Over the last couple of decades, the gaming industry has expanded significantly. In fact, there is no longer simply a transactional relationship between gamers and studios. Gamers are just as capable of contributing creatively and entertainingly to the industry through esports competitions, indie development, and streaming.
It’s also worth noting many of these activities have grown into viable career options. Streaming in particular can be lucrative if you approach it effectively. Last year’s top gaming Twitch streamer, Ninja, reportedly pulled in around $25million. While you’re not in any way guaranteed this level of revenue, you can generate a regular sustainable income. To achieve this and game streaming your job, you need to treat it like a small business.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the aspects you should consider to make your burgeoning streaming career a success.
Create Your Model
One of the first steps any company takes is building a business model. This provides a solid structure on which to build all aspects of the company. It also means customers can form positive expectations about their interactions with the business and develop trusting relationships. These same elements can be key to your gaming streaming.
Some elements you need to consider when creating your model include:
⦁ Your Target Audience
Identifying the ideal audience for your streaming is a key element of building your business model. It’s not practical to simply aim to capture all people who like gaming. Different demographics will have specific needs and preferences. When you solidify your audience targets, this can inform your ability to choose the types of games that connect most with them. It can also highlight the streaming platforms they prefer to engage with.
⦁ Your Structure
This revolves around what you intend the shape of your business to look like. What type of schedule will you be running your streaming on? Are you going to provide a set range of content that involves a couple of actual play sessions a week, interspersed with some review streams or unboxings? You need to clarify this as much for yourself as for your audience and potential sponsors. This doesn’t mean you can’t change it down the line, but confirming your structure helps you remain organized and consistent.
Gain and Maintain Funding
The accessibility of gaming streaming is one of its primary benefits. You don’t need a huge amount of money or expensive equipment to get started. Nevertheless, depending on the size of your ambitions you could find you need to raise some capital for games, gear, even your website. Not to mention pursuing this as a career means you need to bring in predictable income. This is an aspect you need to approach with a business mind.
You should consider:
⦁ Loans and Investments
Unless you already have an established audience, you are unlikely to be able to access traditional loans and investments for your streaming. However, it may be practical to approach your friends or family for a small amount of money to start your enterprise. There are benefits here in that you may find family members more flexible than banks or less likely to interfere than investors. However, you still need to treat these loans or investments as a businessperson. Hold a formal meeting and present a well-researched plan to show how the money will be used.
Demonstrating financial literacy and professionalism here not only shows you’re a responsible investment prospect. It also helps you develop good habits for when you need to seek larger investments from businesses in the future.
⦁ Establishing Revenue Streams
One of the first steps any business owner takes is identifying their main sources of income. You can’t just assume you might gain a little ad revenue here and there and eventually sponsors will approach you. It’s important to be more proactive about this if you want to make streaming your career. Do your research and examine the diverse streams of revenue other gamers target. This is likely to include a blend of active and passive income.
Look at what sponsors you can attract even at this early stage of your career and aim to gain more prominent partners as you get bigger. Can you utilize a donations platform or even sell merchandise via a print-on-demand service? Remember, you can’t expect to gain huge amounts of money right off the bat. Start small and diversify. Each sale, sponsor, and donation adds up. With a little planning and time, you can gain a relatively predictable income.
Adopt Effective Marketing Methods
There are a lot of aspects of gaming streaming you can tailor. But one consistent need if you’re planning to make it a career is gaining a stable and supportive audience. From a business perspective, the best way to attract and engage with an audience is to adopt effective marketing protocols.
You should bear in mind:
⦁ Marketing Skills
When you’re just starting out as a streamer, you are likely a one-person operation. As such, you’ll need to become personally adept at a range of business activities. Take the time to develop marketing skills that are relevant to self-employed businesspeople. This should include understanding how to create and cultivate your personal brand. It is also vital to learn how to assess your website, social media, and streaming platform analytics. There are many online courses and tutorials available on this subject. Obtaining these skills empowers you to actively build your audience and prepares you to be more independent.
⦁ Entertaining Content
Creating content is your bread and butter as a gaming streamer. But you also need to be committed to making more focused marketing content. When your marketing goals are to draw in more loyal viewers for your channel, the materials you produce need to be equally directed toward entertaining and informing people. You want to make sure visitors are engaged enough with what you offer them in your marketing that this funnels them through to your mainstreaming content. This could include blog posts about the industry or short reviews on TikTok or Instagram. You could even create your own podcast with fellow streamers or industry figures.
⦁ Collaborations
Game streaming involves a rich community of creators. In many industries, marketing would be designed to elevate you above other similar businesses. However, the gaming industry actively encourages streamers to collaborate for mutual benefit. This not only means newer channels like yours can gain exposure to larger streamers’ audiences. It also means you both can create additional entertaining and engaging content.
However, you need to be intentional about which streamers you collaborate with. Identify those with audiences you’d like to connect to. Create a presentation pitch to your potential partners that highlight the benefits you can both experience.
Conclusion
Careers in-game streaming are more accessible than ever. Nevertheless, if you want to be successful, you must act as a serious business owner. Take the time to make solid plans and be clear about how you’ll approach gaining sustainable income. Remember that effective marketing is the key to capturing a consistent and loyal audience base. Like any business, this can be a risk, but it also holds the potential for an exciting and enriching experience.
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