Ultra.
Are you a streamer looking to create more opportunities to bring in income? If so, you’re in luck! There are a lot of “side hustles” you can do that have a decent amount of overlap with your career as a streamer. Check out five jobs you can try alongside (or even during!) your streams.
YouTuber
If you’re a streamer, you should be uploading your content to YouTube—period. Not only is YouTube a great way to generate more income, it is a highly sophisticated search engine that can drive more traffic to your streams. Smart streamers have perfected the art of tweaking their content so that it works for both live streams and YouTube. For example, some streamers will do a live stream with a specific YouTube title in mind, edit the VOD, add a voice over, and upload it to YouTube as an original video. This method is much more effective than simply uploading a video titled, “Last Saturday’s Live Stream” as you can bring independent search traffic to your channel.
To try this side gig for yourself, you’ll need to think about what people are searching for on YouTube and how you can cater your streams accordingly. At Streamlabs, we have a wealth of informative articles for YouTubers in our YouTuber University vault. There, you can learn how to start your own YouTube channel, learn the in’s and out’s of YouTube SEO, and more.
If you’re going to repurpose your VODs as YouTube videos, you’re going to need a top-notch video editor. Video Editor was created by the Streamlabs team and is a simple yet powerful browser-based editor perfect for aspiring YouTubers. With Olso’s intuitive user interface, you won’t have to spend ages learning how to use the software: you can start creating right away.
We highly recommend looking into starting your own YouTube channel using repurposed footage from your streams. Though it might take some getting used to at first, you’ll eventually be able to develop your own system to create twice the amount of content with minimal extra work.
Coach
Everyone is good at something. As it turns out, many people are willing to pay to be taught by someone who is experienced and skilled. Coaching is a lucrative industry that more creators are turning towards for additional income. If there’s something you can do on stream that would work well as a skill to teach others, consider offering private coaching sessions to your viewers.
Though you can definitely promote any coaching service on your streams, you’ll have more luck if it’s something you regularly do while you’re live. For makers, artists, and musicians, there’s ample opportunity for you to promote your coaching on stream. Even if you feel that you don’t have any special skills to offer, don’t count yourself out yet. For example, if you speak multiple languages on stream, you can offer language lessons. If you’re highly skilled at a certain game, you can teach your viewers how to play on a one-on-one basis. Heck, there are even streamers who offer coaching sessions on streaming.
Alternatively, you can create online courses on a subject you’re knowledgeable about. Online courses are a great way to make passive income. In other words, you’ll spend time making the course once but after that, you won’t need to invest more time to make money. With coaching, you’ll need to spend time every session actively coaching.
Designer
Most people think of merch as an afterthought—just something to add to your arsenal once you’ve reached a certain level of streaming success. Well, we’re here to tell you that designing and selling the clothes and accessories you wear on stream as merch is a great way to bring in additional income. If you have an artistic eye or a passion for fashion, consider pursuing a side gig as a designer.
Though artists may have a leg-up when it comes to this side hustle, there are plenty of tools to help you achieve the designs of your dreams (even if you can barely draw stick figures). Also, you can always find a designer to create a logo for you using a platform like Fiverr (no matter how big or small your budget may be). Once you’ve got a design ready to go, add it to your very own Streamlabs Merch store and start selling. Remember, your designs don’t have to follow the typical merch standards of big-name creators; just create designs you think people will want to wear and rep them yourself on stream.
Makers like sewists, knitters, and crocheters also have an advantage here. In addition to merch, you can sell patterns of your handmade goods. Try wearing your designs on stream, or better yet, show yourself making items from your own patterns to generate the most buzz.
Small Business Owner
Running a small business and running a live-streaming channel both take up a lot of time. Consider combining your two passions as often as possible in order to maximize your workflow. Many business owners have great success as streamers simply by sharing behind the scenes content of them running their businesses. After all, there are loads of successful YouTube videos and TikToks that show people packing orders or answering questions related to business ownership.
Business-related content is also a great way to shake things up on stream. For example, if you usually stream yourself drawing, try a stream where you pack orders of your prints. If you’re a maker who regularly streams yourself crocheting, try a stream where you edit a pattern for publishing. No matter what type of business you’re running, if it relates to what you do or talk about on stream (even tangentially), odds are, you can turn it into streaming content.
Esports
It’s easy to see how esports and streaming go hand-in-hand. If you think about it, a gaming live stream is basically one long practice session. How many careers can make you money while you train for your other career? If you’re passionate about gaming and think you have what it takes to enter the competitive world of esports, consider competing by day and streaming by night.
Unlike the previous gigs we talked about, esports comes with a pretty serious barrier to entry. If you’re thinking about starting a career in esports, you’ll want to immerse yourself in the scene as much as possible. Start by watching and attending tournaments and researching all you can about this fast-moving industry. Even if you aren’t sure you have what it takes to be a professional gamer, there are other opportunities in esports, such as recruiters, designers, social media managers, etc. Any streaming knowledge you’ve acquired from your time going live will only benefit you if you decide to pursue opportunities in the esports field.
Streamers looking to make some extra coin without a ton of effort will find that there are a lot of opportunities out there. With a little creativity, you can use your streams to make YouTube videos, promote your coaching services, rep your own merch, generate sales for your small business, or practice for an upcoming esports tournament. In addition to these side hustles, can you think of any other ideas for how to make money as a streamer? We hope this article gives you inspiration to put your money making talents to use.