InnaSolo: The Real Reason Variety Streaming is Harder But Better | Episode 7

Inna was born in Ukraine, raised in Italy, streams in English, and somehow manages Twitch and four YouTube channels at the same time

In this episode we get into the real story, how a League of Legends TikTok series accidentally launched her streaming career, why she struggled to hit Partner while already doing this full time, and the YouTube strategy that actually brought people to her Twitch channel.

Find Inna:
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/innasolo
Music Reactions: https://youtube.com/@InnaSoloMusic
Movie / TV Reactions: https://www.youtube.com/@InnaSoloTV
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innasolo.tv

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Transcript

Teaser

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I do clips as well, but I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what, but they just don't perform the same. It feels like the interaction ends there. Like, you know, somebody just scrolling over the format, like, ha, fun, like, and like they forget about me. While with long format videos, there's more of that, like, I'm talking to you, I tell you who I am, I tell you what I do, and we can actually bond over something. I guess that like the connection that you create with a community is totally different. Well, like if you do just clips or if you do long format.

Intro

Patty 0:39

Welcome to the Growth Rate podcast, where we dive into real streamer stories and find out what is behind a streamer. I'm your host Patty, and today I'm joined by Ina. Ina was born in the Ukraine and raised in Italy, which is already a story in itself. What makes Ina really stand out is that she does it all. IRL streams, cooking streams, music reaction, games, and on top of that, she runs just three YouTube channels. That is insane. Hi Ina, how are you doing? Thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Hi, wow. I was not expecting that introduction. Like, I was like, wow, that's so much stuff. I I don't think that I think about what I do until someone points it out. So wow. Uh but I'm doing great today. How are you doing?

Patty 1:27

Yeah, I'm doing good as well. It's been a long day.

Inna's Origin Story

Patty 1:33

So I usually like to start our episodes by letting our guests kind of introduce themselves, taking in consideration why you started streaming, why Twitch, when did this happen, if there was a reason. So why don't you tell us more about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

All right, boy. That's uh do you have time? Because we we can talk about that for like an hour. There's so much to say. I guess that I will start by answering the practical side, why Twitch? How did that start? Because I feel like it's quite a funny story. So a long time ago, I started playing League of Legends, and I really liked the game. I realized that I was kind of bad at it, but I wanted to, uh I wanted it to become a journey, and I have always liked sharing passions with people. And that was the moment when TikTok started exploding a lot. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do a series. Like, I play League of Legends until I rank Diamond. That's how it started. I started making a bunch of these videos and they went viral, like they went very, very well on the platform, and that's where everyone in the comments was like, you should start streaming on Twitch, like make this a journey on Twitch. And that's kind of where I got the idea from. At that point, I wasn't too familiar with Twitch as a platform, but I did have an account since like 2020 because someone that I used to date a while back ago was on the platform as a viewer, so like he kind of introduced me to it, but I wasn't too familiar with it. At that point, I was like, Well, all of these people are telling me that I should stream on Twitch. I don't really know how this works. And I remember going to work one day and I just like watched this one YouTube video how to start streaming on Twitch. And I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna do it. Why not? Let's give it a shot. And that's literally how I started. But if you look at my content, League of Legends is just not there anymore because um it's it's a long story, but I'm just not good at the game. I did I never made it to Diamond, but that's how it started, and it's always a fun story, like it was so random and uh it became my life. So yeah.

Patty 3:37

Yeah, that's so funny that it started completely different. I feel like you're not the first one that uh started because of League of Legends, because you know, many years ago it was the most popular. I think I was like in a circle of people that all played League of Legends when I joined Twitch as well. I feel like the first like people that I started following, but this was like back in 2012. You can see how old I am with that. They all stream leagued back then. That is really interesting, and it also very interesting that you started because of this like challenge journey, and now you do completely different things. Did you did you do League of Legends streams and uh evolved from there?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah, I like for I want to say maybe a couple of months, I only streamed League of Legends, like that was my thing, and because I started this series on TikTok, I was lucky to have a small community already. Like I I remember that like I started streaming and like within a week, maybe I was affiliate, but that was because I had the people from TikTok, and I did that for a long while, but then I quickly realized that I I didn't want to rage on stream, and the League of Legends will make you rage a little bit every now and then. So I was like, I don't know, like I like the community that we're building here, I like what's happening, but like, do I want to do League of Legends forever? Like, is that all I want to do? And at that point, I um I think that I approached it with a little bit of an analytical mind. I do have a master's degree in marketing, so I was like, okay, let's think this through. This could work, but can it really work? Is this sustainable for like for a very long period? And I was like, I don't want to be remembered for just one game, so let's see what else can I do besides League of Legends. So little by little I started doing more just chatting and like I started introducing more things. I started uh playing some games that I had never tried previously, like Diablo. Uh, I remember when it came out, like it was Diablo 4, but so like I was trying to transition, and uh so yes, I did play League of Legends on stream for a while, but now it it has been forever. Like, I just don't play it on stream anymore.

TikTok to Twitch

Patty 5:51

So you transition into games and you managed to do just chatting then because you already had like a small community, right? Because it's really hard if you're starting from zero and try to do just chatting. Did you you said you started with TikTok? Was it because of like the explosion of TikTok that you did you grow really fast there? How much of an audience? Like your first uh your first week of streams, do you remember what was your average in like viewership?

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Honestly, I don't remember what was the average, but I remember that I made it to affiliate like within the first week. I actually remember that I already had the average view, which what what was it at that point? Maybe it's like three average viewers, and I just like needed the seven stream, seven separate days of stream requirement, and that was like within the first week. So I actually remember making like one super short stream because I was tired after work just to hit that subsidies mark. Yeah, so like I remember like that was quite quick. I think that like maybe I was constantly around the eight, 10 viewers, I want to say. Uh don't quote me on Visa, like I would have to go back and like decheck the stats, but that uh just like the TikTok community helped a lot, like they were already there.

Content goals

Patty 7:02

So you said you have a degree, right? So you were working when all of this started. Did you ever start the TikTok and then the Twitch with a specific goal of making it your job, or was it just for fun on the side? On the side?

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Honestly, at first it was just for fun on the side. I really liked it. And um what the way that it happened, so I am now technically full-time on content creation, just technically because I I do something else as well, but for the longest time it was just like a hobby. Like I really like this, I really enjoy what I'm doing. And um then things happened in a kind of like a weird way because I was uh uh seeing some other fellow streamers that did go full-time, so I was like, huh, okay, people are doing this, like maybe I should like take this as an inspiration, figure out if it would be possible for me. And uh, after a while, I had that in my brain for for a couple of months, I want to say, and then things started going kind of toxic at my actual job and my office job. So I was like, I lucky want to quit this job and start applying for other jobs, but at the same time, I was like, Well, I am kind of making a decent income to the point where like maybe I can risk it all and make the jump and transition to full-time streaming and content creation because at that point, like that's where things can scale up a little bit. But um, when I first started doing this, that was not in my mind. Like, I was like, I'm enjoying this, it's uh it's just fun, you know. I'm playing League of Legends anyway, so like why not stream it?

The Partner Push

Patty 8:36

You decided that to do this both for for these two very different reasons. Were were you already a partner? How long did it take you to to get partner and uh did you push for it?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Actually, I struggled to get partner, I'm not gonna lie. I uh there was like I got partner like just a little bit over a year ago, and I've been doing this full time for more than two years at this point. So when I did the transition, I was still affiliate. I struggled to get partner, I struggle to get that constant 75 average views. Uh uh, I wanna say because um I do a content that is like very different, like one day I'm doing music reactions, one day it's cooking, and it can vary a lot. Like, even nowadays, if I do an IRL stream, my average viewership is going to be pretty high. If I do gaming, it's gonna be like half of that. Like I'm aware of that, and I guess that I was aware of it back then, but then there was one moment where I was like, okay, I need to become a partner, like I just want it because, like, you know, it is my full-time job, and I I guess what I just wanted with validation. So I did do a little bit of a sub toll, I want to say, partner push where like my community knew that I was trying to get it, but I wasn't like spamming it every day. But what I did was um I had like a little bit of a strategy in mind where I I just looked at the stats. I was like, okay, when I make these type of streams, I get a lot of viewers. When I make these type of streams, I have very low uh numbers. So for like I want to say a month-ish, I just did the ones that go high. Like I was like, I want every single stream to be high numbers. Like, for example, it was like I remember just dance. I realized that like I had a lot of viewers, and so even on days where I was like, I'm not sure if like I want to chill, I want to do some random gaming, but I was like, no, we're doing just dance. We have a goal in mind, we're gonna do it. So that's how it happened. It wasn't like a super pushy partner push, but it was pushy on my side, like on the back end of things, on scheduling and stuff.

Patty 10:39

It's a lot of pressure doing a partner push because you're focusing so much on the numbers, but having that, like your community knows, so they want to help, that alone already helps with the push. But you also touched in uh in a very important point is that you are super variety. Do you feel like that made it harder for you to grow, or do you feel like your community is better for it than if it was just I'm not saying League of Legends because I also don't stream League of Legends because I rage and I don't like rage on stream. It's exactly the same. I know I'm gonna be stressed out and I don't want to have that be the stream, but a lot of people say that you know it's impossible to grow doing variety, but here you are, you are super variety yin, and you did grow. It took a while, but he you were doing this full-time already, even without being partner. And I feel like for like you and me, we live in Portugal, Italy, I think our costs of living are not as high as like someone living in London, so it's a lot easier for us to do full-time even without being partner, but

Variety vs Niching Down

Patty 11:52

growing on Twitch is still very difficult. Do you think if you didn't do variety it was easier? Or for people that want to do variety, like do you have any tips to make it easier?

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Heh, this is a tough question. I'm not gonna lie. I don't think that I have uh a proper answer to this, uh, but I I have something to say about it, so maybe we can just like brainstorm my ideas together. So I think that if you have a very specific niche and you want to do just that, you might be able to grow easily, or that can be the thing that blocks you at the same time. That's League of Legends, for example. I think that like if I just did League of Legends, I I just like wouldn't have grown as much as I have, and I probably maybe would even have quit uh streaming altogether. Uh, because League of Legends is super saturated, like it's very hard to grow, even if you do just that, if you're not like supported by other platforms like TikTok and and everything, it's so hard to get noticed. Like looking at my stats, like I would just wouldn't get people that arrive from the League of Legends category because I would I would be just like at the bottom of a list. So, League of Legends, probably not the best idea to do just that. Of course, like there are exceptions to the rule, like this is not a rule. I just like want to speak from my experience. I think that like variety can give you more exposure because, for example, it's very hard to grow in just chatting, that's true. But people scroll more in just chatting. Like, if you are a viewer and you want to find someone that you vibe with, so like you can scroll more pages and like find people that are like maybe at the 30-50 um average views, but with League of Legends, that's like tens of pages to get to that viewership point. So I think that like it can help you, but at the same time, not really. But for example, if you do, I don't know, cooking streams, there isn't much competition in cooking streams, just because like not many people do cooking streams. So if if you do just that and you niche down, yes, maybe that's gonna help you grow. Like if you do just that. But like there isn't a right or wrong answer, it's not a yes or no, it's like a very gray area, and uh the strategy for growing can be way more complicated than that. I think that it's possible to do variety and do it nicely. If I can be honest, I think that in some cases it's necessary. Like for me, for my mental health stability, it is necessary. Like, as much as I love doing cooking streams, if I had to do cooking streams every single day, I would be like, I don't know what to cook anymore, you know. Uh, same with IRLs, like I love doing them, but maybe it's raining one day or like I'm just uh low energy, I don't want to go out, I just want to stay it like inside. So variety for me is essential. Maybe sometimes it's harder to grow because of it, but for a long-term healthy relationship with this job, I think that like it's uh it's a very good balance.

Patty 14:51

How did you transition from because at the start you said League of Legends and then you experimented with other games? How did you transition? Because nowadays I rarely see you playing games. You have like you're cooking Fridays, you do IRLs here and there, or when you travel. This type of content I usually usually goes very well with one another because you know, someone that watches just chat stream probably also will watch a cooking stream because you're still talking with chat, the same with IRL. So, how do you do your transition from games to now this type of content that you do?

SPEAKER_00 15:29

I think that there was just a lot of gist chatting between the two. Uh, I wasn't doing a League of Legends, and then boom, I started doing all of that I'm doing now. There it was a long transition. I did a lot of gist chatting, um, and I really enjoyed that. Then I started doing some sabaphons, like longer type of streams, so I got very comfortable just speaking with people, and that helped. And then I remember when Diablo came out, that was maybe the very first game where like it was completely different, not League of Legends. And I noticed that some people liked it, some people didn't. Community started changing. I want to say that in my case it was very gradual. Um, I don't see how it would be possible for me to just like go from one thing from League of Legends to cooking and and just like have the same engaged community as the one with League of Legends. Like, people are gonna leave, but you will also find new people. So I guess that like slow transitions can work very well, and that's how it happened in my case.

Patty 16:28

So it was more like the conversations with chats is what the what helps with the transitions, right? Yeah, I feel like especially when you do the events like subathons and you spend so much time with chat, not only you spend a lot of time, but subathons also always have incentives, and we usually ask chat what do they want, and sometimes they come up with the the best ideas. So I can see how that slow transition might have happened.

Language in chat

Patty 16:57

Do you want to tell us about your relationship with all like all your nationalities, Ukraine and then Italy, and it's term in English? Did you ever experiment talking uh your other languages in chat or do you always keep it English?

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Um, I have a general rule of keeping it English because even if I understand when someone types in chat like in Italian, everybody else in chat will not. And I want to make sure that everyone can be included in the conversation. So I do keep the general rule of English only. But then I I'm not that strict. So like if I someone types something in Italian, I can be like, oh, uh, I trans I translate that in English and answer it in English so everyone can understand. But every now and then I will just like answer it in Italian directly because I want people to feel included. But like if I say one sentence in Italian every now and then, like I'm sure that Chad maybe will actually like it because they will be like, Oh, you sound totally different in in this other language. That has happened before, actually. So I try to keep it English because yeah, everyone deserves to understand what's going on, but I'm I'm not super strict about it. Like I try to include everyone. Uh sometimes it happens that people maybe like are Italian, they want to type in English. Like, I can tell I can tell that they're trying hard, but maybe like they're just like still learning the language, so like I'm not that strict about it. Like, if you type in one thing in Italian, I'm not gonna yell at you. Do you get any negative uh type of interactions because of that? No, not many, I would say. No, there's a nice balance.

Patty 18:29

I'll tell you then that Italians are better than Portuguese because oh my god, the amount of Portuguese that come in my chat and they are like, You're Portuguese, why are you not streaming in Portuguese? And I do give that the same explanation. Not only other people in chat do not understand, but my mods are not Portuguese, they will not understand, and it's like the Portuguese people are so like very square-minded that they don't understand. I ban so many Portuguese viewers because of this, because they will make it a point of complain. And I'm like you, like I do have viewers that I know they their their English is not good, and sometimes they try, and I'm like, those very few. I'm like, it's okay, you can speak in Portuguese. I can reply in English and they understand. And I always translate for the rest of chat, so those people like you, I'm totally fine with it. It's just the complainers that come and are entitled and they want me to speak Portuguese, and I find it so awkward to speak Portuguese on stream. I hate it so much.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

I I get it, I get it. No, I I honestly don't have that many uh examples of that uh happening to me. Like maybe it never happened, or like once or twice, like to a point that I don't even remember. So, so yeah, different experience there.

The YouTube Strategy That Actually Worked

Patty 19:46

Okay, so you started with TikTok and came to Twitch, and you said you took like what four, three, four years to get partner? Uh yeah, maybe like it was two and a half, something like that. But somewhere in the middle, you started YouTube and now we have three channels. Was it like also like a very gradual thing? Was it because of Twitch, or was it or did it start as a side project? How did that whole thing happen?

SPEAKER_00 20:15

No, the things have always been connected, I want to say. So I I as I mentioned earlier, I do have like some other fresh streamer friends that do the same thing as I do, and some of us we actually had this like this common friend that became a little bit of a guide for us, so like he would be just like give us uh advice and he was a part of community, and uh it was actually his idea. Like, you know, like you can start YouTube channel, and um the first one that I started is the one that's currently the biggest in solo music, where I do music reactions, and the whole idea there like was uh I knew that I couldn't monetize the videos, and like even nowadays most of them are still not monetized for copyright purposes. But the whole idea was uh if you grow, if you grow a YouTube, people can slowly transition to Twitch, just as it happened with TikTok. So that was like kind of the the main, we want to say strategical part of it. Then of course, like I do it because I think that it's fun and uh it it feels good. Let's be honest, it feels good to have like a YouTube channel that grows and performs well. So I gave it a shot initially and it started growing pretty rapidly, and uh, I did see a big change actually in Twitch when I did that. Like a lot of people started coming from YouTube to Twitch. I want to say that like even now, majority maybe of my community members they discovered me through YouTube and then came to Twitch. Like they were probably already on the platform, but like that's how they found my channel.

Patty 21:42

This is always a big point with me because if you watch the how to grow on Twitch videos, they all tell you to make videos in other platforms, but most people just make like clips and turn it into shorts and uh don't edit much and just throw it out there. You you did. Similar, you created a YouTube channel, but the channel had a very specific trajectory, right? Like it was more strategic than just getting your clips out there to get discovered.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Yeah, exactly. Actually, I do clips as well, but I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what, but they just don't perform the same. Even like I have like some that perform well, like numbers-wise, but it feels like the interaction ends there. Like, you know, somebody just scrolling over a format, like, huh, fun, like, maybe follow or whatever. Next. And like they forget about me. While with long format videos, there's more of that, like, I'm talking to you, I tell you who I am, I tell you what what I do, and we can actually bond over something. In this case, it's music. Like, I discovered uh bands, artists, and all of that, and that became part of my identity because, like, you know, it's music is a big part of everyone's lives. So I I guess that like the the connection that you create with a community is totally different. Well, like if you do just clips or if you do uh long format.

Patty 23:02

So when you started your YouTube channel, did you like reduce your hours of actual live streaming? Because you do reactions, they all come from your streams, right? You react.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Nope, nope. I try doing that, and I hate doing that because in order to do that, I have to ignore chat. Because, like, if you're recording something, you can still interact with chat and everything, but uh when I do that, I can't give full attention to chat and full attention to the song. So I prefer just recording everything like on my free time outside of stream. Do do that, and then when I'm Twitch, be on Twitch 100%. Like my mind and my attention is there. Uh, I try doing what you say, but I just I'm not made for it. People, some people do it and I I applaud them for doing it. My my brain is just not there.

Patty 23:51

I feel like even just with games, that happens a lot because I have like a gaming channel where I cut my streams, like the games, into parts and I put it there. And a lot of times I feel like I could be talking more about the game, but I'm replying to chat, and like the strategy that I got now a little bit is just like I pause the game, I answer chat, and then in the recording I just crop that thing the whole part out. But yeah, I didn't know I did not know that you did because you do reactions on stream. So do you just separate the songs and you're like these ones go for YouTube, these ones are for or Twitch is like requests?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Twitch are requests from from the community, and I do like just take the VOD and upload that to Patreon. Um, but of everything that is on YouTube, or like majority of what is on YouTube is recorded off-stream, and that's your biggest channel, right?

Patty 24:45

It has over a hundred thousand uh subscribers now, which is amazing. Yes, and then the other one is like movies, uh reactions. Yes. Did you start that one because just you wanted to?

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Like, yeah, um, let's say that like I think that whenever you start doing reactions to movies and music go really hand in hand. The thing is, uh, talking about my roots and everything, I have to mention that I spent like the first eight years of my life in Ukraine. And then when I moved to Italy, of course, like I went to school to Italy and all of that, but I still had like a lot of that Ukrainian culture in me. So that meant that in my free time I would watch two movies that were very niche to like Ukrainian kids, and listen to music that also like was of that niche, or like even when I started listening to Italian music, it was Italian, Ukrainian. So, what happened is that growing up, I realized that like I didn't watch a lot of movies that majority of people have seen. For example, like even with without reactions, uh, you know the Lion King? Uh Rene Lion King?

Patty 25:55

The Lion King, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

I watched it on my free time, like during quarantine when COVID was happening, where like majority of kids my age have seen it like when they were young, you know. And I realized that like because of like the comments and uh chat, I realized that like there were so many of these movies that I haven't seen. And I just like saw the opportunity there of starting the movie reaction channel on the side. And uh the thing that I can say is that yes, of course, I have to record that one off stream as well, and uh that takes a big part of my my day when I do that, and and yeah, just um just did them kind of like side to side, and uh it's been it's been going good.

Patty 26:34

I love that's different, it's like a super different perspective. Like, I'm a super Harry Potter fan, and I listened to a podcast which is this dude that at 25 had never read the books, so he he did a podcast of him reacting, going you know, chapter by chapter, and it's like it's very different to watch these movies or read these books at like 25 or 30 because we have a different perspective, and then you know, your reaction is going to be totally different from a kid watching it. So I th I like that idea.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Yes, yes, it was it works very well. Actually, in fact, I did uh react to a couple of movies uh for YouTube, but I was like, guys, I have seen this one growing up, just know that I'm not faking the reaction or anything. This is like my reaction as an adult, so I have done that very same thing. Actually, growing up, I have to say that I was uh a little fixated maybe on some specific movies because maybe I have a DVD, so like I watched them several times and like in different languages and all of that. So I guess like that's also explains why I haven't seen some other movies because my time was just occupied with those.

Patty 27:44

And you your third channel did it come with the RL streams, like when you started IRL?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Uh yeah, actually, I have to correct you here because I technically have four channels, so I have to ask which one you are referring to, but um we can we can get into that. But let's just say that the two main big channels are the music reactions, uh, music reactions and movie reactions, right? Then I have one that is called Inna Extra, where I do that's the channel where I keep for anything that I want. Any random video that I want on the internet that doesn't belong in the other ones, I just put it there. I don't expect it to perform well or anything like that. It's just like I want to make this video and I'm gonna do it here. And that's where you see some like older IRL streams, like I have just like re-uploaded them there for you know, just having them as memories. I have put some uh cooking stuff, some like random reactions, and then and that's like in a solo extra, right? And then I have another one that I would like to become the channel that I'm known for, but it's the hardest one. Uh, it's called the One Day. I mean, the channel is called Inasolo, but the the project is called One Day, uh, where um I want to make like this series of spending one day in different places and with different people to show you how one day can look from different points of view. And I've been working on these videos, but they're very hard for a lot of different reasons. First of all, that I need people, I need people to agree to make my video with me, and that's like a little hard, and yeah, so like it's it will grow slowly, but that's the one that I would like to be known for in the future.

Patty 29:20

I think that's the the one I was referring to because it had I think uh one day at TwitchCon and it had like Rotterdam.

Managing Four Channels Without Burning Out

Patty 29:27

Okay, so you stream and you manage four YouTube channels, and you also have other socials, right? Because I've seen you doing different things like on Instagram. How do you manage so much? Did you have like a strict schedule or do you just go with the flow?

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Um, can I be very honest? I am the biggest procrastinator on planet Earth. So I always try to make a strict schedule and I never follow it. That's the bottom line of it. So I am super consistent with Twitch streams, like it's very rare for me to like skip a stream. Like, like if I ever last minute cancel a stream, it's because actually something happened. Uh, otherwise, that is the thing that I I always, always, always commit to. Then, when it comes to YouTube stuff, in the past I would I was uploading, like when I started the music channel, I was doing one video per day, and I did that for I want to say a year or so. So I was very strict with it, and I was also having the full full-time job and all of that. After a while, I realized that that was wasn't super healthy because you can easily burn out, and like I would feel super guilty if I would miss a day or anything like that. So I started following a more go with a flow type of schedule, we want to say, other than Twitch stuff, where I do give priority to YouTube. Like, I know what needs to be done this week. I want to say, I never want to be like, I must do this video today, otherwise, uh, something will happen and I will feel guilty for the rest of my life. So, right now I did find this balance where I'm not following a super strict schedule. I want to give myself some grace, some time to like enjoy life, and uh still make sure that I put out content. So I don't know that that's a very vague explanation, but that's like the only way that it works for me. So I don't burn out and I make content and I actually enjoy it.

Patty 31:23

Yeah, I mean that totally makes sense. That's how I try to manage it. Like with the podcast, I feel like I've I've stopped almost all the other things, but streaming like stream stream has that schedule, and if I don't show up, we know that the Twitch community is a creature of a habit you have to show up on all every every week. So I have that one, and I I have like the gaming channel, and now I have the podcast, and I feel like because of ADHD, I get so hyper focused. So I've been having so much fun like reaching out, having these conversations, editing the podcast that it makes me, you know, just lock in this, and I kinda ignore the rest, but I'll go back to it eventually.

What brought growth

Patty 32:04

So looking back at Twitch specifically and growing specifically, is there something that something you did you noticed had uh a noticeable growth on your channel?

SPEAKER_00 32:19

I mean, yeah, the YouTube stuff, the YouTube stuff definitely brought more people, and that's when uh the Twitch streams started growing a lot. I want to say also collabing with other streamers. I did notice a big, big, big change in bed. I have like a couple of streamer friends that I know in real life, like my friend Daphne, she she doesn't live that far from me. So every now and then we meet up and we do an IRL stream, and I can tell that that that's a big change because we are we literally have portions of the same community overlapping. And that's like when you know that the collaboration actually had some sense and like the community actually got to know you, and they show up to your stream, to be our stream, and uh so I wouldn't want to say these two things the YouTube channels in general like did make a big, big, big uh difference numbers-wise, and just collaborating with other streamers, yes.

Patty 33:11

It was not just posting random moments and clips, it was like a very specific planned YouTube channel that actually made the the change.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

Yeah, and obviously that's the case for me. I know that there are exceptions, like there are people that actually just like explored with clips, and that's how we build a community. So I can only speak for my experience. Like, even on Instagram, you mentioned that recently I have had a couple of uh reels that went viral. One is like sitting at I want to say one million, maybe maybe even two at this point. I haven't checked it in a long time. There's a lot of engagement, like I get notifications every day of people reposting that reel on their stories, and uh, maybe some are even following me. I don't think that a single one of those people transitioned to Twitch fo. So I think like you can work with clips, but you have to make sure that people understand that you are a Twitch streamer from that and somehow find you, but it's it's super complicated. Like, I think like I don't even know enough about the topic. I'm experimenting with it, but it's it can work, but it doesn't work for everyone. I guess that's what I'm trying to say.

Patty 34:20

Exactly. And even if you have like the successful like YouTube or Instagram, it doesn't mean that those people want to watch Twitch. The Twitch is a very different platform, and not everyone wants to make the transition. Usually it's people that already know Twitch and already, you know, follow all your people and they see they see you on YouTube, and you know it's easier for them to to open Twitch and uh and uh join from that. What about like

Content Creation Goals

Patty 34:47

goals? You started for fun and then because you wanted to change jobs, you put your eggs on content creation from there and to now. What are like your goals? You said about the YouTube channel, the the that you want to know get known for. Do you have any other general goals, or this is what you do when you continue just doing the content that you do?

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Uh I want to say for like short term, I don't have any specific goals content creation-wise, as in like I'm enjoying what I'm doing, I'm growing slowly, I'm not like exploding, going super viral or anything, but like I've been enjoying this, it's been stable and it's going up. That's like short term. I just want to keep it like that. Medium term grow the one-day channel. I would say yes, that would be like the goal. And then I have a dream, a crazy dream. Like, if and content creation could help me achieve that, but it's crazy. It's crazy. Like, I'm gonna say it, I have mentioned it before. I would like to open some type of animal sanctuary to rescue animals and have a way to support that with content creation. So, whatever that would be a YouTube channel or Twitch streams, there's like 24-7 uh live streams of the animal shelter or anything like that. Uh, that would be like the big goal. But like we're talking about a lot of funds that would be needed to do something like that. So, but who knows? Like, if everything keeps going the right way, that would be awesome.

Patty 36:24

Have you ever told this to Kari? I feel like she has a similar dream.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Oh, I know, I have not. I I actually rated her last night, but I don't think that I've ever told her.

Patty 36:34

Yeah, I think I think she mentioned she mentioned at some point something like that. I thought it was funny because I was like, she came right into my mind as you were talking about it. It's a it's an amazing goal. I feel like we that have pets, even when we travel and everything, you know, I feel like we have a different a different way of viewing certain things. And I I think that's an amazing dream. I hope one day you can do it. Fingers crossed. So right now you're just you're stable, so you're just enjoying it. You're not doing anything to like actively push growth other than you know your already normal type of streams and content.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

I don't know if this would like fall into this category, but I am trying to like, for example, make more IRL streams. I know that those tend to perform well, but I'm not doing them just because they perform well, it's just something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time. Just get out there a little bit more often, explore more cities. So I've been doing them a lot, and now I'm just like I'm planning more of them like uh now in springtime that weather is going to be nice, and I think that that will potentially help growth, but I'm not doing it just because of that. Like, I I just want to do it, so I'm doing it. So right now I'm just I'm just stable.

When Viewers Cross the Line

Patty 37:49

Did you ever seriously thought about quitting? You know, you're you are full-time now, so the thought of quitting has to weigh even more because you have to think if I quit, what do I do? But did you ever like seriously not content creation in general, but uh Twitch specifically, did you ever thought this is not worth it or it's not for me and wanted to quit?

SPEAKER_00 38:15

Okay, I think that it might have happened once or twice for the same reason. But I think that I I I managed it well, and it's more of a um how do I say that? Not even haters, just very toxic community members, and that's why right now I have very strict boundaries on how people can approach me off-stream. I it happened a couple of yeah, I want to say like two times specifically. Uh, one was actually quite recent where like a community member that I thought was like very nice and positive and all of that, just went completely downhill. Started with like innocent uh Twitch whispers that were like very, oh hi, thank you so much for stream today. It was lovely. And I'm like, oh, thank you. And then it was like, oh, this thing is happening to me, and uh, you are uh the reason why I'm smiling today. So thank you so much for your uh your presence. And I'm like, thank you. And then like it started getting very personal to the point where like I wouldn't be comfortable replying anymore because like we're crossing boundaries, like I could tell that this person wanted something from me, and that's just like not why I stream and why I do content creation and stuff. So I just like had to put my foot down and be like, not reply essentially, not ghost fam, but like be a you know, you know what I'm trying to say. And this person started getting very mad at me because uh I wasn't giving them the attention that they wanted to a point that it got very, very toxic, and to a point that I considered going to the police, like that, bad. And I think like I crashed out one night. I was like, why? Why do I have to deal with this? Like, I like it was it was very bad. Like, I I'm not gonna lie, I was not doing good that day. But then, like, the next day, I was like, okay, hold on. This is just like one person that obviously wanted something else, one very toxic person that has nothing to do with me. But I decided that I will not allow that to happen anymore. So the first sign of someone being a little too pushy, a little too toxic, I'm blocking you. Like, I don't don't care if you're uh donating all of these subs and all of that, like it's just not worth it. Like, my um mental stability deserves peace, if that makes sense.

Patty 40:29

Yeah, and I don't know, I don't know what happened with these people, but you know, trauma dumping in Twitch is absolutely real and in social media in general. But I feel like Twitch because it's live, you know, it's like the parasocial relationship. They think that they know us because they watch us every day and all of this, and it has become a real d problem for for streamers, and I feel from what I know and from what I see and people talk with me, it happens a lot more with us women. Maybe because I don't talk a lot with a lot of men, but do you think that that happened to you because you're a woman?

SPEAKER_00 41:14

Uh in one case, yes, in the other case, uh not necessarily like uh there was like this one bad case uh a while back ago which has been dealt with where I don't think that like it was necessarily connected to the fact that I was a woman. Maybe it played a role, but I can't be sure. In this uh second case, I think that it was actually a matter of uh just because I am female and this guy wanted to have something else for me. Like I'm gonna be super straightforward about it, and obviously I'm not there for that. So that's when it became very, very toxic. But at the same time, like I I just can't speak for everyone. I'm sure that it happens to everybody that does some type of content creation, like unfortunately, whatever we wanted or not, there will be cases where it just happens and it sucks that we have to deal with that. I don't know what else to say about it, honestly, because it's such a tricky topic. But yeah, like in the second case, it definitely was connected to the fact that I am a woman, and yeah.

Patty 42:15

Maybe we we just speak more about about these things that happen, and because I I know of a lot of women that stream and have like similar things, and I feel like the the most popular cases when it's like we're really big streamers, is always also a woman. So maybe it's just spoken more and it also happens with guys, and we just don't know.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

I well, if it does happen, I feel like it's important that they are vocal because uh yeah, that kind of um if you keep it to yourself, you can if that's like is to to protect your mental stability, your privacy, or whatever. I get it, but if you are willing to speak about it, that can potentially help other streamers. Like that's why I'm like I'm telling these openly. I I don't care to be vulnerable on camera. I think that it's important that other people know, other streamers know that they're not the only ones dealing with that. And if you are dealing with that, block those people, they're not worth their time, like they're just not toxic people, can be found everywhere.

Patty 43:16

Just don't deal with them, block, block, immediate ban, immediate block everywhere because I have I've had I have had guys that they were DM me here, and I block, and they were like, Oh, the are you receiving my messages like on other platforms? And they were just jumping platforms, and I was like, Okay, I'll take a minute, I'll block you everywhere that I know. It's just crazy. People just I feel like they they miss some type of common sense with these interactions.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

Yeah, luckily, not everyone is bad. Like, that's the good thing. Like, of course, like I I talk about two people that in like the span of three, four years of content creation gave me actual troubles. Everybody else has been wonderful, and that's the reason why uh it makes sense to. Keep doing this, but obviously, like the negative cases will just um be highlighted more, I guess.

Patty 44:07

Yeah, even if we don't want to like it's easier to remember one bad comment than a hundred good comments. Yeah, that's true. We are human, yeah, exactly.

Subathons and Healthy Money Boundaries

Patty 44:18

So, in all of your journey, did you ever have something that you thought about doing for Twitch specifically, or were very excited about it, and then the results were like the numbers didn't show, or the community did not find it was super amazing, or on the other side, something you did just very randomly, casually, and like the community liked it so much that you had to do do it again.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Oh, I don't know. I I might need a minute to think about this. I actually don't know if it was anything specific. Oh my god.

Patty 45:00

Um you do so much, it's hard to focus on.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

Yeah, no, I don't think that like there was any extreme cases. I guess like sometimes it can happen that something goes better than anticipated or worse than anticipated. I guess maybe maybe I can think uh recently Pacopia came out uh the new game for the Switch, and uh I was very excited about it, and I just decided to do an extra stream for it on a day where I I normally don't don't stream and I just like ended up streaming for five extra hours randomly, and I guess what I was expecting like maybe 10% of the community to show up, but almost everybody was there, and I was very pleasantly surprised about that. I guess that that's the uh that's an example. So I was like, Yay, people are here.

Patty 45:48

They were like me, they were like, Oh, I only have a switch one. Aw. What what about, for example, um, you've done subathons, right? And those require a lot of planning time, not only that, but then you have to be alive for a long time. Did the did they always like did you always have like this expectation of a way they would go? And what was the outcome after?

SPEAKER_00 46:16

Wait, actually, now that you've said that, I just remember that I forgot to to to mention one big thing for the last question. Uh, when I did a sabaphon for the first time, and the only time so far, I decided to make it seven days capped. I was like, I had a 48 hour base, and I was like, I'm gonna put it capped for seven days. We're never gonna make it there. We did it with time to spare. Like, we actually, and that I guess that like that was one case where the community really surprised me because I really didn't expect um so much enthusiasm, but people actually did, and uh it went amazing, it was incredible. So that was like one case where like the community really surprised me. And to answer your question here, like the second question, I guess that there are cases where I have made sababathons and maybe like the last goal wasn't reached, but I never start a sabaphon with the expectation of every single goal being reached. Like, of course, it's nice if it happens, like I'll celebrate, but I always try to go a little bit overboard. Like, I'm gonna make a goal where like I don't think that we will make it, and if we do, it's fantastic. Like with a seven uh days stream, like that happened, but like for my birthday last year, I think that like we were just like a l a little short of the last goal being met. We didn't make it, and I was like, All right, like that was a crazy goal that I put there just to see like if people would have fun with it, but like we didn't make it. That's okay. It can be maybe a dis a bit disappointing, I guess. But at the same time, I I don't want to rely full economically fully rely just on Twitch alone. So, like, if something doesn't go as planned, it's okay, it's not the end of the day. I I like I have other options, it's all right. Like, I'm I will like I would quit streaming and content creation full time if I was uh it is sitting at zero euros on my bank bank account, and I must stream because I can't afford food. I guess that's that's what I'm trying to say. Like, stream is a way to grow, even financially, potentially, but I I have to always be like at the balance point where like I'm not gonna be desperate if something doesn't go the way that I want it to.

Patty 48:29

Yes, that's also very important. Like a lot of people that want to be full-time streamers and have this idea that you know they're gonna rely only on Twitch. That is so dangerous. It's like the the platform, and you're depending on real humans, and you know, when the economy is bad, it's not just bad for you, it's it's bad for your viewers. And I've had that case, like I've had people that used to, you know, regularly sub and donate, and then they couldn't anymore, and I couldn't just rely on them because situations change for everyone. So I I think that's a very good approach to those types of events.

SPEAKER_00 49:08

I guess that I also want to add the fact that I don't want to fully depend on such events or just like you know, streams in general financially, because uh if I rely on them fully and something doesn't go the way that I I planned it, I think that like as a humans you would start having some resentment towards the community, and that is very dangerous. You don't want that, you want the community to be there for you, to hang out for you because you guys have a great time together, and then like if someone wants to support, that's awesome, that's incredible. But if it doesn't happen, I can just end stream and still be happy. Like, I don't care if I didn't make 300 subs today, like who cares? You know, like I'm still happy to be spending time there. That's uh and that's like a very healthy approach, I think.

Patty 49:55

Yeah, and like you always have goals like on the screen for like in case something happens, there's a goal there, and we're gonna do something fun because of like subs or whatever, but you never you never just stream with like the expectation today we're gonna reach the goal, and like always asking people, hey, look, there's a goal, you're just you're streaming, you're doing your thing, and if it happens, that's great. And I I feel that's very important for whoever does content creation is like having this diversity, uh, because Twitch, Twitch is not easy, yeah. And and in that way, did you ever think about quitting one of your platforms and just doing the other? Like, have you ever thought just doing YouTube or I think just doing Twitch is harder, but you know, cutting on one to just do the other?

SPEAKER_00 50:47

Honestly, I don't think so. But I think uh like for many different reasons. First of all, just like even financially income-based, I I like having different income sources. Like, I like having a bit of Twitch and a bit of YouTube, that it like gives me a lot of balance. So, like if something happens with Twitch, I still have YouTube. If something happens with YouTube, I still have Twitch. I like having that balanced mentality, but I think that it it's not necessarily wrong to focus just on one platform, but that has to be like a decision that you are 100% confident about. Some people do it like taking a break to focus on one, and that can be okay, I think, but like it's it's just not the case for me right now. Um, I I did it last week if I have to be honest. I uh I said that like I I don't uh like uh canceling Twitch streams, but I was very behind on some YouTube stuff. So I was like, one day I'm just gonna cancel stream, deal with what I have to do for YouTube, so I have some peace of mind, and and that was it. So, like, I guess that I did that, but I don't like doing it. I like having both things.

Advice for Stuck Streamers

Patty 51:56

I feel that as well. And now for our listeners, do you have any advice for someone that has been streaming for a while and is not seeing any growth? Do you have any tips?

SPEAKER_00 52:09

Ooh, honestly, this is very hard. Uh, it's a very hard answer because uh there's never going to be a correct answer for everyone that fits everyone. But I guess that being aware of your content and of your numbers is the first step. Just like look at what's working and what's not working and try to figure out where you can improve. I know that that sounds like very basic advice, but that's like legit the only thing that could work for everyone. Um yeah. But again, I I am graduated in marketing, so like that's how I approach everything. Just like take it strategically, uh, see what's working, what's not. Look at what other people are doing. And I'm not I don't mean it by straight up copy because that's just wrong, but take inspiration from people that do similar content as you, see what's working for them, and uh maybe what you can um you can kind of try to integrate in your content strategy as well. But it could be something, uh something like that works because you know, like you you look at what is already working and you're trying to do something similar over than inventing things from zero.

Patty 53:22

Exactly. And then also I feel for me the big one has been making streamer friends, like people that I can talk out of stream, yeah. And it doesn't have to be in person, but making friends that understand because you can talk with like viewers and other people that watch Twitch. No one will have the same level of of understanding as another streamer. So I feel like that's that's something very important. Not trying to, you know, talk with people because you you want something from them, but you know, making actual friends with someone that you resonate, and then the conversation will naturally end up there.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

Yeah, I agree. Like, I mean, um, I mentioned my friend Daphne earlier, like that's literally the relationship that we have now. We talk, I don't want to say every day, but almost like at least like once or twice a week minimum. We always talk over the phone, and then like she also does like a lot of IRL stuff. She she travels a lot, so we don't meet up that often, maybe like twice a year. I don't know, maybe a little bit more, but we do talk regularly, and we did become friends over time. Like, we don't talk just about stream, but like also just just normal things that people talk about when with their friends, so that has been lovely, and yes, I I do agree that the the level of understanding there is uh is unmatched.

Patty 54:47

So, is there something else you want to add? There is there something that I didn't ask and you feel like would be important or interesting for our listeners to know about. Ooh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 55:02

Um, I don't know. I feel like we have covered majority of like the big topics. I don't know. No, I don't think so. Nothing comes to mind right now. Sorry.

Where to Find Inna

Patty 55:13

Okay, then before we wrap up, uh it's your moment. Tell our listeners where they can find you.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

Oh, um, on Twitch, um, in na solo, as in Vignon Light Overware. If you're listening, you don't see it. But if you're on video, if you're on YouTube, you can see it. Yeah, so yeah, I uh if honestly, if you Google Inasolo, you should find uh uh everything, but yeah, mainly on Twitch, that's my my name. On YouTube, I have a bunch of channels, in a solo music, in a solo TV, and all of that. Same like with Instagram, TikTok, I'm not using it as much anymore, just random stuff. But yeah, Twitch and uh and YouTube, you can find me there.

Guest recommendation

Patty 55:52

Yeah, uh last question before we go. If I could have any streamer on the podcast, who would you like to see here for an episode? Hmm, my friend Daphne.

SPEAKER_00 56:05

I had the feeling you were known as Daphne's Wonderland.

Patty 56:10

We talked so much about her. I was like, I feel like that's that's on her mind. That's what's gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 56:16

That could be fun, yes.

Outro & credits

Patty 56:18

Yeah, okay. Thank you so much, Ina, for joining us. It was so lovely having you. Thank you for having me and for inviting me. You're welcome. And thank you to all our listeners at home. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to give us a follow. You can find the growth rate podcast wherever pods are cast. New episodes every Thursday. And if you know someone that would like to listen, why don't you tell us about the podcast? We'll see you next time on the Growth Rate.

SPEAKER_00 56:49

Bye.