It (rap) doesn’t force you to pretend to be only on thing or another, to be a saint or a sinner. It recognizes that you can be true to yourself and still have unexpected dimensions and opposing ideas. Having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other is the most common thing in the world. The real bullshit is when you act like you don’t have contradictions inside you, that you’re so dull and unimaginative that your mind never changes or wanders into strange, unexpected places. – Jay-Z (Decoded)
A couple of weeks ago I discussed tackling side projects to bolster your resume with Mike Krass on his Anti Resume Blog. One of the things we ended up discussing was the notion of becoming a ‘thought leader’ in a very specific niche.
I was struck by how passionate I was about avoiding this strategy for myself. While there are many people who employ this strategy successfully I can’t think of anything more boring than talking ad nausem about personal branding, social media analytics, or anything else for that matter.
That’s why the above Jay Z quote really hit home for me. There are a ton of things I’m passionate about, and while I could probably corner the market on advanced sabremetrics for division III baseball players in the west region, I’d much rather be relatively well versed on all things baseball, Texas Country music, networking, social business, Houston-area food, personal finance, education, etc.
Case in point, in the last couple of weeks I’ve been featured on some relatively prominent websites discussing the following:
- Tips For Small Business Success on eBay – (Mashable)
- My Favorite Business Book & Why – (Huffington Post)
- Reaching Out to Angel Investors – (All Business)
- Tip on Guest Blogging for Well-Trafficked Media Outlets and Websites – (Portfolio)
- How to Find the Right Mentor – (Fox Business)
- How do I Attract Great Interns? (MSN – Business on Main)
I’m not an expert on any of these things, but chances are I knew enough about each to help someone.
Things I believed strongly about a mere 6 months ago, I might totally contradict now. We’re constantly evolving (or at least we should be) and the experiences we encounter shape the people we become.
I want you to do what’s best for you, but know that I’d much rather read Ben Casnocha discuss a wide variety of interesting things than I would someone who essentially writes about the same thing day after day. If you get tired of reading my business/marketing musings, I archive awesome stuff I find on this Tumblr blog.
Would you rather be interesting or be an expert? Very few people are truly both.
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