【Caught in the Act: Promiscuous Sex Life of My D-Cup Mother in law】

If video games are Caught in the Act: Promiscuous Sex Life of My D-Cup Mother in lawyour passion, good news! You can turn that love into a living. The bad news? Thousands of people have the same idea.

At PAX Australia in Melbourne, Mashablesat down with three people who play games and create online videos full-time.

Australian Kathleen Belsten livestreams under the name Loserfruit, with a Twitch and YouTube channel. Michael Jones and Lindsay Jones, who are partners, both work for the U.S. gaming-focused production company Rooster Teeth.

Here are their tips for making sweet, sweet gaming content that will let you (finally) quit your day job.

1. Choose your platform

There's a whole wide internet out there, but for gaming content, YouTube and Twitch are the two main players. While both have livestreaming capabilities, YouTube is still better known for edited videos.

Kathleen Belsten enjoys the instant gratification of interacting with viewers in real-time on Twitch. "I like having people there who encourage you along the way," she said. "When you're editing [video], you don't know if people are going to watch it."

According to Michael, it really depends on the creator. "I dabble in both," he said. "I personally prefer a more edited, tighter format. You can add music, sound effects, visual cues."

In other words, if you want that nice chat with your audience, Twitch is your guy. If you're interested in narrative content, then try YouTube.

2. Pick your game

If you want to be discovered on Twitch or YouTube, playing Call of Dutyis probably not the best idea.

"Look at the top games, and don't play the first three of them," Kathleen suggested, "but still play something that's up there." In other words, don't go too popular or too obscure -- no one's going to find you if you're playing a Barbie game.

Don't be too cynical in the game you choose, however. If you're playing something you don't enjoy, viewers will sense it.

"Making what you want to make is the most important part," Michael said. "It's difficult, because you're trying to get the attention of the entire internet and you have so much competition."

3. Choose your time slot

Unfortunately for those in the southern hemisphere, it can sometimes be difficult to find viewers.

It can be especially hard to find the sweet spot when international viewers are still online. Kathleen, for example, plays during the U.S. "graveyard shift."

"I go on from about 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. [U.S. time]," she said. "It's no competition really at that time ... I get the insomniacs. I don't know why people don't stream more at the time I do."

4. Don't worry about being good

So, do you actually need to be any good at the game?

Sort of. "It does help, because otherwise people won't watch. They'll tear their hair out watching you," Kathleen laughed.

In her view, consistency and interaction are the most important qualities. "I streamed daily at the same time, for a long time," she explained. "And a lot of people who are successful have done the same. People underestimate that."

In her view, the biggest mistake streamers make is not talking. "Would you watch you?" she said. "You're just playing a game, you're not even interacting."

5. Build an audience outside the platform

If you want to attract new viewers, you may have to step out of the worlds of Twitch and YouTube.

"I believe in the power of social media for sure," Lindsay said. "It seems like bitesize content is the best way to market yourself to outside audiences, for lack of a better term."

She suggested editing your best moments into a 5-minute compilation video, for example. Both Lindsay and Michael suggested you should treat YouTube like an online resume, even if you spend most of your time on Twitch.

Michael's own YouTube career, for instance, took off after he made a short video of himself playing Crackdown 2. "I had been making videos for about a year, just for my friends. They'd get about 15 to 20 views. I put that video out, and it got 2,000. That was like one million to me at the time," he recounted.

Months later, Rooster Teeth reached out to him, and were able to take a look at his "resume" of almost 100 videos, to learn more about his style.

6. Don't be afraid to change things up

Once you have a small audience, try new games or formats. If you only do one thing, it will be hard to attract new viewers.

"Once you pull an audience in, and an audience attaches to you as a person, they're much more likely to watch either longer formats or different formats," Lindsay said. "We're of the opinion we shouldn't make the same thing over and over again."

If you do try something new, though, you should be prepared for your audience to complain.

"It's definitely an important factor to listen to your audience and try and give them what they want, but it's also important to keep yourself happy," Michael said.

7. Look for inspiration outside of gaming

While Michael said he doesn't watch much Youtube content or other streamers, he likes to dabble in different worlds. For example, he did a Doomevent with the NFL player Rob Gronkowski.

If you see someone likeminded in gaming but also in film, TV or sport, reach out and see if they'd like to collaborate.

Lindsay, on the other hand, looks to different creative arts like anime. "I've been an anime fan since seventh grade," she said. "It inspires us, honestly, and keep us trying to reach for the next new innovative thing."

8. Just go on and do it

Ultimately, making online gaming content should be enjoyable.

Even if you're not getting the reach you want, find some satisfaction in improving your skills. "I know personally, the videos that I made for a year or two that no one watched, I still wanted to do better every time I put a new video out," Michael said.

"The biggest thing is make something and put it online. Don't just sit around waiting for a good idea."

And remember, it's a big, big world out there. "The great thing about YouTube is anybody can do it," Michael added. "And the hard thing is that anybody can do it. You're up against literally anyone."