Here’s a hint: it takes hard work and consistency.

It seems as if everyone wants to be a professional Twitch streamer nowadays. And why not? Who doesn’t want to make a career out of doing what they love? The problem is, that people think that growing your Twitch following and viewership is as easy as being good at the game you’re playing. Or, be a woman with visible cleavage, as some naively think because they are frustrated and need something or someone to blame for their own lack of success. Sex appeal may help some, but it really takes much more than that.

Luckily, Twitch provides guides, tools, extensions, and more to assist their users in their Twitch streaming experience. And if you’re looking to get started with how to stream on Twitch, check out this guide, A Beginner’s Guide to Live-Streaming Video Games.

Last year, Ge’NeL Magazine’s Public Relations Director, CtrlAltQuin, shared her journey to making Twitch Affiliate. One year later, Quin has over 2,000 followers, averages 40+ viewers, has a loyal and active community, and over 100 subscribers.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you grow your Twitch channel.

1. Set a schedule and be consistent.

Figure out the day(s) and times that work best for you to stream. This is extremely important if your goal is to grow. You want to be consistent so that viewers know what time they can watch you. Something to keep in mind: people will literally carve out time in their schedules to watch streams. They are loyal fans of specific streamers. Consistency is one of the key ingredients to building a community and loyal fan base.

2. Set realistic goals for yourself.

Gleam.io recommends making your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. The SMART framework is a common sense strategy used across many industries and interests.

Set your goals in short, specific increments that are realistic to the world around you.

Example: I’m gonna have x amount of followers by x date.

Of course, setting a goal to get more Twitch followers is a good thing. Just don’t overdo it. Be realistic. If you just started streaming, and you set your goal to have 1000 followers by the week’s or even month’s end, you’re setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.

3. Decide what type of value you want to bring to viewers.

Being great at a game and enjoying gameplay is great. But why should anyone watch you? Do you share tips and tricks to help gamers improve? Are you a comedic gamer? Do you do playthroughs and reviews of newly released games? If you were browsing Twitch for streamers to watch, why would YOU stop at your channel and watch? “Because I’m awesome at games” is not a good enough answer.

4. Network with other content creators and gamer communities.

When we say network, we do not mean begging for “follow 4 follow” in other people’s channels or Discord communities. That’s actually pretty lame and you’ll become known as the annoying dude/chick always in people’s channels begging. Networking means interacting with others, and being genuinely active in communities.

FYI: The best social media platform to network with other streamers and gamers outside of Twitch is Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, many games developers are active on Twitter. Reach out to indie games developers. Vicarious PR represents many indie game developers and connects them to influencers. As with any business, you want to build relationships. And relationships in any form take work. StreamSentials goes into more detail on techniques for networking in the world of Twitch.

5. Be engaged with your viewers.

Many people who want to stream worry that they are not personable or that they aren’t good with interacting with others. Well, if streaming is something you want to do, there are a few methods that can help you to be more engaging with your audience.

• Practice talking to yourself while gaming. It sounds silly, but you will likely be spending some time with 0 viewers and a quiet chat. Talk yourself through the game. Read the dialogue.

• Read your audience’s chat aloud.

• Use Twitter as a way to keep the conversation with your viewers going after the stream. Also, Streamlabs OBS allows you to automatically tweet to your followers when you are going live.

Talking to strangers can be scary. We know. Invite your friends to come hang out with you in your channel and remind them and your audience to take advantage of the Twitch Prime loot for popular games like Fortnite, Rocket League, League of Legends, and more.

6. Spruce up your channel with graphics.

Using graphics displays is a great way to share info about you and your channel. The basic graphic panels include About Me, Schedule, and Social Media. Of course, you can add more graphics panels to make your channel unique and personal. There are plenty of free graphics panels and overlays available through Streamlabs. You can also find graphic artists through networking (there’s that word again).

7. Play games that aren’t already overplayed.

Play what you enjoy. However, playing popular games will make it more difficult for you to stand out as a streamer. According to Twitch Metrics, the most streamed video games on Twitch are Fortnite with 4,898 average live channels in the last 30 days, League of Legends with 3,009 average live channels, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with 2,634 average live channels.

If you haven’t already made it to Twitch Affiliate, don’t worry, it will happen. Remember, success for you may mean something completely different for someone else. That’s why it’s important to set realistic goals that are relevant and true to you. If you want to make streaming your career, you have to treat it like a career. Be professional, and learn at least the basics of digital marketing as an influencer. Leverage social media platforms.

Are you a Twitch streamer? What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten?