Let’s assume you know how to run online streams, you know how to set your OBS, use a camera and sound quality of your streams is comparable to a nation-wide radio station. So what next? Today we’re going to discuss a matter that’s crucial to any streamer – how do you either get off the ground with your 0 viewers or expand already existing audience. It’s worth mentioning that there’s no single tutorial that could serve as a 100% success guarantee, since popularity on a streaming platform is always a combination of factors. We want to give some tips that will help you choose your track and concentrate on the essential parts of your business.
Self-analysis: try to think of yourself as the root of the problem
Streaming services provide equal opportunities for all the creators on their platform, which means everyone has a chance to be in demand. It’s not enough to just launch a stream or even be on-line for 12 hours a day. If you just connect and start to play while not minding your audience, e.g. if your naming is poor and boring, your homebrewed preview picture is made carelessly just for the sake of being there, then what results do you expect to have? There’s always room for improvement. If you’re not seeing the expected result, try and assume that something about YOU and what YOU do is the cause of the problem. Accept the fact that it’s your faulty approach, inefficient resource distribution or inappropriate behavior that makes you fail. Now go and change it.
Learn from those you DON’T like
Most probably you will hear it from your friends, ‘have you seen -- top streamer’s name -- doing this and that? They’d watch you too, if you did it the same way’. But such an approach does not lead one to success. The reason is, your background, personality and possibilities do differ from any given streamer. You can’t just follow their path, mimic their behavior and then just wait for an identical result. You’d better try and learn from those you DO NOT like to watch. Yes-yes, you heard it correctly. Learn from those you DON’T like. If you concentrate only on the already popular streamers you like, you’re missing the opportunity to fix your key mistakes that prevent you from attracting the viewers. You should peek into the head of someone who’s RELUCTANT (NOT willing) to watch your content. Spend some time watching the streamers you don’t like, and then try and analyze what’s there in common between you two, and try to fix it.
Find your own niche
As a follow-up to the previous point, here's another reason for you not to look up to some well-known giants. There is nothing wrong with adopting ideas of more successful streamers, but if you do just what they do, then you are unlikely to be the best at playing the game by their own rules. Suppose you are aiming to make the same content as Tyler1. What are the chances then that the viewer will follow not his channel, but yours? Of course, there will be a small percentage of the audience that will pay attention to you as well. But playing by someone else's rules, you initially put yourself in a disadvantageous positon, being able to collect merely the crumbs that have fallen from the table. To become number one and constantly grow, you need to show your uniqueness, to offer something new. Identify your differences compared to the same category of streamers, determine the value that you can provide the viewer with and bring it to the masses.
Don't be afraid of experiments
Being in your comfort zone is the worst thing that can happen to your channel. Many find their niche, gather a permanent audience, and then fall into stagnation. Having collected a stable online, many decide that they must keep on doing exactly the same things and the number of viewers will grow. Every following broadcasts becomes similar to the previous ones. Months of the same-style streams turn into years. And instead of the desired growth, they get a slow decline. And now the stream was watched by 80 people, and six months later it is barely 50 viewers, and after a couple of years there are only 20 most loyal people remaining. So do experiment, never freeze in one place. As soon as it seems to you that everything now works as an assembly line, that very moment, go and try to do more, better and more interesting. The internet is too fluid, and if you do the same thing for too long, people will get bored. Be unpredicted, let the audience anticipate something new with every broadcast.
If you intend to make streaming your career, then accomplish these advice but don’t burden yourself with everything at once. Divide it into 3-day stages.
1. Make sure that everything is in order with the technical and visual components.
2. Highlight and eliminate your cons.
3. Identify your strengths and distinctive features, focus on them.
4. Experiment with new sections and formats.
After the job is done, summarize your conclusions and in one month redo the assignment and compare the results.
