Tag Archives: Mixer

Setting Boundaries as a Streamer

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Setting boundaries as a streamer are extremely important. Let’s face it, There are some pretty screwed up people in the world and having a stalker is an all too real thing out there. How much you share with your community is ultimately your choice. However you don’t want to say too much. Remember, It is a lot easier to not over share then it is to over share and regret saying too much. I will also tell you how much I share with my chat and why I don’t share certain things with them also. There really is no right way or wrong way with how much you want to share with your  viewers it all goes on personal preference. I know I have watched streamers share a whole lot and others not even share their real name!

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DO NOT SHARE YOUR LOCATION!
I swear you would be surprised how many people do this. For myself I do not mind sharing a VERY rough location. ie: I live outside of Halifax. This is a huge city and if someone wants to find out where they will have a very hard time trying to find out where exactly I am. You would be surprised and a bit unsettled when you see and hear of streamers getting swatted (Police called to their residence) or having followers/viewers randomly show up at their homes. This is a complete invasion of privacy and can be extremely alarming as well too. Our homes are our space and there is a reason why we need to be careful for this. I would also suggest that this includes where your camera (If you use one) is facing. If you say live near a very easily figured out location, and your webcam is facing a window people can find out where you are located simply in a few clicks or searches. I don’t have anything by the homes that I lived in that would really show where I live but I know just as I have done if there is a window behind me chances are there is curtains that are always closed. Not that I really think about this when doing streams and where my cam faces just that I always had my curtains closed even in other rooms of the house.

**If you like what you are reading through out these blogs, and are looking at ways to financially support the blog, please consider checking out my Ko-Fi link here. You will NEVER be pressured to contribute to towards put any type of money towards the blog however if the thought has crossed your mind, here is a great way to help a stay at home mom provide some financial relief for her family.

Last name
This one can be tricky. For me personally, I don’t advertise my last name however I believe if you tip I do think it shows up and I’m okay with that. Chances are if you are tipping a streamer most times people are supporting the person and aren’t going to spill their name to people. That being said this can also be pointless if you are say a pro e-sports player because more often than not your name is already out there when you compete for your team too. If you have a lot of trolls then you might not want to share this also too. However remember if you are making a username or email and you use any part of your name that can kind of defeat the purpose. I know a few folks on twitter who have their full names there which can be a bummer. Especially if they want to keep that side of their real lives personal.

Any type of personal information can be used to trace where you are. Therefore it is extreme important especially as you grow to manage what you say to your community. It can easily slip out and once it’s out there it can be extremely hard to get it back. If you have a few viewers it can be easy to forget and as you grow that not all viewers can be kind. Or if you have the same bunch of folks in your channel regularly you can easily grow close to them that when new people come in to chat it can be hard to adjust what you have said or shared.

It is also important to know, the more personal you are with your chat the easier connections will be. Chats love when a streamer makes them feel like a friend even if they are not that friendly. Making a streamer seem real with real issues and stories is a lot better then a streamer who is a wall and has no connections with them. For me, as a viewer I will watch streamers who connect more on a personal level then ones who don’t. Why? Because if I wasn’t looking for a personal level connection I would simply watch youtube videos. I like the real time interaction of Twitch and a streamer who is personal even without spilling all of their personal information. It also seems that (From what I can see) The more personal a streamer is the better success they have. If someone is all robotic, shares very little, starts stream and just playing games, a person cannot connect it will be hard to bring new people in for sure.

For me. I would like to think that as a streamer I am a personal one. There are things I never mention though have slipped up before. My Bf for example does not want me to say his name on stream. We refer to him as “Space” Mind you there have been times that I have slipped up and said his name but that is not a HUGE deal though. There are also times when I tell stories about my family or friends and most times especially when referring to my brother and sister I don’t say their names either. My camera is pointed at a wall and not a window so that folks cannot see anything outside of my house. Not that I live near any landmarks but it is better safe than sorry in these types of situations. I want to be open and honest with my stream because I treat them as I would my friends. Even if we are a streamer/viewer relationship I want them to feel like it is a safe space. If I wanted it to be a production and totally planned out then I would have a green screen, keep chatter to a minimum and not connect at all.

Be safe out there and remember, setting high boundaries in the beginning is okay, because when you set them low and want them higher, It may be a lot harder to reign them back in if you want to change them!

May Overview/June Goals

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May was a decent month even if the ending was a bit slacked. My hours streamed are getting up there to my goal of 40 hours per month. This is even with slacking off at the end of the May. Some stats were slightly up also. However if I was a bit more consistent then it might have been different. Schedule change is also happening. We are dropping Friday’s and moving it to Wednesday’s. This way we have all 4 stream days together and all of our off days also together too. Obviously we may still do bonus streams on Friday or Saturdays for the spooky games I play or even the podcast/talk show that I will talk about later in the blog as well! Overall I have major improvements to make however I am happy with May stream wise!

I was stupid to think I could start YouTube by June. I think it was overly ambitious however the new goal for YouTube is to do a soft launch with the blog writing streams, and in the Fall. Go full editing with montages, memories, funny clips, blog reading, podcast/talk show etc. Also, looking at commissioning an intro and outro for YouTube. I was going to wait for the fall as well, when I have a full revamp done. However why wait for the YouTube so I can fine tune it over the summer for videos to come out! These blog videos and writing should be easier to edit however clips and things I want to learn all the bells and whistles. I’m excited to hopefully be able to bring in new viewers to the channel both on YouTube as well as twitch!

A few weeks ago I had won over twitter a mindset coaching sessions with a woman named Victoria Waye. She is a Mindset Coach and has really helped with thinking outside of the box for myself and what I should be doing and directions to be taking. It’s hard to brand yourself when you aren’t sure the direction you want to take. For me I was full of ideas but there are some things that I never even thought about! We have had 2 sessions so far and I look forward to the other 2 in the coming weeks. From thinking about pushing the blogs as being a front runner to the content that I produce! It’s something that I never put much value in when I probably should have. It is something that makes me unique which is hard to see about yourself. If you want to contact her and discuss these things here is her twitter which she is super active on also: https://twitter.com/TheVictoriaWaye

An idea that I was suggested which never crossed my radar is recording the blogs being read and uploading them so say Spotify or a website called anchor for podcast. That way I can deliver the same content however just the audio so folks could listen perhaps on their drive to work, at the gym, or cleaning or whatever they feel like doing with a bit of background noise too! Something as simple as this I had no idea I could do. However I don’t personally listen to audio books, or podcasts so for me it’s just something that isn’t exactly on my mind. However I need to look a bit more into where to put these and where the most value may be. Which is nothing really but a bit of research!

More on this space, I’m thinking in July on Saturdays we start a podcast/talk show on my channel. I’m feeling Saturdays since people may work or if there is any EU people/UK people then everyone can make it as a viewer or guest since Saturday’s can be flexible time wise. Something light, funny, maybe a few drinks and just kicking it. Nothing serious (There is enough of that in the world!) I would have myself as the host (Obviously) and I would also have 5 guests, I’m thinking we use discord since that seems to be easiest. Guests would rotate each week however if some wanted to be regular that would also work! It would be Bi-Weekly since we all have lives and it might be tricky to get a lot of people together. My goal is to start this July 11th/2020.

Weight loss is something that I have struggled with doing my whole life. Sometimes I can be bang on with exercise and controlling what I eat. I am a very big emotional eater whether its happy or sad. I also am lazy obviously however I know what I need to do. Overall I would say May is Okay for this goal. I am not down any pounds. June goal is to be down 10lbs by the end. I also have set myself up with an elliptical schedule with Thursdays being a rest day, And workouts anywhere from 40-80 minutes. Neighborhood walks are kind of non existent right now because it is way to hot sometimes for the dog and baby to be just walking around. Maybe a bit at night if there is a chill day but other then that they are kind of on hold til the fall. I also have done my Calorie Counting book til the end of the month with some rewards when I hit a 10lbs weight loss goal. These are more or less just buy a new outfit, splurge on Davids Tea or things like that. No real food rewards since that would be silly. I also have to stop munching out from smoking weed. That is my biggest problem, I can do well all day and fail when I think food is greater than it is. Also changed my workouts to the evening instead of morning. Just to make it easier on my Boyfriend. He normally watches my son in the afternoon while I stream and feeds him in the mid-late afternoon and supper while I do his bottles. So this is great for me to change instead of the mornings so he was essentially watching him steady with me mixed in as well so he can have time to game or hang out instead of little pieces throughout the day. Now its more of a schedule!

Overall I am happy with how May went and I have a lot to look forward to! I want to really focus on content as well as my weight loss goals too. I know what I need to do but doing it can be super challenging. And honestly I need to stop treating/rewarding myself with junk food. I’m able to resist! I know I can!


-StaySeeJ

Connecting with followers outside of streaming

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Connecting with your community outside of streaming is so much more than just posting in a discord server an hour before you stream. There are many ways you can connect with your community without having to be live. That being said, you don’t have to just open all of your DM’s up in order to be connected with your community!

Social medias is a great way to connect with your followers and community. Chances are if people are connecting on those platforms they are helping your reach as well too. There are some folks who will be die hard dedicated to connecting on socials and will like/share/retweet all of your stuff! Even commenting on posts as well too. In order to really connect, (provided you dont have hundred and hundreds of people commenting) reply or like every single one of these responses! Seriously. A little interaction goes a long way. I know for me, I follow a dude from Sweden named Orb. He is one of the most connected people to his community. He connects on twitter and Instagram, he likes replies and comments back. He is able to do this and as a viewer it makes you feel important because the person you are following and interested in is showing  you are significant. Like you aren’t just a viewer to them. Not all streamers are like this but Orb is great for really showing he appreciates his viewers and community!

Discords is one of the best ways to connect with your community on AND off streams. Whether you are commenting in the morning or commenting after you are live, or even just jumping in to conversations it is a great way to bring the community together even by having viewers and viewers chatting together! the more active a discord is and the more involved you are, the stronger the connection grows. If you create a safe space with you viewers then you will see more people want to stick around because they have made friends with the people in there. I know sometimes I cant always make streams, But I will check in their discord server in the morning, See if the streamer said anything important and connect with the community. When you really get into a community and connect they become more like family than friends. You all talk about your lives as a place to vent or talk about popular topics and the latest news. Especially if everyone is from different countries around the world too. look at the Covid Crisis, How different different places around the world are handling the situation!

Playing with viewers is a popular and easy way to build a stronger community. There are a first ways to do this successfully. You can do it by playing with subscribers first, that is something people who have an establish community do so that subscribers can have another perk. If you are smaller and growing  this might deter people from wanting to watch you and give the appearance that you are just in it for money. For me, I dont mind playing with viewers/subscribers and am actually in the process of bringing back designated days for this! However using a mic for voice communications can be the question. I know some streamers who don’t use ANY voice comms, one is for fear that a person will say something on their stream like dropping the N-bomb or whatever else. Another stream who doesn’t use voice comms but this is because they have sooooo many viewers that it could get hectic. Then there is another streamer who uses voice comms in any game possible with their viewers since most people are subscribers and know that there are some things you just don’t say. For me, I use voice comms with friends and regulars. If it is someone who is in the stream for the first time chances are I’m not going to be using voice comms just in case. Some people can be jerks and try to say things negatively over a stream.

Community days are a super fun way to get a bunch of folks together. Another thing that ties into viewer games. I have seen some streamers do them on stream and others who have done them off. This is where they just hang out in discord and play games or they stream. I would suggest, If you ware playing with a bigger streamer/partner streamer.. and you MUST stream, Then it may be wise to have your push to talk on. Nothing is more annoying then hearing someone play with a partner streamer and be talking to their couple of viewers. Have some respect! For me, if I’m playing with a few partners that i watch and do viewer games I don’t normally stream while playing with them. I want to really focus on games and have a fun time! Also, it looks SUPER annoying and cringe-y if you are playing with a partner/much bigger streamer and you change your stream title as a touch of click bait like “Playing games with XXX” because it looks like you are using that person in order to get clicks or views on your stream.

Movie Nights is something I  offer to subscribers once a month and I’m part of a community that also does them once a month. However with Corona Virus I have seen people also opening up to Discord Movie nights. Something I may look at getting into but I’m not entirely sure I was thinking about putting it up to a vote on twitter actually! This is when they use a streaming service like Kast or even discord streaming because they have upped the participants and how many can watch. I would only say don’t do this too often or it might lost it’s appeal but once a month is a great time to do it! I know some streamers mute their mics during this time (My preferred method!) and they have a text channel and then another who just has open mics/push to talk and they talk during the movie. This is another fun way and once you get into the habit you’re viewers will really enjoy and look forward to. you can even vote on different movies or subjects as well to get the community more involved!

As you can see there is many ways to connect with your community outside of streaming. Find out what works for you and look at what other channels are doing also! Do what you feel comfortable with and watch how your once divided or quiet community could become busy and exciting!

-StaySeeJ08

Do’s and Don’ts of Self Branding

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Self branding can be something people struggle with when first starting out as a streamer. Why? Because they don’t know where to begin! Do they want to be a Just Chatting streamer, a game streamer, Mature or Family Friendly Streamer. There are so many directions that one can take in this that it can be overwhelming when trying to figure out who YOU want to be! Hell, Myself it took a while to really begin to start to establish who I wanted to be. When I first started streaming it was directly off my PS4 and I just started playing. I didn’t know or think there was any type of direction that I wanted to go until I was graduating to streaming from my PS4 via capture card and then continuing all the way to PC.

Having a direction when streaming can help you in feeling a bit more relaxed (In my opinion!). Knowing where you want to go and what you want to do is something that can help in growth. When I first started streaming I wanted to be a gaming streamer. I wanted to eventually have a web cam and then I wanted to grow no games. At this point I knew very little about just chatting streams but now as I am learning more and more about streaming I slowly want to introduce myself to bringing more of the laid back style of just chatting instead of the fast paced FPS games or what not. I wanted to be friendly and welcoming to new people but like I am in real life I wanted to make sure that I didn’t take crap from anyone and was treated nice. I don’t put up with stuff in the real world like bullies and what not I wasn’t going to do it in the virtual one either. That also being said, I knew I didn’t want to be someone who showed a lot of cleavage on stream either. Not that there is anything wrong with that but a) I lack confidence to show that much skin on stream let alone to anyone and b) I was in a committed relationship and I couldn’t bring myself to do that because I felt like I was betraying my boyfriend who i was in a very committed relationship with. It was just not the image that I wanted to have for who I am or becoming as a streamer.

Having a family friendly stream vs a mature audience stream can be tricky to navigate. For me, I wanted to have a mature audience. I swear WAY too much and knew that when I was gaming I did not want to be babysitting anyone. Mind you now that I have my son I will eventually have to be more careful with swearing (Unless I switch my schedule now to an evening one when the little fella sleeps a lot better!) but overall I do not want to be a family friendly stream. I know there are streamers who do run a family friendly stream and I respect that. They want to have a safe space and want to welcome people from all different ages. For me, I want to watch streams who are mature. With a kid especially I feel like I will see more than enough kids programs that I will need an escape with actual adults. That being said if someone comes into my chat (Which Yes, I do have the mature audience filter on too!) and they say that they are under 18 I simply say we don’t talk about ages in my channel and move on.

Stick with it! As hard as it might be. Whatever you want to do for self branding stick with it and test it out for a while. Establishing who you are and what you want to represent will take time and energy as well as dedication as well too. Rome wasn’t built in a day you know! Sure, For my situation I could have easily went and shown a bit of skin and maybe I would have had it a bit better on growth or whatever else but I didn’t want to do that and stayed true to myself. If it doesn’t work then cross that bridge when you get to it!

What if you want a change? Is there a right way or a wrong way to do this? This was something that really stuck out to me from AshniChrist’s youtube video. If you want to change change slow enough that your viewers do not notice and fast enough that they stay interested. If you do this too slowly you may lose viewers because they don’t want to stick around waiting and waiting. And if you want to do it slow enough that it is not a major change. If you consider yourself a family friendly stream which primarily plays FPS games and suddenly you switch to a MOBA and are mature content, that is quite the change between! You may lose people who were once dedicated along the way because you have done a legit 180 for content.

Lastly, BE CONSISTENT! If you are one way on your stream, say Family Friendly, but on Twitter you are 18+ and on instagram you are pg-13 then you will find you will get a bunch of people in the wrong places at the wrong times due to all the  mixed messages you are sending. If you are going to be family friendly, do that across all of your social medias. And if you choose to have different sides of your brand then separate them. There is a streamer who mains Dead by Daylight who is family friendly. He welcomes anyone and everyone and is super wholesome. It would be a bit whacked though if you were to click on his twitter link to see a bunch of nearly nudes or F-bombs around in tweets.

Whatever you want to do or decide to do, There is no right or wrong way to brand who YOU are! As long as you aren’t being fake I think anything goes in my eyes!

-StaySeeJ08

Should I play the newest game?

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With games like Valorant on the Horizon it can be quite the task to pick a game. We touch base on this before with the one game vs variety streaming, and even recently on the choosing a game to play, but this is going to focus more on the newest games and whether or not you want to play them immediately when they come out or old off for a while to play them. So often you hear the bad side to streaming the newest game when the larger streamers are also going to be playing them. It can be a tug of war with thoughts when trying to decide if you should play it or wait out the craze. Here are some pros and cons and some questions you should ask yourself before committing to playing this or put it on hold for now!

Do I choose the newest and latest game?

Choosing a new game like Valorant when it comes out can be a bit damaging if you haven’t properly grown a following. Why? Because 9/10 times every single partnered/big streamer is playing these games. And most of the times this is in part due to the fact that gaming company’s reach out (Or streamers reach out to the company’s) and they are essentially “hired” to play this. This is why you might see the #Ad or even #Sponsored in their title and are playing it for a certain period of time. They may even play it a few days after the release as well too depending on how their contract/obligation is. This could be playing so many hours per day til/after release or even just the initial day it is released as well too.

Should this mean you shouldn’t play the game? Of course not! If you want to play the newest game of course you should. However, to go in to this and expect growth could be a bit disheartening though since you are in fact competing with the biggest streamers more often than not when a new game releases. If you think that you will enjoy the game don’t let that stop you from playing it.

What if I want to play the newest and latest game?

I would strongly recommend that if you decide to play the newest and latest games to PLAN PLAN PLAN! The more you plan (In my opinion) will ultimately show in the end of your stream whether it was a success or not. Ask around too, Maybe others were going to play it themselves so they wont be available to be in chat. Therefore you might be playing the game to nobody (In case that matters to you). If you make this an exciting thing then people might even want to hold off watching someone else to watch you! I know for myself, I have held off watching a streamer play a game that looks interesting to me because I might not have the money to get it at release but I do want to play through it at some point without having everything spoiled and no surprises for myself. I also know that I have been in some chats as a viewer and have seen different people ask the streamer if they are planning to play through a game because they think it would be really entertaining to them and they don’t want to miss it. Which as a streamer, Is a great feeling to know that people are excited to see how YOU will play a game through!

Getting on the hype?

Don’t wait too long! That would be something I would say to anyone. Look at when Fortnite came out and how drastically things have changes as well with building and things. If you are falling in love with a game I would totally say start from the beginning. I have seen a few streamers who are bigger not start playing Fortnite til the learning curve was so steep that they were left behind. If you see a new game or you want to jump on the latest fad don’t hesitate! Take this opportunity to get on the bandwagon and become an expert! Look at people like Myth, Before he played a game called Paragon (I think!) which was shut down. Fortnite came around and he started to play that full time and really became an expert to the point he was showing the actual pros tricks when they would cross in lobbies! Same with Ninja, As far as I know he didn’t wait til a few months after Fortnite came out. He started playing with it and really dedicated himself to the game and now he is one of the biggest Fortnite streamers on the planet!

How can I make this a big event?

Well that\s easy! Make something on your social media. If you are able to, make a picture and spread it across twitter. Have a timer in your chat that lets them know how excited you are and plan on streaming it as well. If you want to use a small giveaway or something as well (Though set it up to reward your regulars not bring in people  only there to win something). Make an announcement on your discord so everyone is getting hyped about it as well too. If it is a multi player game then you are also able to connect with fellow friends and streamers and try out some multi streams. This can be a great way to connect across a few communities and work on building a connection with others if you want to.

Playing the newest game doesn’t have to be hard or rough for smaller streamers. It just takes some planning and some hard work into it though. Look at all of the big streamers, some get new overlays, some get new alerts or sounds, they make a big production about a hyped up game they are able to play. Look at yourself regardless of viewers in the same way and I’m sure you may also find some success too!

-StaySeeJ08