If I Started Streaming From ZERO, I'd Do This

I completely restarted my streaming Journey from  scratch at the start of 2023. that's right I went   from having 150 average viewers to zero viewers  but then for my very first stream on a whole new   account new platform and entirely new audience  I had an average of 80 viewers I did this by   following a simple clear actionable series of  steps that literally anyone can do today I'm   going to walk you through the six steps I used to  start streaming in 2023 but I have to admit that   all of these steps will completely fail if you do  one tiny simple and very common thing wrong but I   will cover that in Step six now there are time  codes in the description so you can skip ahead   to any part of this video you want but I wouldn't  recommend skipping around anything important like   our sponsor own.tv I want to say thank you  to our sponsor own.tv they are a fantastic   resource for every single streamer they release  new modular packs constantly that work on any   streaming platform they have heaps of different  styles to cover your animated overlays alerts   sub Badges and more for your stream but they also  have static over delays that take up less of your   PC resources meaning you can let those resources  focus on encoding your stream and making your   gameplay buttery buttery smooth I know I say  that a lot but it's because I think it's the   only thing that actually matters in this situation  we have a link in the description so if you want   you can go click that and check out what they've  got you might find your brand new stream overlay   and support us in the process now if you're  starting from zero and you have no experience   it's kind of like going on a cross-country road  trip you don't just get in the car and drive you   need to plan out where you're going what you're  excited to see what music you're going to listen   to and most importantly what snacks you want to  bring if you didn't do any of these things you'd   end up bored aimless and probably starved to death  which coincidentally is the three main things that   happen to new streamers to avoid this I created a  plan specifically a Content map the first stop on   our map is figuring out what we want to see what  are we interested in and what do we love making   content about I knew I wanted to make content  about gaming but I had to get more specific   after all I'm not going to stream Call of Duty  one day and stardew Valley the next a sharp turn   like that will give me and my viewers Whiplash no  I wanted to map stops that my viewers were always   Keen to see this meant picking a theme for my  road trip or you could call it a niche or topic   that kept appealing to the same audience it took  me a while to figure out what I wanted to do and   I tried lots of different types of content before  I finally decided that rather than overcomplicate   it by coming up with a massive viewer demographic  you know age interest Hobbies like I normally do   instead I just make videos for me I'm an audience  after all there are lots of people out there like   me which isn't great for the world overall because  you guys have to deal with us but hey it's just   how it is so I'll just do what I love and what I'm  good at and that's hopefully going to appeal to   people as well so I decided I would play Nintendo  games and I was going to start building that   Audience by focusing just on Pokemon because I  love Pokemon and I can continue to expand further   from there as I grow because remember we're  not picking one topic forever we're picking   a niche that expands as we grow but starting  specific so our audience can invest in US easier   now what type of content can I make what am I  good at well I wanted to do challenges but most   importantly I had to make it clear that I wasn't  going to take these challenges seriously I'm not   a Pro Gamer mine were stupid challenges I wanted  to make videos that for all intent and purposes   were pointless like trading 100 Pigs randomly  or beating online competitive Pokemon with only   self-destruct and the most important part of these  videos I wanted to Showcase just how bad I am at   games but how much fun I have overcoming that  issue this step seems stupid but being very aware   of your voice and your unique value is crucial  to creating content the actionable tip or step   one of six is when starting out come up with  a real plan consider a consistent audience who   will all enjoy a singular topic a topic that you  love as well of course and if you're struggling   to think of that then answer these two questions  question one if you had to give a presentation   about any Topic in the world and it had to go  for 15 minutes but you get zero preparation   what topic are you picking question two what is  a authentic to you or what is your unique value   you're bringing to the table are you an expert  on the topic maybe you're just really passionate   about it or like me are you so committed to doing  dumb [ __ ] that you find funny and hope it will   make a good stream or video I'd love to hear  your answers to these so please comment them   down below and your stream name so I can swing by  and check a few out and just remember we aren't   just playing games or just streaming we're making  content so think about it from an entertainment   point of view okay you know what you're making  content around you are excited you're Keen but   you have two major issues one you have absolutely  no idea how to reach your viewers they don't know   who you are and frankly they don't care who you  are and twitch really doesn't care about helping   you reach them either so you run off and search  for guides on how to get viewers for twitch only   to be met by some neckbeard beanie wearing loser  who tells you to make YouTube videos every single   week and then you hit your second problem you have  absolutely no experience scripting filming editing   and releasing videos how the hell are you meant  to do that Weekly while you have a full-time job   or school and you still have to stream at the  same time this neckbeard beanie wearing loser   is an idiot and I agree he is is an idiot so we're  going to solve having zero experience zero time in   zero Discovery in just one step YouTube shorts  and tick tocks but mostly YouTube shots look I   know you want to be a streamer but short format  content is where all of your viewers are going to   come from but more importantly where all of the  skills to be a successful Creator in the future   are going to begin just last night I was reading  a news report if you can call dexterto news these   days about a young streamer who had one single  Tick Tock do well and he went from five viewers   to over 100 viewers on his stream you can sit  there and say I refuse to make short content   but all you're doing is refusing to grow both as  a streamer a Creator and as a person for those of   you who are ready to grow as people and also grow  their viewers let's talk about the easiest way to   start making short content personally I think you  shouldn't use twitch Clips when just starting out   you can but they're harder to get traction early  on harder to edit and you do learn less overall   and learning is the thing I value most in any  form of content creation and that's why we're   going to practice all of those skills that you're  going to need for bigger videos but in bite-sized   chunks first you're going to come up with an idea  I like to ask a question provide a fact or issue   a challenge for example this short has 2 million  views I released it when the channel only had 3   000 subscribers on it and now I'm at roughly 40  000 subscribers and content like this is a huge   reason as to why when I went live I had 80 brand  new viewers watching me the shot is called Wonder   trading until I get a Pokemon Ash has caught  the first five seconds of this short are me   establishing a challenge in the form of a question  I say how many trades turn my Pokemon into a and   then a wheel starts spinning it zooms in and lands  on the challenge criteria and then the rest of the   short is me trading and making jokes until I get  one that meets the criteria and the moment I do   I end the short this took me 10 minutes to film  and about 30 minutes to edit with most of that   time being focused on subtitles but the reason it  got so many views comes down to three points now I   have a full video on shorts on this channel coming  soon so I'd recommend subscribing for that and it   has a lot more detail Thomas but here's the short  of shorts number one hook your viewers need to be   hooked at the start this is why I like questions  and challenges they understand what's going on   quickly and become invested number two retention  rate viewers then need to stick around right to   the end of the short if they leave early YouTube  says that's a bad short and stops recommending it   again it's why I like questions and challenges  because they stick around to see the payoff and   then you simply end the show at the moment you  do and then they can leave but it doesn't matter   because you've already got your full retention  rate number three consistency both in topic style   type of content and about how much you release  personally I think starting out with three shorts   a week releasing one every second day is a great  way to both learn valuable skills but also start   building an audience so actionable tip time and  step two of our six steps well it's simple just   start researching watching and creating short  format content consistently post them on YouTube   and Tech talk so you double your reach and stop  wasting your time start building an audience who   want to see you live by first reaching them when  you're not live you could be getting new viewers   when you're asleep but instead you're just waiting  to go live and grinding for hours now what is the   next step or step three that I did to get 80 brand  new viewers on my first stream back well I had my   shorts chugging along and I was really eager  to get viewers so I started doing research and   I found all these videos tick tocks and Twitter  threads about how to break the algorithm people   telling me about special little hacks I can do  how to boost raid engagements Network properly   how to follow small streamers to get views just  hundreds of tiny little things that take up hours   and hours of your day and don't actually do  anything except waste your time because the   hard reality the brutal truth is that content is  King and always will be don't try to hack the algo   don't try to take what looks like the easy route  with follow for follow or opening up a bunch of   small streamers and 12 tabs and saying put you on  luck bro and of course no spammy go lives across   a dozen discords you don't own and instead just  how about we try and give viewers a good reason   to click and then when they come and watch let's  make it a good experience for them that is the   true hack someone enjoying your content is a  pretty damn good reason for them to come back   next time content creation is a meritocracy no  matter how much people want to say it isn't if   you make good content you will be rewarded that's  said shorts and streams have a serious problem and   that is their lifespan you have zero viewers the  moment it ends sure a short can stay active for a   while but the engagement is fleeting plus it's  harder to leave a real impression on a viewer   the middle ground for this is videos if you're  working hard at shorts you'll eventually get more   confident as an editor and a video producer so I  want you to consider doing longer videos either   once a week or once a fortnight heck once a month  is fine as well if you've got shorts consistently   keeping viewers engaged and again I know you want  to be streamers like Point Crow small ant Ludwig   dream myth or so many other people but the reason  you know all those names isn't because they were   streamers first it's because their videos did well  and that brought viewers into their streams step   three of six and our actionable tip here is to  remember there is no shortcut there is no magic   solution to grow you have to learn new skills so  start small with shorts move into longer videos   build a catalog of videos that will never expire  and will always bring in new viewers to your   content and again again grow an audience offline  so you have viewers when you're online now step   four is a weird one but when I started again from  scratch I made it clear that Community would be a   big Focus for me in my shorts and videos I tried  to make moments that could be Community memes   for example on my streams I always ask everyone  at the start how their day is out of 10 and my   viewers always reply 8 out of 10 because that is  a community Meme and you can encourage these like   I did in my videos where I said things like  hashtag Iona murdered God and I had viewers   comment that hashtag or always talking about how  Charmander is overrated as a Pokemon there are   so many examples on the internet like how I call  my viewers the Royals call me Kevin starts every   video with hello there friend ambiguous amphibian  calling his patreons AAS or Danny Gonzalez calling   his subscribers Greg these all make someone feel  a part of something and let me tell you giving   viewers in jokes or just letting them feel  a part of something consistent is incredibly   powerful full to keeping them returning another  tool I use that many underutilize is community   posts if you're making shorts then you'll want to  use these because they get so many interactions   these were posts about Nintendo updates post about  videos but mostly they were image polls or quizzes   asking viewers to pick between two options such  as who is the better video game protagonist or   hey pick a character to delete forever these  get tens of thousands of engagements and are   a fun way to interact with your viewers speaking  of engaging with viewers of course another way   is Discord which I don't recommend anymore don't  get me wrong Discord is incredibly powerful when   it comes to interacting with your community and if  you choose to run one you're not gonna destroy all   your growth no the growth destroying mistake is  in Step six remember it's just that Discord is an   intense commitment of time both in moderating  it getting more members and just keeping it   active Community discords often need a team of  volunteers to keep them running and if you don't   have that then you have to be there doing it and  when you're starting out the rule of um is content   is king So you cannot waste your energy on things  that aren't content okay step number five it's   time to actually go live and yes I know worth  five steps in and I haven't actually mentioned   streaming much and that's because the streaming  space has aggressively changed over the past year   we're leaving lockdown people are back at work and  it's much harder to make a living or even grow an   audience from just streaming you are incredibly  talented but your lack of growth doesn't   necessarily mean that you aren't making good  content while live 2023 is the year where we all   need to step back and realize that streaming isn't  our main piece of content it is our secondary   piece of content it's a reward for you to have fun  after doing shorts and videos for me streaming is   a way to interact with you guys my viewers or my  fans and to generally unwind playing a game with   people that's why I started it and after streaming  became a job I lost a lot of that enjoyment but   now with videos and shorts as my key Focus to be  honest streams have kind of become the thing I   love again so I spend far less time streaming  and more time going outside being healthy and   working content creation into my schedule to  be balanced this helps me be more creative and   grow more sustainably because streaming isn't  creating sustainable content at least not in   my opinion streaming works against the idea that  containers came the actionable tip is to stream   just once twice maybe three times a week and to  make sure what your streaming is enjoyable for you   that is the most important part when you're going  live your personal enjoyment because viewers can   tell if you aren't enjoying it plus if you're  following the steps properly you don't need to   stress about this stream getting new follows or  new paying subscribers because videos and shorts   will bring in new audiences and make you Revenue  passively because again streaming is meant to be   a fun way to interact with viewers who enjoy your  content not your entire focus and this leads me to   the biggest reason I could go live to 80 brand  new viewers something that most people have   ever considered if I didn't do this step then all  my shorts all my videos all my community building   my streaming all of it would have been for nothing  when I went live I decided to stream on YouTube I   know I know but hear me out the vast majority  of Discovery for a twitch streamer is proven   to come from external sources like YouTube as a  twitch partner I have been directly told by twitch   staff that I should be creating content on YouTube  and Tick Tock as my focus and then bringing those   viewers to Twitch because twitch doesn't have a  discovery method you can say in every single video   hey this was streamed live on Twitch click the  link in the description and sure you'll get a few   viewers from that but also people are lazy let's  be real moving your arms slightly down to click a   link sucks going from one website to another why  would I do that when I can just click on another   highly produced video on the right heck a lot of  your viewers might not even have twitch accounts   so instead of telling them to leave the website  just tell them to subscribe go subscribe to your   shots and they'll watch your videos and that will  get those videos new viewers who will subscribe as   well if it's good and then you'll hit go live on  the same YouTube channel and every subscriber will   be notified that you're live they'll check you out  because hey you don't have to leave the platform   and anyone who finds you while you're live if they  enjoy that And subscribe then they'll probably   check out your shorts and videos and they'll  continue to watch those and it is a never-ending   cycle when you make a community post they'll see  those and engage with you when you're scrolling   through YouTube they'll watch old videos and  streams of yours they enjoyed like how this old   stream got a thousand new offline viewers after I  finished and for the rest of my life and scarily   even after I die all of my content will still get  views but one thing I didn't cover was coming up   with good ideas and making them clickable but  that's why we made this video essay on Ludwig's   approach you absolutely should steal all of the  information in this video that I have right here

Channel: Stream Scheme

Views: 659,846

Keywords: how to stream to 0 viewers, tips for streamers with 0 viewers, how to get more viewers on twitch stream, how to grow on twitch from 0, how to get viewers on twitch, how to stream when nobodys watching, Grow on twitch 2023, How to grow from 0 on twitch, How to grow your twitch channel, how to grow from 0 on twitch, grow from 0 viewers on twitch, starting streaming in 2023, Streaming to 0 in 2023, If I started streaming in 2023, How to grow a stream in 2023, new streamer mistakes

Id: HZR5FaMg7LM

Length: 16min 26sec (986 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 27 2023