Launching the PowerSpike Open Beta
By AJ “Desecration” Damiano
Hey everyone, today we’re more than excited to welcome you all into the PowerSpike open beta. For the last year and a half, we’ve been focused on building a platform that makes it easy to get sponsored on Twitch; today that idea is finally a reality.
For those who don’t know, PowerSpike is a sponsorship’s marketplace for Twitch. As former broadcasters ourselves, we saw how difficult (and often sketchy) the sponsorship process was surrounding endorsements, playthroughs, and other kinds of promotional content.
We wanted to create a platform to change that. One which would empower streamers to manage and discover their own sponsorships without the need of an agent or a lawyer. Today, that vision becomes a reality, and it’s strictly thanks to the amazing community of broadcasters who have supported us at every step along the way.
We’ve listened heavily to your feedback, your thoughts, and your ideas. We seriously can’t wait to get your hands on the platform and see what you think. So, ladies, gentlemen, and PogChamps — this is PowerSpike:
How it works
The PowerSpike platform is based around the sending and receiving of proposals. Sending a proposal is simple — start by browsing the marketplace for sponsors. In the marketplace, you can click on a brand to learn more about them, find out what kind of content they want you to produce, and see how much the brand is willing to pay.
Once you’ve found a sponsor that you want to work with, you can get in contact with them by sending a proposal. In here, you’ll let the brand know your price and your completion date.You can also attach a brief message letting them know what you’d like to do with them.
Once you’ve sent your proposal to a sponsor, they will either approve it, negotiate it, or decline it. Sponsors can also send you proposals as well.
If you don’t have the time to write a proposal, you‘ll soon be able to click the “express interest” button in the marketplace and immediately let the brand know that you’re interested in working with them. This feature will be available sometime post launch — for now you can just send over a blank proposal. Doing so will allow you to immediately start a dialogue with the brand, and will save you time.
How do I sign up?
For many of our OG users, you may remember we had an application process to get on the platform. That’s gone now :)
If you have over 1000 followers, you can sign up for free and get immediate access at www.power-spike.com/ by clicking the “Launch PowerSpike” button.
If you’re a brand, head over to www.power-spike.com/brand-application
What other updates have you made?
Glad you asked! Here’s a few of them:
Revamped UI/UX
While we’ve learned that UX is something which is constantly improved over time, we’ve taken a hard look at our user interface, and have made some pretty substantial changes. On the UX front, we still have more to come, but we’ve made a great start in terms of improving the overall experience of the platform.
Messaging
Need to get in contact with a sponsor, request changes, or negotiate out terms? We’ve added in-site messaging to make negotiating/contacting a sponsor a breeze.
Chat Bot
Member how we used to make you sign in to your streamer account to send promoted messages through your account? Oh I member.
We got rid of that and built a chat bot instead. His name is Larry. You can mod him by typing “/mod Power_SpikeBot” in your stream.
New Front Page/Updated Brand
A long time ago, in a land far far away, we were once an MCN for Twitch. While it originally seemed like a cool idea, we pretty quickly discovered how unfriendly the model was towards streamers — so we scrapped it.
Moving forward, PowerSpike is now a sponsorships marketplace for Twitch, which is built around the idea of helping streamers to obtain sponsorship’s more easily. To accommodate this update we’ve launched a brand new homepage alongside a rebrand. Check it out at: www.powerspike.tv
Payment System Updates
Finally, we have some updates to our payment system. For brands, it’s free to create a campaign and start receiving proposals from broadcasters — you’ll only pay once you hire someone. For broadcasters, we’ve cut our take in half, and hold payments securely to ensure that you are always paid, and paid on time.
We’re really excited to have all of you on board for the next step forward here at PowerSpike. Please, if you have suggestions, feedback, or things that you think that we can improve on — let us know. We want to build this platform around you: the Twitch community, and need your help to do so. Keep bleeding purple, and let us know what you think. Here’s to 2017!
AJ
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AJ “Desecration” Damiano is a Shoutcaster, Tournament Organizer, YouTuber, and Community Member in the growing eSports arena. AJ has Shoutcasted & Organized the World of Warcraft RBG World Championship and has casted the EU qualifiers for the World of Warcraft World Championship. He is currently the CEO of PowerSpike.
