12 Inventive Ways Twitch Creators Can Monetize Their Streams

published – Aug 22nd 2022

Twitch has forged a very profitable career path for its top creators to earn income both on a full-time and part-time basis. Kids and teenagers are even earning a viable salary from live streaming to their viewership (remotely in many cases).

The platform has given its viewers the tools to financially support the work of their favorite streamers while simultaneously being thoroughly entertained through gaming and other kinds of professional content. In my research, I have found that this sort of monetization is accomplished in a number of different ways.

I will try to guide you through how to implement these methods in order to make a living in this environment. Additionally, I will introduce you to a few more earners and tips for your home-based business that you may not yet know about.

cash 12 Inventive Ways Twitch Creators Can Monetize Their Streams earn work jobs make money online from home remote remotely business live streaming streamer advertising affiliate partner sponsorship merchandise coaching computer professional gaming video game commission referral subscribers subscription speech crowdfunding career — photo by JESHOOTS-com from pixabay

1. Twitch affiliate program

Twitch streamers (particularly beginners) can earn real money on their journey by offering a tiered monthly subscription service while they engage their audience by playing games like:

This format allows you to offer bonus content to your subscribers as a way of saying thank you. Successful creators are required to fulfill certain responsibilities for eligibility like having at least 50 followers before they are accepted as a twitch affiliate and approval also depends on streaming consistently too.

On top of having these qualities, streamers also need to abide by twitch rules and guidelines.

2. Twitch partner program

If you really hit the big time in terms of fame and popularity with your subs then Twitch may offer you perks such as a legit partnership deal. However, don’t pester them for this as the program:

is extremely competitive
has strict requirements
doesn’t come quickly
means you will need to have a lot of experience under your belt

Twitch can only reach out to you in this case and not the other way around so don’t expect this kind of development and growth to come easily. They will typically notify you via email if and when you qualify for their monetization programs (affiliate or partner).

Number one streamers can then profit and earn even more advertising revenue from their streams. Twitch will show you your progress towards gaining affiliate or partner status on your account page. This is helpful as you can examine the required conditions and what you need to work on to get to the next step.

Some of the biggest and best twitch streamers have been known to earn six figures so climbing the ladder is well worth it if you want to become one of the highest-paid creators.

Getting to this point will require a lot of learning on your part. Perhaps the best way to educate yourself on almost anything is through reading. One ebook I would suggest is this one as it will teach you how to make money through twitch and also offers up other methods of earning while gaming.

3. Affiliate marketing options

Affiliate marketing (promoting products like games on the twitch store and services) is another benefit available to twitch streamers who want to earn extra money.

Simply share an affiliate link with your audience and if someone buys something from a company then you will get a commission (usually a percentage of the sale or lead). Streamers can occasionally offer viewers discount codes for affiliate products which provides an extra incentive for clicks.

Don’t expect to start earning money immediately or upfront as this process can be very slow and passive. On top of this, withdrawal isn’t always convenient as you typically have to pass through a payment threshold.

Some creators like to use affiliate links on their profile page when listing the hardware they use for their setup. This can be a clever and organic way of getting some clicks and boosting your earnings.

4. Merchandising opportunities

Twitch offers a store feature where creators can list quality products for sale like merchandise and make money on the side. This could fairly easily be accomplished with a brand logo on a piece of clothing such as a:

t-shirt
jersey
hoodie
baseball cap

On the other hand, your follower count will need to be high if you wish to see significant sales and you will have extra competition with other streamers selling their own merch too.

5. Earn donations from your community

Donations on Twitch can be a little divisive as some believe that it is wrong to supposedly “beg” people for money when you aren’t seemingly giving anything in return (apart from the stream itself of course).

However, don’t let this dissuade you if you want to try implementing donations. Streamers can also accept donations from their viewers on Twitch or via alternative methods such as PayPal.

6. Referrals for cash

Twitch offers a referral program so you can take full advantage of this if you already have an existing digital property like a gaming blog or website, for instance. As an affiliate, you could also promote twitch on a separate gaming platform like YouTube and receive rewards.

7. Earn a living from sponsorship revenue

You can also accept top-paying sponsorship deals on Twitch from various companies that will pay you to play and provide you with a pretty good work-life balance. Although, attracting sponsors that pay well won’t be easy if you don’t show enough value or aren’t popular enough yet.

8. Start a professional coaching business

If you really excel on twitch then you can work freelance and make money teaching amateur streamers about how they can get to your level.

You can offer important advice and answer questions before charging your students per hour (for your wages) or however else you want to handle payment. Freelance marketplaces like fiverr will let you advertise your services if you would like to be a teacher.

9. Plan out paid appearances for money

Sometimes companies can pay the top, most followed streamers a generous fee to appear at an event and make paid speeches rather than just working at home. It can be especially good for brands to have famous faces connected to them.

Make money with more legitimate monetization ideas & techniques

10. Get paid with Amazon Associates – Creators are able to monetize with Amazon Associates which makes a lot of sense seeing as Twitch is owned by Amazon.

11. Promoting the Twitch store – You can bag a 5% commission on game sales if you manage to convince somebody to buy a title.

12. Play to earn with crowdfunding – Streamers can also utilize the help of Patreon (or any of the alternatives) if they want another method of monetization on a more remote basis.

photo by _Stanislaw_ from pixabay

Of course, Twitch creators want to please their loyal following, but they also want to hopefully maximize their own online money-making potential in the future.

Some of these methods are obvious while others are a lot more obscure to the uninitiated which can cause you to leave cash lying on the floor. As we have seen, these ideas can range from merchandise to consulting to almost any other product or service you can think of selling.

I would seriously think about asking a successful twitch creator how they went about monetizing their business from scratch and also ask if they have any further ideas. Getting an answer from your most subscribed rivals can be difficult if you don’t know them personally but you could try to make contact through social media.

Successfully making money on twitch can be a hard thing to master for anyone. If you want an easier route then I would highly recommend using mistplay. This is a downloadable rewards app that allows you to earn money by playing mobile games on your chosen electronic device.

Now we know about the various income streams available on twitch, let’s see how much money a creator can potentially earn in this job with their sub count. Discover how you can Earn Over $5,000 Per Month As A Twitch Streamer. You can gain more knowledge in regard to twitch income streams by checking in with backstage and ustream.

Are you aware of any other twitch monetization options that I have failed to mention? Which of these ideas do you think would be easiest to use on a stream? Please don’t forget to share this with your friends and like it on social media. You can subscribe to our newsletter and comment below too. Thanks for reading!