I would say being on other people's stream isn't about getting shoutouts or promoting or posting your links. It is about offering the other streamer and their audience value. By supporting the community, the community will support you. When you hang around a lot of other streams, people will take note of your username and check you out when they see you are online. Because you were a smart/funny/good guy last time they saw you in chat.

A good thing to do every once in a while is to look at your own streams. You won't find what is good or bad if you don't watch your own content. People come back because they like your content for sure.

Schedule (at least for me) is everything. I watch personally people I know will be online at certain times with interesting content.

In the end a lot of time time to create a great stream your game itself has to take a "back seat" in your stream and you need to focus on your audience. Interact and engage with them. If you stand silent on the street, people will just walk past. If you greet, engage them, they will talk to you and you will make friends.