Recently a woman approached me at an event and we had a long chat.
She asked me some questions about a project I was working on. She relayed a story in which she and a group of her friends were all laughing about something I had said on Twitter. She filled me in on how her job search was going. Then she gave me a hug and left.
It was an interesting encounter – mostly because I had never met this woman before.
So how did we end up having a 15-minute heart to heart?
Well first, I made a decision a year or so ago to conduct my professional life in a bubble and I extended an open invitation for anyone to pop by and watch or eavesdrop.
Somewhere along the line, this particular woman took me up on my offer. And something I said or did vetted me and indicated to this woman that I was someone she should definitely meet.
Networking hasn't always been this easy for me. In fact, when I started my business nearly 10 years ago, I had to work damn hard to make contacts and build relationships of any sort.
Then social media came along and the whole playing field changed.
Now I'm…
But you know what social media had not made me?
Famous.
There is a great chasm that exists between “famous” and “less invisible,” and I am not so naïve as to believe that social media has given me the tools to suddenly bridge it.
Just because someone...
...does not make me famous.
It just makes me an effective participant in the social media space.
I talk a lot, so more people are hearing me.
I reach out, so more people are encountering me.
I share what I’m thinking, so more people are feeling like they know me.
That's not an indication fame, just strategy and implementation working in calculated harmony.
Yes, it’s flattering to have complete strangers suddenly know who I am. However…
This social media world is not really “the world.” It’s just a microcosm of people who are continually opting in and out of the "Jen Kane Diaries."
So no, I’m not famous. And the cold hard reality is that most “social media celebrities” aren’t really either. (And yes, this post is for you, folks.)
What I am is prolific and transparent.
And, as we've learned from reality TV, if you go out of your way to make a flurry of public statements that are remotely salacious, scandalous, riotous or snarky, you will get noticed.
That doesn't make you the next Dorothy Parker.
It just makes you slightly less boring than most other people.
And for now, "slightly less boring" suits me just fine.
I’m a consultant, strategist, author, educator, and speaker with more than 30 years of professional experience. I’m passionately curious, fairly sassy, kinda dorky and seriously good at what I do.
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