Make Money on Twitch: Ultimate Guide 2022

Twitch is a live-streaming video platform where creators can stream live content to millions of viewers. Gamers can share their video game play by either live streaming or by uploading recorded footage on their channel. The website only monetizes the channels, and partners are allowed to earn money by either running advertisements on their videos or by receiving donations from their viewers. The site is immensely popular and has been acquired by Amazon.com for a hefty sum.

However, Twitch is gaining popularity expeditiously, and several streamers are earning well through it. If you're also wondering about how to make money on Twitch, you must read this article further for some effective tips.

What You Need to Make Money on Twitch

Before we get to the ways through which you start earning on Twitch, you must know what the requirements are to become an earner on this popular streaming site. First of all, you must reach the Twitch affiliate status, and for that, you need the following:

• At least 50 followers
• Minimum 500 minutes of broadcasting
• Minimum three well-maintained concurrent views in the past month
• Minimum seven different broadcasting days

How You Can Make Money on Twitch

If you want to know how to make money on Twitch, you must get ready to put in some extra effort, as there are different ways to earn from this platform. Either you can get paid directly (by achieving the affiliate or partner status), or you can earn money outside of the platform.

Getting Paid Directly

As mentioned earlier, you must reach the affiliate status to start earning directly on Twitch. Once you reach the status, you can start earning via:

1. Subscribers

Viewers have to pay to subscribe to their favorite channels. However, there are benefits of subscribing to a channel; you get exclusive perks like extra videos and emojis. The subscription rates begin at $4.99, with two additional tiers at $9.99 and $24.99. Furthermore, the broadcaster gets a 50% cut from the subscription fee, and if your channel grows, you can demand a higher amount, and Twitch will provide that.

If you want more subscribers to your channel, you must provide them with great emotes. Selecting different emotes is only possible if you reach different tiers. So, if someone wants exciting emotes, you must encourage them to subscribe to a higher tier. However, you can create your own emotes from various emote creators available on the internet. In addition, streamers can offer their subscribers a variety of perks, such as subscriber badges, ad-free viewing, and subscriber-only streams and chats. These perks can help streamers stand out from the crowd and build a strong community of dedicated followers.

2. Twitch Bits

Bits are just a way of giving tips to the broadcasters. Viewers can directly buy them from the platform without leaving the site. Once the purchase has been made, they can hand them over to their favorite streamer. One Twitch bit counts for a single USD penny, and users can also receive special bonuses, such as Twitch Badges, when they start handing over their bits. Of course, a viewer can only hand over a bit to an affiliate user; otherwise, there's no point in thinking you can earn through this method.

With the help of bits, your viewers interact with you better, and your streams become more interesting. Many streamers report that they receive just as many bits as they do from subscriptions (after factoring in gifted subs).

3. Donations

Many viewers love to donate to their favorite streamers to show their support. Receiving donations is much simpler than getting Twitch Bits, as you'll not have to put in the effort to become an affiliate or partner. Instead, you can easily receive donations via third-party service providers. All you need is a 'donate' button added to your channel and receive the donations via third-party platforms like PayPal, Muxy, Donorbox, and more. However, there are two more ways through which your viewers can donate:

• The first one is adding a 'donate panel' to your profile's about me section.
• The second one is promoting your donation link in the chat by using services like Nightbot or Moobot.
• The third one is offering in-stream services so that you can incentivize viewers to donate to your cause.

The best example we can give here is of a musician who can take song requests from donors. Or, if you're playing a first-person shooter game, you can ask your viewers what weapon you can use to beat the opponent.

4. Ads

Ads contribute to the smallest part of a streamer's earnings but are essential for a growing channel. A lot of factors can affect your earnings through ads, and the two most vital are the length of the ad and Concurrent Viewership. However, your follower list is the main factor that decides how much you'll earn from ads. Ads can help you generate income, but you may lose viewers if you show too many ads in your streams. Hence, it would be better if you let your channel grow first and don't risk losing viewers.

Streamers can get paid through ad revenue, which is usually determined by the number of views they get per ad. However, with a lot of people using ad blockers, this number is only sometimes accurate. That's why streamers need to focus on making ads that won't interfere with their gameplay too much, so they can still profit from them.

Apart from adding to your income, Twitch Ads do have some benefits too. For example, if you run an ad in your stream, you can get a break and keep your viewers away from "pre-roll ads." A pre-roll ad is shown to a new viewer that visits your site for the first time to your channel, and many studies have proven that people click away if they see a pre-roll ad and don't even visit your channel.  

5 Gifted Subs

Gifted subs are subscriptions paid for by someone other than the sub-recipient, often referred to as the "sub-giver." This practice is against the terms of service for Twitch, so it is strongly encouraged never to give your password to anyone. A Twitch user can only have a subscription paid for by a sub-giver if they allow them in the "sub-giver" field in their profile.

It is an extremely risky practice, so please take care when allowing people you don't know to become a sub-giver. Sub-givers are not associated with a user's Twitch account and are not given any special treatment by the streaming service. In fact, the sub-giver can log in and stop the subscription at any time, and the sub-recipient would be none the wiser. The only way to monitor this would be to check your donations page. But you can also see the list of the people who have given the most subs on the top of the Twitch chat box.

Earning Money Outside of Twitch

As you can get paid directly from Twitch from the methods mentioned above, there are other ways through which you can earn money. Best of all, if you Monetize Outside of Twitch, you don't even have to reach the affiliate status. With that being said, let's take a look at some of the ways through which you can earn money outside of Twitch.

Merchandise

As your channel grows, you get a fanbase. So, you can launch your merch and earn well by selling it to your fans. Twitch allows you to showcase your merch, and you can even promote it on different social media accounts. Some of the common merch items are t-shirts, bags, caps, phone cases, and more. With the help of some Twitch extensions, you can allow your viewers to browse through the merch and stream your videos simultaneously.

Pro tip: The best way to sell your merchandise is by adding your logos or unique graphics to them. You can easily find some great designers on various platforms or websites to create unique designs or logos or get permission to use their original designs. Merchandising on your Twitch channel is a great way to make extra money once you are in the partner program. And don't worry; it generally does not cost you anything to have merchandise available on your channel. You can make money passively from your merchandise over time.

Monthly Tips

If you're thinking about how to make money on Twitch, one of the ways is to get monthly tips. Streamers who have yet to reach the affiliate status can get monthly tipping from their fans. Platforms like Streamlabs allow you to take monthly tips, and guess what? They don't charge any fee for that. Instead, the tip you receive will be reimbursed to your PayPal account, and you can easily decide whether you like one-time or monthly tips from your supporters.

If you're a streamer, you might think it's not okay to ask your viewers for tips directly, but if you go about it the right way, it can actually be quite effective. Make sure you're humble, genuine, and straightforward and that tips are never expected but always appreciated. Remember that if your only goal with streaming is to make money, viewers will likely sense this and be very reluctant to give you their hard-earned cash.

Brand Partnerships

A lot of brands rely on Twitch streamers to spread the word about their products and pay a good sum for the promotion. The process is basically called partnership, and it is a common way through which Twitch streamers earn money. Most companies that get in touch with Twitch streamers are hardware and software agencies, energy drink companies, and computer accessory sellers. Sponsorships can take many different forms, such as selling games, and in-game items, working with game developers to create exclusive content, and more. Of course, the form that a sponsorship takes depends on the sponsor's preferences.

Final Words

So as you can see, there are many ways to make money on Twitch. You can use your content to create a brand for yourself, sell premium memberships, and monetize your sponsorships. You can also use Twitch to grow your audience for your personal website or YouTube channel. Apart from YouTube, many Twitch streamers have utilized other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn to drive traffic to their streams so that they can earn a reputation and money as well.

However, it is not easy or quick, especially if you do not have a large audience. If you want to make a living through streaming, we suggest that you plan on taking the process slow and steady over the long term. Be prepared to work hard to build up a large, engaged audience. Once you have a large audience, you can engage them with a variety of monetization strategies.