First, I want to say thank your for taking the time to visit Clean Your Shoes. I truly do hope that you continue to read and enjoy the content on this platform and that it makes you a better sneakerhead.
Clean Your Shoes is very near to me. It is something that I think about pretty much everyday, in a number of different ways. Sometimes I think back to why I started CYS, the roots that would subconsciously set things in motion for CYS to be created, or even where I want to see The Sneaker Literacy Program go in the future. But one question that I have asked myself time and time again for the last 2 years is:
How can I make better content for Clean Your Shoes?
Clean Your Shoes isn’t like your other sneaker accounts and pages. So naturally, posting hype content might work and get a lot of engagement on Instagram, but it doesn’t speak to the true nature of Clean Your Shoes nor does it represent the actual content coming from the website. You can look at and like pretty pictures of sneakers all day, but if you aren’t learning something or taking something away from CYS content, then it’s just another mindless content account for you to follow.
Clean Your Shoes wasn’t meant to be mindless content. In spite of that, much of CYS’ content was still pretty mindless. Sure, I may have had some posts on Instgram that showed a sneaker being cleaned, or made an actually helpful post related to sneaker maintenance, but most of it was content that didn’t produce anything of much value or interest to the viewer. I know it didn’t because it didn’t bring me value or interest. I put it up there for the sake of “being consistent“.
And that is another thing. From late 2018 to this present day, Clean Your Shoes as a blog and Instagram account has had a marred presence, due to a number of events and circumstances that occurred in my personal life, creativity and writer’s block, mixed with complacency and laziness. I did not treat CYS with the same vigor and energy that I did when I first created it, and for that, I owe you an apology. I was not as consistent, present, or engaging as I should have been.
So, how can I make better content for Clean Your Shoes?
In October 2019, I moved to Portland, Oregon. I got an amazing job with amazing coworkers that I plan to keep for quite some time. Since I’ve been up here, I have given more thought into my tendencies as a sneakerhead. I believe this is because of the weather up here; I have to be more conscious about what I’m going to wear and how the elements come in to play. This has inspired sparks of creativity, but I was still thinking in the same patterns and formulae of old, which still limited my creativity, and crippled the brand.
So recently, I’ve thought long and hard about ideas and content that really speaks true to Clean Your Shoes. What else can I teach someone? What else can I show someone? What else could be helpful for someone? Then I finally used some critical thinking skills they teach you in elementary school.
Create content you want to see as a sneakerhead, Jordan.
Thinking in that space allowed me to come up with more ideas and more inspiration for content, content that I am confident will bring about value in your closet and your feed. Big changes and big things are coming to Clean Your Shoes.
I want to apologize again for the lack of engagement and present as of late. Please bear with me just a little while longer so that I can give you a better Sneaker Literacy Program. You won’t be disappointed.
Stay Sneaker Literate, y’all.
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