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If your entire online presence vanished tomorrow, would your work still have a way to reach the people who support you? That question is the heartbeat of this Smith Street conversation, sparked by the noise around LaRussell stepping back from social media after backlash. What catches my attention isn’t the hot takes; it’s the leverage: selling 30,000 copies independently means you can log off and still communicate with your audience, because you built direct access. 

We dig into what that really takes in the creator economy: an owned audience through email marketing, text updates, and a contact list you control. We talk about why “more followers” is often the wrong goal, how the social media algorithm can quietly cut your reach, and how information silos make us think everyone sees what we see. Platform mergers and curated feeds raise the stakes, so the most valuable metric becomes simple: can you reach your people on demand? 

From there, I get practical and personal: sending your work to real people, building a site, staying consistent while you experiment, and permitting yourself to start now, not on somebody else’s schedule. We even detour into small life updates and shoutouts, because progress is rarely just business, it’s a mindset too. If this hit home, subscribe, share it with one creator who needs a backup plan, and leave a review with your answer: what’s your best way to stay reachable off-platform?

Ending Song - Pick it Up - Smith Street 

Spring Breakthrough Playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/53VwxVXTxfLYuuCKybZ9Mg?si=81f94cc5e34746b5

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/