Tag Archives: tips for live streamers

Dealing with Trolls!

Streaming, , , , , , , , ,

What is a troll you might say, and no we aren’t talking about the dolls kids used to play with, who had the neon hair and a jewel in their belly button, a troll is an asshole. Basically someone who wants to bully or try to belittle or make fun of a person. Mind you there is such thing as healthy trolls who poke fun at things with the streamer or other people online but in a playful way. I have people in my chat who do this! Normally at something I did wrong in the game that we all know I am capable of doing well! If that is the type of trolls that you encounter than this bit might not be for you! Trolls could be poking fun or degrading you with anything. Weight, sexuality, gender, race, etc. However if you are like me who from time to time gets the odd asshole in chat calling me a whale or overweight or to show my boobs this might be something that could be useful for you!

Photo by Ellie Burgin on Pexels.com

There are many different ways to deal with trolls. Most people have a sort of system where a troll will get different chances for example: The 1st time maybe they will get a time out for 10 minutes. Second time maybe a few hours or even 24 hours. And a 3rd time might result in a permanent ban. It really depends on the streamer since there is no “Magic” amount to time out a troll or when to permanently ban them. Each streamer has to decide for themselves how they are going to run their channel. It took me a little while to really figure out how I want to run my channel and I’m sure it will take you a  bit to figure out how to run yours too! Some people even un-ban everyone who they have banned once a year over the holidays or even every few years too. I know a streamer who had a re-brand and at that time he had decided to start fresh with the bans and removed all of them. Mind you at this time I would assume that most of the people have moved on to other channels but you never know though. Time will tell who shows up again though!

How do you know someone is a troll really all depends on the person and how much people can get away with it. For me, I can put up with a lot of jokes and things but what I don’t like is sexually charged comments or things that regard my weight. Those kinds of things said to me really don’t make me feel good and are super unnecessary. If someone comes into the stream and mentions either one of these my first reaction is this person is being a troll and chances are more often than not this person is also not a regular. A regular knows how to act when coming into a stream they frequent a lot. Another thing you might notice is that when a troll comes into the stream if you do have regulars who are in chat that they typically stick up for you and have your back when something gets extremely uncomfortable.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Rarely also, you will see the trolls who really go all out for trying to make you have a shit stream or day. These people will come on and start to say things in chat and when you time out or ban they still come back with a similar or different ult account saying the exact same things. Unfortunately all you can really do is ban them continuously or you can even report each username to Twitch also. Not that Twitch really does anything about it but you know, It might make you feel better in the very least. This might be better if you do it and their is people in chat. That way you are not the only one reporting but others are as well too. If possible sometimes you are able to go offline for a half an hour or so and they will disappear as well. Other times you are able to go into a followers only mode (JUST TEMPORARILY) so that you don’t discourage regular viewers. It would even help if you put a timer or had a command explaining why you are on this mode and how it is to get rid of trolls too.

I deal with trolls in a pretty harsh way. I have had the same saying nearly the whole time that I was a streamer. The saying is this, “Anyone who is a regular won’t say these things to me, and if a person who has never been in my chat comes in and is nasty towards myself or the people in chat, they are not someone who I would miss or would add value here”. When I first started I used to time people out for 10 minutes or 24 hours. This seemed fair, give someone a chance to redeem themselves and more often than not someone would come back when their time out was over and do the same thing again! I was basically playing tag and it sucked. I was feeling like garbage about myself because they would say the same things and I lacked the confidence to bounce back easily. I decided that if someone is new and comes into my chat they get a perma-ban. Some might say that this is a bit much for first time offenders but honestly for my own sanity it was the best solution for my stream!

Ultimately, it is YOUR stream at the end of the day. Whether you want to give someone a second chance or you want to play around with trolls. Or you want to take the quick and easy route like me where you just ban them and hope that you never see them again. Don’t let someone in your chat make you feel any less then you are. Sometimes people find pleasure in making others feel bad. Especially if you have a webcam and they can see an instant reaction. If you aren’t sure how you want to handle trolls then ask around! See what others are doing and adapt something to suit your desires! And be safe out there, Your stream is YOUR space, Don’t let anyone ruin that!

Panels, Why should I have them?

Streaming, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What are panels?
Panels are an image/text that can display a certain part of who you are/your channel. Look at them as titles to chapters with a mini write up underneath or just the photo there with information or a photo that if clicked sends you to a page.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Why should I have them?
Panels are a great way to showcase who you are and the content you are willing to provide. If you aren’t live for example and someone comes to check out your channel this is a great way to show who you are without being able to at the time. It can give them an idea of who you are and can even determine if they give you a follow or not even if you aren’t online too!

How can I get them?
Panels do not have to be expensive or even difficult. Anything is better then nothing when it comes to panels. Below is a website Nerd or die that I myself have used, It lets you create your own panels even if they aren’t something fancy its still something to use until you know what you want or can afford to get a personally created panel set. I have also included the twitter of people I have personally used for some of my designs as well!

Nerd or die:
https://nerdordie.com/resources/free-resources/customizable-twitch-panels/
You can also search Etsy and find some generic pre-made panels there too, though they are normally part of a package there are some really nice ones out there too!

What panels should I have?
– Bio/About Me: Pretty self explanatory. Put whatever you want here about YOU! Make is simple and short and a quick description of who you are! Think of this as a mini intro that you would tell a new viewer if they wanted to know who you are and what you are about!
– Tips: Also known as donations. However donations are more for charities. I myself am guilty of putting donations as a panel however when I get the money for a re-vamp/re-design I will be putting tips instead. This is normally linked to your paypal or other form of tipping site so that folks can tip you for your entertainment!
– Subscribe: This is for anyone wanting to subscribe per month to your channel. This normally directs people to your subscribe page. This is also for affiliate and partners on twitch and a very valuable panel to have especially if someone is on mobile. It can make subscribing a lot easier for someone. If finding where to subscribe is difficult you may be losing out on potential revenue!
– Games Played: This can be valuable in case you play multiple games or do play-throughs often. It can also help if folks to see what kind of content that you like to do. I would suggest to keep this to maybe your favorites though. You don’t want this to become a list of 20+ games and totally throw off the flow of your panels either.
– Sponsors: This is a great spot to showcase if you have a sponsor with anyone. Sometimes the company will create or have their own panel and it is required to have this there as a means to promote them and sometimes a way to make a percent of sales too!
– Socials: These are always important, whether they are twitter, youtube, instagram, tiktok or whatever else you might use. Normally when people follow someone on their streaming platform they are also inclined to want to follow on different socials. They want to see your content across multiple spots. Not to mention, if a person is unable to financially support a streamer they are more then happy to help someone by retweeting, liking a picture or thumbs upping their videos since all of those ways to support a streamer are free!
– Artists: This is a great way to shout out the people who make your channel unique! Some artists have their own panel designed which you are able to use while having the panel link to one of their socials or websites. Others might just have a link which you can use an “Artist” umbrella panel so you can add each artist you use individually with a hyperlink under the panel.
– Shout outs: This can be used for 2 things. Some folks have this to shout out their streamer friends and to hopefully direct the love to them as well. This can also be used for showcasing the biggest supporters. Maybe the tops bits giver or sub gifter. Maybe someone has supported financially for a long time and you want to shout them out too. Again, just like the games played keep the list to the top. It can be very unappealing to the eyes when you see a list of 25+ people who support you and have to scroll down the page in order to see other panels or the bottom of your list too.

Don’t do this in panels
– Do not ONLY have a tipping panel. A lot of new streamers are inclined to have only a tipping panel. This looks SUPER scummy and normally when viewers especially new ones visit a channel and only see a tipping panel they are immediately turned off. It demonstrates to a new viewer that you, the streamer are more interested in them giving you money. Which is not a bad thing, But with that being the only thing it can come off very bizarre.
– Don’t write a book. Keep it interesting and point form. Sure you can write a story about it. But why not write enough to keep the viewer interested and then if you have a story you can use that while you are live to tell stories. If all of your panels have long paragraphs of things then it will be extremely hard to keep a potential viewer interested if they have to read 20 minutes worth of text in order to find out a simple question they might have about you or your stream.
– Don’t make everything all cluttered. There is a flow with panels ie: Making them all the same size, Same style, one side isn’t just panels with links or another filled with texts as well. You do not want to have someone open your channel and start to read your panels when they have to scroll down pages to finish reading text when the other side has been finished long before.

Panels are pretty much a fundamental part of a channel. Whether you make them yourself of have someone make them. Make sure before you even hit the live button once that you have these done! Look at them as an extension of YOU!

Different Ways to Support Streamers

Streaming, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There are many different ways to support streamers. Some are financial ways and there are many many that can also be done for FREE! Yes, you heard that, FOR FREE! People think a lot of the time that if they cant support a streamer financially that they aren’t doing a good job at being a viewer. There are a lot of things that are extremely helpful for streamers that cost the viewer absolutely nothing! These are the many various financial and FREE ways to support streamers on Twitch or even any platform that you tend to watch someone entertain you on.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Financial Support
This is obviously the way viewers think about when they think about supporting a streamer. Sure, if this is a streamer who does this as their full time job it can be important . However it is equally respectable if you are able to just be there. Most streamers don’t talk about finances on stream however they may have goals set up and things that can help you decide if you want to help them with a sub and or bits or tip as well too! Here are some ways to financially support a streamer:

Subscribing
Subscribing is when you choose to play a monthly fee, ie: on Twitch it can be 5.00, 10.00 and 25.00 to which the streamer gets a percentage usually a minimum of 50% of the price. If by chance they have a higher percentage that they take home it was because of the negotiations of their contract. Affiliates only take 50% though. You also get some perks like their emotes being able to be used in different channels and also sometimes streamers have different perks ie: Subscriber movie nights, sub only channels on discords and even first dibs when playing games as well too! You can also cancel this at any time. Mixer has a feature though I think there is just one base price in terms of subscribing. Not to mention on Twitch they have a feature called “Twitch Prime” where if you have Amazon Prime you are able to connect your accounts on amazon/twitch and receive a free gift sub to use on a channel across the site. The only thing with using Twitch Prime is you have to remember to RE-SUBSCRIBE every month so it doesn’t go to waste! Not to mention at least on twitch, You can also sub gift to a streamer. Sub gifting is a great way to help out a streamer and bring a few extra people into the community as well too!

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

Bits
This is the currency that you can buy on Twitch. You would use your currency for the country that you live in to buy it. This is a currency that you can only use directly on Twitch. You can use as many or little as you like to support your favorite streamers. Some might be for different things or actions to happen on the stream and can be a safer way if you wish to donate to a streamer. Where it is already bought currency through the platform there is no risk for charge backs though there is normally a time frame or a minimum amount to be made in order to get paid for that month ie: Twitch you need to have minimum 100$ in your “account” in order to be paid out that month.

Donations
Donations can be a bit trickier in a sense because it goes directly to the streamer. No need to wait for a minimum to be cashed out or anything but there is the risk for a charge back. This is when a jerk will donate an amount of money for a specific reason, and then and they charge back. A great way to look at this is having buyers remorse. The best thing you can do is have chat logs ready and protect yourself. I always encourage people to use bits or even sub because they get something back from that. Now charge backs might depend on the streamer there have been times Ive seen streamers have REGULARS charge back when they don’t get their own way. There is no streamer big or small that is protected from this however the better notes you keep the better chance you have of this person not being successful in getting their money returned.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Free Ways


Here are some ways that you can help your favorite streamers that are TOTALLY FREE. I mean lets be honest, using your time is not exactly free and some streamers even view it as more important then subscribing or being a help financially (*Cough* Me *Cough*). Viewers make a stream even if they don’t feel like it. Having many viewers can bring in folks who are capable of supporting financially and building a community stronger as well too. Let’s jump in and explore the ways!

Chatting
Pretty self explanatory. As we all know streamers love when chats are active and engaging. Its never fun when chat can be dead and quiet so just by being there and contributing to to the stream and welcoming new viewers can be a huge help as well too.

Lurking
Though this may be a bit harder and more chilled it can still help a streamer. I do a lot of lurking while I’m writing my blog posts for example. Though it doesn’t give a lot back it still helps the streamer you want to support by putting their numbers up a bit higher on the viewer list to bring in potentially new viewers. You do not need to be an active chatter (Though it helps, we understand you have a life outside of being an active viewer!).

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Sharing Social Medias
This can be huge! It can help reach potential new viewers and sharing the stream is a great way to do so. Whether you are retweeting a live tweet or following their socials or sharing the stream with friends it all helps. The more reach someone has the easier it is for growth. Word of mouth is a powerful way to help a streamer who you enjoy watching their content to reach new heights. Legit free with a click of a button!

Active in their Discord
Discords are a great way to connect with a community of a streamer you enjoy. Discords being dead can be super hard to bring new people in but they are a great central place to get the useful information from a streamer out to their community. Even checking in and contributing to conversations is great and a fun way to meet members as well who also enjoy things. Even make some new friends as well!

Clips
Clips is another great way to help support a streamer for free. Whether or not that make YouTube videos with them or they are used across social medias as well too. They are a great way to clip memorable moments in a stream to share with others. Especially for different commands that streamers use for moments and to help make streams more interactive too!

As you can see there is MANY MANY MANY ways to support streamers that doesn’t require money and some that do. Don’t feel like just being a viewer is not enough. If it wasn’t for viewers whether they support financially or not streamers wouldn’t be where they are today without the viewer!

Choosing an Org or Stream Team

Streaming, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why join an org/team?
Thinking about joining an Org or Stream team can be a daunting task. You hear of MAJOR teams such as G2, TSM, FaZe and plenty of other ones but there are some smaller Orgs/Teams out there that are more the willing to give people their 1st shot as well as help them grow as a content creator. It goes without saying though, not all teams, especially the smaller ones will have your best interest at heart. Most are simply trying to make it bigger, and bring as many people along the way to help them promote the team for free.

Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

How to pick one?
My first stream team that I was on was pretty young in the progression process. I was part of a support for support community and they branched out into E-sports, Well they wanted to. The reason why I left this team was because there was a lot of empty promises as well as negativity coming from the owners. Putting blame on the stream team when their viewer numbers were low. I decided to leave somewhere else and find the current one what I was with named Vanquish. They are established, They have some Pro teams currently and a lot of content creators. They did a lot of charity work at the time as well as helped the streamers. However when some of the bigger admins and leaders changed the team lost a bit of sight from that.

When picking a stream team you need to look at where the team is and what you want to be doing. For example, The first team I was on, obviously wouldn’t be as established as they were since they were just in the beginning stages of growth. Barely having a twitter, talking about a website, clips for YouTube and whatever else. They were just starting with not a lot of experience in the field. I felt like I was being held back since you cant really promote another team while on one (See more on this in the next paragraph). I wrote out a quick thank you for the opportunity and applied to Vanquish. I choose Vanquish (And they also accepted me of course!) because I knew a few people who were also on the team. I haven’t heard anything bad about the team and they seem to be doing things. They put their streamers on front page for charity events. They are around for the competitive scene with certain games like Fortnite, Apex, and games I had no idea about due to never hearing them before. They help one another and even have a sponsor through GamerSupps drinks. They have merch and have been established as well. I felt what better way team to be a part of though than this.

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

When picking a team, pick a team that will suit YOUR needs. If you want to be part of a professional/competitive scene, choose one that is known for that. If you want to join one with similar lifestyles then choose another one like that. If you want to join one with more of content creation side choose that one!
There are many teams out there however remember that they also probably have requirements to join ie: Stream x number of hours per week, Have to be affiliate, use a webcam, above a certain age, stream x number of hours on their verified (or not) channel, and other ones as well too.

Respecting the Team?
When joining a stream team or org it is important to learn about the team and respect the team too. Number one would be respect the other members. There most likely will be different streamers for all walks of life, playing many different games from the most popular to indie ones. No one person is better then another and you should respect everyone on there, regardless of what games they are playing.
Another thing is focus on ONE team and not multiple ones. Nothing looks more unprofessional then when you are representing a team but you have multiple others in your panels or bio’s across social medias.
Also, If your team you are representing has a sponsor ie: Say you are being represented by GamerSupps on your team. And you have a panel there, Do not start drinking a competitor on streams. When you do this it looks extremely wonky as well too. If you are personally sponsored by a company talk to your team about it being a conflict of interest. Show that you are fully dedicated to the team instead of sending mixed messages of conflicting sponsors. Not to mention from a sponsor standpoint, They may be less inclined to extent the sponsorship status to the team if they see these types of things happening as well too.

Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

Leaving an Org?
This also ties into the previous paragraph as well too. Be respectful! If you feel like an Org isn’t going the way you want it or that it is holding it back, leave. But do so respectfully. I have seen in certain situations where a person would write this huge story and publically post it in hopes they go down in a blaze of glory. Don’t do this. Not to mention if another org you are trying to get in happens to look at your socials and sees you being rude like this towards a previous org it doesn’t make you look like an appealing member they would want to bring on to the team. Keep it classy when trying to leave somewhere as well. If you need to say something and a reason for leaving then direct messaging someone would be a great way to start instead of doing it in public!

How to make the most out of an Org/Stream team
The major misconception that people make when joining a team is they EXPECT support. That doesn’t happen. Remember that teams can be extremely helpful, but you will only get what you put into them. If you don’t visit streams or support other members then don’t expect them to visit you. Though teams are a great tool to be a part of meeting a lot of different individuals who might have the same ideas for streaming as well too. If there are events happening mention you would like to take part in them, If they have an official channel to stream on, stream there, You will only get what you put into it!

Graphics, Are they important?

Streaming, , , , , , , , , , ,

Graphics can be a great way to showcase who you are and what you like when it comes to your stream. Normally partners on any platform, as well as anyone wanting to showcase their brand through photos normally customized to their ideas. This can be panels, online and offline screens, intros and outros and overlays as well too. Though this might sound overwhelming don’t be alarmed, Everyone has to start somewhere and you don’t need to have the fanciest things to begin with. A lot of streamers start with basics and move forward as they progress in the streaming world or when more money comes in. As any type of graphics will normally cost money. Getting something for free can be a good way to wait a long time for them.

Photo by Lenin Estrada on Pexels.com

First, If you are a new streamer, make sure that the first thing you do, IF ANYTHING is to change your profile picture. Far too many times I see people tweeting and trying to get viewers, when they don’t even have a profile picture. Whether you put a photo of food, or your photo, adding a profile photo and not keeping it the default photo is a great way to show what you are about. Maybe you have a custom logo made, maybe you have a pet or something else you enjoy, changing your profile photo demonstrates you know what you are doing (even if you are pretending!).

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

Secondly, Don’t pay a crap load of money for panels JUST YET. There is a lot of free sites out there such as Nerd or Die where you can actually make your own panels. Nerd or Die is a prime example of a website that you can make even very basic panels for your live streaming needs. They are available to anyone so there isn’t much customization BUT its a great way to put place holders there and show that you are growing in the industry. I actually used this site and made my panels that way. Its easy to change and helps you not to stress over the customized graphics (Just yet) when it comes to building your channel.

Next is overlays. You have overlays that again, you can pay money for and have a decent overlay customized for you. Or you ca go to some sites where you can purchase an overlay that is also available to other people too so customization may not be as personal. Some sites even have packages for specific panels and overlays that you can buy for a cheaper price. I would check if possible, the popularity of the package though. You don’t want to use the same panels and overlays as all of your friends or people you watch either. You can have an overlay on your screen as well as a cam boarder. This is where you can display your stats like recent followers, subscribers, tips as well as other things that you wish.

Photo by FOX on Pexels.com

Another thing I would suggest when it comes to thinking about the graphics for your channel. Go into this with an idea of some sort. Not saying that artists aren’t creative or anything but if you go into this with an idea or a concept then it can make things run a lot smoother. When I went into wanting my emotes made I had the names and a few examples of something similar that I wanted. I sent them to my emote artist and she did a fantastic job on them. It can also do a lot in helping the artist as well save time. If you give them a basic concept, And they do something you aren’t fond of then they now have to go back and revise what they did. Now, yes that is part of their job is to refine what you asked but it can save so much time in the long run if you go in with a particular style or even a mascot with who you want. I am going to be personally saving my twitch pays for the next few months I would estimate perhaps.. 6-9 months given that I get pay outs every 3 to save to re-invest into the stream. I’m in no rush because for me I typically sketch out an idea and refine it over time so that an artist has a pretty clear idea of what I want and they can then put their own style onto it!

A HUGE thing to remember when looking for an artist. Nothing in life is free and you get what you pay for. If you are looking for a cheap and easy artist chances are you will get the run in to a lot of various issues with creating your design. Artists take a lot of time when making these creations for our streams some even have many years of schooling behind them. Do you have a friend who has had their graphics done and you loved the work their artist has done? Hit that artist up. One thing that is huge in getting your name out there as an artist is word of mouth. From sharing and having great emotes and overlays and things. Look at AdmiralBahroo, He is known not just for his streams but his iconic emotes as well too. You may have seen them around, the ones with the panda mascot. The power of great graphics is similar to having a great impression via word of mouth. If you use a site like Fiverr as well too, Make sure you check the artist reviews, what they will provide, revisions and whatever else you are looking for. If you get a weird feeling from someone by reading their profile or portfolio (which you should be asking for examples as well too!) If you don’t like something keep searching. There is no rush when finding an artist to make your vision become a reality.

Also this almost should go without needing mentioning, If you cannot afford emotes/graphics/overlays DO NOT STEAL THEM! If you see someone on twitch or where ever with the same emotes as you, report them. Ask how they got them. Question things. So often you see people using others designs because they wanted an easy way our. Streamers and artists are also responsible for this. Streamers if you notice that you have a product that is plagiarized then remove it. Question your artist. And Artists if you use someone else’s artwork. Shame on you as well too.

Regardless of how you want your vision to come to life remember, Not everyone had the money to pay hundreds of dollars for graphics their first stream. Save your money and invest in someone who you trust and you enjoy their work! Ask around and don’t be afraid to ask your artist questions as well too. Don’t spend a lot of money on a “Maybe” if the artist isn’t sure they can produce results!