If we’re ranking the tips on this list, this one’s a SSS platinum grand-master.

So, what exactly is the 1up method?

To put it simply, the 1up method is a strategy designed to get your Twitch channel hosted and raided by the RIGHT people without wasting any time.

I’ll walk you through the process step-by-step so you can get going on this ASAP.

But first,

Think for a second about how you get a new follower.

Somehow, they stumble across your content and maybe they like whatever you’re doing and it works for them.

Great!

If that’s the case, you might get lucky enough that they’ll drop you a follow. But you’ll have to get even luckier to ever see that person in your chat again.

This is mostly how it’s done and it’s a slow, painful process.

Eventually, a few streamers might get lucky enough to see it begin to snowball, pick up steam, and really take off.

The problem is:

Using this approach is like trying to become a famous movie star.

A few get lucky while most are doomed to an eternity of playing for nobody and talking to themselves.

The good news is:

You don’t have to rely on luck. Unless it’s Liquid Luck, of course.

You can take matters into your own hands by putting your content in front of people who have the ability to share it.

Instead of waiting around and hoping someone will host or raid you, you could reach out and ask them to.

Getting raided or hosted by someone with a huge following and viewership would be a dream come true right?

Wrong.

Sure, there will be a ton of new viewers dumped on you all at once, but the viewers who come are only coming because the celebrity told them to.

Their motivation isn’t finding new content and streamers to engage with; it’s hype-fueled follow-the-leader and when the leader is back, guess where they’re going?

Take a look at this graph:

This graph shows the viewer count of a streamer who was recently raided by Ninja himself.

The giant spike in the middle is the raid.

Their viewership skyrocketed from around 250 average viewers to nearly 30k viewers.

Needless to say, they were ecstatic.

To them, I’m sure it felt like all their hard work and dedication had paid off.

People who watch the most popular Twitch streamers do it because they like watching popular streamers.

Old habits die hard, and honestly, you’re not going to convert many (if any) of those fans.

Instead:

You could get hosted by the RIGHT people and gain exposure to the RIGHT audience using the 1UP method.

So, what exactly is the 1UP method?

It’s pretty simple.

Here’s how it works:

You build relationships with streamers who are currently 1 level up from you, AND in your niche.

Then you ask them to host you. That’s it.

What do I mean by “1 level up”?

Look for streamers who average around 10 viewers more than you.

It’s that simple.

If you target these streamers, you’re going to have a lot more success than you will trying to get hosted by big names and there’s a few reasons why.

• These streamers have more engaged audiences.
• Their audiences LOVE watching and supporting small streamers.
• Since you’re in the same niche, we know their viewers already enjoy the type of content you produce.

With that, let’s jump right in to the exact step-by-step process.

For this step, we’re heading to over to sullygnome.com.

From here, click “games”.

Find the game you’ve been streaming most often lately.

Then sort by “Followers” and click on “Average Viewers.”

From here, find your channel.

Once you’ve found it, click backwards until you see channels that are averaging 10 more viewers than you.

These are your 1 uppers.

This one’s pretty easy.

Just find your 1 uppers’ social media accounts and engage with them meaningfully.

The idea here is to be adding value to their platform.

So we’re trying to leave comments like this:

Not this:

You can also add value by:

• Answering other follower’s questions.
• Giving your opinion on the content of the post.
• Telling them you enjoyed something personal about their stream.

We just want them to know we’re a real person – not a bot or spammer.

After you’ve consistently engaged with them for about a week, it’s time to move on to:

Everyone loves recognition.

Now that your 1uppers know who you are and like you because you’ve been adding all that sick value, it’s the perfect time to reach out to them.

Here’s the perfect email script to use:

When they get back to you, just follow up and work out the details.

If they don’t get back to you within a week, shoot them a DM on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

That leads us to:

The hard work is done.

And if you’ve followed this process, you will have made new friends and networked with the right people to drive targeted traffic to your Twitch channel.

If you can do all that, you can start getting hosted by the right people today.

Ok, I know this one sounds a little… boring? But hear me out.

Tags are a new tool available to Twitch streamers, launched in 2018.

I’ll admit, at first glance, they’re not that exciting and don’t seem like something that would be valuable in getting more eyeballs on your channel.

If you really look into it though, using tags on Twitch can go a long way in bringing new viewers to your stream.

In fact, effective use of Twitch tags can help you:

Imagine a Twitch user browsing for some fresh Overwatch content.

Maybe they’re bored of the big guys and are looking for a new place to call home. Maybe they’re sick of watching sweaty competitive play and want to watch more casual play of a new hero they just started playing (Winston).

Which channel do you think they’re more likely to click?

Obviously, they’re going to choose the first one because it’s exactly what they’re looking for.

The idea is the same no matter what or how you are streaming.

If you’re using google search to look for a product or service, which of these are you more likely to click?

Obviously the one on the left with the site extensions.

But why?

Because it looks more legitimate, like something you should pay attention to, and it’s what you’re looking for.

Tags have a similar effect.

A browsing Twitch user – who doesn’t know or care about you – is more likely to click on the stream with more tags than the one that is just tagged “English” .

It actually amazes me just how many streamers don’t use them… do you want people to be able to find you?

This is the best reason to use tags.

Twitch recommends streams they think viewers will watch based on their viewing behavior.

If a Twitch viewer constantly watches streams tagged with “competitive”, “coaching”, or “tournament”, the algorithm identifies them as someone interested in competitive play and begins showing them recommended channels with similar tags.

Of course, if you’re not using tags, you’ll NEVER have the chance to show up in these recommendations.

Sad story, I know – just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The question is:

How many tags should i use?

Twitch will allow you to use up to 5.

So use 5.

Not 3, Not 4, but 5. Got it?

With that, here’s some great tags to try on your next stream:

• Action
• Competitive
• Casual Play-through
• Champion/Hero/Legend
• Charity
• Duos
• Marathon
• Single-player
• Speed-run
• Tournament
• Let’s Play

If you want more tag suggestions, you can see the full list of Twitch tags right here.

We’ve all seen it before:

You pop into a new channel because you’re curious and what do you see?

A Twitch streamer… just sitting there… playing games…. not saying anything….

If you’re like most people, you go reaching for that back button like a bat out of hell.

And to be fair, it is a kind of hell.

Viewers want to be entertained.

Watching someone sitting quietly playing video games is about as entertaining as watching paint dry.

Maybe less so.

Twitch users who stumble backwards into your channel don’t know anything about you, and they care about you even less.

So, you better give them a reason to care .

Making sure to always keep talking is the easiest way to hook new viewers.

The problem is:

What do you talk about? And what if you don’t have any viewers?

Not to worry,

I’ve got you covered with great ideas that will work for any Twitch streamer of any size.

Let’s jump right in.

Make the conversation a two-way street.

Most streamers just respond or read the comments in their chat.

You can do better by asking the chat questions, turning a Q&A into a conversation.

If you’re still small, this shouldn’t be a problem.

You have enough time to do it, so don’t be lazy.

Remember,

You’re an entertainer first and a gamer second.

If this isn’t possible for you, just try to respond to as much as possible.

Win a battle royale?

“We did it boys” will always be better than “I did it.”

Your viewers want to feel like they’re a part of something.

Tweaking your language in this small way can have a huge impact on the sense of community and belonging your viewers are looking for.

You know who they are.

The ones who are in your chat every single day.

The viewers who never miss a stream.

The ones who are eagerly waiting for you to go live.

Those guys.

They’re the ones who will talk about you to their friends and be responsible for your growth.

Make sure they get some recognition. Shout them out, make them feel special, because they are.

All right, that’s all good.

But what do you do if you don’t have any viewers?

It’s not always easy to keep yourself talking to nobody.

Think out loud.

You can say whatever’s on your mind.

You’re playing video games, so there’s lots of mental stimulation going on.

Talk about your thought process, why you made the play you made, what you think about the game, what you like about it, etc.

And make sure your viewers can hear them.

This one’s simple but works great.

If you’re playing with friends when a new viewer comes, it will feel more like they stepped into a social gathering and less like peering in on one quiet weird dude playing games.

One small warning:

Things get rowdy online, so make sure your friends know when you’re streaming.  

Don’t rage.

As tempting and automatic as it may be, there isn’t a single person on the planet who wants to see that.

If you’re guilty of raging on stream, knock it off and don’t start streaming again until you can keep yourself collected.

When you rage, nobody views you as the unfortunate, trespassed-against poor soul you think you are.

You just look like a whiny bitch.

And you’re crying about video games so, ya, you kind of are.

This one’s a lot harder than it sounds.

It will require some practice.

Once you’ve mastered it, though, it will do wonders to grow your Twitch channel.

Your content will become a lot stickier and you’ll notice viewers staying longer and coming back more often.

Have you ever seen a business with no brand?

Yes you have and that’s the exactly why you think you haven’t.

You are a business.  

You’re selling entertainment for time and attention and you need a brand.

You need something viewers can latch onto and recognize in and out of your stream.

That way, when it comes time for your customers to purchase more entertainment, you are the first to come to mind.

The problem is:

Creating an effective brand is difficult because there’s no magic formula to doing it effectively.

It’s more about the sum of the parts of your stream adding up to something greater.

With that said, here’s a few things you can do right now that WILL have a huge effect getting your brand across in the minds of your viewers.

If you don’t have a logo, get one.

You can easily search on Fiverr for “eports logo” and get something great for less than $50.

Once you have a killer logo, make sure it’s on EVERYTHING you produce.

When someone comes in contact with your content, there should be absolutely no question where it came from or who made it.

Once you have your logo, make sure you use the same colors from it on everything you put out.

If your logo is orange and green don’t randomly use purple on your content, as tempting as it may be.

Creating a special name for your group of followers and fans can go a long way in pulling them deeper into your world.

A great example of this is Dr. Disrespect’s “Champion’s Club.”

… or Benedict and his Cumberbitches.

All his viewers want to be a member of the club and it’s responsible for driving a ton of subscribers for his channel.

Start there and you’re well on your way to creating a memorable brand your audience will latch onto and recognize whenever they see it.

People like things that are official.

They’re generally risk-averse and want to make sure they’re spending their mental currency (time and attention) where it counts.

One of the easiest ways to look like a true professional is having your own website.

Thankfully:

Building a website today is easier than it’s ever been.

Thanks to user-friendly platforms like wordpress, wix, and squarespace, you can build a great website in no time.

It doesn’t have to be the most beautiful website you’ve ever seen, but it should look good.r

With that, here’s some things to consider putting on your site:

• An extended bio. Write about yourself, why you do what you do, and what your goals are with the channel.
• PC parts list. Bonus points for affiliate links.
• Stream Schedule.
• Links to all your social media platforms.
• Any upcoming events you are planning.
• List of partners. (sponsors, affiliate relationships, brands you work with) .
• Merchandise, if you sell any(and you should).
• A contact form linked to an email address that you check frequently.
• Links to subscribe to your Twitch channel.

Don’t have a blog on your site unless you are going to update it consistently. It’s better to not have one than have one with one half-assed post from over a year ago.

Here are a few examples of awesome websites built by streamers:

Annemunition | annemunition.tv

Timthetatman | imtimthetatman.com

Kate | katestark.com

You can easily build a website like these in less than a day and consider it time well spent.

Not only will your users view you in a more professional light; brands and sponsors will as well.

Who’s in your info section?

Is it you or this guy?

Your info section is a valuable resource but it’s not doing you any favors if there’s nothing there.

Having a blank info section sends a message to your viewers:

“I don’t care about streaming and I don’t want you to watch me.”

Why even bother?

I know it seems obvious but, I wouldn’t have been able to grab the picture above if it weren’t for the channel not having any content in its info section.

Your info section is an opportunity for you to make an impact on someone.

New viewers will click on it to learn more about you before they drop their precious follows and decide to spend their attention on you – so make it count.

A good info section can help you:

Use another, separate section to answer some frequently asked questions.

What’s your name?

Where are you from?

How old are you?

You don’t have to answer these exact questions, and can keep as much personal information personal as you’d like.

I hope I don’t have to tell you that it’s a bad idea to give out any private information here.

Keep those social security numbers to yourselves please.

Are there any brands you work with?

Make sure you have your affiliate links working and prominently displayed in your info section.

In addition to any brands you work with, make sure you have Amazon affiliate links for your entire PC from your monitors to your ram sticks.

You never know when one of your viewers will need a new component and, more often than not, they will be more than happy to purchase it with your link.

Link to your profiles on other platforms so your audience can stay engaged with you even when you’re not streaming.

If you are active on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or anything else – link to it in your info section.

Only link to platforms you keep updated regularly.

Just because you CAN link to every platform in existence doesn’t mean you should.

If you only tweet once a month, don’t ask anybody to follow you on Twitter.

Make sure your schedule is easy to find and read.

How can anyone show up for your stream if they don’t know when it will take place?

You want your viewers to come back, so, let them know when. 

I’m not saying you should ever ask for donations.

Any Twitch streamer who flat-out asks for money is just a bum.

Money is a communication of value.

If you create good content and grow an awesome community, you are providing value for your viewers.

Eventually, some of them will want to communicate that value to you with a donation.

Having an obvious link to donate will reduce friction and make it easier to do so.

The same thing goes for subscriptions as does for donations.

You want a large and obvious link to subscribe to your channel.

Bonus – display your subscriber benefits to drive more subscriptions.

It’s a good idea to display your chat’s rules.

This can keep some unnecessary drama at bay.

It can also give you something to point at if you have to ban someone.

With that said, here’s some good ideas of things to include in your info section to make it work for you:

• About me (personal).
• PC Specs (use affiliate links).
• Sponsors and affiliate links.
• Large, obvious donation button.
• Large, obvious subscription link.
• Schedule.
• FAQ.
• Links to social media.
• Channel Rules.

So, having a complete info section is important to growing your twitch channel.

Start with these and add more later as you please.

Remember though:

Attention spans are small so don’t ask too much here- focus on the few things that will make the biggest difference.

If you stream, you have a ton of content.

An average stream is full of insane, god-mode moments, funny clips, and other weird shit that happened while recording.

It would be a shame if all those little gems were forever lost in the hours-long original recording.

If you have viewers, you might be lucky enough for them to have clipped them for you.

If not, here’s what to do:

1. Keep a notepad on hand to record timestamps of share-worthy moments in your stream.
2. After your stream, go to your timestamps and create shorter videos of the action.
3. Edit them to contain your branding.  
4. Post on social media. and YouTube.

This works great for keeping your audience engaged on other platforms.

It’s a great way to remind viewers you haven’t seen in a while to come watch again and keep your dedicated fans in the loop when they miss a stream.

Try to have 3 clips like this from every stream. If you have more, great, but don’t post anything just to post it.

You can also repackage longer clips from your streams into valuable YouTube content.

What do I mean by valuable?

Exactly that. Valuable content has value.

It teaches your viewers how to do something or solves a problem of theirs; it has utility.

Most Twitch streamers just upload sick plays or funny videos from their stream directly to YouTube.

These types of content are better left in bite-size increments, easily digestible on social media.

Great for engagement, not so great for growth.

Think for a second about what type of content shows up on your YouTube recommended videos.

You’re more likely to see this video:

Than this one:

Why?

Because the YouTube algorithm does an incredible job connecting its users to content they want to see.

They want you to stay on YouTube as long as possible so they can make your brain fat on ads and wring it out for profit.

Instead of just posting whatever you feel like, create something YouTube to show its users.

Just take some game-play footage from one of your streams and record a simple voice-over to create a guide.

Here’s some quick ideas for content that anybody with one recorded game of Apex Legends could produce:

• Apex Legends Best Spots to Land [Top 5]
• All the Apex Legends [Tier List]
• The Best Weapons in Apex [Ranked]
• How to Survive the Apex Games [Win More]

These are just some really simple examples; you could do the same thing with any game you stream.

Use brackets and parentheses in your titles.

They increase click-through-rate in google search and the same goes for YouTube videos.

Use words like “Awesome!”, “Great!”, or “Best!’ in your title.

These words encourage clicks which will lead to more views.

If you dissect and repackage your Twitch streams into other content, you’re keeping your existing audience engaged and bringing new viewers into your world.

Most new Twitch streamers fall into a trap.

Inspired by the success of the most popular streamers, they rush to copy them, thinking if they play the same games, eventually, they’ll see the same results.

Here’s the problem:

As I’m writing this, there are 9,165 avg channels streaming Fortnite.

If you’re just starting out, you have close to a zero percent chance of being dredged up from the darkest depths of the 0 viewer sea.

Think for a moment about someone who WOULD actually stop by your channel way down there.

How do you think they found it?

Most likely, they were bored so they just scrolled as far as they could handle and clicked on whatever random channel they landed on.

Do you think this person is likely to come back? Hang out for a while? Become a loyal fan?

Probably not. Why?

Just look at their behavior – they do the exact kind of thing that led them to your channel in the first place.

Instead, you could get more exposure playing obscure, or less popular games.

(By obscure I mean less than 1000 avg viewers. I don’t mean go to the thrift store and buy a game that nobody has ever heard of. You don’t want to be the only person streaming it and you want to know there’s demand for the content you will work hard to produce.)

But Fortnite has hundreds of thousands of viewers!

If the entire population of planet Earth was watching Fortnite at the same time, you still wouldn’t get any viewers.

Even though obscure games have much smaller total viewership, there’s also a much smaller number of streamers playing them.

This makes the competition for viewership much less fierce, allowing you to scoop up more new viewers than you would otherwise.

There’s a marketing theory that goes something like this: “as the size of an audience increases, the overall rate of engagement decreases.”

It makes sense if you think about it.

Do you feel more connected to the few small streamers you follow or the huge titans of Twitch?

If you send a DM to Ninja, will he reply?

I would argue a similar force is at play with small, obscure games.

The fans are more connected to them than than they are to Fortnite and if you stream them, the viewers you attract will associate you with that game.

They’ll remember you as “that streamer who plays the game I love so much” rather than “that random-ass Fortnite streamer.”

Once you have built a following though, you can play whatever you want.

A good, engaged, and hard-earned audience will follow you to the ends of the gaming universe.

Check out twitchstrike.com – a great analytical tool that can help you choose what and when to stream.

Everyone loves free stuff.

Giveaways are one of the most effective strategies to drive valuable conversion actions like follows, subscriptions, and engagements toyour Twitch channel.

You might think you can’t afford to host a giveaway.

After all, who wants to spend a ton of money on a prize just to have the giveaway be a flop or not see any real benefit from it.

The truth is:

You’re better off not hosting giveaways for valuable items at all.

I actually recommend not spending more than $20 on any single item for a giveaway.

Later, when you attract sponsors, they’ll be happy to provide you with more valuable items to give away.

Here’s the deal:

When someone enters a giveaway, they aren’t actually expecting to win.

Since they don’t expect to win, the prize has no value in their mind.

And because the prize has no value, a giveaway for a $5 Steam gift card is the same as a giveaway for a $50 gift card.

I know that sounds weird, but it’s true.

If someone currently does not own something or have it in their possession, it might as well be a bucket of sand.

Ready to host your own high-return giveaway?

Here’s the exact step-by-step process: 

You want to give all your Twitch followers enough time to enter without having it frag on forever.

Keep the total run time between two weeks and 30 days.

Create a graphic to share your giveaway on the platforms where it will be held.

You do not need to hire a graphic designer for this.

Canva has plenty of amazing templates available for every platform and is completely free.

You can create your own graphic for your giveaway even if you have no graphic design skills or knowledge.

Provide guidelines for entry to your audience.

Here are some good ideas to require for entry:

• Like/retweet the post.
• Tag 3 Friends.
• Ask a question and require them to comment.
• Follow your Twitch Channel.

This part’s easy.

When the giveaway period has ended, just take all your entrants usernames and pop them in random.org.

Just send the winner/s a DM to let them know they’ve won.

If you chose a physical product, make sure to get their address so you can ship them their prize.

Everyone wants to know who won.

Only post the winners AFTER you’ve contacted them and made delivery arrangements.

That way, you can make sure they’re real and want the prize and can avoid having to post the same thing multiple times.

So that’s how and why you should consider hosting your own giveaway.

A couple notes though:

If you’re looking to grow your Twitch channel, don’t host your giveaway on Twitch.

There’s no way for your audience to bring the new crowd because they can’t tag them.

Hosting giveaways directly on Twitch is great for building loyalty with your existing audience but will NOT bring in any new viewers.

You can save yourself some time by partnering with a giveaway platform like Gleam or player.gg.

These platforms make it easy for people to enter and for you to select your winners.

If you have any brand or product affiliations, ask them if they would be willing to supply prizes for your giveaway.

Most will be more than happy to.

Bonus points for coupling the giveaway with a charitable event or stream.

Creating your own Discord server goes a long way in building an audience.

When your audience joins your discord, they’re saying:

“Yes, I do want to belong to your community.”

You might think:

It’s better to hold off on creating your server until you have a “substantial” following.

Big mistake.

The truth is:

You don’t need to have tons of followers or a huge audience to have a successful discord server.

Remember what we talked about earlier?

The smaller your audience, the more engaged they will be with you and your content.

If you’re just starting out, you want the few members of your audience that you DO have to be as engaged as possible.

They’re the ones who will talk about you to their friends and do most of the heavy lifting getting new people to your channel.

Inviting them to join your discord is like inviting them to your own exclusive fan club except better.

You see:

You see: running your own Discord server gives your fans a chance to mingle and make new friends.

Your own Discord channel offers a ton of utility as well.

It can help you keep your audience posted on things like:

• Special Events.
• Giveaways.
• Schedule.
• What you are currently streaming.
• Anything else you need to let them know.

But that’s not all:

Your own Discord server makes it easy for your community to keep the discussion going even when you aren’t streaming.

Don’t have your own Discord server yet?

Get on it right now.

Look:

In order to build your Twitch Channel, you need a budget.

And I’m not talking about $200 for that new Elgato capture card.

I’m talking about time.

If you want to take your stream anywhere, you need to be consistent.  

You need to give it your best effort to stream as much as you possibly can without letting other parts of your life devolve into chaos.

Here’s the deal:

I don’t think you should give up everything else in your life and start streaming full time right away.

You do, however, need to create and STICK TO a schedule.

Be honest with yourself about how much time you can afford to dedicate to streaming.

If you work full time or have other priorities, you might only be able to stream for 10hrs / week.

That’s actually enough time IF you make good use of it.

Rather than “binge streaming” all that in one day, you’re better off spreading that out over 4 or 5 streams. Why?

Because your viewers have their own schedules and priorities.

Not everyone is some basement-dwelling swamp monster who can afford to sit around all day, gorging Mtn. Dew and Doritos, and watching Twitch until they pass out at 3am.

Spreading it out this way increases the likelihood any one of your audience members will be able to view your content in a given week.

Here’s how you shouldn’t budget your stream time:

Randomly playing for 10hrs in one sitting during the week at whatever time you feel like.

How can you expect anybody to come back and see the show if they don’t know when it will start?

You can’t.

Creating a schedule makes you more reliable.

It holds you accountable to your fans and shows them you respect their time and consideration to watch your content.

It’s more important to have your stream start times laid out than exactly how long you will be playing each day.

We’re all human and sometimes you’ll want to cut it early for a number of reasons.

That’s all right – just make sure your audience knows when you are going to start.

Once you create your schedule, treat it as a real responsibility.

Only deviate from it in the case of serious emergency.

Cancelling on your audience is the same as calling in sick to work. Do it too often and your audience will kick you to the curb.

Have you ever seen a famous person in real life?

If you have, you know exactly what a surreal experience that can be.

And you probably made sure to tell everyone you know about it.

For example:

If you know me at all then you know I saw John Travolta at Legoland and Amy Adams at The Great Wold Lodge.

Even if you’re a small streamer, there’s just something about interacting with someone you’ve only ever seen on the screen – whether it be a movie star, Youtube creator, or Twitch streamer.

You can really pull your audience further into your world by doing something as simple as inviting them to play with you.

Here’s exactly how to do it the right way:

You want to keep this a special event.

If you’re always playing with your viewers, it will quickly lose its value.

Here are some great ideas for making playing with your viewers work well for you:

• Play with your viewers during a portion of your streams. ex. Last two hours.
• Set aside one day each week to play with your viewers.
• Play with your viewers once a month and couple the event with another so they feed off each other. Charity streams and giveaways work perfectly for this.

If nobody knows you will be playing with viewers, nobody will show up.

I recommend posting on all your social media accounts as well as your Discord at least two hours before the event begins.

Make sure to leave a link to join your Discord in the post.

If you’ve been following this guide, you’ve already created one.

We will be using it to select the viewers we will be playing with.

If you have a large enough audience, you can choose to only play with Subs.

This creates a great incentive for viewers to subscribe as well.  

If you don’t have a subscribe button yet, play with your followers.

Some things to consider:

• How many games will you play with each viewer or group of viewers?
• Ideally, you don’t want to make anybody wait for more than an hour to get in a game. If you’ve got a ton of people waiting, wait times are going to be longer.
• Try to play more than 1 game with each player or group. You’re going to have to feel out exactly what the right amount of time to play with each group is as it will vary greatly depending on your viewership, the game you’re playing, etc.

We want to try to make everyone happy.

That means playing with as many people or groups of people as possible.

Create a private channel your audience needs to request access to.

Name it something like:

#playwithme

or

#playwith[channelname]

Then, tell everyone to join the channel if they would like to participate.

As your viewers join the channel, verify they are following or subscribed.

If they don’t meet the requirements you laid out earlier, don;t let them join.

Do this on a first-come, first-serve basis. This is easy now because we’ve been manually approving every account that has joined.

This is the easy part.

After you have played a couple games or when you have enough new players queued up, remove the first round and invite the next.

You’ll have to test out different pacing to get it right.

Normally,

Playing two games of a battle royale is about right for an average sized-streamer.

So that’s it.

A step-by-step guide for getting massive engagement simply by playing with them.

Try it today and thank me later.

Mute your new players to your stream until you know they’re trustworthy.

We’re dancing in the land of trolls here so make sure they earn the privilege of speaking to your audience.

Instead of finding channels in your niche that are 1 level up from you, we’re going to find channels that are one level down and host them.

It’s a little game of pay-it-forward than can pay off in a big way.

Honestly, I’m shocked.

I see tons of streamers hosting big guys like Ninja, Shroud, TFUE, and more.

I can’t even begin to explain what a tremendous waste of time and resources this is.

Why do they do this?

They do it in hopes they will one day get raided or hosted in return.

As we saw earlier, even if they do raid or host you,

it’s not clear that will have any real benefit to you in the long term.

Hosting some smaller channels, however, can actually pay off in a big way.

Here’s the deal:

Some of the streamers that are currently below you in terms of audience, viewership, etc. won’t always be there.

Some of them might even get huge.

If they do, they’ll remember the people who helped them along the way.

They’ll be more likely to return the favor consistently.

Here’s how to make this strategy work for you:

Once you’re there, just click on “Games” in the sidebar.

Just find the one you’ve been streaming the most in the past 30 days.

We’re going to use Sea of Thieves as an example.

If you’re averaging 10 or more viewers, aim to find ones that are averaging less than 5.

If you’re averaging more,

Great!

We’re going to look for channels who are averaging around 10 less than us.

We’re only looking for channels who stream consistently.

We don’t want any once-per-month freeloaders.

Keep your spreadsheet simple.

We just want enough information to stay organized and do not want to go overboard.

I recommend the following fields:

• Twitch URL
• Actual name (if you can find it)
• Email address
• Instagram & Twitter URLs

Here’s the deal:

You’re only going to be able to host one or two other channels during any stretch of time.

You’ll get the most bang for your buck sorting and prioritizing them by the amount of time they’ve spent streaming in the past 30 days.

Just shoot them a message and let them know you like their channel and to keep up the good work.

You can use this script right here:

Once you’ve received a few replies(wait 3-5 days),

You can choose which channels to go forward with.

Once a few good channels have got back to you, you’re ready for the next step:

Same thing as before.

We want to leave helpful comments on their social media accounts, shout them out on our own, etc.

Now, we’re going to host or raid their channel multiple times over the next month or so.

If they stop streaming, you can pick someone else to host.

That’s it.

This strategy is incredibly easy and can possibly lead to huge things for your channel in the future.

What’s even better though:

Is it’s a strategy that gives you a lot of room to be creative in your approach.

You can even take a gamble on a particular streamer if you just really like their content.

Here’s another great opportunity to give back to your Twitch audience.

You might be wondering:

how cab being sponsored by products and services can possibly be counted as “giving back” to your my audience?

After all, they send YOU free product.

But that’s only true only if you don’t have the “right” sponsors.

You see,

Most Twitch streamers rush out and send the world’s shittiest email to any and every random eSports-related company they can find.

The result?

A random assortment of sponsors and promotions that are in no way in-line with their brand or anything their viewers actually want to hear about or purchase.

Build relationships with the right sponsors, however, and your audience will thank you.

In fact, having the right sponsors can help you:

Most companies who DO decide to sponsor you will pay you in some way.

Each sponsor will have different reward structures with some offering free product and others paying out directly in cash for sales attributed to your efforts.

Nothing screams “I’m a serious streamer who you should pay attention to” like being sponsored by recognized brands.

When you become the conduit between your audience and products they will use and love, magic happens.

I’m in, but how do I get started?

Here’s how to get going step-by-step:

For this step, we’re headed back to our favorite place on the planet, sullygnome.com.

Here’s what to do:

– Find channels that have around the same average viewership as you.

– Click through to their channels and make a list of all the sponsors they have listed.

You’ll find all sorts of businesses like restaurant delivery services, energy drinks, nerd art, clothing, branded merch, and more.

There will probably be a few that only fit into their own category as well.

Just categorize them the best you can.

Let me be clear:

We’re not asking them which products they think you should represent.

Instead, we’re trying to find out which ones they already use.

Next, using the categories generated in the last step, create this poll on strawpoll.me:

The next part’s easy:

Just post the poll on social media and ask your audience to participate.

Once the poll has been completed, use the data to decide which types of sponsors you should have.

You’ve done the work and you know who to get sponsored by.

But how should you approach them?

Here’s what not to do:

(These are examples of some messages we have received here at Liquid Luck which were turned down.)

Sorry buddy.

Wut.

Nah.

Look.

These are bad for obvious reasons but you don’t have to go way overboard in the other direction either.

At any company, the person who filters these doesn’t have time to read a giant wall of text about why you’re the best streamer in the world or a dissertation on your hopes and dreams.

Your goal here is to introduce yourself briefly and provide relevant information.

If you send this email, you’ll be way ahead of the competition:

This approach is simple and supplies the relevant information they’re looking for when on-boarding new influencers.

What brands or products do your viewers love? Could you set aside 30 minutes today to ask them?

Don’t worry about your follower count being too low.

“Micro” and “nano” influencers are all the rage in today’s digital marketing landscape.

There are plenty of brands that want to work with small channels.

They’re more concerned with working with influencers who are “on-brand’ and will uphold the integrity of that brand.

There’s no better way to hook your Twitch viewers than inviting them to have a part in creating your brand.

When you run a creative contest with your viewers here’s what happens:

They’ll share their creations with their friends and link back to your contest which will, in turn, draw more entries and eyeballs to your content.

You might be surprised just how many of your viewers are creative types.

Some of these people are going to have some graphic design skills.

That’s awesome because…

We can put them to good use for our benefit and theirs.

The truth is:

Everyone wants recognition.

When a winner is chosen, they will become your biggest advocate and they’ll make sure everyone knows they won the contest.

There’s really no limit to what kinds of creative contests you can run with your Twitch viewers.

With that said, here’s some simple ideas to get the wheels turning:

The possibilities are endless and you don’t have to stick to graphics.

You could even run a contest for creating a background music playlist, audio notifications, and more.

Want to run your own contest? Here’s exactly how to do it step-by-step:

Earlier, I recommended you stick to prizes like cheap digital codes that can be transferred to the winner(s) with ease.

For this type of contest, since the entrants are working hard creating something awesome for you, you can go ahead and offer a more substantial prize.

You don’t have to but it might help you get more entries.

It’s still a good idea to stick to digital products like gift cards so you can transfer them easily.

You don’t want to leave your contestants with any guesswork.

If you’re running a design contest for a Twitch banner, make sure you specify clearly what dimensions the entries need to be, what colors to use, and anything else that you require as part of your brand.

If you don’t already have a brand guidebook or style guide, now is the perfect time to create one.

Nothing would be worse than gathering some seriously amazing entries just to not be able to use them.

Announce your contest on all your social media channels.

Make sure you include:

– Start Date.

– End Date.

– Entry Specifications.

– Link to Your Style Guide.

– Prize Details.

All right, nothing to do now but sit back and let the millions of entries and Twitch followers pour in right?

Wrong.

You need to run the contests for at least 30 days since it requires work to enter and (surprise, surprise) it’s not on the top of anybody’s to-do list.

During that time, continually remind your viewers of the contest and push them to enter.

When the contest is over, it’s time to ask your viewer’s opinion on the entries.

Head back to strawpoll.me and create another poll.

Look:

It’s great to get your fans opinions on all the new designs.

But at the end of they day, it’s your decision to make.

So be clear with your audience. Tell them you value their opinion but you will make the final decision.

Once you’ve chosen your winner, it’s time to let the world know.

Make sure to give them a huge shoutout on all your platforms and link to their socials.

Post a picture of the entry and say why it won. What did you love about it?

This one’s obvious but I wanted to include it so you make sure to implement the winning entry ASAP.

You don’t want to wait a week to post it on your info section or wherever it needs to be used.

Ideally, you would be making use of it on your very next stream, or upload it within minutes of announcing the winner.

Lastly, we need to reward the winner their hard-earned prize.

Just shoot them an email or DM to let them know they’ve won and arrange delivery of the prize.

There you have it.

Inviting your audience to flex their creative skills and develop your brand is a killer way to get new followers and drive even more engagement to your channel.

Are there any areas of your Twitch stream that could use some sweet graphical lovemaking?

Probably.

The good news is you can start your own creative contest right now.

So that’s it.

There’s plenty of work to do. But you don’t have to do them all today.

Just pick an easy one and start there.

Over time, though, you can do them all.

And the results on your Twitch channel growth will be astronomical.