Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sidney Raskind. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sidney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned what I did by working in a 9 to 5 office job for 5 years in the industry that I wanted to be a successful creative in. While I was working as a social media manager, content coordinator, or an assistant producer, I was always posting and creating content for other people on new platforms that gain traction. Working in the office made me realize that it was a business and needed to be treated seriously to make it a reality.

It took me a long time to learn, and I think that’s the key. It wasn’t over night but one thing that sped up the process was just posting anything at all without the focus on a niche. Not a comedy niche, not a vlog niche, just what ever idea I had that day, I posted on the platform. It was TikTok in 2019 and then turned into both TikTok and Instagram in 2020.

My professionalism in answering emails and understanding the office culture when I’m talking to brands is a skill that I never take for granted. They’re in a working environment so different than mine but that doesn’t mean that the way I would act with a mutual on the platforms is the same way I should act in an email to a major brand.

My biggest obstacle was always technology, money for the editing software, and time to learn how to edit. That was all solved when my phone was the all in one. So if there’s a life hack to a lot of these, it’s to invest in an iPhone and to start editing in app.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi everyone, my name is Sid and I’m known as @sidneyraz all over the internet. I got into this industry when I was 18 looking for a way to find community and fame on YouTube in 2007. That didn’t work but I knew I wanted to be in the digital media industry so I failed out of college by focusing too much on YouTube and moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to pursue my career more. My discipline was never losing focus on the ultimate goal of being a famous YouTuber, or, now digital creator. I make videos on the short form platforms like TikTok and Instagram that are life hacks, tips and tricks, and dad life. What stands me out compared to others is my timeliness of asset delivery for brands that I work with. I have a very quick turn around since I have such a small team, but I also like to think that I’m more professional than other influencers are expected to be. I’m most proud of reaching my goal of being a full time content creator on the internet, and showcasing that not knowing things is actually a super power that should be celebrated. My content is fun, and easy to digest. I can take pretty mundane tasks and find a way to make it easier while explaining why it works that way.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The big lesson I had to unlearn was the need to be the best in your niche in a completely unique way. It’s a tough pill to swallow but you as an individual is what people are coming to see. Think of pizza places as a niche. There are so many pizza options for your pizza party but you choose a specific chain or small business because you like that pizza. At the end of the day pizza is pizza and so is the niche you’re in.

For example, I’m in the life hack niche and there are a lot of other creators with bigger followings than me in that niche. We all pull from the same pie at times and it can feel really bad to see another creator post the same video you’re about to in that niche. But guess what? There are millions of people that don’t see that other creator because they aren’t in your niche, they’re just they’re for you.

The back story to all of that is that I started following all these life hackers and realized we were all doing the same thing. I hated it and it made me realize that I wasn’t an individual creating something 100% unique. After all this time of trying and trying it ended up being the same as other people in so many ways. After a lot of self reflection and burn out I realized that even there are 10 pizza places I can choose, I’m going to pick my favorite over all those others each time.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built the audience by posting everyday on a platform that was known for dancing teens. I saw the potential of it as a platform like YouTube was in 2007. Back then I didn’t know that just posting everyday until something popped then following that path would lead to a large audience. I don’t believe you need a niche to make content successful, you just need to make content. Once the platform finds your audience and they show you what they like in the comments or other performance indicators, that’s what you follow and have fun with. I didn’t know I was going to be a life hacker, but I posted things I didn’t know and showed that I was learning and that’s what people connected with. Those videos were after posting everyday for a year and a half with no niche.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sidneyraz.com
• Instagram: sidneyraz
• Facebook: sidneyraz
• Linkedin: sidney raskind
• Twitter: sidneyraz
• Youtube: sidneyraz