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Welcome, all. If you found your way here because of my story on personal branding in Indy.com the Magazine or on Indy.com, thanks for reading. It’s been several days since I finished the story and I wanted to share some thoughts on the project and its effects. But before I get too far I want to thank the people who made this story work: James Burnes, Don Schindler, and Scottyhendo at Mediasauce, Ben Neff, Jonathon Boho, and Dana Contreras at Indy.com. And of course my wife, who put up with the existential crisis and near-nervous breakdown working on this story inspired.

Without further ado, here are some of my conclusions and questions.

What happens online always comes home. I resisted Facebook for two years. In fact, before this project, I was seriously considering going offline with the exception of my e-mail address. Social networking, blogging, it was all too much for me, and I was wary of not only not stopping, but doing more, exposing more, being more available online. Because no matter how careful you are, what happens online always comes home. Link profiles with your spouse? He or she will end up getting unsolicited communications. Post personal information and open yourself to identity theft. It’s been a delicate dance thinking about every piece of information I offer to determine if it is not only witty and relevant but something that exposes aspects of my life that I want to be private.

It’s possible to be both calculating and sincere. This story required me to seek out connections with specific people (taste makers, colleagues, peers, my audience, etc) and communicate with them in a calculated way. But if I want to know someone and make them a part of my audience, I have to communicate with them sincerely. So I spent time perusing online profiles getting to know what they want me to know, and I made an attempt to connect with them through shared interests or experiences. Is it calculating? Yes. Is it sincere? Yes.

I still think marketing is BS in the absence of substance. There seem to be more people on Twitter selling themselves as experts on “growing your online business” than there are people actually growing their online businesses. Web 2.0 shills reinforce my belief that the only way to get rich quick is to sell a program that teaches people how to get rich quick.

Will my audience believe in the Wizard after I’ve shown them the man behind the curtain? Only time will tell. If my audience values transparency, then yes. As I wrote above, it is both calculating and sincere. The stories I tell matter to me and I think they matter to others as well. The day I stop believing that is the day I shut all of this down.

I’d love to know what you think of the story, the idea, and what I have done so far to “become a brand.”