Last week’s set of goals helped set me off this week on the right foot. Watching Devin’s video gave a few ideas of what to focus on for the next week. In particular, he discussed the importance of having a specific niche and how different platforms work for better or worse when it comes to discoverability. First, I have some thoughts on how streaming went this week.
Mistakes and Failure
For the next few weeks, my plan is to stream on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. So far, I’ve already had to compromise on one of those days with a long night spent setting up a new monitor and fixing some prior hardware issues with my computer, but that was just the beginning.
The new monitor is quite nice, but led to a variety of issues with my stream on Thursday. The different size caused the layout of the stream to completely change, making it a challenge to look nice, resulting in my giving up and settling for a wonky layout.
Another problem arose when I decided to snack on some fruit while streaming. In an attempt to not submit any viewer to my chewing, I muted my microphone, which I forgot to unmute the whole stream. Thus, nothing I said came through for the entire duration.
These aren’t the only mistakes I’ve made. In the past, I once streamed a black screen for multiple hours, only to discover the mistake near the end.
These problems seem absolutely stupid compared to what I regularly watch, but of course many of those people have far more experience. My mistakes are lessons I need to learn to improve myself and my content.
Platforms and Discoverability
Luckily, these mistakes are limited to Twitch itself. The one time stream that not many people will ever see. While a benefit in that case, reaching a wider audience is definitely a goal of mine.
Devin Nash is a long time Twitch partner and has advised a variety of people on growing online. Last week, I decided that I would watch a particular video of his about growing from zero to one hundred viewers on Twitch.
What was surprising is that a lot of his recommendations for growth come outside of streaming. The video was a conversation with another streamer and a lot revolved around using YouTube as the focus for growth. This is because YouTube has far better tools for reaching a wider audience that Twitch definitely lacks.
There are a variety of platforms that offer a wider net, whether they are social media like Twitter and Instagram or content platforms like YouTube or TikTok. These have easier ways to share and reach an audience with trending sections, built in sharing tools, and algorithms pushing content to new viewers.
Another big part of the video focused on something I’ve struggled with for a long time, choosing a niche.
My Possible Niche
In Devin’s video, he was talking with a streamer of Magic the Gathering Arena, the online version of the card game. While a lot of the specific advice was ways to improve using elements of Magic, the high level lesson was the importance of finding a niche.
I’ve long known that this is something that has driven so many creators I watch. Whether they are World of Warcraft streamers or self-help authors. Finding one for myself, however, has been a weird journey.
This blog has somewhat been in the self-improvement ballpark, but other interests of mine have been in areas of game development, personal finance, and fiction writing. With this disconnected set of interests, I haven’t been able to build a
This scattered set of interests has also led to my picking up and dropping a variety of hobbies and projects. This basically leads to little of what I do ever getting to feel complete. Luckily, right around the corner is a fun project that always pushes me to publish something, the GMTK Game Jam.
With the success of my goals last week, I want to give myself goals. This week I’m more focused on avoiding the mistakes I’ve made in the past. I want to have layouts ready to stream for the games I plan to play for the next two weeks. I also want to have a checklist to cover before each stream to ensure I am ready and don’t make any mistakes off the bat.
Trying Out Before Buying In 