Oooh is a completely new interaction tool for streamers to instantly get video submissions from their communities. It’s simple: Oooh gives you hundreds of ooohs for you to post –&nbsp; your audience plays these ooohs and submits back to you, and now you get a personalized feed of video submissions from your audience! Oooh does all the content moderation for you so it’s safe to even use live on stream!&nbsp;Download the <a href="https://unlock.oooh.tv/Pipeline">iOS</a> or <a href="https://unlock.oooh.tv/PipelinePlay">Android</a> app now and join thousands of other creators using Oooh like:<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1619692849"> Piso4</a>,<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1617952927"> OlivesCrossing</a>,<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1478147603?t=01h42m38s"> and Gassy Mexican</a>.&nbsp;⭕ There are hundreds of ooohs to get started with!&nbsp;ooohs take seconds to post. Use them as simple conversation starters like Q&amp;A or Rate My, or issue a challenge in games like Wordle where you get to pick the word or Try Not to Laugh where you audience lose points if they even smile… everyone is competing to be at the top of your leaderboard.&nbsp;&nbsp;Building a real community? Have your audience design your next Emote or T-shirt with Emoji Maker and Merch Maker. Everything is a video submission back to you, so you can watch, react and share the fun back for your audience!&nbsp;&nbsp;📹 Streamer Mode&nbsp;Oooh makes it super easy for streamers with “Streamer Mode” where with one-click the Oooh app becomes a source in OBS or Streamlabs, and you can show your whole experience live on stream!&nbsp;*<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjjRYk0LVWB">check out Twitch streamers using Oooh live from our booth at TwitchCon</a>&nbsp;💰 Make Money today with Oooh!&nbsp;Rev-Share partners can receive ‘Boosted Submissions’ from their audience. Users can buy Oooh tokens and add them to a submission to ensure you View or React to their submission. If you don’t they get their money back - BUT, if you do, this is a completely new way to monetize your audience!&nbsp; You don’t have to be live, so you View or React to Boosts whenever/wherever. It’s so easy, you can even <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjlcmRbPH3y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">make money while you poop</a> 💩.&nbsp;&nbsp;🌈 Everything is meant to be shared!&nbsp;Think of Oooh as a companion to your Twitch, YT or FB live streams, AND as a compliment for your content creation experience on IG, TT and elsewhere. You don’t have to choose!&nbsp; Everything on Oooh is meant to be instantly exported to your existing socials!&nbsp;⚡ Perks for Pipeline.gg members&nbsp;Pipeline.gg is so excited to be partnering with Oooh and offer members some EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS on the Oooh platform”<ul><li>Oooh is Free!</li><li>Unlimited content moderation</li><li>Automatic Verified Account and Rev-Share Partner Status</li><li>Eligible to receive $150 in bonus payouts for using Oooh</li></ul>&nbsp;How to redeem perks?&nbsp;<ol><li>Download the <a href="https://unlock.oooh.tv/Pipeline">iOS </a>or <a href="https://unlock.oooh.tv/PipelinePlay">Android</a> app.</li><li>Check out our Discord with more information on Oooh and how to redeem the perks!</li></ol>&nbsp;About Oooh&nbsp;Colin Carrier, Oooh’s Founder and CEO was just on the pod - so see more <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUQLLOS1Wxk&amp;ab_channel=BecomingaCreatorPodcast">here</a>!&nbsp;&nbsp;Oooh was founded by Twitch, Disney and EA alum with the mission to be the next best creator and streamer tool. They have already onboarded tens of thousands of creators including hundreds of streamers. You can learn more about Oooh here: <a href="https://oooh.tv/creators">oooh.tv/creators</a>.&nbsp;Made it this far, and wondering how to say Oooh?&nbsp; Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zEwMVb8m44">this video</a> and spot Amouranth saying making partner on Oooh was ‘the best day of her life’

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Introducing Oooh: get LIVE video submissions from your audience

<h3 style="text-align:center;">It’s time for another partnership!&nbsp;</h3>&nbsp;Ever since we launched Pipeline, we’ve crafted our partnerships and content to help the creators at every part of their journey. Our goal at Pipeline is always to empower you to create the best content possible. And as a continuation of that mission, we are so excited to announce our partnership with Lightstream.&nbsp;Their mission is simple: to remove the financial and technical boundaries from streaming. Their technology lets you stream straight from your console to Twitch with all the alerts and overlays you expect from a PC experience. Getting the best content out there no longer requires you to have state-of-the-art rigs that will make your wallet hurt. All of this thanks to Lightstream.&nbsp;&nbsp;Why is that important?&nbsp;&nbsp;Cost: Gaming rigs, stream decks, second monitors. All these things add up, and make getting started expensive. Why spend the money before you even know if you like content creation? Using your existing console is a cost effective way to dip your toe into streaming, and you don’t need to compromise on things like chat, alerts, and overlays.&nbsp;&nbsp;Tech wizardry: For beginners, getting used to streaming is hard enough without also having to juggle new technology. Keeping it simple is the key to sticking with streaming as a new hobby, and that’s what we’re all about.&nbsp;&nbsp;Be sure to check out our <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/masterclass/playstream-masterclass">brand new Masterclass</a> where the team at Lightstream will show you all you need to know about their product, features and best practices.&nbsp;&nbsp;So, what are you waiting for? Monthly Pipeline members receive a 7-day free trial plus 25% off a monthly Lightstream Studio plan for the first month; Annual Pipeline members receive a 30-day free trial plus 25% off a monthly Lightstream Studio plan for the first three months. Be sure to check out the #partner-discounts channel on our discord to get your perks.&nbsp;&nbsp;We’re really excited for this partnership, and what it has to offer the new wave of content creators. Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

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Console Streaming With Lightstream

It's wild to think that just a few years ago<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/16/boom-face-shot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> I was helping Facebook build their streaming platform</a>. It's actually where I first met StoneMountain64, which led to us bonding over our passion for helping creators and eventually launching Pipeline. I'm so proud of everything the Pipeline team has built since then and I'm really excited to now be teaming up with Facebook Gaming to help content creators build towards a career on the platform.&nbsp;So what does this partnership look like exactly? At Pipeline, our mission is to help content creators like you be successful in your journey, and this partnership with Facebook Gaming enables us to provide you with even more opportunities. For starters, we will be able to further support selected Facebook Gaming partners, gain access to new Facebook Gaming programs, and help Facebook Gaming become a better platform for new creators. Additionally, we'll work closely with Facebook Gaming to advocate for select creators to be considered for the Facebook Gaming Partner Program in North America. This is, of course, subject to performance criteria outlined by Facebook Gaming.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/blogpicsm_b4a2801a74.jpg"><figcaption>Pipeline members Atura, TelleVision, and MaxRhyms, all members of Facebook's Black Gaming Creator Program.</figcaption></figure>This partnership also allows us to further scale our support to more creators, for example those in the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/fbgaminghome/creators/black-gaming-creators-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Black Gaming Creator Program</a> (shoutout to a few Pipeline members that are already a part of the program such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/maxrhyms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">MaxRhyms</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tellevision" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TelleVision</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AturaGaming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Atura</a>, and many more!)&nbsp;&nbsp;This doesn't mean that we will only be working with Facebook and we will not be encouraging creators to only create content for Facebook Gaming. We're committed to continuing to provide education that's applicable across multiple platforms. Platform selection is, and should be, a personal choice.&nbsp;If you're not familiar with Facebook Gaming as a content platform, they've seen impressive growth over the last few years despite being relatively new to live-streaming in comparison to others such as YouTube and Twitch. They've also pioneered a number of creator-first initiatives that we hope inspire other platforms to follow suit.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fbblog_51180d83d3.jpg"><figcaption>Source: StreamHatchet Q3 2021 Live Streaming Report</figcaption></figure>“To help more creators make a living on our platforms, we're going to keep paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges, and our upcoming independent news products free for creators until 2023. And when we do introduce a revenue share, it will be less than the 30% that Apple and others take.” said<a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10113127348899371" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Mark Zuckerberg</a>.&nbsp;I remember back when I first talked with Stone about bringing some of his content to Facebook in 2016. At the time, he was solely making content on YouTube with a few streams on Twitch. He's now built an amazing community on the platform of over 3M followers and recently peaked at over 65,000 CCV 🤯.&nbsp;We've already seen some of the world's biggest creators begin to put some of their live and VOD content on Facebook such as<a href="https://www.tubefilter.com/2021/04/07/mrbeast-snapchat-facebook-distribution-deal-jellysmack/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> MrBeast, PewDiePie and Phil De Franco</a>. As a content creator, it's incredibly important that you diversify your content strategy across platforms and we expect more creators to start leveraging Facebook and Instagram to grow their communities.&nbsp;As always, our number one priority is your success as a content creator. We are excited to continue to provide more opportunities like this for you as we head into 2022 and beyond 🚀. If you want to learn more about what we are doing or have any questions about the partnership, please reach out to <a href="mailto:FBgaming@pipeline.gg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">FBgaming@pipeline.gg</a> and our team will be in touch!&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Pipeline And Facebook Gaming Team Up!

<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Elgato_Demo_Greenscreen_1_5a2ff537be.jpg"><figcaption>Elgato mountable green screen for streaming (courtesy of Elgato.)</figcaption></figure><h2>What are the main benefits of using a green screen for streaming?</h2><h3>It elevates your stream</h3>By removing your background surroundings, a green screen will allow for only your figure to appear over what you're streaming. Live green screen software helps you to remove distracting elements from your environment, while helping your audience focus on what's important: you and your gameplay.<h3>It uses less screen real estate</h3>There's two ways green screens can open up your stream to your viewers: overlays and going fullscreen. Overlays help you to take up less screen real estate, and fullscreen allows you to create a whole other world or environment to immerse your viewers in. By finding videos and images online, you can download them and turn them into your background.&nbsp;<h4>Using a green screen can open up your small room into a universe...</h4><figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Star_Trek_Deep_Space_Nine_f16a3ac958.jpg"><figcaption>This could be you up there with the cast of Star Trek DS9, if only you had a green screen.</figcaption></figure><h2>So what's the best green screen for live streamers?</h2>The best green screen for streaming is the one that meets a price point that matches your budget, but also works with the space you're in. &nbsp;<h3>Purchasing green screens</h3>If you're planning on buying one, the best places to look for green screen options are on Amazon or your local Walmart. Prices will range from as low as $15 to a premium one for $180.<a href="https://www.elgato.com/en/green-screen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Elgato</a> currently has two green screen options, a wider mountable one and a narrower collapsible one that you can stash away.&nbsp;<h4>Standing version</h4>The advantage of a collapsible panel is that you can protect it from any dirt or damage by putting it away when you're not using it. The standing version is more narrow than most green screens out there, which can be amazing if you're working in a confined space.<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Elgato_Collapsible_Green_Screen_de83fb555e.jpg"><figcaption>Elgato Green Screen (courtesy of Elgato.com)</figcaption></figure><h4>Mounted version</h4>This option is great for ease of access, but depending on your living situation you may not be able to install it directly onto your wall.&nbsp;Both Elgato green screens are top of the line, designed with streamers in mind, but they will run you $159 plus tax (USD).&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Elgato_Mounted_Green_Screen_adabbc7a11.jpg"><figcaption>Elgato Green Screen MT (courtesy of Elgato.com)</figcaption></figure><h3>DIY green screens</h3><h4>Keeping things cheap and cheerful</h4>If you're just starting out and aren't even sure if you'll use one for the likes of Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook, consider going the DIY route if you want to test it out first. You can easily make your own DIY green screen for streaming, all you need is some colored fabric and a way to affix the sheet to your wall.Did you know green screens don't have to be green? They can also be blue, black, or any solid color that you don't have on you. Green is the safest color, blue is relatively safe.<h4>DIY fabric sheet</h4>You can make a DIY green screen by buying a piece of green colored fabric from any fabric store measuring at least 8x10’ for less than $10.&nbsp;If you’re going the DIY route, make sure the sheet is taut against your wall. Secure it with staples, nails, clothes pins, whatever works and make sure there are minimal wrinkles by ironing it beforehand, or using a steam cleaner regularly.&nbsp;You'll want to clean it ever so often, and make sure there's no dust or markings on the fabric before you start streaming.&nbsp;<h4>DIY paint project</h4>If you're not attached to the color on your wall, you can even paint your wall green!<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/chromakey_filters_049281bf96.jpg"><figcaption>Clicking on the source will take you to "Filters" in OBS Live (StreamElements plugin)</figcaption></figure><h2>Setting up your green screen</h2><h3>Chroma key panel</h3>Green screens are sometimes referred to as "chroma key panels." Chroma keying is the process of matching color codes to the same hue as your green screen. It tells the software program to remove the same hue of green behind you so it looks invisible and you can replace it with an image or video.<h4 style="text-align:center;">Source &gt; Filters &gt; Chroma Key &gt; Key Colour Type &gt; Green (Or Custom)</h4>&nbsp;<h3>Streaming programs to use for chroma keying</h3>Your options for live green screen software are programs like OBS (Open Broadcaster Software,) which is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. For a general overview of OBS, I go over the most popular software programs used by streamers in this blog post: <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-become-a-streamer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">How To Become A Streamer</a>.&nbsp;In OBS Live (OBS with the StreamElements plug) the setup will be similar to other programs, with slight differences in interface.Go to the source and right click on the cog. That will take you to a drop down menu where you can select "Filters." In the Effect Filters panel, select "Chroma Key." &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/filters_chromakey_c8319af84a.jpg"><figcaption>View of the Effect Filters panel in OBS Live (StreamElements plugin).</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/custom_chromakey_41cc5bedd8.jpg"><figcaption>Chroma Key panel with "Custom" Key Color Type selected in OBS Live (StreamElements plugin.)</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/chromakey_custom_fae697a760.jpg"><figcaption>View inside custom Key Colors in OBS Live (StreamElements plugin.)</figcaption></figure>If you select "Green" as your Key Color Type, you should get a solid background behind your figure, but some adjustments may be necessary. Use the sliders to adjust until your webcam displays you on a solid background.<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/chromakey_sliders_1fb4829447.jpg"><figcaption>Selecting "Green" as your Key Color Type should generate great results in OBS Live (StreamElements plugin.)</figcaption></figure>If you don't adjust the sliders correctly, you might run into problems like below:<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/greenscreen_nightmare_19fc46fb0b.jpg"><figcaption>Not using the sliders to adjust the settings will result in nightmare fuel like this.</figcaption></figure>When streaming with green screens, the best thing you can do to make the set up easier is to have good lighting.&nbsp;<h2>Proper lighting is important</h2>You want the lighting to be as even as possible. You don't want it to be too bright that it bounces off your shoulder. If you have a large light source like a window or a soft box, that's ideal. If the green screen is positioned too close to you and your lighting is a single source of harsh light that casts a shadow, then you'll want to reposition either yourself, your screen, or the light source.&nbsp;<h2>Which webcam goes best with live green screen software?</h2>Whatever camera you have works. Keep it simple, you don't have to break the bank to set up a green screen. For pro users, you're looking for a clean HDMI out with 4:2:2 subsampling. Higher resolution cameras will also help separate you from your environment more easily.<h2>Can I set up a green screen for Xbox One?</h2>Xbox One does not support any chroma key or green screen features on the console. If you're looking to stream through Xbox and use a green screen, you'll have to use a capture card to do it through your PC.&nbsp;<h2>Most common streaming green screen issues:</h2><h4>Here are some of the mistakes people make when they're new to this:&nbsp;</h4><ul><li>Not enough lighting</li><li>Lighting is not diffused and even, direct source is harsh and casts shadows</li><li>Green screen is too close behind you, resulting in shadows</li><li>Wrinkles on the fabric create mini shadows that get picked up by your webcam</li><li>Dirt, stains, etc. blocking the green color shows up on your webcam</li><li>Instead of putting it away, the green screen gets left out and furry friends dig their claws into it</li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/drdisrespect_51fc41d36b.jpg"><figcaption>DrDisRespect in his command centre. He is well known for his use of green screens to create incredibly immersive streams.</figcaption></figure>Have more questions about setting up your green screen? Join our free<a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Discord community</a> and get the help you're looking for today.&nbsp;Related Articles: <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/33-fun-things-to-do-on-stream">Getting Creative With Your Stream</a><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-build-a-return-audience">How To Build A Return Audience</a> &nbsp;

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Essential Guide To Green Screens

One of the most common things I get asked is how to become a streamer. It's hard to visualize everything you need to do before you can go live, especially if you're a beginner. To make things easier, I put together this article to guide you through the process!<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Blog_Image_Howtobecomeastreamer_3204f0bfed.jpg"><figcaption>How To Become A Streamer: The Pipeline Edition</figcaption></figure><h2 style="text-align:center;">&nbsp;</h2><h2 style="text-align:center;">5 Steps To Your First Stream</h2><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>#1: Pick your platform</h3>&nbsp;Consider the type of content you plan on streaming. Do you play a lot of family friendly games, or do you tend to swear like a sailor when you get sniped from across the map while you're in a hot tub?&nbsp;&nbsp;If you're raising your hand for the second group, <a href="https://dashboard.twitch.tv/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Twitch</a> could be the platform for you as it skews towards more mature content.&nbsp;&nbsp;Being a streamer on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gaming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Facebook Gaming</a> is great if your content is family friendly, you'll end up attracting a lot more viewers because that's what most users are looking for on the platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/GAMING" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">YouTube</a> on the other hand is a good option if you have a tough time keeping a schedule. Their platform is set up for VOD, shorts, and live, and if you're having trouble streaming regularly, you can post offline content to help boost your channel.&nbsp;&nbsp;Having trouble deciding? Another option for those of you just starting out is to multistream. A few things to consider before diving in: these programs will cost extra. Multistreaming services like <a href="https://restream.io/pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Restream</a> is free for their Get Started plan, but their Standard plan will run you $16/month and their Professional plan quickly jumps to $41/month. Some of the streaming programs below like SLOBS also allow you to multistream, but you'll have to pay to unlock the feature.&nbsp;You should get a sense of whether or not you should try multistreaming based on your comfort level with technology and using different applications at the same time.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you've never streamed before, reading 2-3 chats at the same time can be intimidating and challenging. However, if you're good at multitasking, and you're comfortable with the tech, you might want to look into it.&nbsp;Protip: When you're first starting out, you can also try streaming different days on different platforms. It's a great way to simulate multistreaming until you decide which platform you prefer the most.&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>#2: Set up your account</h3><h4>&nbsp;</h4><h4>Choose a name</h4> Go ahead and pick one out for yourself. Most streamers will change their names many times as they try to find their niche and refine their branding. It's always better to go ahead and start with a name you like, rather than putting it off until you find a name you love.&nbsp;<h4>&nbsp;</h4><h4>Save the name on all platforms</h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>You never know where you'll end up in the future, and it'll be helpful if I already signed up for a YouTube account under Snoopeh if I want to migrate there from say Twitch or Facebook Gaming. Make sure you link it to your business email account (see below.)&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Set up social media accounts</h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>While you're at it, sign up for all the social media accounts (even if you don't plan on using them right now.) This includes Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and anything else you might possibly use in the future. Make sure they're all linked to your business email account below.&nbsp;<h4>Set up business email account</h4>&nbsp;Having a way for people to contact you via email is incredibly important, and a lot of streamers overlook this point. Setting up a business email gives you credibility with brands and potential sponsorship or advertising partnerships. It's also a great way to connect all your socials and streaming channels in one place.&nbsp;<h3>#3: Choose a streaming program</h3><h4>&nbsp;</h4>All broadcasting softwares below are completely free and open source (with the exception of Xsplit) so you can download them and give them a try!<h4>&nbsp;</h4><h4><a href="https://obsproject.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OBS Studio</a></h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>This version is the original open source cross-platform streaming program. Founded in 2012, this project is a collaborative effort maintained by the OBS Project. It's simple, reliable, and produces excellent results. You don't need a fancy set up to run OBS Studio because it has lower system requirements. However, it's not as user friendly as other options out there, and you need to do your research to understand all of the settings and how to use them.&nbsp;&nbsp;If OBS Studio was an operating system, it would be: Linux.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4><a href="https://www.obs.live/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OBS Live</a></h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>This version is OBS Studio combined with a StreamElements plugin called OBS.live. The layouts are much more customizable than SLOBS, but it is more complicated to navigate. They also have an overlay builder that allows streamers to build a scene and add it as a single browser source for increased stability, being far more efficient to run on your PC.&nbsp;&nbsp;If OBS Live was an operating system, it would be: Windows.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4><a href="https://streamlabs.com/streamlabs-obs-live-streaming-software" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SLOBS&nbsp;</a></h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>Streamlabs took OBS Studio and changed it to create a broadcasting platform made specifically for gamers. The best thing about SLOBS is how user friendly it is, and how easy it is to set up. When you link your account, it takes away a lot of the difficulty of setting up your stream software for you since it has Streamlabs already integrated into it. Unique features include remote control, which turns your phone into a Stream Deck, and selective recording which makes it easier to use your content for editing clips. It also has tons of premade overlays and widgets when you subscribe to "prime," which will run you $19/month or $149/year.&nbsp;&nbsp;If SLOBS was an operating system, it would be: Mac OS.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Blog_Slobsoverlays_db72e8e3b6.jpg"><figcaption>Selection of SLOBS Preset Overlay Packages Available For Their Prime Subscriptions</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<h4><a href="https://www.xsplit.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Xsplit</a></h4>&nbsp;If you're not technologically savvy, check out Xsplit. The output quality is high, but the free version has much fewer features and customizations available. It's like purchasing an app on iPhone or Android, you have to pay to unlock additional features. Subscriptions are $20/month, $70/annually, and purchasing the software outright will cost $230.&nbsp;&nbsp;If Xsplit was an operating system, it would be: &nbsp;iOS/Android.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>#4: Set up streaming program&nbsp;</h3>&nbsp;<h4>Optimize mic and camera</h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>Check your settings for mic and camera before going live. Make sure audio and visual is set up correctly on whichever streaming software you're using. If you have multiple microphones, check to make sure the audio and visual input matches the one you are planning to use for stream.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>OPTIONAL:&nbsp;</h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4>These three steps are completely optional--you do not need to do these things to become a streamer. You can go live without them and work on setting them up later.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Invite a bot to your channel</h4>&nbsp;OBS Live and SLOBS both have their own built-in bots that you can invite into your channel. Having a bot in your channel will allow you to send automatic messages, as well as allow your followers to use !commands to trigger preset actions. You can also use bots such as <a href="https://moo.bot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Moobot</a> and <a href="https://nightbot.tv/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nightbot. </a>Their base version is free, and with a small subscription fee you can unlock bonus features.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Set up channel alerts</h4>&nbsp;When you connect your account to a streaming program like OBS Live or SLOBS, you can set it up so that when something happens in stream like a new follower, new sub, or a raid, it will also push out an alert automatically. You can customize these alerts to be graphics instead of using their preset standard message with emotes.&nbsp;<h4>Set up PC overlays</h4>&nbsp;Overlays are great if you're a just chatting streamer, but not necessary if you're starting out streaming games. They help to add a personal touch to your channel, but depending on your content, you may not want to crowd your screen and just keep things simple. SLOBS has pre-designed overlay packages for paying subscribers, while StreamElements offers free generic templates for overlay packages.&nbsp;StreamElements also has free generic templates for overlay packages.&nbsp;<h3>#5: Go Live!</h3>&nbsp;You did it! You now know how to become a streamer. So what are you waiting for? Hit that live button and start streaming!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/startingsoon14_1_1998181351.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy of OWN3D.tv</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Related articles:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/stream-quality-matters">Stream Quality Matters</a><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/choosing-the-right-platform">Choosing The Right Platform</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

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How To Become A Streamer

<h3>I put together a mega-list of 33 fun things to do on stream for the pleasure and entertainment of your viewers. These talking points and activities are guaranteed to boost engagement and keep up the excitement in chat:</h3>&nbsp;1. Design an avatar with chat. Go through character creation with chat and let them help you design your avatar.2. Hold a contest/goal. This will keep your viewers engaged. You can set any parameters you like, including a caption contest, or a follower milestone goal. If you are choosing a winner, have the reward be a give away or 1:1 time with you. Hitting a community goal might look like rewarding your viewers' with cosplaying as their favorite character.3. Challenge a viewer to a game like Codenames Duet, Connect 4, or <a href="https://skribbl.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Skribblio</a> (which is similar to Pictionary.) Make sure you're ready to boot or mods are on deck in case someone draws something not so PG in Skribblio.&nbsp;4. Tell a story. It could be fact or fiction. It helps to write it out before hand, and to rehearse it if the story is unfamiliar to you. It could be a ghost story, or a story of a bad date you went on. Mix it up a little, that time you went on a bad date with a ghost.5. <a href="https://experiments.withgoogle.com/paint-with-music" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Paint a musical masterpiece.</a> Experiments with Google has an interactive experience where you paint, and music plays according to your brush stroke and colour.&nbsp;6. <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/puzzle-party/EwGBPZlIzv0KRw?cp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Host a puzzle party.</a> Solve a jigsaw puzzle together on easy, medium, or hard difficulty with your viewers.7. <a href="https://experiments.withgoogle.com/ar-synth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Use an 3D synthesizer to drop some beats.</a> Play around with a synthesizer in three dimensions and augmented reality to program different beats on stream. Get creating!8. Play the <a href="http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">QWOP game</a> on stream. Here's your shot at becoming an olympic champion. I can't decide if it's funnier with zero practice or some practice, but it's guaranteed to get you laughs.&nbsp;&nbsp;9. Wear a costume or cosplay on stream. This could be for a holiday like halloween, Christmas, or Easter, or cosplaying as your favourite anime/tv/movie character. You can easily turn this into a reward for winning a contest or hitting a community goal.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Esfand_TV_Tifa_cosplay_3df5fc79b8.jpg"><figcaption>Who wore this Final Fantasy Tifa cosplay better? (Courtesy of @EsfandTV)&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>10. Play an instrument, or sing. If you're one of the lucky gifted people who know how to sing, go for it. If you're just like the rest of us, you can even learn how to play an instrument over time on stream to create a narrative to follow.&nbsp;11. Do a tasting. Food and drink tastings are always fun, but you can do snacks as well. It's eating or drinking, plus your opinion and reviewing the items from best to worst. Try getting rare or uncommon flavours to make things more interesting.12. Do an unboxing. Everyone loves a good unboxing video. You can do this in-game with games like League of Legends, or IRL if you want to buy a pack of magic cards, pokemon cards, etc.&nbsp;13. Voice chat with a viewer. Invite a viewer to come on voice chat with you and have a conversation! This one is easy to link to a reward as well.&nbsp;14. Show off your pet. If you have a furry (or scaly) friend living with you, show them off! People will love to see if you and your dog have the same haircut and kind of look the same.&nbsp;15. Play two truths and a lie. A party get-to-know-each-other classic. This is a great way to have an ice breaker and encourage lurkers to guess in chat.&nbsp;16. Picture slideshow. Create a slideshow from your last vacation, your pet, your family, or even your favourite classic cars. Having imagery to point to when you're chatting with viewers can make your stream more interesting.&nbsp;17. Interview another streamer. A great way to reach out to another streamer and collaborate with them. Find something in common to talk about, maybe it's the same game you're streaming, living in the same city, or having a similar number of followers.&nbsp;18. Play games with another streamer. Challenge another streamer to a 1v1, or play a co-op game mode with them. This is useful because you can both increase your visibility to new viewers.&nbsp;19. Arts and crafts. Around the holidays, a great way to engage is to make decorations on stream. It can be very relaxing and gratifying to do arts and crafts, or to watch someone else do it.&nbsp;20. Community movie night. Get your viewers to vote on what movie to watch. Twitch has a <a href="https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/watch-parties?language=en_US" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">built-in feature</a> in partnership with Amazon Prime Video.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Blog_twitch_watchparty_ae8c089cad_b871942775.jpg"><figcaption>Twitch watch party for community movie nights. (Courtesy of Twitch)</figcaption></figure>21. Play would you rather with chat. The only limit to this party game is your imagination. A simple mental exercise that encourages viewers to interact with you.&nbsp;22. Share an <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Indie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">indie game</a> you discovered. You can also occasionally play an indie game that chat votes on. It's great to change things up once in a while.&nbsp;23. Discuss and vote on the next game you play. Have a lively discussion around what games you're interested in playing next, as well as what your followers would love to see you play. This could be for an indie game or a more mainstream one, and it would work best if you haven't found your niche yet.&nbsp;24. Rank the "best" fruits. You'd be surprised how up in arms people are about fruit and their own fruit tier lists. Try it and see for yourself.&nbsp;25. Fashion show with the most far-out clothes from your wardrobe. It doesn't matter what you wear, it's supposed to be a fun, light-hearted way to engage chat. If you used to dress as a goth in high school and kept some of your clothes, wear it.26. Cook your favourite dish / bring them into the kitchen on stream. Give your audience a "behind-the-scenes" look at your stove while you make something you like to eat. It doesn't have to be fancy. You could try learning a new recipe and bring them along.&nbsp;27. Do this <a href="https://www.sporcle.com/games/JuegAriel/pokemonpics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pokemon quiz.</a> With chat, try to complete this Pokemon picture identifier quiz of the original 151. Can you spell all of their names correctly?&nbsp;28. Invite a family member or friend to come on stream. Extra points if they don't know anything about streaming, and you spend the entire time explaining Twitch emotes to them. Have mods on hand to protect them from trolls.&nbsp;29. Share a baby photo, encourage chat to do the same. Extra points if you have a really awkward photo of yourself as a child.30. Watch your top clips of all time. You can also watch old highlight VODs. This can be a really fun thing to do on stream with your audience. It's hard to watch yourself, but you can also get valuable feedback from chat about what they like and what they don't like about past content.&nbsp;31. Do a <a href="https://www.quotev.com/quizzes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">personality quiz</a>. You can pick personality quizzes from any TV show, book, movie, etc.32. Use <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/challenge-accepted-a-revenue-stream-for-competitive-players" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Playstream.gg</a>. An overlay for competitive players, this can be an exciting way to introduce another revenue stream via in-game missions set by your viewers.&nbsp;33. Play 20 questions with chat. A classic game for long car rides, this works great with entertaining chat.&nbsp;I hope this is enough to get you going. Now get out there and get creating!&nbsp;<h4>For even more inspo, join our free <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">discord</a> community today. Related Articles:&nbsp;</h4><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/essential-guide-to-green-screens">Essential Guide To Green Screens</a><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-run-community-events">How To Run Community Events</a>

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Getting Creative With Your Stream

Goal setting helped StoneMountain64 hit the combined 6.5M+ followers he has today. The building blocks of any project, big or small, they're essential for streamers of any size to stay focused, build momentum, and create a narrative their community can participate in. I'll go over the basics first, and then explain the S.M.A.R.T. framework for goal setting that Stone uses on a daily basis.&nbsp;&nbsp;There are two main categories goals can fall under: personal goals, and community goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;Personal goals are the ones you set for yourself, such as the number of weekly streams, VOD uploads, or social media posts you do. These should be internal only, you do not need to communicate them to your audience. Community goals are external, and typically involve hitting a number of followers, subscribers, or shares/retweets/likes etc. These goals should be shared with your audience so they can feel like they're a part of your journey.&nbsp;&nbsp;Here is an example of what personal goals might look like vs. community goals:<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Blog_goalsetting_74774d0e2c.jpg"></figure>Note: everyone's goals are going to look different. You have to personalize goals to fit your current situation and make sure they're realistic.&nbsp;There's another benefit for separating your goals into personal vs community categories -- hitting your personal goals on a weekly basis will support you in completing your larger community goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;Say you have 1,000 followers by November, but your stretch goal was to hit 2,000 followers by December 31st. You may be feeling bad about the gap, when you should be celebrating your first 1K follower milestone.&nbsp;&nbsp;That's why having personal goals to focus on works. You're breaking down your big dream into bite sized pieces that are manageable and won't overwhelm you.&nbsp;&nbsp;This brings me to the 3 R's: Re-examine. Rethink. Revise.&nbsp;&nbsp;When goal setting, you should be looking at your goals every month or every 3 months, thinking about whether or not they're realistic or if you're setting the bar too low, and revising them as time goes by. When life comes up, you'll want to revise your goals to make sure you feel emotionally okay so you don't end up burning out.&nbsp;&nbsp;S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting&nbsp;Want to do it like the pros? This is how StoneMountain64 thinks when he sets goals:&nbsp;S - Specific&nbsp;Be clear and specific. The more specific your description, the greater the possibility of accomplishing it. For example, if you start with the statement "I want to be a full-time streamer," does that mean you want earn enough money to pay the bills so you can quit your job, or join a professional e-sports team, or become the next Ninja? Because hitting those goals would look very different in your day-to-day.&nbsp;&nbsp;For many, it's financial freedom and being able to quit their full-time jobs. Instead of "I want to be a full-time streamer," your goal might be "I want to hit Twitch Affiliate status" and "I want to generate x income a month from my YouTube channel."&nbsp;&nbsp;M - Measurable&nbsp;&nbsp;Use numbers and other ways to see how much progress you've made. Let's say you want to grow your YouTube channel, your goal might be "I want to make money on YouTube." Being specific means that you might adjust your goal to "I want to become a YouTube partner to unlock monetization features."&nbsp;&nbsp;Looking at the requirements, your actual goal becomes "I want to have 4,000+ public watch hours," and "I want to have 1,000+ subscribers." This goal is specific and measurable.&nbsp;A - Attainable&nbsp;&nbsp;Your goals need to be realistic and attainable to be successful. This means looking at the effort, time, and other costs of pursuing your goal in comparison to the other priorities and obligations you have going on in your life right now. We've all got a lot going on at any given time, and if you don't acknowledge it in the goals you set for yourself, it will only hurt your motivation.&nbsp;&nbsp;Setting stretch goals is great for your community to see you're not afraid to go big, but for your personal goals you need to make sure they're attainable.&nbsp;R - Relevant&nbsp;&nbsp;Make sure what you're doing is worth your time, and that it makes sense to be pursuing it right now. If your goal is to hit 1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel, but you don't know how to edit videos to create VOD to upload, it probably makes sense to set a video editing learning goal for yourself. Something like "spend 2 hours a week learning DaVinci Resolve." But if you don't know how to edit videos, and one of your goals is to "have 2 brand sponsorships by October," how relevant is that activity to what you're trying to accomplish?&nbsp;&nbsp;You might want to focus on brand sponsorships a year from now, but if you put too much energy into it at the wrong time, you'll end up losing momentum.&nbsp;T - Time-Oriented&nbsp;&nbsp;Give yourself a timeline for all of your goals. "I want to have 1,000+ subscribers" becomes "I want to have 200 subscribers in 2 months" and "I want to hit 1,000 subscribers by the end of this year." Make sure you're applying pressure on yourself with deadlines, but still make these timelines reasonable for your schedule. Don't be afraid to revisit your goals and revise them over time if your schedule or priorities do change.&nbsp;&nbsp;Related Articles:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/managing-a-busy-schedule">Managing A Busy Schedule</a><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/keeping-your-milestone-supporters">Keeping Your Milestone Supporters</a>

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Goal Setting Like The Pros

One of the biggest challenges in streaming is getting people to come back to your channel after their initial discovery. This happens to EVERYONE starting out. For those of us who aspire to have 8M subs one day, figuring out how to keep viewers engaged and build that return audience is a missing piece of the puzzle.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/maxresdefault_d04fc5ac7f.jpg"><figcaption>The moment Pokimane broke 8M subscribers live on stream. Image courtesy of Pokimane.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;These 3 steps can help: first, make it as easy and simple as possible for your viewers to tune in. Second, be engaging on stream when you do have their attention. Third, create offline content and spaces to keep them involved until you go live again.&nbsp;&nbsp;✨ Let's break it down. ✨&nbsp;Step #1: Make it as easy as possible for your viewers&nbsp;To build a return audience, you have to be consistent in your streams. It'll make it easier on your viewers if they know what to expect. What this looks like in practice is creating a schedule that works for you and your content, but also your target audience. If your main focus is streaming vintage arcade games and your target audience are older, mostly over 30s who work 9-5 M-F, you definitely don't want to stream at 10 AM on Thursdays. Create a schedule and commit to it. It's always better to start with fewer time slots that you know you'll be able to do, then to have multiple streams scheduled only to have to cancel at the last second when life comes up.&nbsp;In terms of consistency, try to stream at the same time each day or night, if possible. It's easier for your followers to remember "8PM EST W-F-Sun" as opposed to "3 PM EST Wednesdays, 5 PM EST Fridays, 7:30 PM EST Sundays." Show up either on time, or early to your stream. In our fast paced content world, you only have minutes if not seconds to hold someone's attention, and being late to your own scheduled stream can really make people lose interest fast.&nbsp;Use multiple platforms to notify followers of either your upcoming stream, or in case you do need to change your schedule. These notifications will help increase the awareness around your stream and make it easier for viewers to tune in.&nbsp;&nbsp;Step #2: Be engaging on stream when someone joins&nbsp;When you do have their attention, even if it's for a few seconds or minutes, you'll want to be engaging. You can do this by saying hello and welcoming new viewers to your stream. You can call out their names and make them feel seen. Even if you only have lurkers in your channel, keep the conversation going and ask them questions about their day, or tell them a story about yours. Other topics you can talk about include why you started to stream, or the game you're currently playing. Don't be afraid to repeat a conversation that you've already had before for new viewers.&nbsp;There are other ways to engage&nbsp; your viewers -- you can use alerts, soundbites, or gifs to welcome them and hold their attention while you bring the energy and strike up a conversation.&nbsp;&nbsp;Step #3: Create offline content and spaces to fill the gaps between your streams&nbsp;Use VODs to show viewers what your channel is all about. This will communicate to new visitors that you're a creator who regularly puts out new content, and there's more to come. When you post a new VOD, make sure you highlight or feature it on your channel and use this opportunity to notify your existing followers. Whether it's a VOD or a post on social media, make sure there's a CTA (call to action) attached that links to your main stream.&nbsp;&nbsp;Create a home for your community offline -- whether it's on Discord, Facebook Groups, Guilded, Reddit, etc. Wherever it is, make yourself available there to allow your audience to interact with you offline. Many of these platforms have features similar to Discord's announcement channels that will allow you to share your live notification, so encourage your viewers to follow and turn on those notifications. This will increase awareness and make it easier for them to transition into being a return viewer.&nbsp;&nbsp;Related Articles:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/growing-your-audience-from-zero">Growing Your Audience From Zero</a><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/keeping-your-milestone-supporters">Keeping Your Milestone Supporters</a>

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How To Build A Return Audience

The "Key" Word To A Great Title&nbsp;Choosing the right keywords for your title is one of the easiest things you can do to help your discoverability on any streaming platform. Every platform relies on algorithms or machine learning (or a combination of the two) to suggest content to viewers, and it does that by using keywords found in your title or description to categorize what's being posted. If you use them correctly, it boosts your chances of being seen by the right people.&nbsp;&nbsp;Let's break it down by platform:&nbsp;&nbsp;Twitch&nbsp;Titles on Twitch are a bit of a curve ball in comparison to YouTube and Facebook Gaming. A lot of streamers include the game title, chat commands, or cute text-based emojis. Keep in mind you only have ~4-6 words that are visible to most twitch users so USE THE THEM WISELY. The first few words should be attention grabbing, help you stand out, and deliver on what the actual content of your stream is. Most streamers don't put in the time or effort to think about the title of their stream, and this is where you have an opportunity to stand out.&nbsp;Twitch tags will do the heavy lifting for you. Here's a <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/directory/all/tags" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">list </a>of all of their tags, which take on a similar function as keywords or hashtags on other streaming platforms.&nbsp;&nbsp;Discovery on Twitch is based on machine learning, i.e. what the user has watched and clicked in the past, not algorithms. This is why it's tough to get discovered on the platform as a smaller creator. Don't let that get you down though, there's still lots of things you can do to improve your chances of getting found:&nbsp;&nbsp;How tags work:&nbsp;&nbsp;- You can add a maximum number of 5 tags to your stream, not including automatic tags.&nbsp;- Automatic tags include the language you've set for your stream, as well as the category (typically a game or an activity) you've selected&nbsp;- The majority of categories are game titles and have automatic tags attached. Selecting "Call of Duty: Warzone" will assign "FPS" and "Shooter" tags to your stream. Selecting "Minecraft" as your category will assign "Simulation," "Adventure Game," "Arcade," "MMO" and "Survival" tags.&nbsp;The best way to find relevant tags is to go to "Browse" in the Twitch.tv/directory header, and under Categories and Live Channels, click the Filter by: Search Tags box and see what shows up. You can also search for specific games you're interested in streaming and see what tags people doing the same thing are using. A lot of the top streamers only use auto assigned tags, since they have enough engagement that they don't need the boost. It's a good idea to find streamers with a CCV (number of viewers at the same time) slightly above yours to see how you can improve and get to their level.&nbsp; &nbsp;YouTube&nbsp;Keywords in your title and the first sentence of your description are used for discovery on YouTube. They are by far the most important thing the algorithm looks at. Start with the search bar and input the beginning of the keyword you're interested in using. Say you're streaming Apex Legends, start by typing "Apex..." and the search bar will autofill with other popular keywords that people are already looking for.&nbsp;&nbsp;Don't try to use a 50 word run on sentence for your description, that doesn't work (we've already tested it for you.) YouTube has a character limit or line limit for keywords in your description's first sentence.&nbsp;&nbsp;Hashtags can also help, but are mostly effective if the user is searching with #. When you add hashtags to the description, they'll show up above your title in a smaller font. If you're looking to create more Roblox content for example, you can use the same technique or type #roblox into the search bar which will generate a list of top searched for hashtags. You can use these two tips to create content related to popular or trending tags.&nbsp;&nbsp;I've mentioned this before, but websites like VidIQ and TubeBuddy can help level up your YouTube views and find the most relevant keywords and hashtags for your content.&nbsp;Facebook Gaming&nbsp;The best thing hands down for discoverability on Facebook is engagement with your post: reactions, comments, and shares. Creating a post for your stream that encourages people to interact with it can be helpful when you're starting out.&nbsp;&nbsp;Use exciting titles that make people want to check you out. A good way to do this is to be open about your streaming goals, say the number of followers you're trying to hit. Don't be too obscure with your posts, and don't make them guess what it means. Click bait titles can be very effective, especially if you add emotions to them (happy, sad, angry, jealous, scared) but be careful not to mislead your audience. Remember you only have a few seconds to grab their attention, so choose your words wisely. If something works well, write it down and try to do the same or similar thing for your next stream.&nbsp;Generic hashtags can help broaden your reach a little bit, but not by much. Facebook users generally are searching for keywords and not #hashtags.&nbsp;&nbsp;Another thing you can do is ask your followers to turn on notifications for your stream, so the reminder goes right to their phones when you're about to start. Here's a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fbgaminghome/creators/growing-your-live-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">rundown</a> of how to grow your community on Facebook Gaming.&nbsp;There really is an art to using keywords, titles, descriptions, and hashtags to boost your discoverability. If you have any questions about it, join our <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Discord community</a> and give us a shout!&nbsp;

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How To Boost Discoverability

Many streamers still look at YouTube as a VOD only platform, but it's picking up rank in a lot of ways. They've been rolling out new monetization features for both VOD content and livestreams. The YouTube Partner Program now includes 7 different ways* to earn money:&nbsp;1. Advertising Revenue - Get ad revenue from display, overlay, and video ads (VOD/Live)2. Merch Shelf - Your fans can browse and buy official branded merchandise that's showcased on your watch pages (VOD/Live)3. Channel Memberships - Your members make recurring monthly payments in exchange for special perks that you offer (Live)4. Super Chat - Your fans pay to get their messages highlighted in chat streams (Live)5. Super Stickers - Same as Super Chat, but with animated sticker packs (Live)6. Super Thanks (Beta) - Yet another way for creators to earn money, particularly on VOD content (VOD/Live)7. YouTube Premium Revenue - Get part of a YouTube Premium subscriber's subscription fee when they watch your content (VOD/Live)&nbsp;*Note that these can apply to VOD content or Live streams.**To be eligible to use these features, you must be a part of YouTube's Partner Program.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Artboard_1_af96743143.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy of YouTube Creator Academy</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;How To Be Eligible To Apply For YouTube's Partner Program&nbsp;The lowest hanging fruit for those of you who are streaming on Facebook or Twitch is to use YouTube for VOD. Creating a channel for offline content regardless of whether it's short or long form will help expand your audience and direct more viewers to your primary streaming platform. Earning ad revenue on your YouTube channel is the cherry on top, but you have to make sure you can get to monetization first.&nbsp;&nbsp;Before applying to the YouTube Partner Program, you have to make sure you meet general requirements that include:&nbsp;&nbsp;- Live in a country/region where the partner program is available (now 121 countries and counting)&nbsp;- Have 4000+ watch hours in the past 12 months- Have 1000+ subscribers- Your channel meets their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/policies/community-guidelines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">community guidelines</a> and follows <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1311392#zippy=%2Cfollow-the-youtube-community-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">monetization policies</a>&nbsp;Keep in mind advertisers are looking for content appropriate for most audiences to plug into, so if your content contains sensitive topics such as drugs, sexually suggestive content, or hateful content, you'll end up locking yourself out from a lot of revenue opportunities with your VODs. Once you're accepted as a YouTube Partner, you can set up ad preferences and enable monetization on your uploaded VODs.&nbsp;&nbsp;Getting To Monetization&nbsp;To hit Partner status, you can use <a href="https://vidiq.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">VidIQ</a> or <a href="https://www.tubebuddy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TubeBuddy</a> to help you improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on the platform. They provide tutorials and analytics on YouTube channel growth and offer free Google Chrome web extensions with paid add-ons. Both of these tools will help you find topic and keywords for your videos, as well as create SEO-friendly titles, descriptions, and tags.&nbsp;&nbsp;Protip: One key thing StoneMountain64 and I want streamers to understand is that you should create multiple channels for different types of content. Making content specific for YouTube is really important, if it varies too much YouTube's search algorithm won't be able to classify your content as easily and your discoverability will suffer. That's why the bigger streamers will have multiple channels based on gameplay or genre. StoneMountain64's main channel consists of VODs with siege and funny moments, and his secondary channel has all of his full game play VODs on it.&nbsp;&nbsp;Once you've put in the work, the next step is to understand when you should be monetizing. The timing is just as important as the how. Especially in the early stages, making 10 dollars in ads is less important than keeping retention from falling off 25% which would lower your impressions, affect new subscriptions, and ultimately lower your value to the algorithm.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out our <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/playbook/business/when-to-monetize" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">When To Monetize</a> video in The Playbook that covers the intricacies around turning on ad revenue.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you're streaming on Twitch of Facebook, you should&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;be using YouTube as your VOD platform, regardless of whether you're doing long form or short form content. Putting in the time and effort to create a dedicated channel can a) lead to monetization from VOD alone and b) direct viewers to your main streaming platform.&nbsp;Understanding How YouTube's Paid Digital Goods Work&nbsp;YouTube has been expanding ways creators can diversify their revenue streams on the platform. The intention behind their latest tool Super Thanks is to allow creators to strengthen relationships with their viewers while increasing their earnings on the platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2020, over 10M viewers bought their first Paid Digital Good (<a href="https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/can-we-chat-hello-super-chat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Super Chat</a>, <a href="https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/introducing-super-stickers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Super Sticker</a>, <a href="https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/introducing-newest-member-supers-family-super-thanks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Super Thanks</a>, or <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6304294?visit_id=637635391831127505-3889845124&amp;rd=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Channel Membership</a>) on YouTube. Fans purchase a colorful Super Chat or an animated Super Sticker that stands out and gets pinned to the top of the chat for a set period of time. The bigger the purchase amount, the more the messages stand out and the longer it stays at the top of the chat feed. They can also show their support for their favorite creators by leaving them a Super Thanks with a monetary amount attached to it on their VOD content.&nbsp;&nbsp;- Super Chat is available at variable price points set by every creator.&nbsp;- Super Thanks is available at price points between $2 and $50 USD (or local currency equivalent.)&nbsp;- Super Stickers is available at price points between $0.99 to $50 USD(or local currency equivalent.)&nbsp;- Channel Membership is available at recurring monthly payments in exchange for special perks creators offer, with 5 tiers available.&nbsp;&nbsp;Your channel MUST be monetized to be eligible to use any of the above features. Note that YouTube still takes a cut from each transaction. Some creators have cited this amount hovering at about ~30%.&nbsp;If you want to learn more about how YouTube algorithms work, read this article I wrote on<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/algorithms-and-discoverability" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Algorithms and Discoverability.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;

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The Complete Guide To YouTube Monetization

🎥&nbsp; How To Get Your First Viewers&nbsp;One of the most common questions I hear is, "how do I build an audience from zero viewers?"&nbsp;&nbsp;I'm going to walk you through the best strategy for building an early audience. &nbsp;&nbsp;When you're first starting out, it's common to be thinking about growth and ways to quickly build an audience. However, instead of worrying about viewership on your main channel, you should focus on building connections across the different platforms that you use.&nbsp;Some streamers might argue that you can just lean on the algorithm to get started, for example on platforms that offer better discoverability, like Facebook Gaming. While it's true that you could get picked up by Facebook's algorithm if you happen to be lucky enough to be streaming the right game at the right time, you can't base your growth on luck. Your viewership is going to be pretty volatile and it's going to be a frustrating experience.&nbsp;Instead, build communities on different platforms, then funnel them into your channel. This is crucial in the beginning and gives you more control over your early stages of growth.<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/a_bgOCYmYAfSybxY4gG_0VGtg1wT_kB-PjQFGJ9zY8dIq_8_kwjf2N-3KOr_cm9D9t2a-SyhagLhSsQgFuST8yqMXzouIftvUoCImJDcWTyCjFUMyMjAMY1WE3ANInVvDtChn6dg"></figure>For example, you can start with people you play with online. Try and meet people that play the same genre of games that you do. Once you've built a genuine connection with another player, it's perfectly fine to invite them to watch your stream. If you need help making friends online, you can join communities like LFG (Looking For Gamers) on Discord.&nbsp;&nbsp;Another benefit of building your viewership through pre-existing relationships is that these people are more likely to recommend you to their friends than someone who's never interacted with you one-on-one. This is how you can tap into word-of-mouth growth. Spend 10 minutes every couple of hours just browsing and talking to people, but build these relationships organically. Don't try to hack it or force it.&nbsp;Using tactics like follow4follow for inorganic growth won't work out in the long run. These followers don't represent actual growth, and you'll end up with a lot of busy streamers in your follow list who don't engage with your channel the way an actual viewer would.&nbsp;&nbsp;Instead, work on building genuine friendship networks on every platform you can, especially platforms that you really like to use as it'll come more naturally. Remember that when using different socials, you have to use different tactics. Don't cross-post the same content everywhere. While short, snappy, and temporal will work on Twitter, you'll have to be more relatable and educational on Facebook and bring the energy on TikTok.&nbsp;You can also try talking to game developers. If you build rapport with a dev, you could be featured on their socials or get access to early keys. It's great for visibility as well; if a developer starts engaging back when you comment on their posts, you'll be seen by all of their followers.&nbsp;Always keep in mind that people are connected via other mutuals on social too. Your reach extends beyond the people you're engaging with directly!&nbsp;Related articles: &nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-build-a-return-audience">How To Build A Return Audience</a> <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/keeping-your-milestone-supporters">Keeping Your Milestone Supporters</a>

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Growing Your Audience From Zero

<h2>Challenge Accepted: A Revenue Stream for Competitive Players | PlayStream</h2>&nbsp;<h4>It takes a lot to be at the top of your game. Diversifying revenue streams helps build financial stability for creators, so they can focus on doing what they do best: playing the game. That’s why we’re introducing PlayStream’s new tool Challenge Accepted for all creators looking for that extra edge.&nbsp;</h4>&nbsp;PlayStream’s Challenge Accepted tool allows streamers to interact with their audience in a completely novel way. Viewers can now give their favorite streamers challenges that, upon completion, unlock the reward attached to it.&nbsp;Viewer engagement is paramount for creators and using tools to augment that interaction can spark growth and new revenue. If your community likes betting on (or against) you to make those huge plays in Apex, League, or Warzone, then this could help take your channel to the next level.&nbsp;&nbsp;🛠 How does this streaming tool work?&nbsp;&nbsp;When you go live, your community can now engage with your stream in real time by sending you&nbsp;a monetary challenge through PlayStream’s Challenge Accepted interface. Showcase it on-stream visually and make it your own with customizable OBS Overlays, TTS Sounds, and Animations. The tool watches your stream and automatically detects when challenges are completed, which then triggers payment.&nbsp;&nbsp;🎮 What platform does PlayStream work on? &nbsp;&nbsp;It works on all streaming platforms, so anyone can use it! &nbsp;&nbsp;💸 Does it cost me anything?&nbsp;&nbsp;Free to download and use, PlayStream takes 10-20% of every challenge completed through Challenge Accepted depending on your level with them, Streamer, Affiliate, or Partner. If the challenge is incomplete, there are no costs for the viewer or the streamer.&nbsp;&nbsp;🏆 How do I unlock rewards?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Your community creates custom challenges for you by attaching a reward to a specific goal and setting a time limit for you to complete it. If you complete the challenge within the parameters set, you unlock the reward. If the challenge is incomplete, your viewer isn’t charged anything, and you won’t receive anything.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;✨ How does this benefit me?&nbsp;&nbsp;Three key ways:&nbsp;&nbsp;1. It sets your stream apart from others2. Prioritizes viewer engagement by having them be invested in the outcome of your game3. Encourages them to donate to your channel&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/etoFgV0a-cmEwycLR2WzJe_feFe8nTynOJixbZGUcy9jpEdRA8JRRzrrG7j1oyhyLsPJqtkBuMoq6sEzI_MAcYpcCzjdxRI-T-OcW94SNNzT7sQuVQyF3-__zUA6te9WvmzWqgsc"><figcaption>Example of challenge options viewers can set for their favorite streamers.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Now that PlayStream is partnered with Pipeline… *drumroll* 🥁&nbsp; All Pipeline members will have automatic access to PlayStream’s affiliate level and receive the following benefits:&nbsp;&nbsp;Affiliate Status, which includes:&nbsp;- 85% revenue on all challenges- Affiliate Banner- Personalized Emotes and Alerts Animation- Private Discord channel with 24/7 support&nbsp;Pipeline Monthly members will also receive 95% revenue cut for their first month with PlayStreamPipeline Annual members will also receive 100% revenue cut for their first month with PlayStream&nbsp;If you want to get started today, head over to the <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline">Pipeline Discord</a> channel #bot-commands to redeem your special benefits with PlayStream. PlayStream's support team is available 24/7 on their Discord for any questions or assistance needed!&nbsp;&nbsp;Below is a list of games that you can use with Challenge Accepted today!&nbsp; The PlayStream team is constantly adding new games and challenges, so make sure you check them out!&nbsp;&nbsp;- Fortnite- Among Us- Apex- Warzone- DBD Killers- DBD Survivor- League of Legends- Fall Guys- Valorant- Splitgate&nbsp;Not yet a member? Join <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/#plans">Pipeline</a> today and receive all the membership perks!&nbsp;

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Challenge Accepted: A Revenue Stream For Competitive Players

<h2>Pre-Production Planning</h2>&nbsp;<h3>Planning your VoDs like the pros</h3>&nbsp;Pre-production is earliest stage of any creative project. You might be thinking, "isn't that just for films? Do I really need it for online content?" Yes. Yes you do.&nbsp;It's much simpler to create a video when you have the elements already planned. This applies to both live streams and offline content; it'll improve the quality of both. An added benefit for offline content: it'll make editing much easier.&nbsp;For the purpose of this guide, we're going to focus on storyboarding an offline VoD. Storyboarding a video is the same as working on a draft when you're writing, it's all about getting your ideas down and refining them.&nbsp;<h3>Storyboarding VoD</h3>&nbsp;<h4>1. The Brainstorm</h4>&nbsp;Think about topics that you could create a video around, for example something that really resonated with your audience during one of your streams. Get these ideas down on paper and select one to proceed with. Make sure you take the time to think about why you chose this idea and how it fits with your brand and channel. Lastly, think about how long you want the video to be - how much do you have to say about this topic?&nbsp;<h4>2. The Timeline</h4>&nbsp;Now you can start actually working on your video's story. Start by outlining the beginning, the middle, and the end. Preparing the structure of your video beforehand will help you make any necessary tweaks before you start shooting. It'll also allow you to challenge your ideas and flesh them out.&nbsp;<h4>3. The Shot List</h4>&nbsp;Now that you have the timeline ready, it's time to get those shots dialed so you can shoot efficiently. You can do something simple, like setting up your webcam a certain way, or get really creative with a lighting setup, for example. This is also a good opportunity to work on determining what overlays/graphics you want to use and where you're going to place the elements in the frame.&nbsp;The more work you put into this stage, the better your output will be. Start planning your videos and you'll be producing content like a professional in no time.&nbsp;If you need ideas for videos, become a member today and check out <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/feature-playbook">The Playbook</a>!

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The Key To Better Videos

<h2>5 Tips To Kickstart Your Growth On Social Media</h2>&nbsp;Becoming a social media champion&nbsp;Social media is a key channel for many streamers. It's a place where you can engage with your community at any time and give visitors a glimpse into who you are as a brand. If used correctly, it can also drive huge organic growth for your stream.&nbsp;However, as many of you have told me, it can be hard to figure out what to focus on, especially when you have limited time. Here are five tips to help you narrow your focus and kickstart your growth on social media.&nbsp;<h4>1.&nbsp; Pick One Platform To Start On</h4>&nbsp;With so many social platforms available today, it can feel like a necessity to be on all of them. In reality, that's counterproductive.&nbsp;To give an example, are you likely to become amazing at ten new hobbies if you start them all at once? No, you'd probably be better off focusing on one. It takes time to learn about new communities, how a platform's algorithm works, what kind of content formats work best, etc.&nbsp;Pick one social platform to focus on, become great at it, and build your audience there. Once you have that platform on autopilot, then you can expand to other platforms.&nbsp;<h4>2.&nbsp; Post Frequently</h4>&nbsp;Here's how often I recommend posting on each platform:&nbsp;Facebook: Post between 3-7 times a week. Shoot for once a day.Twitter: Tweet around 10 times per day, but space them out. Don't post in quick succession.Instagram: Publish one post per day, but also try to post some stories throughout the week as well.&nbsp;<h4>3. Post A VARIETY Of Content</h4>&nbsp;Promoting your live streams on your social profile is a great way to build your streaming audience organically, but you'll benefit more if you also sprinkle in other types of content. Bring your audience value beyond just your streams.&nbsp;Some ideas:&nbsp;- Share some news that your audience might want to know about (if you're subscribed to our newsletter, you can borrow links from our weekly news roundup 😉)- Ask your audience to post their favorite VoD of all time. In addition to getting engagement from your audience, you'll also learn what kind of content they love the most!- Tips and tricks. Are you really good at any particular game? Is there something you do really well for work that your audience might be interested in (like design)? If so, test a post around those topics. If not, try to find a problem that your audience might have, or ask them what they'd like to learn more about, and do some research around that.&nbsp;In order to make your feed visually engaging, you will also want to make sure that you're posting more than just text; include videos and images as well.&nbsp;If you ever feel stuck, just ask yourself, "who is my audience and what are they interested in?"&nbsp;<h4>4. Plan Out Your Content Ahead Of Time</h4>&nbsp;You're more likely to post as frequently as you should be if you have your posts ready to go. Pick a day of the week that works for you and spend an hour or two creating as much content as you can for the coming week.&nbsp;This will save you more time than you think, because your brain will be in "content creation mode" and you'll be able to crank out more content. It can be challenging to try to warm up your brain and kick it into content gear if you're trying to create posts every single day.&nbsp;Lastly, some platforms allow you to schedule posts ahead of time, but you can also do it via free tools like Hootsuite. Scheduling your posts at the start of the week will free up your mind for other tasks.&nbsp;<h4>5. Interact With Other Creators</h4>&nbsp;This one is so important and so underrated. Start engaging with other creators on whichever social media platform you're using.&nbsp;What does this look like? For starters, find a creator you genuinely like and leave them an authentic comment, or share their content and add some brief commentary. Not only will this get you more follows from those creators, but you'll also open the door for future collaborations and eventually get visibility from their followers.&nbsp;Need a bit more help with your social media strategy? Join our community!&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/#plans">Become A Member Today</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Growing Your Social Media

<h2>A Primer On Facebook Ads For Creators</h2>How to get started and when to use them&nbsp;Many of you have been asking about how to use Facebook ads to grow your channel, so I put together a little guide to help you get started. In this guide, I’ll address these two questions:&nbsp;1. What is the difference between Facebook ads and boosted posts?2. When should you be utilizing them?&nbsp;Note: You don't need to be actively streaming on Facebook Gaming to benefit from Facebook ads. You can send traffic anywhere, including Twitch and YouTube. But you do need a Facebook Gaming (or business) page and an<a href="https://www.facebookblueprint.com/student/activity/212724?ref=cms_redirect"> Ads Manager Account (free)</a> to get started. We do recommend having that page set up with your photo + info as some people might click through the ad to check out your page before they go anywhere else.&nbsp;What is the difference between Facebook ads vs boosted posts?&nbsp;Boosting a post means promoting a post that you've published on your page so that it gets seen by more of your followers (there are a few more targeting options as well). Boosting a post can be done directly from your page. You can also boost Instagram posts!&nbsp;Facebook ads are a bit more complicated but give you more control with targeting, creative, objectives (like page clicks or likes), and placements (where the ad will be shown). Creating a Facebook ad has to be done via Ads Manager (note: you're also able to use the "Promote" option on your Facebook Gaming page, but we recommend the Ads Manager as it gives you more options). Facebook allows you to deliver your ads across many places including the newsfeed, Instagram, and even in apps and mobile games via the Audience Network.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/LU4SCkNBATow9a7u3e6SD6qB9rYg6cySZSSaPNSwxUD-KeuWZ48WcX_9QgYK4rQngg_PppU458KygC5LXqVcU2V1D514UGV9g_teyKjvT5Q48WwrJTwEBq-geYvvWtsakTYrR9EV"></figure>&nbsp;When to boost a post:&nbsp;1. To expand your audience&nbsp;If one of your posts is performing exceptionally well (for example, it’s getting lots of shares or comments), this is a good opportunity to put yourself out there. You already know it’s good content, so put a little money behind it and test to see if it appeals to a wider audience. It could bring you some new follows and page likes!&nbsp;2. When you have an important update&nbsp;If you have an update that you really want many of your followers to see, for example a milestone ("10k followers! Thank you!"), you can put some dollars down if you want to reach a higher percentage of your followers compared to your average organic post.&nbsp;When to use Facebook ads:&nbsp;1. To run a Page Like campaign&nbsp;If you click on the "Engagement" campaign objective (as pictured below), you'll see the option to create a Page Like campaign. How this campaign works is it'll include a button with the text "Like Page" when it displays the ad to your audience. This is something you can do if you're just getting your brand off the ground or really itching to hit that next milestone. Just keep in mind that page likes alone won't get you to where you want to be. It's just as important to engage your audience and keep them happy.&nbsp;2. To promote your stream to new audiences Like in the image shown above, you can create a highlight video ad to promote your stream. Make sure to include what days and time you go live!&nbsp;3. To re-engage past viewers&nbsp;This technique called retargeting is a little more advanced, but you can use it to target people who have watched your video content in the past and prompt them to take the action you want. Just go to the Audience Manager and create a custom audience including people who have liked your posts, watched your VoDs, and more. You can then use this audience in any campaign you like. For example, send them to your stream!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LZolw-AaWTrpH821RsYd5KnObfs_uO1w5J1vUTevj4cPvkcKaUW1bav8Rd-eYFzC0IfHyIt7BCYgDZgOIP6MCyOQHAs8WokRtz9McUehcCm9QakY59ttkk6rDZ5helw8S2kHIdxk"></figure>&nbsp;My recommendation:&nbsp;Start with a small budget, and remember to test! There are so many things you can test on Facebook ads: the different campaign objectives, the creative, the messaging, the placements, and the audiences.&nbsp;A few pointers to help get you started:&nbsp;- On ads, videos perform better than images, so use videos whenever possible (as well as captions - many people don't turn on their audio!)- If you don't know where to start with audience targeting, stick with the default broad audience; Facebook's algorithm is surprisingly good at finding the right people.- Don't get discouraged if your first ad doesn't do well. Just keep chipping away at it and you'll get the hang of it in no time!&nbsp;Have some marketing questions you need answered? Looking for pre-vetted video editors for ad content or VoD? Pipeline can help.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/feature-playbook">Become A Member</a>

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Facebook Ads For Creators

Algorithms: Your Quick-Start Guide To Discoverability&nbsp;Understanding best practices for YouTube, Facebook Gaming, and Twitch algorithms and how to increase your chances of being discovered.&nbsp;Algorithms&nbsp;Algorithms are the money-making secret sauce for content sharing platforms. They're the computational recipes that determine who's content is shown to other users. In today’s world, algorithms are designed with one goal in mind: to keep users on the platform for as long as possible.&nbsp;Every one of these platforms battles over retaining the same pool of users, and they’re in a constant scramble to hire the brightest engineers in the world to write these algorithms, so it’s no surprise that they don’t want their inner workings leaked to competitors.&nbsp;That said, companies do share some information about how to best leverage their content platforms, and more information has surfaced thanks to curious minds who run experiments to figure out how to make the most of these algorithms.&nbsp;YouTube Streaming&nbsp;Like on other platforms, engagement data such as likes and comments provides the algorithm with a real-time feedback loop. What this is means is that the more your viewers are engaging with your content, the stronger the signals are that your content is worth sharing with more users. Comments and shares are what you want to see.&nbsp;View duration is another key metric that the algo looks for. Retain your viewers for as long as possible to signal to the algorithm that your content is sticky, so talk to your audience and make sure they stick around.&nbsp;YouTube wants to see your subscribers coming back to watch your streams. Commit to a schedule so your audience can expect when you’re going to be live. We can’t stress this enough. By building a routine for yourself, you’re helping your viewers get into a routine as well - the routine of watching your streams! And always be communicating when you’re going to be streaming.&nbsp;Start thinking like a marketer. In your steam descriptions, stream titles, etc, make sure you’re including the title of the game that you’re streaming, and be concise. Don't clutter or try to stuff too may keywords into the title. This is super important for showing up in searches and recommendations.&nbsp;Earlier we mentioned that the goal of the algorithms is to keep people around - YouTube does this by sending each user into a rabbit hole of relevant content. Therefore, make sure that your content is easy to categorize for YouTube's search engine. You want to package your stream up nicely so that it's easy for YouTube to serve it up to someone who they think might like it.&nbsp;Another key factor is the thumbnail - use eye-catching content to draw the viewer's attention and increase the chances that they'll click on your video.&nbsp;YouTube VODs&nbsp;Your subscribers will get notified when you post a new video, so post your videos when your audience is most likely to be watching! You can also schedule them ahead of time to go public at the right hour.&nbsp;Just like in the live videos, view duration is key metric that the algo looks for, so make sure that your content is put together in a way that keeps viewers hooked for the duration of your video. It's good food for thought during the production planning stage.&nbsp;In addition, YouTube rewards creators that respond to comments with meaningful answers. We're not sure how the algorithm distinguishes between lazy and great replies, but it knows. 👀&nbsp;&nbsp;Again, like in the live videos, use clear video descriptions and titles. Make sure you’re including the title of the game that you’re playing. Focusing on one or two keywords and including them in both the title and description is a good rule of thumb. Lastly, use the same recommendation logic and thumbnail tips that we mentioned in the YouTube Streaming section above.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gx9SGJyFE-t3N7J1INRHgtuHyCFTulR_N6Ikht9CSrvR950c218kgKLg7xdgKRmMRZDr-s0v8Lqk05iOvhUXr7JRa3L0XzbgptRICmA0AdxUmf1mGPwBW_GEUVpRF2UCBUlv7KIA"></figure>&nbsp;Facebook Gaming&nbsp;Like YouTube, Facebook also looks for engagement from your viewers, so use those best practices on this platform as well. We also know a bit about how Facebook tests the stickiness of your content.&nbsp;Facebook’s algorithm tests your content in small batches. It’ll show your stream to a few people, measure how your content performs, and then based on the performance, decide whether to increase the reach or not. It’s looking for people who actually watch it for a minute or longer, as well as how people are interacting with it. Comments are more valuable than likes to the algorithm, so make sure you're engaging your chat!&nbsp;Facebook's algorithm also changes based on where you are in your streaming journey. For example, if you just got into the Level Up program, Facebook will push your channel to try and hype your channel. It's during these windows that you can see a boost in growth and where we would recommend giving 110%.&nbsp;Twitch&nbsp;Twitch's recommendation system is kind of new. Previously, there was no recommendation system; Twitch would just list channels based on the amount of views. It really didn't give smaller creators much of a chance to grow. Now, Twitch says it's using machine learning to look at different factors such as chat velocity and other channel features, but they're still finding their footing.&nbsp;We do know that if you typically play one game, you're more likely to have the algorithm recommend you to someone because you're easier to categorize. It's a little trickier for variety streamers because Twitch's algorithm has a harder time understanding them. Using tags and keywords to manually assist the recommendation engine can be helpful here.&nbsp;A lot of the discovery on Twitch happens through people browsing the live channels and finding a stream with a lot of viewers or someone they're physically drawn to. Statistically speaking, streams with cams always see more views, unless a camera-less video already has a large viewer count, in which case it'll draw in more viewers that way.&nbsp;Avoiding saturated games will allow you to be higher on the list of live channels. However, if you go with games that have no viewers, you're likely to find no viewers. So it's a balancing act of finding a game that works for your channel that isn't overly saturated but has viewers.&nbsp;Ready to put these tips into action? Join our community today and get some help along the way.<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/">Become A Member</a>

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Algorithms and Discoverability

<h2>Have you ever run an event for your community?</h2>As you grow your audience, one of the best ways to strengthen your community is through community events.There are many kinds of events you can run for your community; you can run tournaments playing round robin or double elimination matches, have a watch party, or play team games.As connected as we are, we’re still pretty disconnected. Humans will forever crave authentic human connections, and facilitating these connections will pay off tremendously.It's been proven that building a sense of community creates retention within that community. But how do you build a sense of community? By making your community members feel that they belong, that they matter, and that their needs are being met.<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cAczh5arYAeRkMFZ7E4rGRN6id8fKq0SgxFELX4K3w6co5k551avp4hFLwW3lY0SUjcdb1OcjKnxlLV5_h551OCokVAEqNkAQ3JC3mwm8MaavwN1ds8dmwxegkSyDX7gDg_Z5Oic"></figure>Foster strong connections within your community and you're going to have a much easier time building a return audience.Every other week our Pipeline staff gets together and plays a game that everyone can play. Among Us is a top pick, and Flo (our dev) is super sus. It's a great way to connect with the team and build relationships beyond our professional sphere.You can do the same with your community! Pick a date and time and post the event on social media - invite your community to join you for a party game and meet on your Discord server. Test out different games, event strategies, and see what works best for your community!Need more examples on how to strengthen your community?&nbsp;Check out Pipeline's free discord <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline">here!</a>&nbsp;Related Articles:<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-build-a-return-audience">How To Build A Return Audience</a>&nbsp;

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How To Run Community Events

"The best time to invest in yourself was yesterday, the next best time is today, and the worst time is tomorrow." - Snoopeh&nbsp;On Being A Creator&nbsp;I've been sharing a lot of tips on the how and the why of becoming a creator, but I also want to remind you that you're worth it. You can become the creator that you want to be. Be proud of the work that you've put in so far. I also want to hold you accountable and make sure that you're taking steps towards becoming that best version of yourself as a creator.&nbsp;Remember that you alone are responsible for improving. Nothing will happen automatically, and other people won't do it for you. If you want to grow, you'll have to take the reins.&nbsp;&nbsp;Luckily, multiple studies have shown that creating is proven to increase happiness and overall physical and mental health. That alone is reason enough to devote your time to this. Tony Wagner, a senior research fellow at Harvard, says that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/25/health/enayati-innovation-passion-stress/index.html">creating and expressing ourselves gives us a sense of purpose</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;He also notes that the longer you wait, the harder it can be to find that creative path.&nbsp;Like many other tasks,&nbsp; one of the toughest parts of creating is starting. Once you get past that initial hurdle, it's much easier to settle into a routine and get things rolling.&nbsp;So whatever plans you have for this weekend, make sure you set some time aside to create.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Creator Self Worth

5 Tips To Find TikTok Success&nbsp;More and more creators are using TikTok as a means of promoting their brands and channels. Why? For the discoverability. In comparison to other platforms, TikTok generates massive FOMO among its users. This makes it easier to build your following and even go viral.&nbsp;I've put together some tips to help you fast-track your TikTok success. With YouTube Shorts launching soon, it's a great time to start mastering short-form content.&nbsp;🏰 Building That Follower Base With Consistency&nbsp;To kick things off: be consistent. And yeah, I know I'm always talking about consistency, but it works! TikTok actually rewards you for posting regularly. Try this out for yourself and watch your follower count closely: post 2 times a day for the next month. The last tip will suggest something you can do to easily accomplish this, so read through! 😉&nbsp;🕵️‍♀️ Trending Hashtags Are Your Friend&nbsp;Look at the trending hashtags - they change constantly and can be used to help others find your content. This is one of the fastest ways to get your content seen, because people will search for content under these hashtags specifically. For a fun challenge, choose a trend that's not gaming-related and find a good way to incorporate it into gaming!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EahFaW7yVEhVWG4SKl2Fl7b21pofClIAHSCiVsghitXcK-OSGfqnELVrZuwYtZSL2E3bxGEcY-43FryKUqnSL79TTqu2khW9_3UhJUJQy69iokVfFfQdQwcJeBmZaH00S9WIJBF"></figure>&nbsp;📺 Using Trends To Go Viral&nbsp;Pay attention to trends. We're sure you've seen at least one TikTok dance video. Luckily, you don't have to dance; there are several types of trends on TikTok that you can explore, from challenges to filters and beyond. To see what's currently popular in gaming, for example, just type "gaming" into the search bar. Find trends that you're comfortable producing and crank them out to get that visibility!&nbsp;🪁 Getting Master Reach Boost&nbsp;To expand your reach, people have to WATCH your TikToks, and the longer, the better. For ultimate visibility on the platform you want people to not only watch your TikTok in full, but also comment, like and share. As you may have noticed, this is similar across many social and content-sharing platforms. Engagement is king.&nbsp;🚀 Clipping Your Stream&nbsp;Start uploading clips from your stream to TikTok. This is powerful for two reasons: first, it's a great way to quickly generate content to post on TikTok, and second, it gives people an idea of what they can expect if they jump into your stream. To start tapping the TikTok audience for your stream, we recommend overlaying your stream link or handle on top of your TikTok video so people know how to find you outside of the platform.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EvVO4ZygFG6xvUfZP-zhidyybEVQSnFUYti-6P3sVZGb6Eh1wGoqbDO6ZpMwxmwQQPq47PsO3Sb6GoN1Ez9TdNna8xbg_bxe2RTXMKhmtmCzEWB6lF5sMjf1s8z-yfr7Gv16iOcm"></figure>&nbsp;Want to learn more about TikTok? <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/">Join today</a> and watch our TikTok 101 Masterclass!&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Fast-Track Your TikTok Success

<h3>Free Editing Software 💸</h3> <a href="https://pipelinegg.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYmxhY2ttYWdpY2Rlc2lnbi5jb20lMkZwcm9kdWN0cyUyRmRhdmluY2lyZXNvbHZlJTJG&amp;a=89633324&amp;account=pipelinegg%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=xvfHFvs4FLzIEwHPHoODt6yPUFd7JHyq9acdSgULWaM%3D&amp;s=774858bce42d5ee86f7261b9c0895058&amp;i=889A1198A6A38998">DaVinci Resolve 17</a> This powerful software has a huge range of features and the base version covers the average streamers' needs. Their last update included more than 100 new features in Nov 2020. The one big downside is the fairly steep learning curve if you're new to editing.&nbsp;Upgrading: The paid Studio version is $295, but they throw in a Speed Editor keyboard.&nbsp;<a href="https://pipelinegg.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZmeGhvbWUuY29tJTJGcHJvZHVjdCUyRmhpdGZpbG0tZXhwcmVzcw==&amp;a=89633324&amp;account=pipelinegg%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=xvfHFvs4FLzIEwHPHoODt6yPUFd7JHyq9acdSgULWaM%3D&amp;s=774858bce42d5ee86f7261b9c0895058&amp;i=889A1198A6A38999">HitFilm Express</a> HitFilm is accessible for beginners and features a simpler interface than DaVinci Resolve. There are fewer options for advanced color, audio, and visual effects, but the basics are there, and the editing features available are advanced. Available for Windows and Mac.&nbsp;Upgrading: Their Supreme pack with all features unlocked will run you $69.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://plgg-cdn.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Blogediting_c347ebd2cb.jpg"><figcaption>Source: DaVinci Resolve 17 video editing dock by Blackmagicdesign</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Two other editing programs worth mentioning are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avs4you.com/avs-video-editor.aspx">AVS Video Editor</a>&nbsp;(Windows only) and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.movavi.com/">Movavi</a>&nbsp;(Windows and limited versions on Mac.) Both, however, export with logos and watermarks in their free versions.<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Paid Editing Software 💰</h3> <a href="https://pipelinegg.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYWRvYmUuY29tJTJGcHJvZHVjdHMlMkZwcmVtaWVyZS5odG1s&amp;a=89633324&amp;account=pipelinegg%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=xvfHFvs4FLzIEwHPHoODt6yPUFd7JHyq9acdSgULWaM%3D&amp;s=774858bce42d5ee86f7261b9c0895058&amp;i=889A1198A6A39000">Adobe Premiere Pro</a> This is the industry gold standard for professional level video editing. Hands-down the best feature set. If you're a student or a teacher, Adobe offers a huge discount for their creative cloud subscription (over 60%). Otherwise the annual subscription costs $239.88. You can't buy it outright, Adobe will only license Premiere Pro out to you.&nbsp;<a href="https://pipelinegg.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuY3liZXJsaW5rLmNvbSUyRnByb2R1Y3RzJTJGcG93ZXJkaXJlY3Rvci12aWRlby1lZGl0aW5nLXNvZnR3YXJlJTJGb3ZlcnZpZXdfZW5fVVMuaHRtbA==&amp;a=89633324&amp;account=pipelinegg%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=xvfHFvs4FLzIEwHPHoODt6yPUFd7JHyq9acdSgULWaM%3D&amp;s=774858bce42d5ee86f7261b9c0895058&amp;i=889A1198A6A39001">PowerDirector</a> A great choice if you like the idea of a premium video editor at an affordable price point. Flexible and robust, it's good for all levels of experience. The annual subscription at $69.99 includes unlimited use of their premium feature packs including visual effect, audio tracks, and sound clips, with more updates every month. &nbsp;<h3>Outsourced (Agencies/Freelancers) 🤝</h3>&nbsp;Another popular option for streamers short on time is to outsource their video editing needs to a content production agency focused on the gaming industry like <a href="https://pipelinegg.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ6eWdvbWVkaWEuY29tJTJG&amp;a=89633324&amp;account=pipelinegg%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=xvfHFvs4FLzIEwHPHoODt6yPUFd7JHyq9acdSgULWaM%3D&amp;s=774858bce42d5ee86f7261b9c0895058&amp;i=889A1198A6A39002">ZygoMedia</a>. You can also find and hire a freelancer to do your editing for you on a services marketplace like <a href="https://pipelinegg.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuZml2ZXJyLmNvbSUyRg==&amp;a=89633324&amp;account=pipelinegg%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=xvfHFvs4FLzIEwHPHoODt6yPUFd7JHyq9acdSgULWaM%3D&amp;s=774858bce42d5ee86f7261b9c0895058&amp;i=889A1198A6A39003">Fiverr</a>. If you're a Pipeline member, we also offer a curated selection of affordable freelance editors in our Discord.&nbsp;Want more tips on how to create and edit VODs? Check out <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/feature-playbook">The Playbook</a> for more content.&nbsp;

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Top Picks For Editing Software

The 3 Biggest Stressors For Streamers&nbsp;(And How To Handle Them)&nbsp;Becoming a successful streamer requires hard work, dealing with uncertainty, and managing a lot of moving parts in front of live audiences, to name a few things. While tons of fun, it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, especially for those who are trying to make a living from it.&nbsp;I've spoken to thousands of streamers and here are the three things that streamers find most stressful (and how to handle them).&nbsp;🏆 1. Worrying That You Won't Live Up To Expectations&nbsp;Once you've decided to go all-in on streaming and have opened up to your friends and family about it, it can start to feel like you've promised them success. Getting friends and family onboard can be challenging on its own, so adding pressure to succeed on top of that can easily trigger anxiety. Communicating your fears to your loved ones is important as it may help adjust the expectations that you think they have of you.&nbsp;🌊 2. Trying New Growth Tactics&nbsp;Growth requires testing a lot of different things: trying new games, starting to collaborate with people (or collaborating with someone new), switching platforms, trying to produce offline content, etc. Not only are you constantly being pushed to learn new skills to successfully execute these tactics quickly, you're also going into it blind with no knowledge of how any of them will affect your stream. Sometimes the thought of it alone is enough to put your stress levels over the top (analysis paralysis, anyone?)&nbsp;Realistically, the likelihood of any of the tactics mentioned above negatively impacting your channel is very low. The fear here is constantly having to venture into unknown territory - trying new tactics can be scary. They key is to experiment thoughtfully and avoid rash decision making. Plan the success/fail parameters of your experiments ahead of time and know when to roll back, continue, or switch gears.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/MmIkxWPTStlkAOyLqtHMZHkyl2mdGMSIVQzZvzLM3sO9mjHnSDSrYrrtj7AnZ56pWXNA6JJUo-KnKxKhQG5264lJHOkMc0I75ddvQch73ObRDxk9tH8mXqnkvbJupWoAWOhLK6Ah"></figure>&nbsp;🌩 3. Negative Self-Talk Over The Numbers&nbsp;"I won't hit the same views as before, I will have zero viewers, I won't see growth, etc." These thought patterns are all too common among streamers, and this stressor might be the biggest one of all.&nbsp;When you start noticing that negative self-talk, remind yourself why you started in the first place (this is supposed to be fun, right?). Take a step back and identify what's in your control vs. what's out of your control, and put that energy towards problem-solving whatever is holding you back from getting to that next level. The reality is, there's always something new to try.&nbsp;🌅 More Ways To Deal With Stress And Anxiety&nbsp;The best way to start dealing with stress and anxiety is learning to identify how they're triggered and how they negatively affect you specifically. Sometimes they're triggered unpredictably, but other times we know what kinds of situations will eventually lead us there (like burnout, for example).&nbsp;Listen to your body. It can be hard to know exactly when it's telling you that you've reached your limit, but that balance is important to figure out. If squeezing out a little bit more work feels like a herculean effort, you probably need to take a step back. Also, make a point to distinguish between needing a 15 minute break vs. needing a day or two (or weeks) to really unwind.&nbsp;Having a plan ready for small breaks is a great way to stay ahead. It can be hard to think clearly if you’re already anxious, so try identifying particularly calming activities ahead of time and lock these activities in as your go-tos. Some examples: closing your eyes for a few minutes, playing a mobile game, sitting outside in the sun, or having a cup of chamomile tea.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Meditation is another great tactic, and one that's been<a href="https://hbr.org/2014/02/what-to-do-when-you-cant-control-your-stress"> proven to work </a>even in the most stressful of situations. If you're curious about meditation and mindfulness but don't know where to start, Calm does daily<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=belelPTGsQE"> ten-minute meditation streams</a>.&nbsp;Another tip that I really love is taking a second to put things into perspective. Ask yourself, “is this really worth me stressing over?” Most of the time, it’s not. If it’s not something you’ll be thinking about 10 years down the road, cut yourself some slack.&nbsp;It’s great to be passionate and work hard at something, but sometimes taking things too seriously can negatively impact your performance over the long haul. So for those of you who are way too hard on yourselves, try to look at it that way. In fact, learning to manage your stress and anxiety can help you develop a more efficient work routine.&nbsp;Nobody can control how stress manifests itself, but everybody can control how it's managed. Simply acknowledging that is a great place to start.&nbsp;Need a place to talk? You don't have to go at it alone. Join our free Discord today.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline">Meet The Community</a>&nbsp;

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Handling Stress And Anxiety

The Lowdown on Streaming Platforms&nbsp;We've heard from our community members who have a LOT of questions around the different streaming platforms, and specifically which ones they should be using. I wanted to take the time to share with everyone platform specific information around the different audiences, features, and monetization opportunities.&nbsp;Twitch‍Twitch is still the current market leader in terms of both streamers and viewers. Compared to the other two, its audience skews towards more hardcore gaming enthusiasts. A big draw is that its users are mostly there to watch gaming live streams.&nbsp;Its biggest drawback is the lack of discoverability features for newer creators. As the biggest platform, it’s also the most crowded. Their discovery algorithm is something they’re currently working to improve, but until then, you’re mostly left to your own devices if you want to building your following there.&nbsp;If you do decide to pursue building an audience on Twitch, once you’ve accumulated 50 followers and a CCV of 3 (plus some consistent streaming hours), you can become an affiliate and start running ads on your streams. Level up to Partner status and you unlock more monetization opportunities like subscriptions, emotes, and bits, in addition to increased channel customization and VOD features. To become a Partner, you have to increase your CCV to 75, rack up some more hours, and apply to the program.&nbsp;Twitch wins in terms of features, but again, you have to be ready to build an audience off-platform and then bring them to your channel.&nbsp;Facebook Gaming&nbsp;The audience on Facebook Gaming consists mostly of casual gamers who prefer consuming mobile content. It's important to keep in mind who's scrolling through the platform, the answer being all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons.&nbsp;While it lacks the die-hard game streaming audience that Twitch already has, Facebook's discoverability features are far better. Their immense user base coupled with their machine learning algorithms can be a big help in surfacing your stream to the right viewer.&nbsp;The Facebook equivalent of Twitch's Affiliate and Partner programs are its Level Up and, well, Partner programs. In terms of monetization Facebook is pretty similar to Twitch, although they’ve recently announced a plan to roll out more fan payment options (make sure to catch the news below). Unlike Twitch, Facebook provides less transparency into its eligibility criteria for its programs. One other difference is that to get into Facebook's Parter Program, they want to see a streamer's audience regularly sending Stars.&nbsp;The big wins that Facebook provides are its native user base and discoverability features, which is why we recommend this as the platform for newer streamers.&nbsp;YouTube&nbsp;YouTube is a awesome place to post VODs, which is something we urge everyone to do, but the platform is still figuring out how to improve its live streaming functionality. Stream performance can be painfully inconsistent, which is unfortunate since YouTube has the best discoverability algorithm out of the 3 platforms. Until they figure this out, we're going to continue to recommend focusing on either Twitch or Facebook Gaming for live streaming.&nbsp;You might be surprised to know there are platforms beyond Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Gaming. If you're feeling adventurous, there's also Caffeine, Dlive, and recent newcomer Glimesh.&nbsp;

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Choosing The Right Platform

🏹&nbsp; How To Make Progress With A Crazy Schedule&nbsp;Many streamers have a hard time juggling life and content creation. At times it can feel impossible to manage kids, work, hobbies, life's recurring curveballs, and streaming. Sometimes, when we finally sit down to get something done, it can take quite some time to organize our thoughts, especially if we're not in the right mindset. We also tend to trick ourselves into thinking that by staying busy, we're being productive. In reality, we should measure productivity by the time we spend working on things that will make an impact.&nbsp;&nbsp;I know that building efficient routines is easier said than done, so I've put together some tips to help you get more done with the limited time you have. Pick a day of the week (Sundays or Mondays are good options) and sit down to do the following weekly planning:&nbsp;1. Prioritize your tasks&nbsp;When you have limited time, the first thing you have to do is prioritize which activities you should focus your time on. Ideally you want to spend the most time on tasks that will move the needle.&nbsp;Make a list of everything that you have/want to do, and then categorize the tasks based on the impact they’ll have and the effort (money or time) they’ll take to complete. You can use this priority matrix for more clarity:&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/sXFGz2AB7lty1Aw8V-vYFj_vz_cS68Lqo3E8txfIVe3sPtf4UNCZWABE1Cxc5MUDZZA8ABr3_LfbverFY8dU0I_iOz4KIngL0PNizhEqGZGXucc-dxMdoebAzZbEVoTmte087ead"></figure>Everyone's tasks will vary, but generally speaking, you want to focus on as many of the Easy Wins as you can (unavoidably, you'll likely also spend some time on Incremental tasks). I suggest chipping away at some Big Bets as well, just make sure they're not taking up all of your time.&nbsp;2. Break down your tasks into smaller tasks&nbsp;Once you've identified your top priorities, break them down into smaller tasks that won't require you to do further planning once you've sat down to work.For example, if your highest-priority task is getting a new highlight VOD up on YouTube, you could break it down into the following tasks:&nbsp;- Scrub through your broadcast- List the best moments and timestamps- Put a storyboard together- Clip the highlights and produce the edit- Work on the thumbnail- Brainstorm the video title and description&nbsp;See how much easier those tasks are to plan for? Now instead of feeling like you have to spend hours slogging on the video all at once, you have a set of simpler tasks that you can tackle throughout your week.&nbsp;3. Block off your calendar&nbsp;Once your task list ready to go, open up your calendar and find time slots that you can squeeze them into. Afterwards, go ahead and create events for those tasks so that they appear on your calendar.&nbsp;Now you've removed any kind of thinking requirement beyond what's needed to accomplish the task at hand. All you have to do is show up!&nbsp;Interested in more streaming advice? Join our free <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Discord</a> today and ramp up your learning!&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Managing A Busy Schedule

🎮 Choosing A Game You Can Grow With&nbsp;Finding what sets you apart from the crowd is a huge part of creating content. While streaming is still a relatively new space, it’s busy enough that it’s tough to be discovered organically. It can be challenging to be objective and easy to assume that you can go live with any type of game to quickly find success, but the truth is that what you play matters. A lot.&nbsp;When you’re still finding your footing, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success based on the factors that you can control. Choosing the game that you’ll be streaming is one of those factors.&nbsp;Let's do some napkin math. There are 8 million streamers on Twitch alone. Looking back on data from the past 7 days on <a href="https://sullygnome.com/games/streamed" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SullyGnome</a>, we see that the top 20 games were broadcasted by roughly 1.8 million streamers. That's 22% of all the streamers on Twitch.&nbsp;To boil it down even further, let's focus on the top game of the week: Fortnite. Over the past 7 days, Fortnite was played by roughly 267,000 streamers. If you're a newer Fortnite streamer and trying to find viewers, that's a lot of competition.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EveMlFuUcpUg4ZUI2xUqsjKdx41b0j2REvSycXIv6GX-YlK7Qo5CQRipZi-thn4TlKonwYnKl_R0RZyp_WmLnbvFaEzVijbyt9liW_zTHrT8BQhNZ7bBSYPZb4vJXR3HVhTbpC0n"></figure>&nbsp;Alternatively, you could bet on a newer or less popular game. For example, looking at the same 7 day window we see that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was only streamed on 2,921 channels, yet it still had an average viewer ratio of 80! This is actually a higher viewer ratio than any of the top 20 games have. You can see how it might be a little easier to stand out in a crowd of 3,000 streamers than to stand out in a crowd of 267,000.&nbsp;When you're starting out or changing strategies, we strongly recommend trying out a few games to see what works. Make sure you try out each game long enough (you won't see results overnight), and that you're supporting growth through creating offline content.&nbsp;Conversely, if you've been playing the same game for a year and putting in the right amount work but are seeing stagnant growth, it might be a good idea to test out a new game.&nbsp;There are many different strategies you can test. If you've established an audience with one particular game but aren't seeing the growth that you want, you could start testing out 2 newer or smaller games on the side. Think, are there any new games in beta that you're particularly excited about? Is there a game that's been around for a few years but is lacking in good VOD content? These are all great places to start.&nbsp;&nbsp;For more inspiration, join our free <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Discord </a>today and check out what our community is up to!&nbsp;

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Choosing A Game To Grow With

👀 How To Retain Milestone Supporters&nbsp;Recently we've been hearing a lot of buzz about milestone supporters, aka the push squad. In case you're not familiar with them, these are viewers that rally behind you until you've reached a milestone, such as Affiliate or Partner, and then move on thinking you can handle things from there on out.&nbsp;Imagine celebrating Partner status only to realize that you've lost a big chunk of your viewers. How do you make sure this doesn't happen?&nbsp;The truth is that it's all about making sure that you're not turning any of your viewers into milestone supporters in the first place, which is easy to accidentally do.&nbsp;The best way to approach this is to think of it in terms of goals and narrative. You should break up your goals into two buckets, personal goals and community goals.&nbsp;🎯 1. Personal goals: these are goals that you set for yourself that you don't have to share for the community. Don't use small goals or anything that could be perceived as a vanity metric as an engagement point with your community.&nbsp;🏘 2. Community goals: these are the goals that you can rally your community around and weave into the story that you want to tell. Remember that your story is ultimately what hooks the viewer. Don't be shy about using stretch goals like hitting 100,000 followers.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zDb9Ro9L3dHUG0oDRQ9ygwpgUJoj5l3jrT7TStZ01z6m_eOXDrFxL_ndO0pjRUTr829qPYUBGNhN5zx4z12SNqYVO01e46RE65XmsUpO_dgDaX2c_WWL8Pc8c8K-zRXeYzvzwtkV"></figure>&nbsp;Once you have your community goals set, it's important to make them part of your narrative, but try not to make any one particular goal the ending of your movie. You don't want your story to finish when you reach a certain milestone, you want to use milestones to build momentum and mark moments of growth for you as a creator. That's the stuff that viewers will stick around for.&nbsp;Another way to avoid milestone supporters is to make sure that you're diversifying the communities that you're engaging with as you build your audience. One particular viewer type that can turn into a milestone supporter is the streamer-viewer.&nbsp;While networking with other streamers is something we strongly recommend, when recruiting them to your audience you must keep in mind that they're busy running their own channels and communities and may not be as available as other types of viewers. It's a good place to start, but as your channel evolves so will your viewership.&nbsp;&nbsp;Still stuck on building up your initial followers? Check out my article on growing your audience at the very beginning of your journey below. 🚀&nbsp;Related articles:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/growing-your-audience-from-zero">Growing Your Audience From Zero</a><a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-build-a-return-audience">How To Build A Return Audience</a>

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Keeping Your Milestone Supporters

🎥 New Tips and Tricks: YouTube&nbsp;If you've been following us for awhile, then you know how serious we are about VODs (video on demand). Creating on-demand content as a streamer is the best way to grow your channel and keep your core audience up to date.&nbsp;VODs are also great for building a library of references like inside jokes and best moments that you can point people to. Most people choose YouTube as their VOD platform of choice. Here are 3 tips to help you level up your VODs.&nbsp;Tip #1: Use YouTube Shorts&nbsp;The popularity of YouTube Shorts is skyrocketing right now. We've been hearing about a lot of success from members who've been testing out the feature. Why? Because it's much easier to have your Short discovered than a long-form video and you can subscribe to creators directly on the same screen.&nbsp;Here are some ideas for #Shorts:&nbsp;1. A great in-game moment or reaction (highlights)2. A teaser of a longer YouTube video that you want to drive traffic to3. A quick how-to video (for example: best landing spots in WZ)&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a2uPtnejU-I5PDk6oz-0oZ3XXTP2zqX93oNI1meibl_RgLaN_GOrS1Q9ilbGJlSsxdS7eYCmu4CzCkatOAev3ETGzzo1aC4F5ZiBBjCduTcYfIVZSqTf7c9pIr7PQOEExDb_08We"></figure>&nbsp;Tip #2: Use tools to optimize your YouTube videos for SEO&nbsp;For those long-form YouTube videos, you want to maximize your chances of discovery. To do this, you need to make sure your videos can be easily found when searched for and easy for the YouTube algorithm to recommend as a related video.&nbsp;Luckily, there are a few tools that can help you out with this. Here are two we recommend:&nbsp;<a href="https://vidiq.com/">VidIQ:</a> a tool designed to help YouTube creators find topics and keywords for their videos as well as assist with the creation of SEO-friendly titles, descriptions and tags.<a href="https://www.tubebuddy.com/">TubeBuddy:</a> another great tool that helps with SEO as well as channel management and publishing.&nbsp;Tip #3: Create different YouTube channels for testing&nbsp;It can be scary to test out new video content, especially when one bad video could throw off your channel performance. To avoid this, create a second channel if you're going to be publishing content showcasing a different genre or a drastically different style.&nbsp;If you generally post looter-shooter videos on your main channel but want to start experimenting with Minecraft content, we definitely recommend creating a second one. Before you start your second channel, make sure you know what niche you're going to be focusing on.&nbsp;I hope these tips have been helpful. If you get a chance to try any of the above, I'd love to hear how it's going. Find me on our free <a href="https://discord.com/invite/pipeline">Discord!</a>&nbsp;

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YouTube Video Tips 

🏅 Why Stream Quality Matters(And How To Achieve It)&nbsp;When people are searching for new content and clicking through streams, they have very short attention spans. Buffering, lagging, freezing, and noise are likely to be reason enough for them to move on to the next one. Having your stream dialed, on the flip side, is going to send them a signal that you take this seriously and are likely to be worthy of their time.&nbsp;Simply put, having a high-quality stream is going to help with viewer retention, and consequently, growth. This doesn't mean you have to break the bank and get the most expensive gear, just read through these best practices and tweak those settings.&nbsp;1. Reference the platform-specific guidelines&nbsp;Each streaming platform lists their own broadcasting guidelines and tools to make sure you're using the right bitrate, resolution, and more. Here they are:&nbsp;<a href="https://stream.twitch.tv/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Twitch</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/fbgaminghome/creators/best-practices" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Facebook Gaming</a><a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">YouTube</a>&nbsp;Twitch also offers their <a href="https://inspector.twitch.tv/#//" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Inspector</a> tool, which analyzes your stream and helps you troubleshoot errors. You can use Inspector to run test streams in order to fine-tune any settings as well. Facebook Gaming also has a Test Broadcast feature you can use.&nbsp;2. Adjust your in-game settings&nbsp;If your game is taking up too much of your bandwidth or GPU/CPU, you may need to lower the game quality to make sure it's not causing any issues on-stream. Even if your game looks nice and crisp at 4k, it won't do you much good if you're lagging or dropping frames.&nbsp;If you're playing a new game, run a test stream as we mentioned above and see what game settings put out the best streaming quality. It's going to be a balancing act between your game settings and your stream settings.&nbsp;3. Don't sleep on a decent mic&nbsp;Audio quality is just as important as video quality. Your viewers need to hear you loud and clear (and ideally not the party next door).&nbsp;Unless you have a high-end headset, it's going to be worth your while to invest in a microphone. If you're in the market for an affordable yet high-quality mic, we recommend the<a href="https://www.elgato.com/en/wave-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Elgato Wave 3</a>. USB microphones are a great plug and play solution, but if you're looking to drop a little more cash, you can look at XLR models. XLR is the audio industry standard and will offer more flexibility with your setup as well as a broader high fidelity selection.&nbsp;And of course, if you're not already, make sure to use an ethernet cable! It'll provide a far more stable internet connection than wi-fi.&nbsp;While we think these last couple of tips are a great place to start, don’t stop there! There's always room for improvement. If you’d like to see some ideas on how you can take your stream setup to the next level, check out this article from our friends at Redfin on the <a href="https://www.redfin.com/blog/apartment-streaming-room/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">12 Tips to Create the Perfect Streaming Room in an Apartment.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;That's all for now, if you have more questions around stream quality or gear, check out this article the Pipeline Team wrote on <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/how-to-build-a-streaming-pc">How To Build A Streaming PC!</a>

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Stream Quality Matters

📈 How To Manage Social Media AND Your Time&nbsp;Running your socials can begin to take up all of your time very quickly, especially if you're a newer streamer and are at that stage where you're trying to tackle everything at once. Here are 3 tips to help you fast-track your way to an efficient and effective routine!&nbsp;1. Use tools to help you manage your workflow&nbsp;There are a ton of social media tools to help you manage everything from planning to publishing. They're also great for having a bird's eye view across all your social accounts so you can check your engagement and analytics without having to jump from platform to platform.&nbsp;One of the leading free tools is <a href="https://www.hootsuite.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hootsuite</a>. While a bit limited, their free plan offers 2 social accounts and 5 scheduled messages. It's a great option if you want to test the waters and see if you find these tools helpful (spoiler alert: you will).&nbsp;Here at Pipeline we use Sprout Social, another great tool once you're in the market for a paid account. We especially love their publishing insights - they have a feature that suggests the most optimal times to post on each platform based on when your audience is most likely to be online.&nbsp;Whether you use a third party tool or platform scheduling features, we strongly recommend scheduling your posts ahead of time as this will ensure that you are actually posting when you should be.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/rKVSBNhmg5N5_6l7ndkRigXVipVkCHsjoF9GEP8FayepS-blZl5FaywD1tZM9WvvvhxXVov9KerwAYTEd4KAYCQIBUPUhTXYisrPoQx8fHrQFe1UNtaQ0MMp8yBhSxpFozbs9Co2"><figcaption>Source: Hootsuite</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;2. Set aside time to plan and engage with other accounts&nbsp;Much like the process I recommended for planning and editing your VODs in <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/blog/the-key-to-better-videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Key To Better Videos</a>, my suggestion is to spend 1 hour each week planning out your social media calendar. Getting organized at the start of the week will make executing much easier and much more efficient, especially when you have the 5:3:2 (mentioned here below) to guide your efforts!&nbsp;Beyond planning your posts, it's also crucial to make sure that you're engaging with other accounts as this is what will help you make meaningful connections but also get you more eyeballs on your content. The easiest way to approach this is to dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to engage on socials.&nbsp;3. Use the 5:3:2 rule to guide what you post&nbsp;Many people think that everything they post on social should be original content. However, professionals use the 5:3:2 rule. This makes content planning so much easier. Give it a shot as you plan next week's posts.&nbsp;For every ten posts:&nbsp;- Five should be content from other sources (content that your audience would find interesting). This is known as curation. For example, the industry news we share in every newsletter.- Three pieces of original content that is created by you. For example, a stream highlight VOD or a meme.- Two should be personal, fun content that adds a human touch to help your audience relate to you. This could be anything from a behind-the-scenes VOD to a simple tweet about your day.&nbsp;While all of this planning and strategy would seem to take a bit more time and thought than usual, you'll be surprised to find just how much time and effort it saves you at the end of the day.&nbsp;Remember: work smart, not hard. (Ok, maybe work hard as well but let's be smart about it.) If you're interested in more tools streamers use to help manage their craft, become a member to get access to The Playbook, our Masterclasses, our member's only Discord area, Live Mentorship with our founder, and so much more! Check it out <a href="https://www.pipeline.gg/feature-playbook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;