Creative Revenue Streams for Livestreaming
If you're looking for a couple simple ways to generate revenue through live streaming, look no further. Here is just a few ideas to get you thinking differently about how revenue can be generated from your live streaming brand. Let us know of any other cool ideas you might have!
Create a Special Event
Create a special event within your community that gets everyone excited. Maybe it's an anniversary coming up, maybe it's a big follower milestone, maybe it's just an event that you want to be special, anything can do! For example, maybe you want to host a special event where you're streaming for, lets say, 10 hours straight. Over the course of those 10 hours you'll be giving away prizes to random viewers who donate or subscribe. You could also potentially have subscriber milestones or donation milestones that trigger a giveaway. After every 5 subscribers there's a giveaway, for example. Be creative here but most importantly, have fun with it!
Temporary Merch Flash Sale
There are a plethora of sites which offer limited time only, made to order CUSTOM merchandise. Teespring.com, for example, is one that is very popular and has been around for quite some time. You can create your own merchandise that gets printed on demand, meaning, it doesn't get made and shipped to customers until they order it. It is literally no cost to you out of pocket. You just design the merch that you'd like to sell, sell it, and you get a small commission after the limited time campaign ends. You can have these same merch stores on an ongoing basis, and they certainly can't hurt, but for smaller communities you won't be selling a lot of merch consistently. If you can build excitement around a limited time campaign you can probably see more success than if you'd offer the same merchandise on an ongoing basis. Scarcity creates more of a call to action for would be buyers that may otherwise put off purchasing merch. If you have, or plan on having, an ongoing merch store that's always running, try creating unique one-time items for these limited campaigns. Remember, scarcity is key!
Create Donation Incentives
This one is very popular among streamers, and probably even more so among viewers. Create incentives for donating and subscribing. It's no secret that this can be very successful if done correctly. Maybe start a tradition where you do a silly song or dance when you get a new subscriber, or donating a certain amount means you do something in game. Maybe the highest donation of the day gets to pick what you do in game next, or better yet, they get to choose how you die. Again, creativity is key here. The more unique of an incentive that you can offer would-be supporters, the more likely they are to want to do it.
Non-Traditional Affiliate Marketing
We all know about affiliate marketing by now, especially with Amazon making it so easy for Twitch streamers to utilize the affiliate marketing tools. Everyone knows of the big affiliate marketing sites, but there are others that may suit your community better than, for example, Amazon. Being that gaming is at the heart of this new renaissance of live streaming entertainment, it's no question that a majority of streamers out there are gamers. Sure, Amazon has all the hardware available for purchase, and even hard copies of games, but why not go a step further. Sites such as Kinguin.com, G2A.com and GreenmanGaming.com offer affiliate programs for the sale of discounted games! Simply sign up for the programs, link your favorite games for your community, and every time someone buys something using your link you get paid. Quick and easy.
Find Sponsors
Yes, even small content creators can find sponsors. They may not be knocking at your door like they are for the likes of Ninja and Shroud, but anyone with a bit of a following has a chance. To make it easy, you can always use a site that helps connect influencers with brands. Something like BrandSnob.com, for example. Do some digging around, there are many others, even some geared towards streamers specifically. You can also reach out to brands yourself directly. Simply DM them on Twitter or Instagram. If you're a small creator, try finding smaller brands, it cant hurt to try. The key is to find brands to partner with that fit well with the brand that you yourself are building, aka your community. You don't want to introduce a sponsor to your community only to have them be completely uninterested. Again, be creative, do your research, and don’t give up. There's always new brands out there looking to get eyes on them, you can bring them those eyes.
Hope this gave you an idea or two about some less than straightforward approaches to generating revenue from your live streaming brand. Share it if you'd like!