🔴 “Gifts are not a way for viewers to send you money”

Hey, it’s Harry.

Welcome back to another week of the streaming and content journey.

TikTok never fails to amaze me in both good and bad ways. Yes, the title of this email was actually spoken by TikTok themselves. More on that later 😂

In today’s edition of Live Success:

• 📲 How to make an interactive TikTok phone stream

• 🤣 “Gifts are not a way for viewers to send you money”

• ⭐ How to change your subscription price on TikTok

• ✖ Elon Musk joins the streaming wars

📱 Interactive TikTok Phone Streaming

The majority of TikTok streamers still go live from their phones. The weekly ranking is full of phone streamers making thousands from live battles.

What most of them aren’t doing though, is using technology to improve their engagement.

The live battlers in the video above are basically only doing three things but they do it extremely well.

1. High energy. This keeps the viewers entertained and engaged, making them much less likely to swipe away.

2. Good lighting. Their streams have great-looking LED lights in the background. You can find them pretty cheap on Amazon!

3. TikFinity. This is what separates these two streamers from most other phone streamers. They are using TikFinity to play videos when people send gifts along with displaying top giters.

There are way more uses of TikFinity too. Check out my latest tutorial to learn more!

🤪 Clarification Of TikTok’s Gift Policy (Kinda)

TikTok never fails to amaze me. This week a creator named Tuff’s Craftiverse joined my Discord and shared a screenshot from deep inside the TikTok app—more on that in a second.

However, in attempting to find that section of the app I came across the INSANE statement that you see in the title of this email.

TikTok claims that “gifts are not a way for viewers to send money to creators”. 😂🤣🤪💩

The emojis are my way of keeping this PG. Of course, all parties know this isn’t true.

TikTok knows that the streamer will cash out their diamonds for USD. The viewer knows that the streamer will get a cut of the gift, they might even falsely think they get all of it. And of course you the streamer are well aware that 200 coins gets you $1.

So why does TikTok say this?

Presumably for legal reasons. The Virtual Items Policy states “The type and number of Gifts sent is a factor used by TikTok in calculating the popularity of user content when awarding Diamonds to the creators of such content”.

Anyway, what do you think? I think the results will be pretty predictable…

Inauthentic gift requests

This all started because a screenshot was shared in my Discord. It’s from deep within the TikTok app and explains TikTok’s Inauthentic gift requests policy.

Here’s a summary from ChatGPT. For anyone interested, it can now read text straight from images, so I just uploaded the screenshot and asked for a summary.

• Don't use repetitive audio/videos for gifts.

• Don't poll for personal preferences without engagement.

• No gift-driven score-tallying games.

• Avoid auto-games without creator mediation.

• Don't link gifts to actions disturbing creators, like loud noises.

• Avoid gift-for-giveaway promises, e.g., sending treasures for gifts.

• Don't continuously ask for gifts without interactive content.

Scrolling down a little, there is also a section about demeaning acts. Here’s another summary:

1. Examples of demeaning acts and inauthentic gift requests include engaging in mildly humiliating or demeaning activities, such as kneeling in a begging manner or smearing items on oneself.

2. Additionally, mildly reckless behaviours that may cause minor discomfort or potential health concerns, like submerging in murky waters or destroying valuable items, are discouraged.

I encourage you all to read these rules. They are buried deep inside the app. Hit Profile > Open top right menu > Creator Tools > Live Center > Rules and Guidance > Inauthentic Gift Requests.

I think TikTok’s rules are all over the place. They need to be clearly merged into the community guidelines or even better, part of a standalone set of LIVE guidelines that are not deep inside the app. Thoughts? Hit reply.

🌹 Meanwhile, in Ben Toye’s Stream…

That’s $70 worth of roses. Do you think they tapped 14K times or used an auto clicker?

✖ Elon Musk Joins The Streaming Wars

Last weekend, Elon Musk went live on X to 900,000 people, although some have questioned the legitimacy of these numbers.

Let’s dig a bit deeper and see if X (Twitter) can take on the likes of Twitch, Kick and TikTok.

Streaming on X

It’s actually been possible to stream on Twitter for years now. Nobody really does it though. Here is why.

1. The user interface is terrible on both mobile and PC. You can’t even see the chat from a PC.

2. The official X account proudly shared how to set up an OBS stream. It took 4 minutes. On Twitch, you just paste your stream key into OBS and it takes 15 seconds. This must be improved but at least their staff are aware.

3. Monetisation is poor. While X does technically now have subs and ad revenue it isn’t really relevant to livestreaming. Plus, there are no alerts like TikFinity or Streamlabs yet.

So in general right now it’s just not an appealing place to stream. Having said that…

Should you stream on X?

If you’re multistreaming, yes. If you stream on one platform, no.

X has been controversial since Musk’s takeover, even the name is debated. However, if there’s one thing the platform has done well since Elon’s takeover it is releasing updates quickly. Do you remember how few updates the old Twitter got?

That said, I believe they will rapidly improve livestreaming on X. So hopefully in a year’s time the platform could be your primary streaming hub.

As I said, I think you should consider streaming on X if you multistream. Here are some ideas:

• Web-based streaming services are currently the easiest way to go live on Twitter. Streamlabs Talk Studio lets you multistream to unlimited platforms for just $19/month as part of Ultra. Plus you can try it for just $10 with my affiliate link.

• The OBS virtual cam can send your entire OBS stream to one of these web-based services. Restream and StreamYard are other popular choices but more expensive.

• If you’re using OBS on its own, you need to find your stream key which this lengthy tutorial from X shows.

• For a general multistreaming deep dive check this out.

P.S. I dropped some feedback into the “Livestreaming on X” community and Elon Musk liked my post. 🤯

🎬 8 New TikFinity Features

TikFinity has had quite a few updates in the past few months. My latest video provides a summary of them. There are quite a few useful ones for gamers including a massively improved keystroke simulator!

🎯 Bullet Point News

• A $7.99 mini course is now live on my site and via TikTok Series. Learn 5 techniques to get more TikTok gifts plus how to set up your stream on any device. Over 30 minutes of content!

• Kick updates their community guidelines. I shared my thoughts here.

• Kick also announced the creators who joined phase 2 of the Creator Incentive Program which pays them per hour. We covered this last week.

• TikTok Sub prices can be changed inside the app! You can charge viewers as low as $3. Just head to the creator tools section of the settings.

• Brand Deal Wizard is a four-week live course that will teach you how to make thousands from sponsorships, even with a small channel. I’m a former student and proud affiliate, check it out here.

• UK TikTok Streamers are invited to join my free agency. We’ll help you get access to computer streaming and connect with a community of like-minded creators.

• Just One Block is an interactive TikTok LIVE Minecraft game designed to help you get more gifts. Check it out here.

Thanks for reading!

Harry

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