View Full Version : The Streamate Thread
anonamiss
08-30-2020, 08:10 PM
I’m starting a new account on SM, rebranding myself. I didn’t use my old account long but used a wig So I wouldn’t be recognizable and honestly at this point I’m done with wigs, it is beyond uncomfortable. All those hours with it on sitting there is the worst so I’m back to just me. Anyway since I’m starting over what’s a good rate to start at in the beginning? I was doing 3.99/4.99 but really would like at least 4.99/5.99. Is that too high for a new account? I’m worried I’ll turn people off. Or should I start with 3.99/4.99 and then move up later?
don't start low with the intention of raising your rates later. all that does is attract guys who think you're on the cheaper end, and then they'll inevitably get upset later when you do raise your rates. so start out with higher rates and attract the guys who can afford it right out of the gate. usually leads to higher quality customers as well. remember there are girls charging upwards of $15/minute, and there are customers who pay it. charge what you feel comfortable with, and what you confidently think you're worth. personally i don't go above $9.99 simply because of financial psychology; i think just seeing double digit rates really scares a lot of guys away. but that's just my opinion/experience.
you are totally fine with starting at 4.99/5.99 but since you already have some experience you may want to start even higher.
AriaSunset
08-30-2020, 08:36 PM
I’m starting a new account on SM, rebranding myself. I didn’t use my old account long but used a wig So I wouldn’t be recognizable and honestly at this point I’m done with wigs, it is beyond uncomfortable. All those hours with it on sitting there is the worst so I’m back to just me. Anyway since I’m starting over what’s a good rate to start at in the beginning? I was doing 3.99/4.99 but really would like at least 4.99/5.99. Is that too high for a new account? I’m worried I’ll turn people off. Or should I start with 3.99/4.99 and then move up later?
I took the advice here and set mine higher end. Girls are correct when they say that slowly raising prices doesn't work well on SM. Customers will spend on the site, so you are only hurting yourself by pricing too low. 3.99/4.99 is a waste of time at 35%. My advice is to start at maybe 8.99 or 9.99/min in the beginning during new girl status. Then adjust each week if needed. You might not even need to adjust!
AriaSunset
08-30-2020, 08:44 PM
i see quite a few models with this sentiment; i'm curious what you would do differently if you knew when a contest was going to happen? if you were going to plan to take the week off to focus on other sites or content production or something, i don't understand why having more time to "plan in advance" would really matter. i suppose if you were going to use a contest week to take a vacation or something of the sort, then yeah, knowing further in advance makes more sense to me.
i'd also note that a fair amount of the contests are quite predictable if you just look back on past years. the full-week contest is obviously a new thing, but i think it's safe to assume there will be week-long contests (whether they are full cumulative weeks like the most recent one, or "best face forward"/best three day contests) nearly every month, usually in the second or third week of the month. then holidays are very predictable as well. for example, since 2016 they've done two one-day contests on halloween and the day after.
also the past four years, there has been two back-to-back 48-hour contests in early september. given that we just ended a huge contest, i'm not sure if they'll do this one or not. but I wouldn't be that surprised if they announced one for this upcoming weekend.
There could be many reasons to know about the contest in advance. Arranging babysitters in advance to work extra hours is one reason. Then if contests isn't your thing, working extra hours prior to the contest would be helpful, to take that week off. I personally love the contests, but I could think of many reasons on both sides. Thank you for pointing out the predictability of the contests. I will be watching that in the future, and it will be helpful for sure!
Miss_ShaSha
08-31-2020, 03:50 AM
I'm so utterly frustrated with bitrate. I've ran two speed tests, optimized my drive, freed disk space, cleared cache, cpu running fine, and restarted modem and router. But FUCK...last two hours I keep dropping into red for a while.
My stream looks like garbage and I can't get a show. I had this issue Tues. This is a brand new i7 8gb laptop that was working just fine up until last week.
I can't make money this way and it's really upsetting.
Esixxx
08-31-2020, 04:41 AM
I'm so utterly frustrated with bitrate. I've ran two speed tests, optimized my drive, freed disk space, cleared cache, cpu running fine, and restarted modem and router. But FUCK...last two hours I keep dropping into red for a while.
My stream looks like garbage and I can't get a show. I had this issue Tues. This is a brand new i7 8gb laptop that was working just fine up until last week.
I can't make money this way and it's really upsetting.
One other thing that might be worth trying- is check to see if your these programs/applications needs an update- browser, webcam, graphics card.
Have you submitted a support ticket yet?
Shaher
08-31-2020, 06:18 AM
I took the advice here and set mine higher end. Girls are correct when they say that slowly raising prices doesn't work well on SM. Customers will spend on the site, so you are only hurting yourself by pricing too low. 3.99/4.99 is a waste of time at 35%. My advice is to start at maybe 8.99 or 9.99/min in the beginning during new girl status. Then adjust each week if needed. You might not even need to adjust!
Aria, Thank you so much for this post. I was debating putting it up and just this morning put it up by 2 dollars and the quality of guy is so different. Before I put it up by 1 dollar and it didn’t but adding 2 dollars is going well!
Much appreciated. Love this forum. You girls are amazing.
ravenskyy
08-31-2020, 06:55 AM
Yay! The contest is over! I quit and I won't be doing another contest ever again lol worst one for me and it ruined my bday week. Now I have to bust ass to make up for what I didn't make last week. Hopefully, my regs will stop playing games. Last week, they completely disrespected me with their cheap behavior. I seriously resent men. Idk what it is, but it's like they know when it's a bonus week and they're either MIA or they come into my room and don't spend. I'm going to be all types of stank ass attitude this week, just to spite them lol Good luck ladies!!
Nicci84
08-31-2020, 10:54 AM
I was wondering if someone could give me some tech advice. The last few days my stream quality didn't quit look like as it did before and I don't know why. I have pretty decent Internet (40Down/10Up), a good Laptop and a Logitech 920 camera, basically nothing changed, but still my stream is not as good as before and my audio seems to be lower than before, as well! I am always in the green on SM Connect, but I have the impression something is wrong! I just started streaming again 2 months ago and the first few weeks were pretty good, now I am getting less and less traffic and it seems like something is wrong with me!
Any advice?
Cheers
Esixxx
08-31-2020, 11:00 AM
I was wondering if someone could give me some tech advice. The last few days my stream quality didn't quit look like as it did before and I don't know why. I have pretty decent Internet (40Down/10Up), a good Laptop and a Logitech 920 camera, basically nothing changed, but still my stream is not as good as before and my audio seems to be lower than before, as well! I am always in the green on SM Connect, but I have the impression something is wrong! I just started streaming again 2 months ago and the first few weeks were pretty good, now I am getting less and less traffic and it seems like something is wrong with me!
Any advice?
Cheers
Traffic will fluctuate. (It's not you remember that)
On your cam window is your microphone all the way up? It is on the lower right.
Sometimes members don't have as good as a connection as we do (especially if they are on mobile.)
Genoveve
08-31-2020, 11:28 AM
I'm so utterly frustrated with bitrate. I've ran two speed tests, optimized my drive, freed disk space, cleared cache, cpu running fine, and restarted modem and router. But FUCK...last two hours I keep dropping into red for a while.
My stream looks like garbage and I can't get a show. I had this issue Tues. This is a brand new i7 8gb laptop that was working just fine up until last week.
I can't make money this way and it's really upsetting.
For me bitrate issues are 99% of the time either lighting issues or internet issues. Have you altered your lighting set up? Are you camming during sunset when the lighting through the windows changes a lot? Do you have decorative lights around you when you stream? (just having a pretty small, decorative neon light way behind me on the wall in the background used to mess up my bitrate) Also I would run way more than 2 speed tests; I used to have to run numerous ones to be able to compare their results in order to see if my speeds were fluctuating at all because any fluctuation with them would = major bitrate issues for me; even if my speeds were technically still way above what was needed for perfect streaming, if they were fluctuating it was no bueno for streaming.
AriaSunset
08-31-2020, 04:45 PM
Aria, Thank you so much for this post. I was debating putting it up and just this morning put it up by 2 dollars and the quality of guy is so different. Before I put it up by 1 dollar and it didn’t but adding 2 dollars is going well!
Much appreciated. Love this forum. You girls are amazing.
That is great news! You're welcome.
Jodyjensen
09-01-2020, 02:28 AM
Bitrate and sound issues this morning for me. Frustrating, I thought issues would have been fixed over the contest. I also can’t see any info when I check my stream on mobile, no ratings/tags/info. Plodding on and hoping for the best.
Miss_ShaSha
09-01-2020, 05:53 AM
One other thing that might be worth trying- is check to see if your these programs/applications needs an update- browser, webcam, graphics card.
Have you submitted a support ticket yet?
I haven't tried support yet. I'm trying everything I can before asking them. I'll do this next.
For me bitrate issues are 99% of the time either lighting issues or internet issues. Have you altered your lighting set up? Are you camming during sunset when the lighting through the windows changes a lot? Do you have decorative lights around you when you stream? (just having a pretty small, decorative neon light way behind me on the wall in the background used to mess up my bitrate) Also I would run way more than 2 speed tests; I used to have to run numerous ones to be able to compare their results in order to see if my speeds were fluctuating at all because any fluctuation with them would = major bitrate issues for me; even if my speeds were technically still way above what was needed for perfect streaming, if they were fluctuating it was no bueno for streaming.
I'm using the same lighting I've had for over a year and a half. Lighting might not be the issue. I've run three different tests and all speeds are good. No outages in my area either. I'm waiting for a call back from ISP.
Update:
spoke to ISP and they switched my router to a certain channel that should improve streaming quality. I've been on 5 min and it's still fluctuating so it's not my end. This is a SM issue and it's infuriating. My money is all fucked up.
CamChik
09-01-2020, 08:26 AM
Another month where I'm going to lose almost 2 weeks because of a contest and then my period - luckily I did well on Sunday but FML with these damn contests. It would be better if they did 2 or 3 day contests. These week long contests are such a clusterfuck in so many ways....
Signed up for NF and SkyPrivate to work when SM has contests.
Esixxx
09-01-2020, 08:44 AM
Is anyone else watching tumbleweeds roll across their chat room or is it just me?
Nicci84
09-01-2020, 10:16 AM
Traffic will fluctuate. (It's not you remember that)
On your cam window is your microphone all the way up? It is on the lower right.
Sometimes members don't have as good as a connection as we do (especially if they are on mobile.)
Thanks honey,
You are right, traffic fluctuates and I finally had a last 2 hours yesterday evening. I was probably just getting paranoied after a really bad week!
I always have the microphone on max, but still not very loud! I use the mic of my Logitech cam, maybe I just have to buy a good mic!
Cheers
Holly_xoxo
09-01-2020, 10:35 AM
Is anyone else watching tumbleweeds roll across their chat room or is it just me?
I haven't been on yet today but yesterday there was a 2 hour stretch where I made nothing.
amber2368
09-01-2020, 11:10 AM
I got my first check form Streammate,however,I took it to Walmart to have it cashed and it got declined. I'm scared to put it in my bank account. I have emailed support.Has anybody had a problem like this? Thank you!
XSelinex
09-01-2020, 11:19 AM
Only I can't login on the site at all?
pippapippa
09-01-2020, 11:21 AM
Only I can't login on the site at all?
Not just you. I just logged out to do a skype show and now I can’t get back in.
Jodyjensen
09-01-2020, 11:31 AM
Pretty quiet all day, odd short shows and tips here and there and annoyed with issues with my stream. Almost ready to pack in the towel when a guy took me exc for 20 mins, hit his limit then came back with a 30min block booking. Happy days :).
Makes me laugh when I have shows like that after some cheapskate complained about my prices this morning.
izshadow
09-01-2020, 12:38 PM
Bitrate is fine till 3 or more people join the room and then it just tanks.
Esixxx
09-01-2020, 01:05 PM
Mine is jumping around. Both bitrate and RTT are fluctuating like a mofo
ravenskyy
09-01-2020, 01:22 PM
Mine is jumping around. Both bitrate and RTT are fluctuating like a mofo
I had to move my router closer. It's in my bedroom and I work in my spare bedroom, across the hall. I leave both doors open and I put my router in the doorway of my bedroom. My stream has been fine all day.
Esixxx
09-01-2020, 01:24 PM
^^^ I am hardwired but there for about 15 minutes or so, My stream was all jacked. I flush my modem every morning before I start streaming.
MsBooty
09-01-2020, 02:20 PM
I accidentally forgot to change my payment information and they sent a check by regular mail. Does anyone know how long it usually takes to get to you?? I still haven't received my check for the week of august 16th-22nd and it says it was issued on the 26th. Yes I've emailed them but I'm still waiting for a response.
Miss_ShaSha
09-01-2020, 02:26 PM
Is anyone else watching tumbleweeds roll across their chat room or is it just me?
I did a shift from 8-11am & it was seriously dead.
Esixxx
09-01-2020, 03:40 PM
Thank the cam gods! A couple minutes until I was about to log off a regular swooped in a saved the day! Didn't hit high goal- but I will take it
anonamiss
09-01-2020, 03:45 PM
I accidentally forgot to change my payment information and they sent a check by regular mail. Does anyone know how long it usually takes to get to you?? I still haven't received my check for the week of august 16th-22nd and it says it was issued on the 26th. Yes I've emailed them but I'm still waiting for a response.
you should get it soon though it may vary based on where you're located. they're in WA. i'm in CA, when I got paper checks they'd be issued on wednesdays and i usually received them the following monday. occasionally i'd get it a day late or early, but not often.
Esixxx
09-02-2020, 08:02 AM
Anyone have disconnect issues this morning?
AcidYellow
09-02-2020, 08:32 AM
Anyone have disconnect issues this morning?
Is horrible¡¡¡ First wednesday I stream at morning and My god, tech issues nonstop.... 2 hrs and zero¡ man this platform every day is getting worse.... Bitrate, and Rtt sucking this morning. Im applying to a part time job at mornings because this bullshit lately is being to much. More than 3 thousand models online¡ is colapsed or I dont what the hell.
Esixxx
09-02-2020, 08:40 AM
Is horrible¡¡¡ First wednesday I stream at morning and My god, tech issues nonstop.... 2 hrs and zero¡ man this platform every day is getting worse.... Bitrate, and Rtt sucking this morning. Im applying to a part time job at mornings because this bullshit lately is being to much. More than 3 thousand models online¡ is colapsed or I dont what the hell.
after the disconnect issues, I started having bitrate and RTT issues.
I feel you on the part time job. I start a pt job this weekend.
Miss_ShaSha
09-02-2020, 08:41 AM
Anyone have disconnect issues this morning?
Very very bad. I got lucky but this was how bad it was my whole shift:
53398
I'm supposed to do another shift but if it's still like this I won't be so lucky. Guys usually give up fast. Might try one more time. Fuckin horrible.
Esixxx
09-02-2020, 08:59 AM
Just submitted a support ticket.
I am at a loss- when my stats are good- no one is staying in my room (watching the members pop in and right back out and then coming back tells me that they are having issues.)
I had my ISP do a factory reset on my modem when the disconnect issue happened.
waogtrain
09-02-2020, 06:40 PM
Ooff. Tonight is the first night that I'm having bitrate issues. Yesterday and last week were fine for me. Today has been horrible. Users who are viewing me from computers don't seem to be having a problem with my video quality despite my bitrate being at like .60. So that's good to know. I didn't make anything in the first hour and a half and am taking a quick self care break before trying again. Hope everyone else can make it work tonight too!
princess_casual
09-03-2020, 04:59 AM
Contest is over and it's still dead dead dead for me. Even my potential members is only like 2. I'm on the homepage. I had a couple people dicuss shows then say "brb" and never come back -___- Even several regulars that stop in say hi and leave...
I don't get it... I don't have any visible issues... I've been keeping a positive attitude... presenting myself well....
This is so frustrating. I busted my ass last week just to make a normal paycheck, now this week it seems I will make nothing.
Miss_ShaSha
09-03-2020, 05:41 AM
^^I feel this. Last week I did 40 hrs and made $300 less than normal. Busted my ass too and this week tech issues and hardly any traffic has resulted in making next to nothing. It's extremely frustrating and upsetting.
Just wanna say you're not alone. I'll be on for 10 hrs today, tomorrow, and Sat to try and stay afloat.
AcidYellow
09-03-2020, 08:46 AM
Contest is over and it's still dead dead dead for me. Even my potential members is only like 2. I'm on the homepage. I had a couple people dicuss shows then say "brb" and never come back -___- Even several regulars that stop in say hi and leave...
I don't get it... I don't have any visible issues... I've been keeping a positive attitude... presenting myself well....
This is so frustrating. I busted my ass last week just to make a normal paycheck, now this week it seems I will make nothing.
Im also frustrated with the shitty traffic in my room. 7hrs total yesterday for 30$¡ and tuesday 10$. Man this is not normal. Not even regulars the las 2 weeks. Yesterday I saw new lil bars in the chat. Maybe thats why is so glitchyyy that I ended logging off cuz couldnt stand that situation. I applied for a job from home with apple lest cross fingers and wait for a positive answer. I need something else. And only 30% for always this. Terrible.
Miss_ShaSha
09-03-2020, 09:08 AM
^^I'm sending you good vibes and fingers crossed!!!
Miss_ShaSha
09-03-2020, 10:11 AM
Dude, super grateful I even got back on today. I thought about taking the afternoon off til 3pm, but something said just get back on. Well, got a long exclusive to just talk and listen. He finally rated, and it really is appreciated.
Just gotta be available for these shows I'm gonna keep saying cause traffic has really truly sucked.
53403
Susperia
09-03-2020, 01:46 PM
omg my camera is suddenly unrecognizable. I am getting an error that says "uh oh you're not streaming with the best experience, switch to the webencoder for best results" WTF is going on? I cammed all day and then my camera froze, when I went to restart I got this message....HELP!
I messaged Liz. I hope she replies, I really don't know what to do. I tried to use OBS, but it is giving me a blank screen as well. My camera works on skype just fine. Can anyone help me with OBS?
anonamiss
09-03-2020, 03:13 PM
the past four years, there has been two back-to-back 48-hour contests in early september. given that we just ended a huge contest, i'm not sure if they'll do this one or not. but I wouldn't be that surprised if they announced one for this upcoming weekend.
hahaha i totally called it.
from the inbox today: "Ready for a contest that's short and sweet? Join us Sept 6-7 GMT for a two-day Sweet September Contest!"
at least it's only two days total and not two 48-hour contests in a row. gah.
bigbum
09-03-2020, 04:20 PM
hahaha i totally called it.
from the inbox today: "Ready for a contest that's short and sweet? Join us Sept 6-7 GMT for a two-day Sweet September Contest!"
at least it's only two days total and not two 48-hour contests in a row. gah.
how much is needed to reach the top 100 in 2 days contests? ive never tried a 2 day er.. lol
bigbum
09-03-2020, 04:20 PM
smooth sailing over here today. decent bit rate and non stop shows. perrrrfect for onceeeee
anonamiss
09-03-2020, 08:11 PM
how much is needed to reach the top 100 in 2 days contests? ive never tried a 2 day er.. lol
i'm not sure, i haven't participated in many of the contests this year so i don't have much data.
though based on past experience i feel like you generally need to average at least $350-500 a day to be able to place top 200 in most contests. but maybe i'm way off. hopefully others can chime in.
it could be a decent couple of days traffic wise. it's labor day weekend so a lot of people don't have work on monday, and might be in party mode saturday and sunday. which could be full of abusive douchebags, or nice drunk guys who don't realize how much they're spending, haha.
gbjenna
09-04-2020, 01:24 AM
how much is needed to reach the top 100 in 2 days contests? ive never tried a 2 day er.. lol
I made $661 over two days on one two day contest some time back and I didn’t rank top 200. I only ranked at around 230 so I’m guessing at least 700-750 minimum?
CamChik
09-04-2020, 07:09 AM
i'm not sure, i haven't participated in many of the contests this year so i don't have much data.
though based on past experience i feel like you generally need to average at least $350-500 a day to be able to place top 200 in most contests. but maybe i'm way off. hopefully others can chime in.
it could be a decent couple of days traffic wise. it's labor day weekend so a lot of people don't have work on monday, and might be in party mode saturday and sunday. which could be full of abusive douchebags, or nice drunk guys who don't realize how much they're spending, haha.
Good luck with this weekend. After my first 2 years on cam I started taking Labor Day weekends off because it's just DEAD and full of beggars. Who knows though, you may have a different experience.... My favorite thing about Labor Day weekend - it kicks off the busy season on cam FINALLY! Good money until Xmas time!!
CamChik
09-04-2020, 07:12 AM
Just submitted a support ticket.
I am at a loss- when my stats are good- no one is staying in my room (watching the members pop in and right back out and then coming back tells me that they are having issues.)
I had my ISP do a factory reset on my modem when the disconnect issue happened.
I've been having the same EXACT Issue. When my stream is smooth nobody comes into my room or stays for long, but then my bitrate and RTT are crap my room gets full-ish and the glitches block me from capitalizing on it....
Miss_ShaSha
09-04-2020, 07:24 AM
Bitrate issues resolved. Thanks ladies for the suggestions. I think it just took an hour for the channel on the router to finally stabilize the bitrate because ever since ISP changed the channel I'm in green all the time like I was before the issues.
In addition to the ISP call I updated drivers, cleared cache and cookies plus history, made sure my ethernet connection was good, and improved performance for Win 10.
Again, thanks as my anxiety is so much better.
AcidYellow
09-04-2020, 10:29 AM
I've been having the same EXACT Issue. When my stream is smooth nobody comes into my room or stays for long, but then my bitrate and RTT are crap my room gets full-ish and the glitches block me from capitalizing on it....
Yes, last night I almost couldnt stream... was more than horrible. RTT around 450¡¡ red.... Lord. I havent made money last 2 days due that. Ive never experience this before but Idk. My internet is good fiber and good pc. Lets see today. And my regulars are ghosting right now. Barely 3 of them during the whole week. Blah. I got accepted in this new part time job at mornings so I know will be fine. Atleast I will get a stable salary every month. Hugs there.