I made it through my first 24 Hour Stream…!
For those of you who stopped by and watched, and even said hello, thanks! I definitely appreciated and needed that. The numbers and overall goal for the stream was fantastic! I want to eventually go over some numbers, but I will list stats on separate pages, and divert you to the “Epic Quest to Partner” page. You’ll also be able to find the weekly stats there (so far only one week in at the time of this post). For now though, I’ll be basing these “do’s and don’ts” off my current experience. It’s safe to say that I will definitely be hosting more 24 Hour Stream events in the future. I will also be more prepared for those last 3-4 hours, as they were definitely killer this time around!
The Dos
1. Prepare in advance
- Regardless of if you think you can just “wing it”, I’m here to tell you that you can’t. I knew what I was going to eat and drink, what I was going to eat and drink, who was bringing it to me, what games I was playing at what points, and more. I played Heroes of the Storm for 20 of the 24 hours, but once I began getting delirious I swapped to Hearthstone for slower game play.
- Yes, I said prepare your meals AND your games.
2. Stay Hydrated
- I had my fair share of Soda and even saved the Red Bull for later in the stream, BUT I stayed Hydrated by drinking water on breaks.
3. Take Bathroom breaks and even 15 minute breaks here and there to Stretch and Hydrate
- You’re not expected to be the Superman of chair sitting, it’s okay to take a couple breaks to go and stretch your body out.
- Don’t just go roll around and stretch, you don’t want to pee your pants in the chair you’ll be in for the next 24 hours.
- Hydrate, hydrate and hydrate some more on these breaks.
4. Make sure you’re ready
- If I didn’t have a friend to chat on Skype with for about 16 out of the 24 hours of the day, I’m not sure if I would have made it.
- Regardless of if I was talking to the chat (which was slow moving), it wasn’t enough to keep me fully engaged the entire time
- If you can’t get a Skype or chat friend, make sure your Twitch Chat will be enough for you to stay engaged the entire duration of the stream
5. Prepare in advance x2
- Even aside from meals, breaks and game play, make sure you’re marketing and telling people about your 24 hour stream in advance.
- If I didn’t send out a newsletter, post on the forums and Twitter, and market elsewhere, I would have had a dead chat and no viewers, which would have made the stream essentially for nothing.
- Try to prepare small events throughout the stream. Lucky for me I had a lot of people who were ready to play Heroes with me throughout the duration. Viewers included. Try to get some viewer games to make the engagement even better.
6. Beware of the last 4-5 hours
- One thing I will have to be ready for next time is those last few hours. Towards the end of the stream I had to swap to Hearthstone, but even then I was so tired that I wasn’t really engaging.
- It came out of nowhere. I really didn’t think it was going to be an issue being that I stay up until late hours of the night EVERY night, but I also don’t wake up at 6:30 in the morning everyday and sit in a chair for 20 hours prior.
- Be ready for those last 4-5 hours, try to have something ready for you to stay awake and engaging.
The Don’ts
1. Don’t rush into a 24 Hour Stream Event
- If you’re not ready to hold a 24 Hour Stream, you probably shouldn’t.
- When I say “ready”, I don’t mean physically, or even preparation, I mean the point you’re at in your streaming career. If you don’t have a good amount of followers yet, or people that will be coming in the stream, don’t simply rely on marketing, because it won’t work.
- I was lucky enough to have a lot of the reader of the stream coming in and chatting and even following, and even the people who were playing with me that I was meeting on Heroes throughout the day decided to keep me going.
2. Don’t assume you can just eat and drink whatever
- I know you think you can just load up on energy drinks and coffee the entire day, but I promise you it will only make it worse.
- I resorted to sugary foods at times, but for the most part I was eating foods high in proteins and starchy carbs.
3. Don’t skimp out on your marketing, regardless of how many followers/viewers you get
- It doesn’t matter how much you think you’re viewers and followers will be there, you still have to market.
- The whole point of a 24 hour stream event isn’t just for your current viewers, it’s also to grow your following and become found by others.
4. Don’t forget to let people know what’s going on (on your Twitch Page)
- I made sure I had a graphic prepared to put on the bottom of my page prior to the event.
- You should be including it in your headline, but also include it in the bottom of your page. Don’t make people dig through your About Me and not give them a heads up as to what your 24 Hour Event is looking like.
- I had a follower goal on the stream itself, but I also had a short and sweet graphic and text on the bottom of the page. (refer to Post’s Featured Image)
Final Thoughts
I just wanted to thank anyone who stopped by, I know I did this event SUPER QUICK into my streaming journey and through it all on top of you guys with just a seconds notice, but I had a lot of fun regardless. For those of you who would like to check out the stream some more, you can find me here. I will definitely be hosting a few more, but I will wait a bit so I can compare and contrast with more followers and some other things different. Hope you all can learn from the experience I had!