What streaming really means

Most guides on the subject start with equipment lists. That’s the wrong start, because technology is the smallest part. Live streaming is first of all: talking, reacting and keeping people company over a longer period — often without anyone answering.

Anyone who expects to have a community after the third stream usually stops after the fourth. Anyone who expects to broadcast for eight weeks to an almost empty room and still enjoy it, stays. It’s the most honest filter there is on this topic.

Gear: what you need and what you don’t

For getting started a simple order applies: sound before light, light before picture, picture before everything else. A noisy microphone costs you more viewers than mediocre camera quality.

Choosing a platform

This is where the decision is made that shapes your first months most. The platforms differ less in features than in how hard it is to be seen at all and from when you may earn something.

In more detail: all live apps on one page — livestreaming app alternatives at a glance.

One note that is rarely written anywhere: you don’t have to decide for ever. Many creators stream on two platforms in parallel and look after three months at where the people stayed.

Finding your topic

The usual advice is to look for a niche with little competition. In practice that leads to people streaming about things that bore them and giving up after six weeks.

The more useful question is: what can you talk about for 90 minutes without preparing? That’s your topic. It’s allowed to be unoriginal — there are thousands of gaming streams and new communities still form every day.

The first stream

1. Set a date and announce it. A specific day and a specific time, posted once beforehand. Without an announcement you’re guaranteed to stream alone.
2. Test the tech 20 minutes before. Record and listen back to the sound, check the light, have the battery and charging cable ready, mute notifications.
3. Start with a greeting, even if nobody’s there. Streams are often discovered mid-action. Anyone who only talks once someone’s watching never gets discovered.
4. Address every viewer directly. Read out the name, welcome them, ask a question. That’s the single most important move in the whole stream.
5. Stay at least 45 to 60 minutes. Shorter streams are hardly shown by most platforms, and nobody has time to find you.
6. Afterwards, note for three minutes what went well. Not what went badly — you know that anyway. What went well, you repeat next time.

The first 30 days

In the first four weeks almost everything is decided — not through viewer numbers, but through habits.

• Two fixed slots a week. Always the same days, always the same time. Reliability is the only reason anyone comes back.
• Don’t stream daily. Sounds counterintuitive, but it prevents the most common reason for quitting: exhaustion in week three.
• Cut a short clip from every stream. The clip is the advertising, the stream is the product. A good phone and a free editing app are enough.
• Be a real viewer in other streams. Watch, join in, link nothing. Anyone who advertises in other people’s chats gets banned and has gained nothing.
• Count regulars, not views. Three people who are there every time are worth more than two hundred who scroll past once.

Earning money: how it really works

On live apps, monetisation almost everywhere follows the same pattern. The differences are in the hurdles before it and the conditions after.

1. Viewers buy coins. These are in-app purchases. Watching itself costs nothing, and nobody has to buy anything to be there.
2. Coins become gifts. During the stream viewers send virtual gifts. What each gift is worth is shown in the app.
3. Gifts collect on your account. At elPortalO without an upstream follower threshold and without a probation period.
4. You request a payout. At elPortalO from €25. The exact conditions are in the info area, not only on request.

The most common beginner mistakes

Legal basics

This section is orientation, not legal or tax advice, and the rules differ from country to country. As soon as money flows regularly, a conversation with a tax advisor in your country is the cheaper route.

Income is usually taxable. That also applies to gifts and coins that are converted into money, and even when the amounts are small. Depending on volume, a business registration can be required; for small turnovers many countries have simplified small-business rules.

Age limits and youth protection. Every platform sets a minimum age for going live and another for payouts. At elPortalO the conditions are in the terms of use and the community guidelines.

Music and other people’s content. Playing current chart music in the background, streaming movies or series alongside or showing other people’s videos is the quickest route to a ban. Use royalty-free music or music you hold the rights to — especially when you sing or DJ yourself.