tacosmurfz

Over the years, many many years before I knew what streaming was, I was learning social media marketing, management and administrations and much of what I've learned is applicable in today's fast paced world of content creation. This article touches on some key developmental issues of content creation as well as providing a short list of steps one can take to not only create a great presence online as a content creator but continue to grow and produce quality content for your fans!

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1. Try to keep your gamer-tag (TacoSmurfz) the same across all platforms and socials as much as possible as well as keep your URL links as similar as possible.

Example xbox gamer tag : TacoSmurfz – ( /tacosmurfz @TacoSmurfz /tacosmurfzgaming etc etc etc

Example 2 : Xbox Gamer Tag : Doomtree13 – ( /doomtree13 @doomtree13 /Doomtree13Gaming etc etc

Consistency is key!!!

2. YOU ARE YOUR BRAND!! Keep this in mind, because others take notice of those that stand out and have taken the time and effort too make a brand and image for their content. A sharp logo or a nice smile go along way. There are so many designers and graphics artists across twitter, fiverr and other platforms that can make you that perfect brand and style that you are looking for. Don't be afraid to shop around and take time to perfect your own brand. Consider what it will look like on merch like clothes or stickers/mugs and the works. Be creative, the ways to freely promote your brand are limitless.

3. Make profiles on at least 3-6 social media platforms, Get involved in the platforms that work for you!! Try to cross post your video content from one source across all platforms.. E.I. ( Share your uploads out across socials from 1 source like a YouTube channel. Its crucial to get yourself in those search results.

4. You NEED to engage and get involved with other communities and creators. Bonus if you are into the same kind of content and hobbies. Build those relationships and friendships with other streamers and creators and learn from each others triumphs and mistakes. Consider making your own Discord server for your community and followers to get involved in as well.

“you get what you put in and people get what they deserve” – Gord Downie

5. YouTube is not as hard as it seems friends. It is rather easy to get started by merely highlighting/exporting your streams from twitch straight to a Youtube channel. You can do it directly from your stream manager in your videos/clips section of Twitch even. A well detailed Youtube channel can really make an impact in the long run for your growth and content. There are many app's and websites out there to help you learn how to easily maximize your time and efforts and put out the best content all around for your channel. TubeBuddy is a great App for those who are looking for the extra help.

6. Make sure to detail your content videos as much as possible to the best of your abilities and try to make improvements as you put out new content. Detail your uploads and posts with links to your socials, and links to those who helped you create the content or were involved with it in any way. ( credit where it is due ) Make sure to have their consent as Privacy is king for many people on the web. Never edited before? Need a easy place to start? check out a free site like ClipChamp or if you are a student you can get deals through Adobe.

7. Getting on Google is as simple as following the steps above. You DO NOT need to PAY or ADVERTISE or PROMOTE on Facebook or pay for Ad's and things like that. They may be a nice perk and it may help with some growth but it's not the wholesome, real, friendship and loyalty kind of growth that is going to benefit you the most. It's just promoted growth. click bait growth in a sense of the words.. Putting the time and effort into your communities and networks will get you far better growth then paying for advertising ever will.

8. MONETIZE YOUR CONTENT – If you are a twitch affiliate or large Youtuber, getting monetized with Coil/interledger early to maximize your payouts and profits for your streams and Youtube content is a great place to start. Below is the result of my twitch stream cheer leaderboard after just 2 months as a Coil member. Coil_Twitch_Bot

If that wasn't impressive enough, a few days ago I awoke to a few wonderful emails from Uphold/Interledger to discover a $123.11 CAD deposit from Coil into my Uphold wallet which I then transferred into my bank account!

As you can see, Coil is no joke.

Sign up here —> https://coil.com/?ref=TacoSmurfz1109

These techniques are the core principles of growth and creation for yourself as well as your content as a gamer/streamer/creator. These techniques have helped me make content creation a career reality, but they are not everything you need...

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A fellow streamer and creator we know as RevHouse https://www.twitch.tv/RevHouse Speaks on a Key point below.

“It's not about your game play. That is 100% secondary. It's about you. If you're going to stream and hope to attract people and keep them around you're going to HAVE to be entertaining.

Note: entertaining doesn't mean funny.

You really need to let your personality come through. Going 3, 4, or even 5 minutes not talking or saying anything worth while isn't going to do you any good.

You've got to engage with the people you have, even if it's one person. I've caught some stream of new streamers and they just sit there, so I bounce quick.

I can watch myself play video games.

So don't stream because you think people want to watch you play, because there are always going to be better players they can go watch. But if you can be more entertaining than that better player you have a better chance of keeping them on your stream.

Unless there is a SPECIFIC stream event, TURN OFF Follower only chat. I raid an unknown streamer trying to make affiliate at the end of every stream; I don't raid people with follower only chat, because that forces people to follow you, without knowing how they interact with you, which is a big turnoff.

This last one some might not like: Do not follow for follow. Yeah, I said it. When you do this, a few things happen:

1. You build a following, that doesn't actually watch you, which again, when I raid, its kind of a red flag if someone has 800 followers and only 2 watching them.

2. You devalue your product. You are subtly telling people, “My content isn't good enough to get someone to follow, so I have to trade”

It is ok to follow people for networking purposes, but I have never asked anyone to follow me back, or put on any platform, follow me and Ill follow you back.

PS – it is a f****ng griiiiind. Don't start thinking you're going to blow up in a couple of weeks. Especially if you aren't putting in work off stream (and no, tweeting or posting that you're going live isn't putting in work) “”

Revhouse touches on some KEY points and ISSUES involving ALL of us as creators and People alike. Take the time to watch yourself and your content and see where you can always be improving. Do not be afraid to breach the comfort zones, they are only comfortable because they are too familiar after all.

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Another great twitch streamer and content creator Doomtree13 https://www.twitch.tv/doomtree13 also touches on a few key topics for getting out of that starter void and getting out of that 0 viewer slump that kills the dreams of many streamers before they get off the ground. He also touches on a part of streaming we tend to overlook, Self effect and reflection”

” Something that can help you all as streamers on Twitch is Viewerstorm. It is a way to build your community bigger and better at the same time helping others with theirs. The idea is that you earn tokens by watching people streams for about 10 mins then you earn 3 Tokens each token you earn can then be used for people to join in on your stream the next time you go live. They also have a feature where if you save your tokens or acquire Storm-Passes and everyone on the site will then watch your stream at no cost of a token. Its a way to make the last push to partner honestly and its why some of you who come into my stream will see me with 70+ viewers “

https://www.viewerstorm.com/?refid=2215

“As a growing content creator you also need to realize that everything you say and do can effect you as not just a creator but a human being as well. As you grow your pedestal also grows & the more active eyes are on you. Everything you do while live has an impact on your brand, your personal health and the mental health of those around you influenced by it. It won’t only effect your community but it will also effect you and your reputation as a creator. Many big name streamers have had some kind of repercussions from something they had done which they ended up regretting later on. The more you grow the bigger the impact you have in a community”

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Some words of wisdom from a fellow Creator & Minecraft Engineer Dreadknott45 on the importance of a routine schedule.

https://www.twitch.tv/dreadknott45

”” Stick to a schedule for streaming!!! Consistency is everything when it comes to streaming. That way people know when your live and can come back on a regular instead of hoping you happen to be live. Same goes for posting video content wise as that makes it so when people come back there is something there which will keep them coming back. If someone goes to see a youtube series(mainly where this applies) and they have to keep checking in everyday just to see the next one then they will go find someone more consistent.

And DO NOT call out lurkers unless they talk in your chat, if they want to talk they will. If they do a !lurk that is okay to acknowledge them but calling them out will chase them off. Just focus on being engaging and entertaining and they will eventually come out. Even if they don't, just know they are helping you out weather or not they realize it or not””

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I hope this article has helped bring some valuable insight to those of you interested in growing your brand and presence across the web as creators, gamers, streamers & designers.

Art design – Coil logo edit by TomTheTomaToe

https://www.twitch.tv/TomTheTomatoe

~TacoSmurfz