When you think about IShowSpeed, you might think about IRL streams pulling in millions of viewers from across the globe. What you don’t see is the formula that’s allowed him to grow to 53 million subscribers on YouTube and over 50 million followers on TikTok and Instagram. Today, we’re revealing his strategy for success. To do this, we will reverse engineer his success. If you want to know how to become a streamer and potentially earn millions, keep reading or listen to our article.
Who Is IShowSpeed?
IShowSpeed, real name Darren Watkins Jr, was born on January 21, 2005, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Darren Watkins Sr. and Elizabeth Graves.
The streamer uploaded his first video on YouTube in December 2017, and spent most of 2018 uploading 2-minute highlights of NBA 2k and Fortnite. Then, in December 2018, during winter break, he started streaming. His first stream only reached four simultaneous viewers.
For many of his first streams, IShowSpeed didn’t surpass single-digit viewership.
Yet today, IShowSpeed has an estimated net worth of $40 million. Most of this income comes from brand deals and sponsors.
What Made IShowSpeed Famous?
IShowSpeed gained 5 million subscribers in one year of streaming. His meteoric rise came as a result of his high-energy streams and clips of those streams going viral.
Essentially, his first breakthrough came in 2020, when he started streaming consistently. In a video on his way to 300 subs in April 2020, Speed tried to get other streamers to subscribe to him.
This strategy didn’t move the needle much in terms of subscribers.
Rather, he started achieving the kind of growth he wanted in the summer of 2020. At that time, he started clipping his 2-hour gameplay into 10-minute videos, showing his over-the-top reactions.
These reactions got him more viewers and subscribers.
Speed began exaggerating his reactions during his streams. He would clip those reactions and upload them as a YouTube video. People discovered him and his streams this way. He would repeat this formula until eventually he reached 1 million subscribers.
How to Become a Streamer and Replicate IShowSpeed’s Success
IShowSpeed is one of the few streamers who started in 2018 and have only continued going viral. If you want to know how to become a streamer — and like Speed earn millions — follow these 6 steps.
Step 1: Start Uploading on YouTube
Even if you want to become a Twitch streamer, you need to start by focusing on YouTube. YouTube’s algorithm is more advanced. YouTube’s algorithm recommends your streams to more people.
If you do want to be a streamer on Twitch, stream on Twitch and YouTube at the same time.
You will have more success at the start, streaming on YouTube than on Twitch, and then you can funnel viewers from YouTube to Twitch. But always start by building a YouTube channel.
Step 2: Stream Six Hours a Week
Aim to stream for 90 minutes to two hours twice or three times a week. That’s about six hours of content a week.
Alternatively, if you can’t do a few hours of content every two days, stream for six hours once a week.
The more hours of content you upload, the more content your viewers can watch. Remember, there’s a large portion of viewers on YouTube who are searching for hours’ worth of content to consume as entertainment.
If you want to appeal to this group, you need an extensive content catalogue.
Then, while you’re streaming, remember to engage with your viewers. Ask viewers questions, ask for recommendations, and talk to them like you’re having a real conversation. Do this even if only one viewer is watching.
Being interactive during streams makes people want to engage. They’ll stay longer, like, subscribe, and recommend your streams. When you get to steps 3 and 4 of this strategy, talking to viewers gives more content to clip. It shows people who aren’t watching your stream that you care about your viewers.
Step 3: Create 10 Minute Videos From Your Streams
The secret to success is to clip your streams. Your first strategy should be to clip the most intense or action-packed parts of your streams into one 10 or 15-minute video.
Aim for 10 minutes of footage for every two hours you stream. Then, add a custom thumbnail for each 10-minute clip and a title encouraging someone to click.
If you’re uncertain about what to title your videos or how to create thumbnails, take a look at your YouTube watch history and draw inspiration from the most popular videos in your history.
Step 4: Create Shorter Clips and Post to Social Media
Now turn your attention to TikTok, Instagram, and even Twitter. IShowSpeed has a good social media strategy.
Many of his viewers will know him from social media clips before being introduced to his streams. You can follow this same strategy.
For every two hours you stream, aim to get ten 1-minute or twenty 30-second vertical clips. Add music and subtitles. If there’s not much action, consider adding effects. Remember to include your Twitch or YouTube handle as a watermark on each video. Then publish these clips to TikTok and Instagram.
Don’t wait for algorithms to share your content with others. It’s also up to you to make it go viral. That means sharing it beyond Instagram and TikTok. Consider sharing your clips on Reddit and X.
If you have positive IRL streaming content, post to subreddits like r/mademesmile to help you gain significant reach. If your videos are funny or unexpected, turn to subreddits like r/unexpected, r/whatcouldgowrong, or r/funny and r/tiktokcringe.
Rope your friends into creating clips and posting them to Reddit, or hire a freelancer on Fiverr or Upwork to clip your videos and share them online.
Step 5: Develop a Viral Persona
Anyone who says you can’t manufacture viral content is lying. Most videos you’re watching today are engineered to go viral. Creators achieve viral success with a formula known as engagement bait.
Engagement bait involves making viewers emotional enough to act. That action can be sharing or commenting on the video. Engagement can also be watching the video to the end.
Whether you stream game-play, chat, or IRL content, you can farm engagement by building a viral persona.
IShowSpeed’s viral persona involves having over-the-top reactions to otherwise mundane encounters. You want to be entertaining to watch. So, do or say things that will interest people. Only steer away from the controversy. Rage bait, a type of engagement bait, breeds short-term success, especially when it can lead to cancellations.
Step 6: Try New Content
Expand the kind of content you stream. IShowSpeed is both an IRL streamer and a gamer. But he has also featured on “Just Chat” streams with Kai Cenat. If you want to get more viewers engaging in your content, create content that appeals to a wider audience. Constantly adapt your content to find an untapped market.
Then bring your same viral personality to this new type of content.
Try following these steps on how to become a streamer for at least one year. Eventually, you’ll see the results for yourself, and hopefully, you too, will reach millionaire status like IShowSpeed.
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