Chapter 2: Dealing With Discouragement

So you got your equipment set up and you've got a few streams under your belt.

But no one's showed up and if they did? Chances are they didn't stay let alone talk or even follow.

In the meantime, random streamer #2 did their first stream and had a large turnout the first night.

It's discouraging and leaves you wondering why you aren't as good as them?

What do you do now? Keep going or quit?

No, lemme rephrase that.

Do you keep going? Or quit thinking about why you want to quit and THEN keep going?

Don't sell yourself short on those first few streams, especially in a comparison between you and another streamer who to be blunt? Is not you and vice versa.

This isn't said to spite them nor you. It's to clarify that what they do for their own channel is irrelevant to your channel.

And seriously, don't quit over something like that.

While some people do tend to take off overnight seemingly, especially if they already were known from another streaming platform, YouTube, or as a celebrity? Their growth is by no means relative to your lack of growth, nor does it mean you are a bad streamer.

That, and some streamers who grow quickly find a stall in growth later while its an occurrence for those who start out very slow to snowball later on.

See, different people have different tastes in what they find entertaining and some people network better than others. Also, it's a sad reality that some streamers also play the system and use illicit methods to 'grow', but that's another story entirely considering we're talking of organic growth here.

You have those who grow fast because they took a route of playing only trending games for growth and they gained momentum. That in itself isn't a problem.

The issue is that there's so many who've let it go to their head and also those who started playing a trending title because 'that streamer plays it and look how popular they are'.

But there are also those who've done the above but stayed humble, enjoying the game while respecting their viewers. There is nothing wrong with this at all and if it's what you want to do? Do it, but only if you truly enjoy it regardless of how quick or slow your growth is, and don't forget yourself along the way.

I myself as a variety streamer can vouch for my growth being a lot slower than some of those those who tend to stick solely to Fortnite, Apex Legends, or whatever else is trending compared to my knack for playing a variety of games and genres, be it retro titles, indie games no one has ever heard of much, fighting games, old point and click adventures, horror games, etc. At the time of this post I've streamed a total of 280 games which I've kept track of through this list (I'm sharing it to give you an example of what kind of content I've covered).

I speak more in detail on all of this in my chapter on playing what you want, but the point I'm trying to get across is that if I do ever play a game that's popular at any point in time, it's out of a general interest I have in the game. I stream what makes me happy even if its a slow and difficult path, because that's still my path, not the other streamer's.

Again, that streamer that is growing quickly? Lets be honest, they aren't the only ones.

A bit of perspective to give you is that right now as I'm typing this up? There's a wide swath of other channels growing quicker than you as well as other streamers I know.

And there are also people growing faster than that swath of other channels.

Slow growth doesn't instantly mean you're a bad channel with no chance of growth, nor does fast growth mean a channel is wholesome in quality because it's gained speed at a fast rate.

It goes both ways with these examples.

A streamer puts out genuinely wholesome content, so why aren't they growing quick? They likely just haven't gained enough of a name to snowball yet. Practice at their craft, patience, and proper networking can help that ball roll.

A streamer disrespect's their viewers and overall has a toxic attitude, so why aren't they growing quick? It speaks for itself in that no one other than individuals who are toxic as well would want to support someone like that.

On the other side of the coin, if a streamer with wholesome content is growing fast, it's likely because they present themselves in a way where they attract viewers who genuinely enjoy watching them, talking to them, and spreading word about them aside from the above examples on how they honed their craft and put the time in to grind for what they wanted.

But if a streamer is toxic yetis growing fast? A key reason though not always the case is that once again they attract those who are the same, because for whatever reason they've garnered popularity? A lot of those watching their streams or commenting on their tweets think if they align themselves with the streamer? It'll get them noticed and boost them without actually having to work for it.

When you think about it in a context of the site you're streaming on as a whole? With many streamers growing at their own rates regardless of whatever reasons why (is Gamora?) and how? It's pointless to worry about rates of growth when it's other than your own unless you're contributing to trying to help a fellow channel along.

There are streamers with big numbers who only tend to want to help out only other streamers who can amass quick follow counts like them out of not just a clique mentality, but what they can get from that other streamer's viewers for their own gain. Because all they care about is increasing their own numbers.

And the above stated is cause for my preference in the past for almost exclusively raiding channels smaller than myself, more so if they had zero viewers because its not about what you gain from raiding someone.

I made an exception for those with a lot of follows when it came to friends of mine that I wanted to introduce and entrust my viewers to, otherwise I usually tried to look for channels in the 100 to 300 follower range. I would've done so with much smaller channels (like 10 to 30) more often but the issue was that new channels I raided usually didn't know what a raid was, and on Mixer it a bit taboo to try and raid channels that didn't have the words 'Raid Friendly' or something similar in their stream title.

I admit that another reason I preferred raiding smaller channels is because there is really nothing like the happiness on the face of a small streamer you go in and give their very first raid to. Time's I've raided channels larger than me? I could usually see the genuine gratitude but could tell they had their share of raids prior to that.

In all? Just because a streamer has a lot more followers than someone else doesn't automatically mean they are of better quality than a streamer who only has 50.

Namely if that mass of follows consists mostly of people who followed for the game the moment they entered the streamer's channel then left before even seeing the streamer's personality and in the end? Never coming back by at all unless it was to unfollow, which is another occurrence you may experience that can be discouraging in itself. Someone coming in and following so you'll thank them on stream with the expectation that others will come check their channel out just because you mentioned them, at times even unfollowing and following again so it sets off another alert with their name on it.

In ways, it's a more subtle form of something called self promotion that borders on the grounds of a wordless F4F attempt. I discuss both in part 6 of my guides which is about networking.

These actions are compared to someone who came in, chatted with the streamer a while (be it one stream or several) and then followed out of aspects of camaraderie aside from the game being one they both enjoy. Maybe even a game that they want to check out that they may not of heard of prior with their appreciation of the streamer being that they A. Introduced them to the game and B. Explained to them in detail more about it and where they could get it themselves.

Example? Dead Cells, The Binding of Isaac, and Enter The Gungeon are three of my go to games for when I want to add on an additional stream for the day but lack the time or energy to commit to several hours for whatever game I'm normally playing through. On multiple occasions I've had viewers enter the chat who hadn't heard of whichever one I was playing during that broadcast and then ask questions about it. It's the interactions like this that I've loved experiencing.

It's also such interactions that are why I've said to not compare yourself to others. Because every streamer is going to encounter viewers that either enjoy something you do that another streamer doesn't, and vice versa.

And in regards to not being able to draw a crowd to have interactions in the first place, aside from a possible lack of networking that could be addressed? Take a step back and watch your own vods for previous streams not just to look for means to combat your bouts with what's called 'dead air' (See part 9) but to instead observe yourself in the mind of a viewer compared to a streamer.

While you should by no means compare your rate of success to others, it doesn't hurt to take time to compare different aspects of how you are to those aspects of you that you could do better.

Going by the perspective of a viewer and being willing to constructively criticize yourself with a understanding of faults in your delivery and without bias, do you find some aspects not entertaining and thus improvable?

What makes you worth coming back to? Do you have a possible idea for a gimmick to make yourself stand out ala a character you could portray on stream with a story that uses your actual personality but in a exaggerated way?

What are some ways you can add interactivity to the stream (chatbot games with a currency system, Twitch extensions such as a soundboard or virtual pet, etc) so the viewer can take part?

What about games your viewers and friends can play with you that they don't have themselves?

The Jackbox Party Packs and Use Your Words both require only you to own a copy of the game while your viewers simply use an internet capable device such as a phone or tablet to go to a website and enter a code displayed on your stream, which allows them to be a part of the stream themselves.

Take time to think on different ways to improve through feedback of your prior streams.

Posting clips of your streams on Twitter and Instagram is an option. Ask people you know for their honest opinion and be open to constructive criticism from them as well.

Got a YouTube channel? Post clips from your streams there which could possibly funnel people to your channel.

I spoke of gimmicks so here's mine as an example which is based on my love of comic books, specifically characters that fit the vigilante trope such as Batman, Red Hood, Daredevil, and Spawn.

Most of my promotional imagery (including my animated welcome screen for my channel) embodies Masquemare as a mysterious vigilante with supernatural abilities, seemingly a ghost in a city that no one much knows about or has seen much aside from his mask.

My currency system on Twitch reflected that personality in that viewers received 'masks' and ranks based on a crime fighting concept. At one point my viewers even collected 'teeth' to symbolize them beating down criminals.

And also, it doesn't hurt to find other smaller channels through proper networking.

A collaborative effort between two small channels can bring out both your personalities as well as introduce you to any followers they have with your followers of course introduced to them, thus you help each other out in growing.

This also would bring more opportunities to play with that streamer and others they (or you) meet down the line which means the potential building of a network and maybe even a stream team.

Everyone starts at zero, and some of us stay at zero longer than others.

But that doesn't make you a zero. It makes you someone who can only move forward.

Another streamer may have more followers than you, but that by no means makes you less capable of paving your way with less.