‘Embrace your chaos’: How creator Brandon Edelman is trying to plan for the future

“I’m super happy to forever be a TikToker, but who even knows if TikTok is going to be around next year,” Edelman said. 

In the grand scheme of things, the creator economy is only now starting to mature. Becoming a content creator may only be a matter of a smart phone and internet connection, but maintaining a career as a content creator may be a different story. 

On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Digiday sat with Edelman to talk about his pivot to full-time content creation, how he strikes brand deals and life after TikTok. Also on this episode, Digiday platforms reporter Krystal Scanlon joins co-hosts Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson to talk about Linda Yaccarino’s exit from X, what WPP’s new CEO means for the holding company’s growth and how AI is shaping the next era of the browser wars.

Here are a few highlights from the conversation with Edelman, which have been edited for length and clarity. 

Knowing when to pivot

What I struggled with in my 9-to-5 was I looked at my boss and I thought, “Do I want her job?” And I didn’t. There’s no longevity for me here because I’m training to eventually take her position and I don’t want her position. If someone’s like, “You’re not going to be a TikToker forever, but eventually you’re going to be doing the morning news and you’re going to be working for a huge network,” that’s OK with me. I like to diversify my skills and do more opportunities public speaking, acting, any type of interview styles, podcasting and continue to show my talents and hope that I’m never just pigeonholing myself into one lane.

Metrics to measure success

I always look at a like-to-view ratio. Even if a video gets 30,000 views, if I still got 3,000 likes, I’m converting 10% from my watch time to engaged, liked posts. You never want to see something that has a ton of views and so little likes. That’s usually an indicator that that video is a negative video, if anything. I’m always hoping that, even if something doesn’t go super viral — view-wise — that my audience that is seeing whatever it is still is loving it.

Turning chaos into content

I realized quickly on it’s great to have fun, but there needs to be an element of responsibility and “brand safe.” A lot of brands and maybe even people, [realized] what you see is not always the full picture. I’m very regimented and very strategic. I’m very hardworking and I always want to work with a brand to meet them where they’re at. I’m never trying to make something super chaotic or unserious. When a lot of brands first met with me, they say you’re on time, you’re proper, you know what you’re talking about.

At the end of the day, you want to work with brands that really believe in you and also embrace your chaos.