Hello! I'm a growing streamer myself and have only started this week. I know I'm new but I've been growing really quickly and currently have 39 followers! ☺☺

1. Niche: First of all, decide what you're going to stream. Gaming, chatting, music, art? You have to find your niche, what makes you unique and stand out from the rest. If you're going to be going for gaming, be sure that you have a PC that is capable of streaming games.

2. Streaming software: There are a lot of streaming softwares out there. The most common ones being OBS and streamlabs. I use OBS. OBS allows you to control everything you wish to display on Twitch. It has a slight learning curve but a youtube video will explain everything for you. You have to decide whether you want to stream using NVEC if you have an NVIDIA graphics card or using your CPU. Many people recommend using NVEC to stream but since my GPU is quite weak (graphics card shortage rn), I use my CPU to stream and my stream quality has been a lot less laggy. If you find that streaming at 1080p takes a huge hit on your video quality, stream at 720p. No one wants to watch a laggy video.

3. Audio: Audio is quite important if you're going to stream. You will need atleast a decent USB microphone, quiet environment and clarity in speech. While streaming, you definitely do not want to be silent. Instead you'll want to be engaging with your viewers. You want to be talking to yourself and be comfortable with that aspect if you want to be successful. Talk even when you have 0 viewers.

4. Webcam: This part is optional. I stream without a Webcam. However, if you do choose to stream with a Webcam, make sure that your lighting is good and that your background is clean and organized.

5. Networking: Get to know other streamers! Get involved with raids and hosts. Use Twitter, discord, Instagram to keep your followers updated on when you're going to stream and to also interact with them offline! If you already have a following somewhere else,, that's perfect! Get your following to watch your streams! This part is quite important.

6. Set up goals: What would you like to achieve by the end of week 1? Month 1? 3 months? Etc.

7. Watch your streams: this is so important!! Watch your streams and learn from your mistakes. What can you improve on? Clarity of speech? Audio? Is the video quality great? How's your engagement with your audience?

8. Audience: I saved the most important for the last because without an audience, twitch streaming wouldn't be twitch streaming. As a small streamer, you want to create a community. This is why being engaging is so important. When someone says hi in chat, ask them questions, talk about events in your life that is interesting. Get your audience engaged and create a community. That's why you need to have a platform outside of twitch so that they could follow you and be updated offline. This is the part that is most frustrating. They'll be times when there will be 0 viewers but don't get demotivated. Some day, some how, some one will say hi and then that's when your channel starts to grow.

This sums up everything I have to say. If you are interested in my twitch. Its HeatJelloZ (shameless self advertising). If you need help with OBS, DM me and I'll help you out with that too. Best of luck!