So excited to be going after one of my life-long goals. Here is the start of the press release. You can read the full release at http://blogs.northmasonchamber.com/?p=868

North Mason County, WA – Recognized as a leading expert in social networking and social media for chambers of commerce and small business, Mr. Kenny has resigned from the North Mason Chamber to pursue his dream of being a public speaker. His last day with the chamber will be August 31st.  He will begin a speaking tour of the 50 states, beginning the second week of September, speaking primarily to chamber of commerce and small business audiences. He has garnered support for the tour from association and industry leaders in the chamber of commerce field, both in Washington State and Nationally.

Question for you: Have you ever held back on going for your dreams? Why?

My philosophy is “Go for it. You won’t starve. And you just might live up to your full potential. Be bold.”

During my “social networking for business” presentations I am often asked about the time commitment required to do social networking right. The key to success in using social networking to have a positive impact on your business and life is more about consistency than hours put in per day.

My consistency comes from using tabs. I have bookmarked this blog, my Facebook profile, my Facebook fan pages, my Linkedin page, etc….about 15 of them all in one file. Then I “Open all in Tabs” through Firefox and they all open in the background. I go through tab by tab until I have participated. This usually takes less than an hour.

By doing the same sites every morning and night, I build a reputation for consistency and earn the right to be “One of Us” with the various groups I interact with. By the way, I have had more than 50 tabs open at once. Use them. Your productivity online will soar.

20 years ago, groups of established people would regularly socialize over dinner and drinks. These cliques had great power and influence in the community. It was very hard to break into these groups and share in the influence. Now, less established people are regularly socializing through social networking. New relationships and bonds are being formed. Relatively speaking, power and influence is migrating to the new groups. Those without a social presence are falling out of favor, power, and influence.

I have been thinking lately about the various circles of friends that we all have. The circles sure are expanding through Facebok, Twitter, Youtube, and all the other social networking sites. As they old saying goes, “You can’t have too many friends.”

However, my thesis here today is that very close friends, the kind that are loyal and will refer you the majority of opportunities that you end up with, are factors of magnitude more important to your life than the fringe or even middle level acquaintances (not yet close friends).

Keep your close friends really close. Don’t neglect them as you develop your new friends.