Keep It Simple Steemian

When I first started streaming on Twitch I had no idea what direction I wanted my channel to go. All I really knew was that people were making money playing video games and I wanted to make a living providing a live stream experience for a decent size group of fun loving people that genuinely enjoyed my streams. As far as I know, most of my audience did enjoy my content, even to the point of donating their hard earned cash.

But when I think back on how I operated my channel, I feel a bit silly that I took things so seriously. I mean, I wouldn't eat on stream because I felt it rude or unprofessional. I always made sure to wear a different shirt everyday, and always wore a beanie because of my messy hair. It seems as though I was always being picky and striving for the "perfect stream". Needless to say, none of my streams were ever "perfect", but many were great.

These days on @DLive I take things a lot less serious. I recently did a stream and didn't even bother to comb or wash my bed-head out. I eat on stream, I am constantly mucking up my intro, lol, and I always pull back the green screen to show where my wife ( @reptimom88 ) is hiding. Keeping things streamlined and simple is the name of the longevity game, and that truly applies to live streaming. I am not just talking about alert selection, overlays, intros, and the other technical what-not.

I'm talking about LIFE

#streamlife is best kept simple at room temperature and free from grimy high school drama. I had a conversation recently about the drama that tends to go on in peoples channels, and how it can be just like high school all over again. People want to speak their minds (it's human nature) but that can tend to rub others the wrong way, pretty soon you start to notice people taking sides, dividing the audience, whispering to each other in the corners, and if the streamer is involved it can get really ugly, very fast.

In my opinion your #streamlife is supposed to be fun, engaging, liberating, drama free, and an exciting experience to share your content with the world. Granted you will find those who do not appreciate your content but the group that will, will stick around and feel comfortable with you and most of their fellow viewers. I was having a conversation with @rook81 over in his channel, about how people want to feel like they belong, and in my opinion, they will search high and low to find it.

Your channel is no exception. People will scour the internet to find your channel IF you put your heart and soul into your content. So it's best to think simple when it comes to streaming live. Here are some tips to keeping things simple in your #streamlife:

• Do what you love, not what others love watching. If you want to play a retro throwback and your audience requests PUBG, simply state that it's just not what you want to do.

• Don't stream into the uncomfortable hours. I used to stream for 12 hours or more a day, 6 days a week for nearly a year. Don't do what I did, because that will burn out most people, instead stream for 3-4 hours a day or just until your butt hurts and then take a decent size break.

• Prioritize your real life. Your #streamlife should be important but not more important than real life, whatever you have going on outside the stream should be as important, if not more than 'going live', so don't quit your day job, don't drop out, don't let your dishes over stack, wash your frickin' clothes, and be nice to your partners, family members, and friends because that reflects who you are on stream.

• Don't "fake it till you make it". If you're an asshole in real life, there's no sense pretending you're a "nice guy" on stream, your true colors will show eventually, so be genuine. Be upfront and honest with yourself and your audience will gravitate towards that (even if you're an asshole).

• Help yourself by helping others. This is of course, optional. You don't have to help anyone in your channel, or on any streaming platform in any community. But one thing I have learned from streaming is that there are a LOT of people that want (and need) some kind of help, from technical to emotional. I've gotten a few private messages that contained some very sensitive information from my followers, and I would do my best to respond as positive and uplifting as possible. So find it within yourself to reach out and help some folks from time to time.

• Finally, just have FUN!

I'll be honest, that last one is not always possible if your living situation sucks, or you're depressed, stressed, sick, tired, etc. Sometimes even the game might suck or piss you off, but just try to see the good in the bad, and let your audience know that things are rough. But don't convince yourself that you should stream when you are feeling down and out, because take it from me, your audience will call you out on that shit.

I truly hope that these tips will help you enjoy a better #streamlife, I know I have been having the best stream experiences since I decided to try again. This time with the help of my wife we've been doing our best to straighten out and simplify our lives behind the green screen so it reflects on our content. Things are still tough raising a family but I do believe that my channel is much simpler and easier to for me to operate now than 4 years ago.

I wish for peace and emotional balance to all of you.

JoeOhs