Episode 2 of Visionary Voices just dropped, featuring the manager of the Sidemen, Jordan Schwarzenberger.  

Jordan is a force to be reckoned with in the Creator Economy. He manages the most successful YouTube group in Europe and has supported the Sidemen in the release of multiple instrumental brands, while also launching his industry podcast and managing his brand as an entrepreneur.

We headed to the jaw-dropping Sidemen studio in London to sit down with Jordan and dive deeper into the secrets of his success, and to chat about the future of the Creator Economy. 

We asked Jordan…

What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges facing content creators and influencers in the next few years?

I think the biggest opportunities are in building smaller, more focused communities that have a direct commercial relationship rather than being reliant on brands. I think nowadays because views are cheap, because there are so many creators out there, personality and value are the most important things.

It's all about how much value can you provide, and that correlates to how much commercial success you can have. So to build a business today as a creator is hard. 

I think we're in that stage right now where anyone on TikTok can get a million views. But what makes you stand out? That opens a conversation about how much value can you truly provide to somebody on the other end. So I think the biggest opportunity is focusing on value, focusing on smaller, more focused communities, and not looking at scale and vanity metrics as markers of success.

How do you navigate the challenges of managing the Sidemen, running a podcast, actively engaging on social media, AND founding new products?

I think for me it's about having people who are better than you running the things that they're experts at, rather than trying to do it yourself. It’s a big ethos that we have in this business that we shouldn't be doing things that we're not world-class at.

For example, when we launched the Sidemen’s Sides fried chicken restaurant chain, we had no idea how to run a fried chicken business. It's a long, horribly techy, and difficult business that you need experts to run, so we found a partner who could do that, called Hero Brands. They are responsible for a number of the biggest franchises in the UK and food like German Doner kebab, Island Poke, and Choppaluna and know food better than anybody.

We decided that those guys would do the food, the operations, and make the nuts and bolts of this business work and then my team and the Sidemen would bring the brand, the product development, and the marketing – we leaned in creatively. And that's a good partnership.

We find partners who are world-class in their niche, then we're great at marketing, creativity, understanding culture, and understanding how to bring the Sidemen into these verticals. When we come together we’re able to build something quite special.

Plus much much more… 

Throughout this series, you’ll feel inspired by industry trailblazers, get the secrets to influencer marketing success, and learn from the entrepreneurs shaping the future of the creator economy.

If you liked this episode, check out our first episode of Visionary Voices with Digital Voices’ CEO and Founder, Jennifer Quigley-Jones.

Want to be a guest on Visionary Voices? Please email Neve at neve.fear-smith@digitalvoices.com to learn more.