Yesterday, I gave Whitney Hess of Pain and Pleasure my definition of what personal brand means to me.

For me personal brand is related to how much you are valued as a resource by both your industry and your peers. Wealth and commercial success doesn’t really play into my overall concept of a personal brand.

In my attempts to build my personal brand, I try to add relevant and constructive content to the overall community. By doing this, it is my hope that when people are faced with a problem or question they need help with I am one of the resources they reach out to for assistance. Yes, gaining wealth and success may be a by-product of this, but it is not the intended goal.

Until I wrote this I didn’t realize that this is how I live my life on a day to day basis. I always try to help someone, no matter how well I know them or how well I personally ‘like’ them. Sometimes this feels like a burden as I put my life on hold in order to help others. But, the feeling I get when I make someone else’s life better, easier, or I give them that little piece of advise they need it makes it all worth it.

I have recently moved into the world of freelancing for web design, development, and social media consultation. This move has brought my ‘brand’ to the top of my priority list. If I had to define my personal brand it would be as a person that is completely willing to help anyone with anything. In the world of freelancing this puts me at a slight disadvantage.

There have been several projects where I have agreed to do the work before ever agreeing on a price or method of payment. As one can imagine, this puts me in an awkward position as I have to contact the client in order to get paid once the project is complete, which for some reason makes me feel bad for nagging them. I know I shouldn’t feel bad, but money was not the driver for doing the project. I agreed to do it because someone needed help and I had the ability to help them.

In the future, it is going to become a balancing act of helping people and looking out for myself. It is my hope that by reaching out and helping people I become a resource that people think of when they need help or know of someone that needs help. In the end though I am not giving away charity, but a service which I need to make sure I get reimbursed for. An interesting problem to have, and in time we will have to see if my personal brand is a blessing or a curse.