Streaming for a Living: Pros and Cons of Being a Full-time Streamer

Considering live streaming as a personal hobby or job opportunity? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing it on a full-time basis.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Becoming a Full-time Live Streamer

The ability to stream high-quality videos from smartphones and the availability of streaming services such as Twitch, UStream, and Periscope has opened up the streaming space for many individuals. However, only a few carve a niche in which they excel and can support as a permanent job. Whether you are a gamer or graphic designer, choosing to go into full-time streaming has its positive and negative aspects.

Pros

Here are a few benefits that a streamer will enjoy from taking on the trade on a full-time basis.

Varied Sources of Income

You will not want to take on a full-time occupation if you are going to struggle to pay your essential bills. However, if your dedicated efforts make you an established streamer in a specific field, you do not have to be worried about that.

If you are a student, you may often wonder, “Who will write and edit my paper?” A lot of popular streamers make six-figure annual incomes for the time and resources they utilize to build up an audience, which means you can obtain assistance from professionals. Applications such as Twitch have a subscription button that will allow you to earn stable and sustainable proceeds from followers.

However, subscription fees are not the most lucrative sources of income. Generous followers will often give you tips as one-time payments as an appreciation for what you are doing. As a streamer, you can attract revenue from advertisement payments based on the number of people that tune in to your streaming channel. It consists of a significant proportion if you are a popular streamer with a high volume of views.

Lastly, big brands looking to expose their products to your large audience can pay top dollar in sponsorship or brand deals to incentivize you to use and feature their products during streams. However, you will have to put in a lot of work to generate a substantial income.

Requires Little Resources

Contrary to popular belief, live streaming is unbelievably cheap. You do not need any special equipment or software to begin round-the-clock streaming. It can be completely free if you already possess a smartphone or laptop with a good camera and an active account with one of the streaming services such as Periscope and Facebook Live.

As opposed to conventional blogging or producing other kinds of content that require various types of software programs such as hosting, you can access live streaming by only clicking. Besides, you can stream from any place or event. Live streaming will enable you to connect easily with your audience from around the globe.

Make A Living from Your Passion

Currently, you do not have to search for a 9-to-5 job or get stuck in one if you are already working. Live streaming offers you a chance to pursue your passion without having to be constantly stressed and worried over being laid off or underpaid.

However, you have to take concrete steps while deciding to go into full-time live streaming. It gives you a chance to have more control over your work, create networks by meeting new and exciting people, nurture your passion, and create more time to pursue personal hobbies and interests.

Besides, as a successful streamer, you can exceed the income that you will probably make in most large corporates. You will need to manage your finances similarly to any entrepreneur to take care of periods when revenue declines.

Cons

Although live stream on a full-time basis has its advantages, there is a high likelihood of also experiencing its adverse effects. Below are some of its drawbacks.

Can Be Overwhelming

One of the most significant challenges that you can experience after establishing yourself as a popular full-time streamer is when to take a break. It is common to build an audience that incorporates people from different time zones. Although they may be loyal, it is difficult for most of them to wake up during night hours to watch your live stream.

Therefore, you must identify ways in which you will maintain your relevance and extend your reach across different regions. One way of addressing the challenge is to utilize data analytics to determine when a lot of your followers are online. Besides, you can notify your audience when you will be posting your live stream.

No Room for Mistakes

As a live streamer, you will not have a chance to correct serious errors because you produce content while broadcasting it instantaneously. However, most followers understand this and can be forgiving for common bloopers when it comes to live streams because they understand the human factor of it.

To be successful and maintain an excellent reputation, it is vital for you to be well-prepared by having all equipment and other material that will be utilized in a session ready and within reach. As you gain the experience of full-time streaming, you will get better at it and minimize grave mistakes.

Technological Failures

One of the significant hindrances you are likely to experience as a full-time streamer involves technological mishaps that interrupt the relaying of the video to your audience.

Internet access is critical for continuous streaming. Although wireless connections will provide you with plenty of bandwidth, hardwired cable connection is preferred because it is not prone to regular interruptions.

Also, your computer or phone may reboot during a live stream. You can use a hardware encoder to prevent such disruptions even though such an approach is not ideal for all streamers. The most suitable option is to utilize multiple devices to ensure that your stream is not interrupted when one fails.

Conclusion

The popularity of social media has catapulted live streaming as a viable way of reaching vast audiences. As a full-time streamer, you will be able to share real-time, high-quality content over the Internet via a one-to-many connection.

However, taking it on a full-time basis has some positive and negative aspects, which you should consider before pursuing such a career path.

2 thoughts on “Streaming for a Living: Pros and Cons of Being a Full-time Streamer

  • October 17, 2019 at 12:51 pm
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    Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Many thanks, However I am having difficulties with
    your RSS. I don’t understand why I am unable to join it.

    Is there anyone else having the same RSS problems? Anyone that knows the answer will you kindly respond?
    Thanks!!

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