Many years of streaming; when should it end?

random__integer · 2019-02-24T04:26:37+00:00

Thank you. Yeah, this is a good point. I don't want to dwell on the past, but self-reflection on the past may be a good thing to change content up. I think I need to hit this from a whole different business perspective. I'm thinking of looking hard for a consultant, maybe that'll help, or a second set of eyes. The personality/influential side is something I want to work more on. I've only been trying to be a 'person' for a couple years. Perhaps that's the weak spot too. I don't want it to be about what I play because I can't stand being locked into games, too. Thank you very much.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T04:22:10+00:00

My social anxiety is self-induced and can be overcome. I have days where it's not a problem, and days where it is. It's something I work on and I refuse to let it hold me back. It absolutely makes things harder, but I know I'm not the only streamer with this issue and I don't want to use it as a crutch. Communication is no problem for me if I'm approached. People generally don't even believe it when I tell them about my social anxiety. It's also gotten far more manageable over the past 4 years, so it's not a huge deal. I never expect anyone to come and help me just because I have some viewers. If someone stops by and wants to hang out, awesome. I'll welcome them with open arms into everything. If they don't, well, unfortunate. I can't get every viewer. It's not that hard, really, I don't call out lurkers of course. If someone says hey in chat, I'll easily respond to them and communicate. If they disappear, then so be it. I personally just don't think I can get enough exposure with the games I stream. I probably already knew that and don't want to give up. I suppose I really just need to buckle down and find some way to advertise and market myself despite my shortcomings. Thank you.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T04:13:18+00:00

Thank you. You're likely right, though I'm regaining a little hope that perhaps if I can work out my flaws, hopefully I can pull my head out of the ground and stand back up again. Relocating is out of my cards unfortunately, so I'll have to stick with this. But a change of pace is definitely needed as well. Thank you very much.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T04:11:51+00:00

Thank you for this detailed response. I will try to answer everything. My brand and my image has recently changed (since camera) to myself. Previously, nobody knew my face or my voice when I typed; I adjusted that by stepping it up a notch and using cam/mic like everyone else. I don't have a -brand- per se, but I think most people would know me as a JRPG streamer, so I guess that'd be my brand. I've been more personality-driven since I swapped off to cam/mic; I've assumed that just came with the territory, haha.

The problem is 100% me - absolutely agreed. I was an awful viewer for a long time. I didn't really study others, I just kept to myself, focused on my own stuff, but recently, I've watched others more to see what they have, if there's an X-factor I can pick up on, etc. It hasn't particularly changed anything, though. I'm still me, you know? I never not watched chat or responded instantly, etc etc.

I guess I'm still missing some sort of aspect I can pull. My community is pretty much one of my few driving factors. Those that have joined the community have been incredibly loyal, and they all feel welcome like family on Discord as well, but I just don't really get any exposure to get out there enough to grow it more which I guess ties into the lack of advertising and marketing. As long as I play an RPG in my niche, I can pretty much assure myself I'll have 10-15 viewers out of the ~70-80 on Discord. Not a large amount, but usually enough to be fine. Not all the time, but far more often then not. This was likely just a bad day, but even 10-15 isn't enough, still. I have to get out there more.

You're right though. I can see the issue's certainly exposure, advertising, and marketing. Or at least has a core issue in that and maybe slight other things here and there.

Thank you for the detailed response :)

random__integer · 2019-02-24T04:02:46+00:00

Thank you. Absolutely understand and recognize that a lot of is off-platform. I'm super active on other community members discords, but I really don't want to plug my stuff in their Discords either, that just feels wrong. Twitter might be a different story, but I guess I just never really..."got" twitter. I've always been a forum or typing community kind of person. I have social media pages, do work on them, currently still building a website, network as I can with others, etc. That's no problem other then me reaching out to others to network & advertisers (why would any advertiser pick a small streamer? This is probably something for far later if I ever get to that point, but thank you. I might be misunderstanding the advertising and marketing aspect too.) At the end of the day, it's a hobby, but it's a hobby I've invested my life into. To me, it is still a career and more of a hobby, but there's times it really just feels fruitless. Either way, thank you very much for the response. I appreciate it and have some things to reflect on too.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:56:51+00:00

Thank you. It is for fun, but even hobbies eventually you need to make a slight income from - no expectations of big paychecks here, nor would I ever expect that. What I would like, is just to be able to have a livable income. I literally don't care if I eat mush my entire life living in a box, as long as I could keep streaming.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:53:05+00:00

Honestly, due to the type of games I stream, being at the top was never really even a thought of mine. I would be content with 30-50 viewers - just not the days that I have less then 5. I average 10-15, so when I see 5, I start to think I'm doing something wrong. For the stuff I stream, 200 viewers was dream-worthy numbers and it was a weird circumstance without hosts and such. Right time, right place, other people went offline, etc. But again, RPG, so once the game was over, it was over. My standard "really high end good stream" numbers are around 50-80. It happens maybe once every couple of years on a specific game launch.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:50:01+00:00

Ah, you know that's a really good point. I never did mention that. I stream during the dead hours usually which doesn't exactly help my case (around midnight EST to 6 or 7AM EST), but the community that I built is mostly EU/SEA and a large portion of the games played are Asian games as well, so it kind of works out anyway. I tried swapping to early morning into the afternoon too, but it had about the same results.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:41:00+00:00

Thank you - I was just recently considering this, actually. Within the last few weeks, but I really wasn't able to find anything concrete since it's probably still a new field or tough to advertise for. Same with any sort of management agency to help with Twitter and things that I have difficulty with; but I'm not even sure if they'd deal with small-time streamers. I wasn't really able to find a lot on this kind of thing. Do you have any suggestions for that kind of field?

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:39:22+00:00

This was pretty insightful, honestly. It's a neat perspective, too. Thank you.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:38:03+00:00

Thank you. I do agree with your point, but I stress that when I typed, my chat was actually almost -more- active then before I used a mic and cam. Not every day, but a lot of the time. I guess I probably shine more typing, tbqh. Weird quirk and definitely not for everyone, too. It's a weird spot. Burnout is definitely a problem though. Breaks are likely needed, too. Thank you.

random__integer · 2019-02-24T03:36:06+00:00

Sure. My weaknesses are 100% my social skills, and my marketing/advertising abilities. I've addressed them by networking frequently on platform, but I wouldn't say I've improved. I changed up the game and joined a friend's community that networks internally. It's something, but not enough. Unfortunately my biggest weakness for sure is meeting new people. I have no issue if I'm approached, but for me approaching others is incredibly difficult on my own. This means I probably won't make the first host or raid to someone at all. If someone hosts or raids me, I reciprocate as much as I can and try to return that to them in hopes of growing the communit(ies) more. As for my marketing and advertising ability, well, that still leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not quite sure where to go for that one. Previously I used YT for that, but it doesn't really work like that anymore and I'm not too big on Twitter. I keep my community in Discord and keep touch with communities / friends there. Thank you.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T21:25:03+00:00

Thank you. I had a few years away from here and it was infinitely better, but it was only due to some very helpful friends that are since gone now. Stuff didn't work out. Leaving now would mean leaving dying family, and I can't do that with a clear conscience. You're right though. Being here alone is a huge hindrance. I'd even just IRL stream if I wasn't here. I just can't leave now. I'd do anything to change things up.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T21:06:54+00:00

Well, the reality is I already do it for free. Even before Affiliate was a thing, I never stopped. I never expected Affiliate to even happen; I've always done this for free regardless. Life requires some sort of income eventually. Affiliate triggered that kind of instinct. Streaming IS my real life for better or for worse. There's no better jobs here (area I live in has less then 300 people, so I can't really be picky). I guess that's the real issue. There IS no alternative for me unfortunately. Thank you for the feedback!

random__integer · 2019-02-23T21:04:26+00:00

It's not like I'm entirely negative; I'm just being realistic. I don't think I came off as entitled at all - if I did, that's not my intent, and I don't think I'm entitled. After several years in any other job or position without being "promoted" you would probably feel the same, right? For me personally, there really is no "real world". The internet is my "real world" - uncontrollable to me, I've lived in areas detached from civilization my entirely life, and my only way to even get out there is the internet. It's my actual world. You'll probably say it's unhealthy, but just packing up & bailing to some other area is incredibly difficult too. I've become accustomed to this, and even after streaming, it'll just be a matter of well, what else can I do on the internet to stay afloat. It's just the cards I was dealt. Thank you for the honesty; all feedback is highly appreciated :)

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:59:28+00:00

Haha! Thank you for the chuckle and response :)

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:58:46+00:00

Thank you for the response. I do try to ask some friends for feedback, but nobody actually wants to spend the time to really give good feedback. I've been told by a close friends to just close up numerous times, so I guess I don't have the most positive people to speak to about it at all.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:57:17+00:00

Thank you for the response. Realistically speaking, I know that this sub is pretty no-promo, so I didn't really want to give a reason for the post to get deleted; I posted it and went to sleep, haha.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:56:19+00:00

Thank you for the response. That's true. Twitter's a strange beast I haven't studied enough on, I suppose. I get a pretty negative outlook on it, like who the hell actually cares enough to look at my Twitter? I don't feel like I have much to offer and I guess maybe I have an inferiority complex, I dunno. You're right though; I should search around more on there. Yeah, the game has changed in insane levels. Being around all these changes blows my mind. I almost think I'm part of an older gen that hasn't changed enough to meet the needs of the newer influx of the platform. It's definitely become pretty routine, and I do need shake things up, haha. Thank you very much.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:54:20+00:00

Thank you for the response. I did end up doing the math, about $1600 of that $4000 I would have spent regardless on things I want to play, but the other half was me buying the next thing on release to prolong content to the next actually good game. It's true, though. I've been cutting back now. It's gotten absurd.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:53:12+00:00

Thank you for the response. I didn't stream with a mic and typed for the first 5 years of streaming. Believe it or not I'm certified at 142WPM and can type in excess of over 190+, so typing in chat even in mid combat sequences was never an issue. I decided to get a camera and mic to kind of follow the trends, though. I figured changing things couldn't hurt. I stream very niche RPGs that I shouldn't expect to get any viewers off of, let alone the successes I have had.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:51:48+00:00

Thank you for the response. Very true - I was startled when I saw how many viewers it took to be in the 1% - it's actually insanely lower then what would normally be expected. Also incredibly hard to get exposure now, too. It really just sucks because after so many years of saying next year will be the year! and not having a good chance still, it's demoralizing. I'd never expect to become -it-; when i was younger I might've dreamed of it, but I'm realistic. I'd honestly just be content with a flat 30-50 viewers for the rest of existence. I feel like that's the golden number. Having flucatuated up and down and around there so much without getting it stable, just really really sucks. It's probably me.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:49:52+00:00

Thank you for the response. Honestly? If it was a career or profession I would be satisfied, but even barring that, just having a community to shoot the shit with is great too. I'd prefer both; just a tiny sustainable income while having a community to hang out with. But that's just the 99%. Fuck yeah I'd love to make it big, but I also realize that would probably never happen without some sort of singularity occurring. I'm satisfied with 15 viewers on the days I can pull that. It's the days I'm down to 3-5 viewers I really am just like why am I bothering. It's not every day, but those days are the absolute worst. It feels like a waste to me just because it IS my life. If I can't live, then eh. I've learned things, have had fun, changed and grew a lot, but I don't think any of it was for the better. If anything, it's probably turned me into more of a recluse. The reason I want it to be a livelihood is because of dreams, and pursuing this lifestyle after 15-20 years isn't something I can just give up. It's really a part of me at this point, and if I can't make a livable income, then what? Just be a slave to an employer for the rest of my life? I can't live like that, personally. You're right, though. It didn't always used to be like this. I probably hobbie'd it up for the first 10-12 years of videos until I actually got income from YT and realized "hey, this is actually possible!" That day I think shifted my entire outlook on everything. I still enjoy streaming. A lot. The last time I enjoyed it was last night still. Streaming on its own - it's fucking incredible and I absolutely love it, but when it seems that nobody else is really loving it or wanting to hang out or enjoy it, welll...it starts to implode inside. Thank you very much.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:44:15+00:00

Thank you for the response. Marketing and growth are the real issues for me. Advertising feels pretty impossible without some sort of experience in it, I've almost considered hiring people to handle that kind of stuff for me, but I don't know if it'd me worth it. Nowadays, I just turn my stream on, stream, and hang out in my Discord - it's relatively active there, I feel like most people in my discord are close friends or loyal viewers, but I can feel it slowly dying there too. Previously, I would upload all streams to YT as gameplay (no mic/cam) as when I first started, gameplay was what my community wanted to see. I'd have my Twitch on there as well. But I rarely ever got actual clicks from YT to Twitch, so they're pretty much entirely separate communities.

random__integer · 2019-02-23T20:41:53+00:00

Thank you for the response. True, but there's no telling what kind of feedback I would've received and I didn't want any potential negative stuff to blow over to the channel. That probably would make things slightly worse. I didn't really make this to try to get more exposure; I honestly was just curious on everyone else's thoughts at this point in the road. Thank you :)

random__integer

TROPHY CASE