The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on Twitch: Tips and Tricks

Is there anyone in the world who wouldn’t want to earn a living from their online hobby? I think not.

However, with the continuous increase in the number of Twitch users, the question arises: how can one make money on Twitch?

In summary, there are various ways to earn on the platform, including subscriptions, ad revenue, and selling customized Twitch merch, among others.

How to Earn Money on Twitch

You know the saying: Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.

Let’s begin this fishermen’s journey and discover how to earn money on Twitch!

1. Affiliate Marketing

We’re going alphabetical today, so let’s begin with the first topic – affiliate marketing.

If you’re not yet familiar with this, it is a form of marketing in which you recommend a specific product, and you receive a small commission from each sale. Or a larger one! It truly depends on who you are working with.

To earn money as a brand’s affiliate while streaming, you can recommend various products, which can be anything, really.

You can recommend the chair you are sitting in, the mouse, the headphones, the keyboard, the shirt you are wearing, or the cup you are drinking from.

You can also suggest software or programs, overlays and panels that you use, or anything else, really.

However, simply making a recommendation is not sufficient; you must be registered as an affiliate and provide your link through which people can purchase the product.

Tip: Don’t wait for brands to contact you (this rarely happens and only if you’re already well-known). Instead, reach out to the brands you love and use regularly. Try to create an arrangement that benefits both parties. If everything goes well and you become one of their affiliates—fantastic!

My primary advice for you is to recommend only the products you know are effective and that you genuinely use yourself.

Being aware of both the positive and negative aspects of a product and presenting them accurately is always beneficial!

You don’t want to mislead your followers into purchasing a subpar product, right?

It may earn you some money initially, but once your viewers realize that you’re deceiving them, you will lose your follower base and their trust, leading to a loss of income.

2. Amazon Associates

The most popular and widespread program, with the highest number of affiliates globally, is Amazon Associates, even though it does not offer substantial payments.

While it may not pay much for each individual purchase, Amazon provides a vast selection of products, making it more likely that your followers will shop at Amazon and fill their baskets.

If they arrived using your link, you can even earn a commission from products you didn’t initially promote.

It is possible to open your Amazon Associates profile and find that you have earned a commission from a follower’s regular shopping cart, which may include items like toothpaste, toilet paper, spice blends, and more.

Isn’t it neat?

As you generate more traffic, your earning potential increases!

3. Brand Sponsorships and Partnerships

As a small streamer gaining traction, you shouldn’t expect a sponsorship offer from any company.

However, if your community keeps growing and expanding, you might consider sponsored streaming.

Companies sponsor streamers to use their equipment or promote their products and games. However, as I mentioned earlier, this opportunity is not typically extended to small streamers. To attract brands, you need to have established a reputation and built a solid audience around that name.

The pay rate is determined by the agreement you reach with the specific company. If you are not satisfied with the initial offer, you can always attempt to negotiate.

4. Coaching

If you excel at your work, your followers will aspire to emulate you.

They will seek your skills and knowledge, and some may also be willing to pay you for coaching.

This isn’t something you will earn from initially, even if you excel in your niche. However, if you successfully grow your channel and attract a broad audience, someone will likely reach out to request 1:1 lessons or coaching sessions.

In fact, you don’t even need to wait for someone to contact you.

You can begin advertising and promoting your offer immediately, and if any of your followers notice you and reach out – that’s even better!

5. Donations

If you’ve been watching Twitch streams, you may have noticed that donations occasionally come in for the streamer, correct?

Well, you can achieve the same!

At the start of your streaming career, establishing different tiers for subscriptions may not be feasible. However, donations are a viable option for everyone, regardless of the size of their channel or the number of followers they possess.

If your viewers enjoy your content, they are more likely to donate money to support you and the growth of your channel!

6. Game Sales

Game sales become available only after you achieve Twitch Affiliate status. However, I will assume you are aiming for that and will explain this method of earning regardless.

Once you become a Twitch Affiliate, a new avenue for earning money will open up, and it is both simple and enjoyable!

To activate the “Buy Now” button on your profile, you need to stream any game available in the Twitch games store.

Once again, the commission is not very high at 5%, but it’s still a way to earn money while you’re gaming!

Therefore, I can only advise you to select the games you enjoy and showcase them in an entertaining and engaging manner to your audience.

The more enjoyable it appears and the more sales you achieve, the more you will earn!

7. Merchandise

Another effective way to earn money on Twitch, particularly for those with a substantial follower base, is by selling their own merchandise.

Sure, you can attempt to sell your own merchandise even if you’re small, but the likelihood of someone making a purchase is low.

However, what you can do is begin building your own brand from the start—establish your style, choose your colors, design a logo, and later on, you can create your own merchandise that will be recognizable and that people will want to purchase.

Tip: You can always hire a designer to assist you in creating a logo, and later, they can also help you design your merchandise. Fiverr is an excellent platform to find and hire talented designers for this purpose.

Once you decide it’s time to start selling, utilize one of the print-on-demand services such as Printful, CustomCat, TPop, and others.

8. Patreon Subscriptions

If you have been paying attention, you know that, as a new streamer, you cannot charge different tier subscriptions for your Twitch channel.

However, there are no restrictions regarding Patreon, and you can establish various subscription tiers for your fans.

Of course, you need to offer them something additional for each higher tier, such as mentioning them during your live stream, playing games with them, or providing a chance to participate in giveaways, and so on.

And naturally, once you have the option to set different level subscriptions on Twitch, you don’t need to close your Patreon account, allowing you to earn extra from both! 😉

9. Tournaments

If you excel at your game of choice but are not yet a professional player or part of a professional team, you can still participate in various tournaments, either solo or with your team.

If you win, you will receive the prize!

10. Twitch Bits

Another benefit of being part of the Twitch Affiliates program is the feature known as Twitch Bits.

This is akin to donations; however, in this case, your followers send you “bits” instead of money directly, which you can later exchange for actual dollars.

Bits may not hold much value—one bit is worth $0.01—but if you play frequently, engage with your audience, and they send you bits consistently, they can accumulate and provide a nice supplement to your other income on Twitch. Later, you can convert that into regular money and transfer it to your PayPal.

Tip: You can motivate your viewers to send you bits by playing various video games with them, placing bets, and more.

So, how does one obtain the bits?

You can purchase them, or you can earn them by watching ads (🙄) or completing surveys (👍).

The bits are sent through the chat box, and in return, the sender receives various badges from the platform.

11. Twitch Partner Program and Ads

Once you become a Twitch Partner, which is quite similar to being a Twitch Affiliate, you will also start earning a small revenue from Twitch ads. Therefore, I am grouping these two together.

Anyway, to become a Twitch partner, you essentially have to… pray to the stars.

Jokes aside, the guidelines for becoming a Twitch partner aren’t very clear, but there are certain things you will definitely need to do:

Additionally, you should be a well-liked, active member of the community, have a substantial number of subscribers, and stream a variety of content, among other things.

Once you decide to apply and are accepted (it is not unattainable!), as I mentioned, you will be able to run ads on your stream and earn a small portion of the ad revenue for each impression of the ad.

This is similar to YouTube ads, where you never know how much you will earn, just as you are uncertain about what exactly you need to do to become a partner.

Tip: Be mindful of the number of ads you include in your streams. While adding more ads to increase impressions and earn more money may seem beneficial, you know as well as I do (YouTube, I’m referring to you!) that too many ads can be extremely annoying and may drive away your viewers.

If you have many viewers, this method of earning can bring you a substantial amount of $$; however, if you don’t, it serves as a pleasant little addition.

12. Twitch Subscriptions

The final point I will mention that requires you to be a Twitch affiliate is the Twitch subscriptions.

Once you become an affiliate, you will be able to set various levels of subscription plans on your channel.

There are three levels, each at different prices:

Of course, similar to Patreon, each higher level must provide something that the previous one does not—subscriber-exclusive streams, opportunities to play with you, emotes, badge packs, and so on.

13. YouTube Channel

This may seem like a detour, but your YouTube channel can actually help you earn. Not directly on Twitch, but in a related way!

How can you earn money on Twitch by utilizing YouTube?

Never forget that YouTube is the world’s largest video stock; use it to your advantage.

Tip: You can also utilize other social media accounts, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, for self-promotion.

You can upload engaging segments from your streaming sessions (VODs) or even create a vlog sharing tips on gaming or any other thoughts you may have.

Another advantage is that your YouTube channel can be easily monetized once you meet certain conditions, such as having 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time.

When deciding what to upload to YouTube, keep in mind that you want to avoid appearing boring.

Therefore, aim to create videos that are not too lengthy and include only the most important or interesting segments of your streams.

Additionally, become acquainted with the YouTube algorithm!

For instance, if you don’t post often enough (such as once a week), the platform will not recommend your videos to viewers.

Conclusion

The answers to the question ‘how do you make money on Twitch’ differ from one streamer to another.

Nevertheless, there are some common methods that are shared by all Twitch streamers.

They can earn money through subscriptions, donations, advertising revenue, brand sponsorships, promoting themselves on social platforms, or selling customized merchandise.

Ultimately, all of these qualities encompass persistence, strong will, and creativity, so get to work!

Related: How Much Do Twitch Streamers Make – The Best Guide to Earning on Twitch in 2024

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