The word streaming has now entered everyone’s vocabulary. Traditional means of transmitting content, such as radio and television, are gradually being replaced by new media such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube. 

Today, these well-established platforms have been joined by Twitch which is no longer a platform dedicated exclusively to gamers but is increasingly the basis of all those content creators who want to create dialogue and give value to their community. I want to tell you about it because it also allows excellent monetization and earning methods, within the reach of almost everyone. In this article, you will find out how to make money with Twitch and what you need to get started.

Entertainment, the use of online content are now an activity that has become part of everyone’s business.

Today we can all find online small or large communities of people who share our interests, our passions, and with whom to dialogue quite easily.

Sharing is increasingly real-time and the connection is now total.

Getting in touch and exchanging opinions with even strangers is normal.

Bombarded with content, our attention has waned and today we are more inclined to look at video content, photographs, infographics, and less and less to read articles and insights.

Twitch fits into this trend, which initially went to intercept a very young audience dedicated exclusively to playing online.

It is therefore known by most as a platform in which to interact with Pro Players and gamers in general, but today it is much more and it is a real entertainment channel, but also for deepening very serious issues.

It shows really interesting growth and has (at least for now) one of the best monetization systems to make money from creating your content.

But let’s go in order and see what Twitch is, how it works and how to achieve monetization.

In this article

• What is Twitch?
• How to open a channel?
• How to activate monetization?
• How to make money with Twitch?
• Subscriptions
• Bits
• Commercial break
• Donations
• Other ways to earn
• Useful tips

What is Twitch?

Twitch is a live video streaming platform active since 2011 and acquired by Amazon in 2014.

It was initially successful by hosting e-sports tournaments and gaming sessions with Pro Player and amateur players.

Later it started hosting gamers talking about video games.

For some years now it has also been used to chat on various topics.

Today several channels make pure entertainment, broadcast music, electoral rallies, cooking lessons, but also personal finance content.

Each Twitch has about 4 million active users  and more than 200,000 users use the platform every day.

What matters in these cases is the growth trend which is impressive if you think that there were less than 50,000 at the beginning of 2020.

How to open a channel?

Once subscribed to Twitch you will automatically have associated a channel.

Therefore, it is enough to subscribe to the platform to have a space available in which to share your content in live video.

If you are not yet subscribed to Twitch, subscribe by clicking on the register at the top right of the homepage.

If you are already registered, just enter your channel by clicking on your profile icon at the top right and set your channel by changing the settings.

To start streaming, simply download a streaming application directly from the site.

You will be able to choose between OBS and Twitch Studio and take a few tries to easily go live and start your first stream.

How to activate monetization?

To activate the monetization of your channel, you just need to meet some requirements.

Today the criteria are not very restrictive and it is quite easy to achieve monetization in a very short time, even if it is never trivial to launch a channel from scratch.

Here are the criteria to apply to become a Twitch Affiliate and start earning:

• 50 followers ;
• 500 total minutes of transmission in the last 30 days ;
• 7 unique broadcast days in the last 30 days e
• an average of 3 or more simultaneous viewers over the past 30 days.

It’s not hard to hit these numbers if you already have a user base on other platforms to bring to Twitch.

Alternatively, if you want to start building your popularity on this platform it will be very difficult to get started because Twitch won’t give you great exposure.

Today the platforms are connected. That’s why I always advise you never to limit yourself to managing Twitch in a way that is disconnected from other platforms but to have an overall editorial plan trying to bring your followers from one platform to another.

In any case, consider that, once you have reached the minimum criteria above, you will be invited to activate monetization and after filling out some tax forms you will be accepted as an affiliate.

You can start earning by choosing the preferred method to be paid between Paypal or direct deposit into your account.

The payment will take place once the 100 Euro has been reached at the end of a given month.

The next step after the affiliate step is that of a Partner that you can reach by broadcasting for at least 25 different hours and 12 days with an average of 75 viewers in the last 30 days.

Partner status also gives some advantages in terms of monetization, but above all, it offers tools to grow, retain your community, and consequently earn.

How to make money with Twitch?

The good thing about Twitch is the variety of ways you can make money. Let’s see which ones you can activate once the affiliation is activated.

Subscriptions

The first way to earn is that of subscriptions from your subscribers.

Subscriptions for those who make them can be free if made by connecting the Amazon Prime account, or for a fee and cost your subscribers 4.99 Euros (Level 1) 9.99 Euros (Level 2), or 24.99 Euros per month ( Level 3).

It is not trivial to get a subscription and have your community reach out to their wallet to support you.

However, it is much easier to convince those who already have Amazon Prime to subscribe to your channel for free.

By connecting your Amazon Prime account to Twitch you are entitled to a free subscription, which you can hope that users want to allocate to your channel.

For each subscription made with Amazon Prime, you will receive about 2.49 Euros.

In the other cases and for the three levels above you will receive about half (50%) of the amount paid by the subscriber.

Bits

Bits are a virtual currency inside the platform that each user can buy or accumulate by watching advertising or answering easy surveys.

Bits can be used to support your streamer and allow them to earn.

So during the live shows, your subscribers will be able to send you a minimum of 1 BIt.

Consider that 100 Bits are equivalent to about 1.50 Euros and your goal will be to accumulate as much as possible.

Commercial break

Another way of earning, quite residual, is that of advertising shown to subscribers to your channel.

Advertising is automatically inserted by Twitch based on the chosen settings and its performance is quite variable, but low at least until you have enough subscribers and users watching your life.

Donations

The last possibility that can be activated using external platforms is that of donations received from members.

Getting donations will be quite simple and you can do it using Paypal or Streamlabs.

Other ways to earn

As on all platforms, in addition to the methods internal to the platform, you will always have methods external to it, such as the promotion of products and services also through affiliate links and collaboration with companies and brands.

This, especially for the most important streamers, is the most profitable form of income, and more and more in the future, the big brands will approach this platform for the promotion of their products.

Useful tips

When it comes to online platforms it is always easy, from the outside, to think that it is very easy to make money.

Instead, I want to disappoint you and tell you that unfortunately, the gains will come only if you manage to create valuable content constantly and professionally.

The competition is now fierce on all platforms and being able to monetize is very difficult.

However, it is by no means impossible and Twitch has the advantage of being a platform that has only recently opened up to non-gamers.

It is therefore a slightly less crowded arena than many others in which to start building your audience.

As always, I recommend that you combine it with other platforms and start immediately, improving step by step.

Let me know in the comments what you think and what your experience is if you are already a streamer.