Since the beginning of Covid it seems like there has been a lot of people who want to try out the world of streaming and online content creation. With people being laid off and losing their jobs due to work places preventing them from working to help break the spread people think content creation is easy and the way to go. Here is a few things you might want to ask yourself before you begin. They might not be easy questions and some of the answers might be hard to hear but still they need to be asked regardless.

One huge question you should ask yourself is Why? Why do you want to start online content creation? Is it because you want to get rich quick (Which let’s face it, will not happen fast and there will be more about that later!) Or because you want to make a bigger impact on the world or even an impact as an influencer too.

What type of influencer or content creator would you like to be is one of the most valid questions you should ask yourself. Do you want to be a different person and create a persona or would you like to be genuine and yourself? Not to mention, Where do you want to produce content too, Youtube, Twitch or Facebook? Do you want to grow on Instagram or Twitter? When I first started streaming, I could have told you that I wanted to be a partnered streamer and see how that realm of creation works. Now, I would tell you I want to be a successful writer and blogger with streaming on the side as well.

There are many different skills or qualities you need in order to be successful in creating content for the world direct on the web. Some generic answers for this would be you should have some type of a sense of humor and charismatic personality. You also should understand the space you are trying to break into. And a huge if not one of the most important qualities would be to understand that this is the internet and there will be people who do not like you. They will troll you and direct hate towards you for many reasons. How you handle this can ultimately decide your happiness. People will hate or be rude towards you for anything from your appearance or even sound of your voice or way you put out videos or blogs or photos too. Ignore them. Having haters is typically a sign that you are doing well!

Doing some research and finding a niche will ultimately be a challenge for anyone. For example: If you are looking to become a streamer and want to play the game with the most viewers on Twitch chances are you will find a really tough time breaking in unless you are a pro player and absolute god in the game. Another would be if you want to be a blogger and if you don’t research. I stared this blog on Streaming and without thinking, streamers probably are more likely to watch a YouTube video instead of reading a blog about it. Switched to Lifestyle/Parenting/etc and my blog seems to be slowly flourishing when I should have did a bit more research into it. I also had no idea the importance of pinterest in blogging and growth either and that was a whole year wasted (Not really since I did learn more!) that I should have been pinning and helping drive traffic here. I also didn’t use any tags either which didn’t do me any favors.

Here is the question everyone is asking and probably thinking it is easy to get. Will I make money at creating content? The short answer is No, Not right away. Nothing is quick and it will take you a long time to grow your brand and make people want to tip you or support your content. You are going to have to do a lot to influence folks to want to give you money for whatever reasons. Do you provide a product? Do you provide a service? Entertainment? Or whatever else there might be. I have been streaming for nearly four? or three? (Honestly it feels like ages!) years and right now currently I am making about 25$ per month. That is legit all. And with Twitch you only get paid every time you hid the 100$ threshold. That means I essentially don’t even get a “pay check” every month from them. That is another reason why I wanted to focus a bit more on blogging. Streaming is such a give give give way of making money and the reality is the money you make is never a for sure thing either. You could totally make a modest month worth of cash and the next month make next to nothing. I feel like long term blogging could be the way to make a regular income once I get it grown to where I feel I am able to search the financial side of it though. Just like any job, content creation on whatever platform is not easy. Overnight success is not easy and chances are you will be working hard for a long time for little to no money before you can say that you “made it”.

So before you dive in, Ask yourself if creating content online is right for you. And before you take the plunge into trying to make a living out of this I would recommend NOT quitting your day job. So many people in the time I have been around on twitch along have been trying to make it big just by streaming full time hours. If you want to be successful put content to different platforms and bring others towards different avenues you have created. But NEVER put your own family or livelihood at risk because you think you can make full time hours online. Truth be told, The people I have seen stop and try to stream full time and be successful, are no longer streaming at all anymore.

Have you ever thought about creating content online?
What spots have you wanted to produce content?
Do you have any tips you would like to share with folks too?

Let me know in the comments below!

– Stacey