Today we’d like to introduce you to Darryl Smith.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been creating content since I was a kid. However, at the time, I didn’t know it was content creation. I used to walk around with a camera and snap photos of birds, people, and so on. As I got older and into college, I used to film videos around the campus of Grambling State University and post those on The Gramblinite’s website. I also worked briefly at the TV station at Grambling as well.
Then, content creation was in its infancy. Sometimes, I wonder what would’ve happened if I had fully immersed myself into content creation via YouTube back in the 2000s. But as life would have it, it took me down many rivers and streams — before I finally landed into this ocean of being a content creator.
I started out on Mixer in 2020. I was only doing it for fun, casually doing streams here and there. Then Mixer shut down in June — shortly after my birthday. I moved over to Twitch, but I never felt home there, so I ended up going to Facebook Gaming. I became a partner on Facebook Gaming in 2021, and it was a wild ride!
We accomplished a lot during our time at Facebook Gaming. I spoke at PAX West, SXSW, and Nishi Fest in 2022. I was able to attend PAX East for my first gaming convention in 2022 as well. I also attended DreamHack Dallas and RTX Austin as a special guest. I made a pretty large impact as I waded into the vast ocean.
Now, I’m looking to steer the ship through the choppy ocean water as I have moved my livestreams to Twitch — and soon YouTube. But with God as my navigator, I’ll be staying afloat. I’m very excited to see what 2023 brings for me and my community, as we are ready to continue to grow!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road at all. Content creation is one of the toughest things I’ve done. You have eyes on you nearly 24/7 as the world never sleeps anymore. You also can say one thing wrong, and it’s the end of your career as well. It could be something you know nothing about or would ever think would offend someone, but if it does, your career is pretty much over.
Not only do you have those obstacles, you have the challenge of staying creative and not getting complacent. Complacency is the biggest killer of content creators. They get to a certain level and stop moving forward. They become “dead in the water”, and now the sharks are circling to eat them alive.
I’ve fought complacency by always finding something to tinker with. Whether it’s my audio, my camera settings, learning how to tell a story within a video, etc., I’m always looking for something to make me or my content better. Sometimes, I end up wasting a lot of time and money. Other times, I discover something amazing and add the arrow to my quiver.
One of the biggest challenges I’m facing right now is no longer being paid a salary from Facebook. My paid contract with them ended, and I’m having to figure out how to make up that lost income. It hasn’t been easy, especially when you have a wife that depended on the income. However, it’s made me become more creative and figure things out, as money cannot stop coming into the house.
Another challenge I’m facing is changing platforms. A lot of people have platform loyalty. Most content creators do not have platform loyalty anymore, so when they decide to make the switch (or they are forced to make the switch), they have to fight starting over to an extent with their community. It’s a tough situation, and it really does — for lack of a better word — suck.
But your diehard fans will follow you anywhere. So, the exciting challenge is creating diehard fans that will ride with you to another platform, continue to support, and make every day exciting. It’s why I love the core group of my community — they make every single day exciting!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Content creation has a plethora of categories. One of the categories I specialize in is variety livestreamer. I do not like playing the same game every single day. I tried it on Facebook, and while I did grow, it became a headache to keep playing the same game over and over and over and over again. It was no longer fun. I just couldn’t do it, and I commend anyone who can play the same game for years, every single stream, and have fun.
Another segment of content creation I’m looking into and planning to do more with is vlogging. I have a set plan and technique I will be using for my vlogs, and I’m excited to start sharing those on YouTube and Facebook. Vlogging will cover a variety of things, such as food reviews, a day in the life, and so much more. There’s so much to do in DFW, and I think it should be showcased a lot more, so I want to start showcasing that. I’m really excited to start focusing on this and sharing more of my work and personality!
I have other things I’m thinking about doing, but those are the current things I’m working on. I know I’ll be expanding my merch line to include more designs. I’ve always wanted a merch line that people would love to wear, and I’m beginning to get more focused on it so I can expand that avenue of income. I already published a new design, and I’m already working on more!
I’m also a part of the hard-of-hearing community, so I want to make sure I start representing them even more. I’m not 100% sure how I will do it, but I’m hoping to make more of an impact in that realm. I’m excited to continue navigating the oceans of content creation!
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
One of the things that’s imperative to have in content creation is good people skills. It took me a long time to get good people skills, and sometimes, I still screw it up. However, the good outweighs the bad I believe, and I’m always working to become a better person and appreciate people even more. It’s an ongoing process, and it’s one I have to keep working on it daily.
Another quality that is important is having a personality. It’s something I had to work on, as I’m very open to my friends. But being open to a bunch of strangers on the internet is difficult. I had actually withdrawn a lot on Facebook and I rarely post about my life on there. Content creation has allowed me to open back up my personality more and share more of me to the world. I’m still slowly allowing myself to do it on Facebook, but it’s hard to hide yourself when you’re in front of a camera all the time!
Patience is also something that is very important to me. Not every video will “blow up” and go viral. Sometimes, the video I put the most work into flops. And the video I put no effort into editing … goes crazy. It’s weird and frustrating, but you HAVE to have patience. Nothing is accomplished overnight, and you have to go through that period of time where nothing happens. It’s tough, but not impossible.
The last quality I think is important is just being grateful. Too many times, we get caught up in our numbers, finances, lack of fun in something, etc. Every single day is a day to be grateful. No matter what’s going on, you woke up today. That’s another day to figure out a solution to whatever is going on or start pivoting and making a change to better your life. Life ain’t easy and never will be. I always like to quote this great philosopher when it comes to being grateful: “Every day above ground is a great day.” Shout out to Pitbull for the quote.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.dds618.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/DDS618_
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DDS618
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryldsmith/
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DDS618_
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@DDS618
- Beacons: http://beacons.ai/DDS618
