Getting paid to live stream takes time, effort, and content that draws people in. People who become wealthy through streaming are a tiny minority. While many people are getting into streaming, keep in mind that the top 5,000 channels account for 75% of all views on sites like Twitch. This means that, while you can make money streaming, it takes a lot of effort to build a full-time income from it. The more frequently you stream, the more chances you have to get in front of people and build an audience. But it takes time. So, how exactly do you make money by live streaming?
Ways To Make Money Through Live Streaming
Tips from fans
Accepting tips is one way to monetize your live streams. Most live streaming platforms and websites let you earn money by allowing viewers to send you donations or tips. They typically include integrated services or their own virtual “goods” or “currencies” that viewers can use to complete the transaction.
There are three ways of giving tips.
- To reward their creators, YouTube Live created a feature called Superchat. A live video creator can enable donations during their live stream, allowing viewers to send donations in real-time. Donations will be displayed in the Live Chat window on the right. The greater a user’s donation, the longer their message is pinned. The amount paid also influences the color of the message background.
- Buy Me a Coffee is another way to use tipping to make money with live streaming. When live streaming, for example, I frequently include a scrolling ticker with a link to my page. This can be an excellent way to fund your work while also monetizing your live streams.
- Facebook Stars are available on platforms such as Facebook. Viewers can purchase Stars while you are streaming on Facebook Live. When you receive a Star, Facebook will give you $0.01 USD.
Memberships
To enable this type of support, you must meet certain requirements, as platforms reserve it for members of their content creator programs.
- YouTube Channel Memberships enable your viewers to buy public badges, emojis, and other creator perks that you have set up on your YouTube channel. To use memberships, you must first set them up on your channel and then notify your viewers when they are ready. This way, you can explain how they can access your membership site as well as the benefits of joining yours.
- Level Up gaming content creators can now use Facebook Gaming’s Fan Subscriptions feature. The feature is only available in certain regions and requires a certain number of returning weekly viewers.
- Third-party platforms, such as Patreon, also make it simple to create a membership site. Viewers can pay you a monthly fee in exchange for exclusive content, access to your process, and other benefits.
Affiliate marketing programs
If you are wondering how to make money streaming, affiliate programs are a great place to start. Here’s how affiliate programs work: you get a special product link from a sponsor. Typically, the affiliate link or code is placed in the stream description. During the stream, you could also mention the coupon code once or twice. and then you get a percentage of the sale every time someone clicks on the link and buys the product. It’s essentially the same as working on commission.
Brand deals and sponsors
Many creators fantasize about striking a lucrative deal with a large corporation. While some companies will offer to sponsor your live streams, others may request that you discuss their product. They might send you products to test out during your live streams. This can occasionally include signing a contract to pay you. Profit from brand deals and sponsorships can vary greatly depending on the brand, channel specificity, following size, and other factors. Sometimes you get a large sum of money, and other times you may get free merchandise from the brand.
Run ads during your stream
Facebook gives you an opportunity to earn money through ads. Certain streamers will see the option to take a short break and have an ad play during a live broadcast. Users will see a brief Facebook video ad before the live broadcast resumes. Unfortunately, not every content creator will qualify: you must have more than 50,000 followers, have reached 300 or more concurrent viewers in a recent live video, be a Facebook Page, and your current live video must first reach at least 300 concurrent viewers. If all of these criteria are met, you will be able to take an ad break after at least 4 minutes.
Sell your merchandise
For all creators and live streamers learning how to make money streaming, creating, and selling your own merchandise is a viable revenue model. Promoting your merchandise via a live stream could be an excellent way to increase the visibility of your swag. What types of products do you intend to sell? T-shirts, mugs, and plush toys are all suitable options. You can also sell digital goods like music or e-books. You’ll also need to consider the design, production, inventory, and shipping of your merchandise.
Let’s Start To Earn Money
When you use a number of the methods mentioned above, you stand to make more money from live streaming. Remember that as you begin to build a following through live streaming, your revenue should begin to rise.
