Full-Time Twitch: Realistic Guide & Strategy — Step-by-Step Guide & Transcript

[00:02] that you can watch, but it's not going to be an easy one. I'm sorry. Sometimes hard truths need to be spoken. Going full-time as a Twitch streamer is practically impossible. Let me explain

[00:15] why it is impossible, the paradigm shift that makes others able to go full-time, and then I'm going to show you how you can do that, too. If you're new here, my name is Barry Eps. I'm a cryptographer turned content creator and Twitch

[00:28] partner looking to help you grow the right way. Before we start, I'd like to thank our sponsor for this video, Nexus Clips, but more on them later. This video is going to come to you in three parts. First, let's check why it is so

[00:41] hard to become a full-time streamer. Then, we will look at how much money you should make before you go full-time and the strategy to get there. And lastly, we will look at the exact tactic you can use to grow your channel so you can go

[00:54] use to grow your channel so you can go full-time. Are you ready for this ride? No? Well, we're going anyway. Going full-time as a Twitch streamer, even when you do everything in your power to make it happen, is hard. You need to

[01:07] make enough money from subs, bits, and ads so that you can have a roof over your head, pay your bills, feed yourself and your family. It is no surprise to anyone that the number of subs and bits, even your ad revenue, depends on the

[01:21] number of viewers you have. On Twitch, there are currently 2.7 million affiliates and only 72,000 partners. As one of the requirements for partner is having 75 average viewers. That means that only 2.7%

[01:37] gets an average 75 viewers, which is crazy. And after a massive leak in 2022, where the income from the 10,000 biggest Twitch partners became available, this

[01:49] showed that not every streamer in the top 10,000 streamers on Twitch made over the minimum wage in the US on their streams every month. And that while they streams every month. And that while they often streamed 60 to 70 hours per week,

[02:03] >> oh my god, >> I'm not trying to scare you with these numbers. Absolutely not. The reason I tell you these numbers is because it shows how hard it is to go full-time as a Twitch streamer. So, don't rush into

[02:17] it when you are considering taking your stream from hobby to side gig and from side gig to full-time each time the pressure gets higher. This usually begins with you playing a game and getting higher numbers or more

[02:30] which means that you decide to play that game again, but it can very quickly become a numberdriven descent into madness. When you have a guaranteed income from your job or business, that gives you a safety net. But when you go

[02:44] full-time, that changes. All your income comes from your content, and that means you sometimes need to put yourself aside for the benefit of the business. But how much money do you actually need to make to go full-time? That of course depends

[02:57] on where you live, how many bills you have, and how luxurious your lifestyle is. So, let's start here. >> I'm afraid we need to use math. How many viewers do you think you are going to need to make $1,000? And I'm

[03:13] talking recurring revenue, something you get every month. So, I'm not going to count gifted subs. Think about it quickly. Okay, let's take the best case scenario. All your viewers live in the US. There, a single tier one sub is $6

[03:28] and you get your share of that, which is at least 50%. So, per sub, you actually at least 50%. So, per sub, you actually earn $3. A quick calculation then shows earn $3. A quick calculation then shows that you need a minimum of 333 subs to

[03:41] make $1,000. According to statistics from Twitch, the average streamer has 15 to 30% of their average viewers as subscribers. That means you need 900 to

[03:53] subscribers. That means you need 900 to 2,000 average viewers to get 333 recurring subscriptions. Which means you need to belong to that 0.01% 01% of Twitch before you get even that. Okay, so it's going to be hard to get that

[04:07] money just as recurring revenue, but you still have bits. And of course, your ad revenue. Bits are one-time gifts, so they can't be counted as recurring revenue, but your ads can because this isn't viewer support. This is Twitch

[04:22] paying you directly. So, how many average viewers do you need to get $1,000 in ad revenue each month? Well, let's say that you stream 80 hours a month, which is 4 hours five times a week, and of course, you only run the

[04:36] minimum number of ads for you to disable pre-rolls at 3 minutes per hour. Then, based on the average reported ad revenue on Twitch, you will need an average of $467 viewers to earn $1,000 off of ads each

[04:50] month. That of course depends on the category you are in. So it could be much lower, but in general that means you need far fewer viewers in your audience to generate a $1,000 of ad revenue than you do with subs. Personally, I feel

[05:04] very strongly that if you are going fulltime as a content creator, you can't do that based on the generosity of your viewers. As long as viewers are paying for your income, they are investing in the quality and quantity of your

[05:17] content. So, every penny should be reinvested into the stream. Personally, I also like giving back to the community that supports me, which is why I run a and give away microphones, stream decks, and other things that can help you make

[05:32] streaming a little more fun. If you want to join that, then you can claim a ticket for every time I'm live over on Twitch on twitch.tv/content delta, where I'm live every Tuesday and Friday from 5:00 p.m. CST. Instead of

[05:45] relying on your viewers to fund your lifestyle, I think the focus should be on having companies pay for that through ad revenue, which is companies paying Twitch who are paying you, and sponsorship, which is them directly

[05:57] paying you. That way, you are far more likely to have a somewhat stable income without the oh my god level fluctuations. You know those months where life gets in the way and you lose 90% of your income. Okay, very strong

[06:10] feeling shared. Time to be helpful. How much do you need to earn to go full-time then? This is luckily a very simple process. Just look at how much you are spending each month at the moment, especially if you already have a job and

[06:25] a family. Check your rent, mortgage, food, gas, electricity, phone, internet, all of it. And if you don't have that right now or you don't have any costs, then look at the living cost for your country. There are usually online

[06:38] calculators for this. Once you have that number, double it. That's how much you need to make. 50% of that is going to be set aside for taxes, costs, and other bureaucratic nonsense, and the rest is what you can class as income. However,

[06:53] make sure to check your local legislation as to taxation to make sure you are doing this correctly. This may mean that at the end of the year, you get yourself a nice bonus, but on the other hand, if something goes horribly

[07:05] wrong, you always have a little bit of a backup at the ready for yourself. But wait, there's more. Once you've added up all your necessary living costs, multiply that by a minimum of three, but much rather six or even 12. And that

[07:20] should be the amount you have in savings so that you can catch yourself if you do have a terrible month. For example, if your living costs are $2,000 a month, then you should have 6,000 to 24,000 saved up before you try and go

[07:33] full-time. Yes, that is before you take the leave and quit your job and stuff. However, if that sort of savings is not possible for you right now, there is something else you can do. >> Wait a second. I'm getting an idea. No.

[07:47] False alarm. No. Yeah. No. Yeah. No. Wait. No. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. Yes. >> Instead of going full-time as a creator, why not go part-time and see if you can

[07:59] drop your work down to four or even 3 days? That way, you keep a steady income from your normal job, but still free up extra time to work on content. As long as you are able to keep earning your cost of living, then that would give you

[08:13] 8 to 12 hours on the days you freed up to make content. And yes, it really is make content. Because here's the kicker. I did say you can't go full-time as a

[08:25] I did say you can't go full-time as a streamer, but it is very possible as a content creator. That's all there is to it. That single mindset shift can take your career from 0.01% chance to absolutely possible. We've

[08:40] talked about it before and it is still true. Twitch's discoverability is broken. There is no algorithm that helps viewers find you as a small streamer because Twitch is a kingmaker system. Most people still browse streams sorted

[08:55] highest to lowest. So, if they have to find you when you have two or three viewers, they have to scroll way, way down. You could be the best and most entertaining streamer in the world, but if you have no viewers, no one will

[09:11] grow. >> I'm just so lonely. By shifting from streamer to content creator, you are going to focus on creating content for other platforms based on the content you are already

[09:27] making on your stream. The best platforms for discoverability are those that have algorithms that find the viewers for you, such as YouTube, Tik Tok, and Instagram. Use these platforms for people to get to know you, like what

[09:40] you are doing, and then move them from there to your Twitch channel. By creating your content based on the best moments of your stream, you are able to link the new content that you create directly to your streams, which makes it

[09:53] easier to get people to follow you back to Twitch. But finding those clips can be hard, especially after 4 hours of streaming. You are tired, out of mental mana, or like me, just a little bit lazy and don't want to spend hours

[10:07] best moments for content on other platforms. That is where the sponsor of this video comes in, Nexus Clips. Nexus Clips help streamers like you turn your clips that are perfect for platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram reels, and

[10:23] YouTube shorts. Instead of grinding hours live with no growth, Nexus Clips lets your best moments work for you, even when you're offline. It streams, lets you edit them with ease, and gives you tools to post them across

[10:38] multiple platforms. So, you're going to be discovered 24/7 instead of only when you are live. All you need to do is log in, add your Twitch account, and it immediately starts scanning all your future streams for good clippable

[10:51] moments and even gives it a virality score. So, you can see the chance that these go viral before you even start editing. The editing process is super easy as well. You choose a format, it will automatically add a title,

[11:06] captions, and a call to action for you, which you can, of course, style to fit your brand and preference. I've been using Nexus Clips myself to make short form content, and I love using their editor, and clearly it's working. Some

[11:19] of my clips have gotten well over 100,000 views. Even 200,000 views is absolutely possible. If you want to speed up the growth of your channel, then you can check out Nex Clips right now. I've left a code in the description

[11:33] so you can get a discount. And if you choose to sign up through the link, then you are supporting the channel. Thank you, Nexus Clips, for sponsoring this video. With a plan in place, you can now take your career to the next level. But

[11:45] that doesn't mean it comes easy. There are plenty of traps that you can find yourself in, and once you are in them, they are like quicksand. They will keep dragging you deeper and deeper unless you manage to get out. If you want to

[11:59] avoid the biggest mistakes most streamers make, including the one that will just end your career, then check out the video right here. And as always, out the video right here. And as always, stream better, stream