Episode 6: Adjust

You ever publish something you know is good, then watch it land with a thud? That moment can mess with your head fast, especially when you’re trying to grow, stay consistent, and build something real. We get honest about that frustration and the doubts that follow, then pull it apart piece by piece so it turns into fuel instead of a dead end. 

We dig into what consistency actually means for content creation and social media strategy. It’s not always “post more.” Sometimes it’s posting less, but on a rhythm you can sustain, so your audience (and the Instagram algorithm) learns to expect you. We also talk about the unsexy stuff that quietly kills reach: content optimization, safe zones, and how a simple template mistake can push your headline out of frame so people never stop to read. Small fixes can create a big shift. 

Then we go deeper than tactics. We talk perfectionism, especially the kind that looks like “preference” and keeps you from doing more talking-on-camera content. We compare polished production to raw energy, and why real connection can beat perfect lighting when it’s just you without a crew. And we pull a lesson from business history with Pepsi vs Coca-Cola: sometimes you don’t win by going head-to-head, you win by pivoting, owning a smarter lane, and adapting your approach. 

If you’re building a brand, a community, an email list, or just trying to keep going without losing yourself, press play. Subscribe, share this with a creator friend, and leave a review with the one adjustment you’re making next.

Yore on Smith Street is a weekly culture and commentary podcast hosted by Smith Street. Blending current events, pop culture, and storytelling, each episode connects today’s headlines to the deeper narratives behind them — because every moment has a backstory.

https://www.smithstreetsounds.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

A little bit of verb never hurt a soul. Little bit of reverb on that thing. To tag for the reverb on my mic today. Just trying it out. What's going on? Your mystery episode 6. Holla at your boy. It is April 1st.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

April Fools.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

I don't have a joke or a trick. This is just I'm here showing up. Let me be honest. It was a little tough to do this time. I had a little bit of some procrastinations, I guess, hesitations, some doubts and things, you know. But we don't stick to the mood, we stick to the plan. And the plan was to show up every Wednesday for seven episodes, the first season, and to come back with a different approach in the second

Reverb, April Fools, Showing Up

SPEAKER_01 0:57

season, and to keep on going and grow and grow. So that's what I'm gonna do. There's so many ideas that come and things happen, and and again, I think I said it before: you your plan is to do something, and you want to change it up because it isn't working, or it seems like it isn't working, but I think for me, it's to complete something

Doubt, Procrastination, And The Plan

SPEAKER_01 1:24

and keep on moving. Of course, I want to go viral, of course, I want people to see the shit that I'm posting. I'm not doing it for nothing, but the process, what I'm learning, and who I'm becoming is more important. You know, I want to build this email list, I want to build a community, I want to attract brands because that's what's going to help sustain this and keep this going. And I'm not gonna say what I don't want, I'm just gonna say what I do want right now because that's what's most important. So let's ask a question to ourselves. I'm gonna ask you a question, I'm asking it to myself as well. How many times have you posted something and it felt like it should have done better? Because you know the effort that you put into it, and I know what that feels like, definitely. I definitely am here right now, but instead of sitting in frustration, I decided that I wanted to reframe this. So without saying too much, again, I had the opportunity to speak to someone to give me some insights on what I've been posting, how I've been posting, and how it can be better. Okay, and I listened. Now I'm gonna be honest and say I asked the question, and I don't know if the answer I got was the most straightforward because of what I saw afterwards, and I believe that's what

When Your Content Deserved More

SPEAKER_01 2:55

affected my mood the most. But I decided that I wasn't going to stay there, right? So I said, okay, I don't know the details, and I'm pretty sure there was a reason for that, right? So whatever. What can I get from this conversation and apply right now to make things better? So one thing I noticed is consistency isn't always about just posting, posting, posting, posting, posting, posting, posting, posting, but it's more about training people and platforms to expect you on a consistent basis. So if I show up three times a week, every week, that matters more than just randomly posting every day and disappearing, because that may not be sustainable, but the three times a week is sustainable, you know, you could do that, which I had to be real with myself about because I've definitely been posting every day, multiple times a day, and there's no real result. What's happening is because of how I'm posting and the the tools that I'm using, some of them don't give me the option to place things in the

Consistency As A Predictable Rhythm

SPEAKER_01 4:15

proper place for the best optimization, I guess, for these platforms. For example, the headlining text was out of frame. And because I did it with the template, I didn't do it in the Instagram app, I didn't see, I didn't realize that it was out of frame, and this could be affecting my views. So for the last two weeks, I'm scheduling these posts, and they're going up, but people aren't seeing them because the presentation isn't the best, and it's not about I think it's more so it's two things the algorithm not being able to recognize it, but if people don't see the text, they don't stop. If they don't stop to scroll to read it, then you know, so these things are so important, those guidelines that are in the Instagram app, the Instagram edits app, they're there to

Instagram Formatting And Lost Views

SPEAKER_01 5:16

tell you where to place things, and of course, this is obvious, but I wasn't using the edits app for the post, which is the point. You know what I'm saying? Like they're there, this pretty much self-explanatory. I would think so. But yeah, those guidelines are there so that you keep the text, captions, text, and anything, any information in the frame. That's so important. So yeah, now I'm looking at my content differently. Not just is this good, but is this readable? Is this watchable? Is this landing right? Because hopefully this helps my reach. And then there's the part that I don't really say out loud too often. I haven't been really doing too much talking on camera, and there's a reason for that. It's not because I'm scared, it's more because I like to look a certain way on camera. If I'm being real and honest, you know, and audio, I could be sitting here butt ass naked. You would never know. I'm not naked right now, I'm half naked, okay? And of course, there are times where it doesn't matter. You know, if I'm here painting, it doesn't matter, you know, I'm painting, or if I'm building something and I want to do, I want to record the process, I'm not really concerned about that. So context matters. But if I'm sitting here doing a talking head with the intention of, you know, producing a a show, I want to be groomed. Just plain and simple. And could I push past it?

Perfectionism And Talking On Camera

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Absolutely. I've done it, but that's not the point. The point is that I'm not gonna sit here and act like it doesn't affect how I show up because it does. Now, if you're listening to this, you probably have your own version of that. Something small that turns into a reason to hold you back, and it's not always fear, sometimes it's just preference. But at some point, you gotta decide what matters more looking perfect or showing up. So I watched the movie Blackberry over the weekend, and what stood out to me was how it looked. The story was great, but some scenes were clean and polished, and some felt raw, handheld, like gorilla style, almost like the office. That style it was really cool, and it fit the time period very well. It worked, it didn't feel unprofessional at all, it felt real, which made me think about how I'm showing up because I have the equipment to produce really quality work, right? It takes a lot of energy though, right? And I don't have the crew, it's just me. It's not and this is not a complaint, this is just the reality of the situation.

Raw Versus Polished Creative Energy

SPEAKER_01 8:16

But things don't have to be so polished, maybe it's just the energy, and when the time comes, then we do polished things, but for right now, maybe it's just more about the energy behind what is being done, and that's what people are gonna connect to. Side note like when my song My Love got on Billboard, I did not have the best equipment. My studio was still in garage form, literally, and it was the bottom of the bottom equipment. Like I did not have the best equipment. We recorded that song right in this very room that I'm sitting in, it didn't look like this, but right in here, and it got to radio, went to billboard, and all of those things. So the best equipment is isn't always the deal. It's what you do with what you have, how you use what you have. I know that. I've been doing this long enough to know that, but I also have been doing it long enough to want to do things with good enough equipment, but I don't have to be busting my ass. You get what I'm saying? Then I came across a story about how in the late 70s Pepsi was competing with Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola had the advantage in the market everywhere. So Pepsi didn't try to beat them head on, they changed the strategy, they found another way in by purchasing these restaurant chains. I believe it was KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. But the point is, is that it may be postmarter adjust and look at what's actually happening and move differently. So they bought these restaurants and put their product in these restaurants, and at the time, all those restaurants were failing, right? And people said that this was desperate,

Pepsi’s Pivot And A Smarter Angle

SPEAKER_01 10:34

and then they had another problem because Pepsi isn't a restaurant business, they're a drink business, they didn't really know how to manage those restaurants, so it things started to go downhill, and they ended up selling to the company Yum. But the contract is that Pepsi products stay in those restaurants forever. So Pepsi solidified because they own where well but they owned where their product was going through. They owned the machine, and then after they sold the machine, they still set it up where their product has to go through there, which is genius, you know, like alright, so Coca-Cola, y'all got it, but we gonna solidify ourselves right here and make sure that we last forever. You do whatever the hell you want to do. I don't even to be honest, Coca-Cola is not my favorite drink. I like some Coca-Cola products. I'm talking about cola, the flavor. If we want to talk about cola, I would actually like a Pepsi more than the Coke. I don't like the aftertaste of Coke. Now I do like Simply Lemonade. Does Coke make Simply? I believe they do. Anyway, that's my point. I don't even drink soda like that. I am I like lemonade. But if I am gonna have a cola, I would prefer a Pepsi. A cherry one at that. Cherry Pepsi is way better than cherry coke. Argue with your moms. Anyway, people street lights. I've I've said what I had to say for today. Adjust. Figure it out. The the gist of today's episode is maybe it feels like it's not working right now. I get that, I'm in it too. But it doesn't mean you're off. It just means you're still figuring it out, figuring out your approach, and that's part of all of it. That's part of the journey. Keep going and just don't stay the same while you go. Evolve, change, adapt, pivot. But you heard I enterprise and not what other people are doing. Because that will distract you, and I know I I get it. Trust me, trust me, don't let it work. Focus, move forward, build, and if anything, if anything, you just got what you

Adapt, Evolve, And Keep Moving

SPEAKER_01 13:21

built, and you have you're proud of it. The end.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

I keep it classy. You know my style. Nice and smooth, like a vintage ride. Yeah, I go the distance. The ride is long, but for you, I go the extra mile. Like a diamond or a memory. This warranty, that's for life. Yeah, I'll be there with the loyalty. You know I'm memorized. Don't make you like me. Don't make you like me. I come from the promise. I gotta be honest. Don't make you like me. Don't make you like me. Like six top last.

Outro Track And Closing Vibes

SPEAKER_00 14:21

I'm like no other, cause there's only one. I'll be the food for your hungry so that's the different. Like your mama chicken. No substitute, cause there's only one. Like a diamond on a memory. This morning the last life. And I'll be there with the loyalty. No one arrived. Yeah. I gotta be on it. Don't make you like me. Classic blast. Don't be like me. I'm coming with a promise. I've gotta be on it. Stay like me. Don't you like me? Classic plastic. Take my soul and you had the one scissor out of the noise. Gotta go from inside when you roll from outside. One of the cows.