Less than a year ago, the most popular streamers on YouTube made the jump to Twitch. The reason? The facilities offered by being a streamer on Twitch compared to YouTube. Facilities regarding the content that you can broadcast without facing the censorship of Google and, not least, the facilities to monetize your content through subscriptions, donations and paid exclusivities such as emoticons and emblems.
Thus, today Twitch has become the fashionable platform to broadcast live. Even TV shows have broadcasts on Twitch in parallel or directly from their television content, commented or as it is broadcast. Be that as it may, Twitch likes streamers and those who watch their streamings.
One detail to keep in mind as a streamer on Twitch is that there are several categories. This has its advantages in terms of offering personalized content to your followers and obtaining more and better rewards for your work. Maybe the Twitch partner program is familiar to you. Do you know how to become a member? Do you know the difference between partner and affiliate? Let's see the differences between one and the other.
First, become a streamer
On Twitch you can do two things. Stream or watch the streaming of others. If you are one of the first, over time you will want to go to more, as you gain followers. Sooner or later, you will want to move up and thus earn for your content. And for the time you've spent on it. So the first thing is to sign up for Twitch and start broadcasting. The process is fast, free and you can do it from your computer or from the mobile app.
We are not going to go into tips and tricks to be a good streamer here. Just to tell you that the beginnings are not easy and that the most difficult part of streaming is staying on time . Many give up after a few days or weeks because they give up. Enduring is one of the keys to grow in views or reproductions and in followers.
As a complement to your first days as a Twitch streamer, it is worth knowing the ingredients you need for your live streams. In this article you will find a selection of the elements and devices to broadcast live, either as an amateur or, later, as a professional. It also imports the chosen software to manage your direct.
Second, become an affiliate
If you were a Pokémon, the first evolution of the Twitch streamer is to become an affiliate. The affiliate can receive income as he adds followers and audience to his channel. To become an affiliate you had to start as a low-level streamer. It is not an easy process, but if you do it right, you can get your reward.
What do you need to be affiliate on Twitch?
Have 50 or more followers. Broadcast for at least 8 hours. Broadcast for at least 7 different days. Come on, those 8 hours are not in a single day. Have an average of 3 viewers in each broadcast. Meet these requirements for at least 30 days in a row. Another requirement, at the legal level, is that you are over 18 years old or that, being a minor, your mother, father or legal guardian accept the conditions of the affiliate agreement. A mere procedure but necessary.
When you meet these requirements, you can request to be part of the affiliate program by going to the streaming manager, and in Preferences > Affiliates, do the necessary procedures. Basically, provide tax information to receive payments when you get benefits. It can be a deposit in a bank account, a transfer, a check or a deposit in PayPal. Payments are usually made “15 days after the end of the month in which the income is obtained”.
What advantages does it have to be an affiliate on Twitch? In addition to the obvious one, getting money from your content, to make this possible you will need tools that will only be active if you are an affiliate on Twitch. For starters, ads on streams. But there's more: exclusive broadcasts for subscribers, video storage for 14 days, replays and premieres, surveys and other exclusivities for your followers such as emoticons.
Third, become a member
The streamer becomes an affiliate and the affiliate can become a partner. It is not mandatory, you can live as a member without problems. Being a partner on Twitch is the last step to monetize your content, live or recorded, but it is not for everyone. It's not easy to get there but it's not impossible either. You already did the hardest part when you became an affiliate.
What requirements do Twitch Partners have to meet? In principle, you must complete the achievement “Become a member”. That is, when you see that achievement appear, you will know that you have completed it. To comply with this, you will have to reach a number of hours of direct, audience, etc. After completing the achievement, you will see a button on the control panel to “request membership status”.
Requirements of the “Become a member” achievement:
Broadcast for at least 25 hours. Broadcast for at least 12 different days. In other words, those 25 hours must be spread out. Each live show must have an average audience of 75 viewers. Along with completing the “Become a Member” achievement, you'll need to comply with the Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, and DMCA Guidelines. Comply with it “constantly”, Twitch specifies. You can read these documents in the corresponding links. Warning. It takes time. Long time.
Advantages of being a Twitch partner:
Create custom cheermotes. Up to 60 unlockable emoticons. The affiliate, only, 5 emoticons. When entering, there are no fees. Affiliates are deducted from their earnings. Video storage for 60 days. Delay live streaming up to 15 minutes to better control the broadcast. Customer support. Ability to add a verified channel badge. Group stream. You can create a broadcast team instead of going it alone. In short, the path of the Twitch streamer is not easy. After taking your first steps, if you want to monetize your content, you must achieve enough audience, content and followers to be able to become an affiliate. From there, if you want to go further and “professionalize yourself”, you must meet the requirements to become a member. This way you will get more tools and exclusivities to offer more and better content to more people. And, by the way, get some income in return.
