. The biggest streamers who earn great revenues from gaming often have sponsorships with brands, 

which allows them to earn money by advertising products or services. However, this requires a higher status in the streamer community. New streamers can also choose to offer subscription services to viewers and revenue from ads and partnerships. Otherwise, streamers can earn money from donations by building a tight-knit and loyal community.   

Choosing A Good Platform

After acquiring the proper gaming equipment, choosing a good platform that ensures viewers and the best conditions for streamers is essential. There are generally two streaming platforms used by many in the streaming community. YouTube is known for its variety of video content since there are also vlogs, educational videos and much more. Because of this, it might be easier for your streaming content to get lost among the videos. However, it is a popular streaming platform because of how easy it is to upload videos and go live.

The other platform is Twitch, which is well-known for providing services to video game streamers. Twitch focuses on live streaming and creative content. Here, streamers have the advantage of having a platform that concentrates entirely on their field. The platform has millions of viewers every month and is easy to get into for newcomers. 

Having Patience 

Lastly, making a living with streaming can be fruitful but requires a lot of work if you start from scratch. Therefore, it is essential to know that it can take time to acquire success. It can take everything from months to years, and it can be a good idea to have a plan B or a second source of income. The industry also changes constantly, and streamers must adapt to new times and trends.