Becoming an affiliate on Twitch is a great way to make money from your favorite hobby. You can start making money by streaming your favorite games, broadcasting on Twitch, and getting paid by your viewers. It’s easy to get started, but there are some steps you need to take before you can begin earning money.
First, you will need to create a Twitch account. To do this, go to twitch.tv and click the sign up button in the top right corner of the page. Fill out all of your information and make sure that you have linked your PayPal account so that people can donate when they watch your streams!
Next, you will want to decide which games you want to stream. There are many games that have official Twitch channels where players can subscribe for a small monthly fee and receive access to exclusive content such as custom emotes for chat and early access to new skins for their favorite characters. If there is not an official Twitch channel for the game that you want to stream then consider creating one yourself! Create an account on [company name].com if necessary then follow these steps:
- Click ‘Create Channel’ from your dashboard
- Select a Category (such as “Gaming”)
How To Become An Affiliate On Twitch
Not all Twitch streamers are equal. Twitch rewards its better streamers by making them Affiliates and Partners. The Twitch Affiliate program allows qualified streamers to monetize their channel as they build their audience. The Twitch Partnership Program is for those committed to streaming who are ready to level up from being an Affiliate. In this guide, we look at how to become a Twitch Affiliate to start your journey to becoming part of the Twitch elite.
Ultimate Guide on How to Become a Twitch Affiliate:
Should I Become a Twitch Affiliate or Partner?
Joining the Twitch Affiliate Program
What Do You Do When You’ve Received Your Invitation to be a Twitch Affiliate?
Benefits of Being an Affiliate
Reward Members of Your Community with Channel Points
What Can You Do to Speed up Becoming a Twitch Affiliate?
Should I Become a Twitch Affiliate or Partner?
To monetize your channel, you have to become a Twitch Affiliate or Partner. But it is much easier to become a Twitch Affiliate, as Twitch considers Partners to be elite streamers, making it much more challenging to achieve membership in this select group of streamers. Twitch partnerships are invitation-only, although Twitch does publicize the path you need to follow to reach that status.
At least Twitch provides a clear path to follow from being a “noob” to becoming one of the top echelons of Partners. As with most online creators, it takes hard work and sheer tenacity to make it to the top, but Twitch streamers can eventually succeed if they work sufficiently hard and don’t get distracted by other activities. Twitch provides the Twitch Creator Camp, an online portal of resources to help you learn all you need to know about streaming on Twitch. While this won’t take you as far as becoming a Twitch Partner, you will find lessons on Twitch basics, branding and analytics, building your community, and monetizing your content. Creator Camp even hosts live learning sessions with Twitch Partners, staff, and other streaming experts. If you put these tips into action with your streaming, you should be well on the way to becoming a Twitch Affiliate.
Joining the Twitch Affiliate Program
Once you’ve been streaming for a while and learned the basics of operating on the platform, you may feel confident enough to become a Twitch Affiliate. Twitch sets distinct criteria for the program, although they reserve the right to change them. The requirements currently are that you have:
At least 500 total minutes broadcast in the last 30 days
At least seven unique broadcast days in the last 30 days
An average of 3 concurrent viewers or more over the last 30 days
At least 50 Followers
On the surface, these don’t seem to make an insurmountable barrier. Twitch just wants to ensure that you will be a serious streamer on its platform and can be relied upon to draw in some viewers and follow a reasonable schedule.
At any time, you can check on your progress towards meeting these requirements by going to Insights → Achievements on the left menu of your Creator Dashboard. The Path to Affiliate achievement tracks your progress, and once your channel qualifies to join the program, you’ll be able to click on the button that appears there.
A few weeks after Twitch notices that your channel meets these criteria, they will send you an invitation to become an Affiliate via email and send you a notification that will show up in the Notification Area in the upper right corner of your Twitch screen.
You have to be at least 13 to become an Affiliate on Twitch. However, if you are under 18, your parent or guardian will have to agree to the Affiliate Agreement terms on your behalf.
What Do You Do When You’ve Received Your Invitation to be a Twitch Affiliate?
Assuming you wish to monetize your channel and become a Twitch Affiliate, you will probably feel elated when you get the official invitation. However, there are still a few things to do before claiming that status and receiving its benefits. The onboarding process involves two-factor authentication, so make sure you have your mobile phone handy before carrying out this process.
Your invitation will include a Get Started link. Click on this, and Twitch will open up the Preferences tab on your Creator Dashboard. First, it will ask you for some basic general-type information as part of the registration process. Next, Twitch will present you with the Twitch Affiliate Agreement (which ideally, you should read), and you have to click the appropriate button on this to agree to the terms of the program.
Twitch then asks you for payment-related information, e.g., tax and bank information. Twitch offers you a range of payment methods, depending on your location, including direct deposit to a bank account, wire, PayPal, and cheque. You can also opt for Twitch to hold your payments, for example, when you need to sort out new payout details. There is a payment threshold of $100 before you can initiate a payout.
