Howdy, y’all.
I know there has been quite some time since I gave a status update on what was happening around Clean Your Shoes, so I thought I would share a little bit about what’s been going on. I decided to write this update because I was running out of ideas, and I felt like I was going to have to really come up with some outlandish topics to keep some content coming until I somehow came up with some more relevant content to discuss. It wasn’t until reading a blogger I follow that I got the inspiration to write this post.
Although I’ve been putting out content by the week, I have felt as if the quality wasn’t the same as the quantity. Things were getting stagnant. I was simply running out of ideas. The answers were always in my face: content about sneaker maintenance, the lifestyle, and the culture. The problem therein was that I was thinking too hard about what to write and how to write it. I knew that I wanted to stay true to the brand’s vision of sharing content and material that educated sneaker heads on how to maintain and appreciate their sneakers more, while also highlighting people making their marks and establishing their identity in the culture. Anyone can start a blog and talk about when and where a sneaker will drop, but not everyone puts their focus on the other facets of the culture that we love and pay so much for.
Another reason for the recent stagnation is simply because Clean Your Shoes has a very detailed vision, but vague direction. That is to say, how and what it is doing isn’t reflective of what it can and should be. The vision and theme of Clean Your Shoes is light years ahead of what you see today. There are currently a few limitations from fully realizing that theme and feel, but nothing that can’t be remedied without a bit of creative thinking until it can be properly implemented. And in this past month, I have been doing just that: creatively thinking.
So what is this direction for Clean Your Shoes? On the blog and for CYSVideo, it’s going to be a lot more content based around maintenance and the culture, and more interviews with people I think are moving the culture forward. I’m going to be doing a lot of homework and research to continuously bring you content week to week. There will also be more reviews- not just on boutiques and stores, but also on products and services as I come across them. That also means I’m going to be trying my damnedest to work with brands.
I’ve mentioned that I was supposed to go to Philadelphia this month and do something special out there. While it won’t be this month, or anytime soon from what I can see, I do want to create some sort of series where Clean Your Shoes brings you the best of the culture by exploring different cities and what they offer their respective sneakerheads. How that’s going to look is still in the works. But it will look good, I guarantee that.
CYSVideo is going to get better as well. This first running is a very experimental offering, getting a feel for what and how I want the videos to be. I’m also getting time management down a little more. These videos and edits have been very down to the wire, so I want to properly plan time to record, schedule, and edit the videos to bring you Sneaker Literacy on video.
Lastly, CYSTech. I know that all I’ve done is give y’all vague, verbose paragraphs that may not explain or define what it is, but it is really the real essence and core of why I started Clean Your Shoes. Everything else was originally made to hold and carry the brand until I deliver some dope stuff for the web and mobile. Sneakers and code are two big parts of my life, and Clean Your Shoes, at its core, is a way to bridge the two beyond just another reseller application. The reason why I haven’t had an application in a while (and one that was widely available) is because I didn’t have a direction of what I wanted to achieve with CYSTech. But, it was in that lack of direction did I find one and figure out how I want to play around and present CYSTech. Keep in mind, CYSTech is also the biggest part of Clean Your Shoes, requiring the most time and energy, so it will be a while before it is completely realized to the level that I envision it.
It’s a big, long road ahead of Clean Your Shoes, but a road I’m gladly traveling down because I believe in this and love it more than anything else.
Thank you for continued support and patience. Stay Sneaker Literate, y’all.
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