Jeff Bullas

Repurposing content effectively is the key to maximising your reach beyond the live audience.

Short Answer: The most effective method is to re-edit your clips into a vertical, 9:16 format that prioritises a single point of visual focus, includes large, dynamic captions for silent viewing, and has a clear call-to-action that directs viewers back to your Twitch channel.

Let’s break down the essential video and text components for reformatting your horizontal stream content for a vertical-first audience.

First, you must fundamentally re-edit your video content for a vertical frame. Simply uploading the horizontal clip is not sufficient. A proven layout is to place your facecam video in the top portion of the frame and the relevant gameplay video directly below it, ensuring the most important action is always centred. Second, you must assume your clip will be viewed without sound and add text content accordingly. This means creating large, easy-to-read captions that are synchronised with your speech; this text overlay is non-negotiable for retaining viewer attention on these platforms. Finally, every repurposed clip must end with a clear call-to-action. This is a simple piece of closing content, often a combination of a text overlay saying “Live on Twitch” and an image of your channel’s name or logo. Without this final element directing potential new viewers, your clip is merely entertainment, not an effective marketing asset.

Cheers,

Jeff

Navigating copyright is a fundamental requirement of being a modern content creator.

Short Answer: The only guaranteed way to protect your stream is to not use any copyrighted material for which you do not have an explicit license. This means avoiding all commercial media, and if you receive a DMCA warning, you must immediately remove the offending content and consult Twitch’s official guidelines.

Let’s detail a risk-averse content strategy to minimise your exposure to copyright claims.

First, you must be ruthlessly diligent with your audio content. The safest practice is to exclusively use music for which you have secured the rights, either through royalty-free services like Epidemic Sound, tools like Soundtrack by Twitch, or from artists who have publicly granted permission. You should assume all commercial music is off-limits; this includes licensed tracks within video games, which you should disable if the game provides the option. Second, the same principle applies to the video content you broadcast. You should not show movies, TV shows, sports, or other copyrighted visual media on your stream. While some streamers cite “fair use” for reaction content, this is a complex legal defence, not a protection, and relying on it is a significant and unnecessary risk. Finally, if you do receive a copyright notification, your immediate action is purely procedural. You must promptly go through your content library and delete all VODs and clips containing the flagged material to prevent further strikes against your channel.

Cheers,

Jeff

Treating your stream like a business from your first dollar is the smartest decision you can make.

Short Answer: You must treat all income from Twitch as self-employment or business income. The best practice is to immediately set aside a significant portion of each payout for taxes and meticulously track all stream-related expenses, but you absolutely must consult with a local tax professional for specific advice.

Let’s outline the professional way to organise the text-based and financial data of your new streaming business.

First, you need to begin keeping a detailed text ledger of all revenue your content generates. This means every payout from Twitch, broken down by subscriptions, Bits, and ad revenue, must be recorded in a spreadsheet. This document is the primary record of your business’s performance. Second, you must do the same for all your expenses. Any purchase made to support the creation of your content—from the video camera and microphone you use, to the software you subscribe to, to the very games you play on stream—is a potential business expense that needs to be tracked with corresponding receipts. Finally, and this is the most critical step, you must take this organised financial data to a qualified local accountant. Tax laws are complex and vary dramatically between countries and even states or provinces. A professional is the only person who can give you accurate, legally sound advice on what percentage to save, how to file, and what deductions you can claim for your specific situation.

Cheers,

Jeff

Navigating a backlash is a serious test of a creator’s judgment.

The Strategy: Do not act impulsively. Your first step is to pause all posting, assess if the criticism is valid, and then respond with a single, calm video that either clarifies your position or offers a sincere apology.

Your long-term reputation is more important than the short-term panic of one bad news cycle.

The first and most critical step is to do nothing. Do not delete the original video, as this looks like you are hiding, and do not rush to post an emotional apology, as this often makes things worse. You should temporarily disable comments on the video in question and take several hours to read and understand the criticism. Once you have assessed the situation, you must decide on a course of action. If you believe your point was made in good faith and has simply been misinterpreted, your response should be a single, pre-scripted clarification video that calmly explains your original position without being defensive. If you realise you have made a genuine mistake, then the only path forward is a direct apology video. This video must not contain excuses; it should acknowledge the mistake, take full responsibility, and explain what you will do differently. After you have posted your single, definitive response video, you should not engage further in arguments. The best move is to step away for a few days before returning to your regular content.

Cheers,

Jeff

Every big creator was once a new account in a saturated niche.

The Strategy: You cannot out-compete established creators on their own terms. Your approach must be to sub-niche by focusing on a hyper-specific audience and then developing a unique content format that becomes your signature.

In a saturated market, the only winning move is to stop trying to appeal to everyone.

First, you need to realise that a topic like ‘fitness’ is not a niche, it’s a massive industry. A winning niche is “at-home workouts for busy mothers” or “bodyweight fitness for travellers”. You must choose a highly specific, underserved audience within the larger market and dedicate all of your content to solving their unique problems. Once you have defined your sub-niche, you must then develop a signature video format. Instead of posting generic tutorials that look like everyone else’s, you could create a series like ‘Testing Viral Fitness Myths in 60 Seconds’ or ‘Three-Minute Dorm Room Workouts’. This unique and repeatable content style is what will make you memorable and give people a reason to follow you, even if they already follow larger creators. Finally, you must become an active member of the community by leaving valuable, insightful comments on the videos of bigger creators in your space. This builds your reputation and makes your name recognisable before people even land on your page.

Cheers,

Jeff

First of all, congratulations; this is the moment you’ve been working for.

Your Action Plan: Your priorities for the next 24 hours are to engage heavily in the comments of the viral video, post a follow-up video on a nearly identical topic, and optimise your profile bio and pinned videos for the influx of new visitors.

A viral moment is an opportunity to convert temporary viewers into a long-term community.

Your first action is to spend several hours actively engaging with the new comments. You should be pinning the best ones and using the video-reply feature to answer interesting questions, as this interaction signals to the algorithm that your content is creating a valuable conversation. The second and most critical action is to post a follow-up video within 24 to 48 hours. This new video must be a direct sequel or cover the exact same theme as the viral one to satisfy the expectations of your new followers. Third, you need to treat your profile page like a new landing page. Ensure your bio clearly states what your account is about and pin your three best videos to the top of your feed to give all the new traffic a strong impression of your content. Going LIVE is an optional but powerful final step you can take while your video is peaking to connect with the new audience in real-time.

Cheers,

Jeff

Moving into paid partnerships is a major step for any creator.

The Short Version: Your rate should be a combination of your average video views (your reach value) and a separate production fee (your labour value). Your media kit is a one-page visual resume that professionally presents these stats, your audience demographics, and examples of your best work.

Approaching this with a clear formula and a professional document prevents you from undervaluing your work.

You must stop thinking about follower count when calculating your rate; the only performance metric that matters to a brand is your average views per video. A solid starting point for your rate is to establish a base fee based on your typical 30-day view count, and then add a separate production fee for the actual work of creating the content. This ensures you are paid for both your reach and your labour. Furthermore, if a brand wants to use your video in their own advertising or demands that you don’t work with competitors for a period, you must charge additional fees for those usage and exclusivity rights. Your media kit is the document where you justify these rates. It must be a clean, single-page design that includes your key statistics like average views and engagement rate, your audience demographics such as age and location breakdown, a short bio about your content niche, and links or screenshots of your past successful videos.

Cheers,

Jeff

It’s smart to think of these as tools, not just toys.

The Main Takeaway: You should use AI for speed and inspiration, not for final creative decisions. Let the AI handle the tedious 80% of the work so you can focus your human creativity on the crucial 20% that defines your style.

Effective creators are using AI to augment their workflow, not automate their personality.

The best way to integrate these tools is to assign them specific roles in your content production. First, you should use the AI script and idea generators purely for brainstorming. Command the AI to give you ten different video hooks for a single topic, then select the strongest concept and rewrite it entirely in your own voice. This defeats creative blocks without sacrificing your originality. Second, you should use AI-powered editors to produce a fast and functional rough cut of your video. The AI can handle the time-consuming tasks of syncing clips to a beat or trimming dead air, but the final, nuanced edit—the pacing, the specific B-roll, the emotional timing—must be your own. Finally, you should approach generative AI visual effects with a clear purpose. Instead of just applying a trending filter, use the AI to create a specific background asset for a story or to add a subtle visual effect that enhances your narrative, which is a much more sophisticated use of the technology than simply letting it take over your video’s look.

Cheers,

Jeff