How to become a Great Streamer (tips and tricks)

If you are looking for live streaming tips, here’s some things I have learned from “professional” streamers I have talked to.

  1. Get a face cam
  2. Get your voice on stream
  3. Interact with people watching your stream
  4. Get your friends to watch your stream (when you start out)
  5. Stream like you are putting on a show (even if no one is there)
  6. Choose a stream format (video games, asmr, just chatting, IRL, or something else)
  7. Choose your stream type (are you a variety streamer or do you always do the same thing)
  8. Be entertaining (even if it means making up a streaming persona)
  9. Get yourself out there (interact and find other streamers your size and slightly bigger this will get you friends and start your community building (networking))
  10. Get on social media (a lot of streamers post to twitter but branch out to as many sites as possible to get your stream out there).
  11. *bonus* wherever you stream from start a YouTube channel to post (well edited) clips from your stream.
  12. *MOST IMPORTANTLY* Don’t give up. (It will get hard and frustrating but don’t quit.)

Got more tips to add, comment below.

~bigfisch
bigfisch@gamewatchtoday.com

Interview with Overwatch Streamer HOLIWHIRL

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Holiwhirl

I recently sent questions to Holiwhirl and asked what it’s like to be an Overwatch twitch streamer.

Holiwhirl LINKS
TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/holiwhirl
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/holiwhirl
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/holiwhirl/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcbFLnzarDgdePSdmiviIhA

GWT: What is the reason you started playing Overwatch?

Holiwhirl: I used to be a big fan of playing the Call of Duty series on console. When I was about 16 I got my first PC and got massively into Dota 2 and played that for around 4 years.I’ve always enjoyed PvP competitive nature. When I saw that Blizzard was releasing Overwatch and saw the gameplay trailers, I quickly realised this could be the perfect game for me as it combines a lot of what I love from the FPS and MOBA genres.During the beta weekend before release I fell in love with the game and played it non-stop to this day!

GWT: What is the reason you continue to play Overwatch?

Holiwhirl: After playing Overwatch almost every day since release, I’ve found a passion for the game and climbing the competitive ladder. As an ex DPS player, there is always something else to learn and when I’m unhappy with what I’m currently doing, I can move onto the next thing! This has lead me to being a top 500 Support player today!

GWT: Do you have any advise for other women that are up and coming streamers?

Holiwhirl: Try to focus on the positives. There can be a lot of hate thrown to anyone who puts themselves out there in the online space. Sometimes you can be attacked just for being a woman but always be sure to focus on the people who love your content and respect you because those are the people you are doing this for – not the random trolls. 

Thank you Holiwhirl for the interview.

~BigFisch

Ashe & Bob Mardi Gras weekly challenge coming this week.

According to highscoreheroes on twitter. Twitch drops have revealed a new Overwatch weekly challenge coming to Overwatch possibly this week (tomorrow). The drops show “Mardi Gras” themed sprays and notes “Overwatch Ashe Mardi Gras – bundle”.

Tuesday the 25 is “Fat Tuesday” and the day Overwatch drops new content (typically). And Wednesday the 26 is Mardi Gras so this is all looking like good possibilities. Hopefully we get a new Ashe story as well.

Stay tuned to gamewatchtoday for all the latest Overwatch News.

bigfisch

I Streamed Overwatch for 72 hours and here’s what I learned.

Image result for overwatch
Watch 31 hours of my 72 hour live stream.

So I didn’t really learn anything from my 72 hour live stream because it was the Overwatch logo from the login screen for about 70 hours of it. I was trying to test my laptop and my internet connection for streaming and learned that both are garbage, lol. I guess secondary take away is that not everyone wants to see nonsense from a live stream *shrug* although I thought it was funny most people didn’t stay for more than a few seconds to leave a comment like “when are you going to play” or “hello”.

If you are looking for live streaming tips tho, here’s some things I have actually learned from other “professional” streamers I have talked to.

  1. Get a face cam
  2. Get your voice on stream
  3. Interact with people watching your stream
  4. Get your friends to watch your stream (when you start out)
  5. Stream like you are putting on a show (even if no one is there)
  6. Choose a stream format (video games, asmr, just chatting, IRL, or something else)
  7. Choose your stream type (are you a variety streamer or do you always do the same thing)
  8. Be entertaining (even if it means making up a streaming persona)
  9. Get yourself out there (interact and find other streamers your size and slightly bigger this will get you friends and start your community building (networking))
  10. Get on social media (a lot of streamers post to twitter but branch out to as many sites as possible to get your stream out there).
  11. *bonus* wherever you stream from start a YouTube channel to post (well edited) clips from your stream.

Got more tips to add, comment below.

Will I do another nonsense stream again… Yes. I have another one planned for this week I am going to try using an external camera.

~bigfisch
bigfisch@gamewatchtoday.com

How to be a social media master

Master Social Media: BE ORIGINAL

Here’s some advise from a social media power user on how to grow a social media account organically.

Before we get to the list let me explain a few things. I am considered a social media power user which means I don’t have enough followers to be considered an influencer but I do have enough engagement and followers to know what I am doing.

What do I mean when I say grow an account organically? I mean that we are not paying for likes, views, comments or follows. You can purchase ads if you like from others but my budget for all my social media accounts is $0.00 so if you can afford to advertise and you want to go and do it, it will get you some results faster, there are YouTube videos and other people that will show you that method.

What is a social media influencer? That is someone that has A LOT of followers / subscribers, reaches a lot of people daily and is well known in the community they exist in.

My Step by Step Method to being a social media master

For the steps below I will use my own social media pages of Game Watch Today so you can have a point of reference.

  1. Pick a “thing” or “topic” you enjoy (kind of like a hobby you already do). Example: Video Games
  2. Get specific. Your first topic will be too general so pick a sub category of that.
    1. Think of or make a list of types of games you like or specific games that you are into.
  3. Once you pick a focused topic, let’s say we picked Fortnite. Now it’s time to do research.
    1. The importance of a “focused topic” is because the internet is a HUGE place where everyone in the world shares their own experiences, ideas and thoughts on everything. The idea is you want to be known as the EXPERT of that topic you choose, that’s when people really start noticing you.
  4. Research which social media platform you would like to focus on, so let’s say I already spend a lot of time on Instagram so lets choose that as a starting platform.
  5. Research everything you can on instagram about Fortnite accounts.
  6. Let’s say you start doing research about Fortnite and realize the internet is saturated with these accounts and it seems to be slowly dying trend and you want to switch to Overwatch.
    1. In this planning phase you it is okay to switch to a new focused topic just repeat the steps from step 3.
  7. You learn about Overwatch accounts and know that the game isn’t as healthy as Fortnite but you know that Blizzard will support the game for a long time and they are about to release Overwatch 2.
    1. It is important to know the health and future of the focused topic you choose and not to just bandwagon the hottest topic trending today.
    2. Choose something you are really passionate about because people will see that in what you share.
  8. Choose your account type: This is where you decide who to post.
    1. Posts that have you in them, you become the face of your account.
    2. Posts that do not have you in them, you are the silent partner that people ask for a face reveal.
  9. Choose an account name.
    1. If you are an active part of the posts it can be your own username people will identify you by.
    2. If you are not going to be recognized then you can choose a name that people identify your account by easily.
  10. Research the account name
    1. check everywhere and make sure that username is available not just the platform you want to be on. Including a website address. Start with a google search.
  11. Once you have picked a name register that as an email address, then you can use that email to register your social media accounts.
  12. Register your name under all the social media accounts.
    1. YouTube
    2. facebook
    3. twitter
    4. instagram
    5. snapchat
    6. tiktok
    7. twitch
    8. any other accounts you may want to have in the future
  13. Start building your identity. That means logos, profile pictures, account descriptions, banners and anything else you need to show people who you are.
    1. This is called branding and it gives you an identity it will be important later when you want people to find you on other platforms.
  14. We know that for this instance we want to build our instagram empire, however you can apply all these methods to any of the other channels depending on which format you choose to best yourself in.
  15. Decide what you want to post. (just a few examples are below)
    1. news
    2. memes
    3. video highlights
    4. commentary
    5. live streaming (not really a thing on instagram)
  16. After you decide what to post find other people that are doing the same thing and have some success at it. And consider how you can do it better than them.
    1. The real objective is to have fun with your account this will help for longevity.
    2. The secondary objective to focus on is be the best at whatever it is you choose, keep a close eye on the competition and look at how you can improve over time.
  17. Start posting stuff get your friends to like your page to get some initial followers.
  18. After you have a few posts start interacting with other accounts / people in your category. Talk to pages big and small (yes even big names interact with people too but don’t expect it too often).
    1. DON’T ASK FOR SHOUT-OUTS.
      1. I know people say just ask for shout-outs even if you have to pay for it, well I guess that’s fine but remember we are working on a $0.00 budget for our account.
    2. Just talk to people. Some people call it community building. But remember you are doing this to have fun with it and talking to people (being social) really is a great part of the fun of having a social media account. You get to meet a lot of great people along the way.
  19. If people comment on your posts reply to all of them. This is easy when you are a small account, it’s when you have a lot of posts and people are commenting a lot all the time it becomes difficult to reply to all of them but replying to comments is an important step (it’s also referred to as “engagement”).
  20. Like and comment on posts that are related to your account.
    1. By liking or commenting on other peoples account starts a conversation with them. Get an open dialogue going. Don’t be disingenuous about it and do it expecting follows.
    2. Do not use the follow / unfollow method. This is where you follow someone so they follow you and then you instantly unfollow them. This is deceptive and trashy way to get followers.
  21. On instagram you have to switch to a creator or business account but you need to review your analytics daily.
    1. Even if you check your statistics by looking how many people liked a post try to do even better with the next post even if it’s by one like or comment.
  22. DO NOT get frustrated, bored or tired of posting.
    1. Remember when I said choose something you will have fun doing, well it may take years before you have success, it’s like grinding levels on a video game you have to keep working at it and never give up.
    2. Do not change your account to something else cause your bored, this will kill your chances of rising to the top. If you really want to do something else start the process over.
  23. Post to other accounts
    1. Use your other accounts to post to, it can even be the same thing but there are people that only use one type of social media so it’s important to grab as many people as you can.
    2. An added bonus is that you may find success on a different platform than you initially wanted.
  24. Be creative not a copy cat
    1. Remember I said do it better than everyone else. That means don’t just go around the internet and steal stuff from other people. People appreciate original content more than copy/pasta content.
  25. Keep it up. Once you get started keep going have clear goals in mind but not to big or you will get frustrated and quit before you are famous.
  26. Something to consider is to not accept advertising or sponsorship’s or endorsements until after you get about 500,000 (not saying this is like an acceptable number but more of a maybe around this time). If you do advertise too soon in your life span of your page people will think you are fake and just in it for the money and turn against you.

That’s about it. Check back on this post or add some more in the comments. Each social media platform has it’s own tricks so once you start talking to other people in the community they will be able to help you get better and define who you are or what your voice is. Hope this helps answer some questions.

Good Luck out there.

~ bigfisch
bigfisch@gamewatchtoday.com

(edit) – added #26 1/28/2020