Are we purpose-driven or image-driven in 2025?
I read an article the other day about personal branding. And it really piqued my interest. The author believed that personal branding had now reached an inflection point and that we needed to think about personal branding differently. Authenticity, he argued, had become so manufactured it had lost all meaning.
Purpose was where it was at, or as he referred to it - the purpose revolution. What we now need are purpose-driven voices, and stop measuring growth, but instead focus on impact.
For me, this has been a hill I was willing to die on because I have argued passionately that you can’t have growth without a strong personal brand. And I fiercely protect the concept of personal branding because I feel it’s so important.
There are people out there that I know of who for some time have shown contempt for personal branding, when in fact, they have the strongest brands and are never out of work. It’s ironic, but I’m not sure they would even identify themselves as being personal brands, even though their identity, their values, and their image are so closely tied to their business.
But do they have purpose? I would say one doesn’t and has an assembly line of continuous content work (not a bad thing to have), and the second probably has more purpose and demonstrates this through subject expertise in a particular area.
However, it has given me food for thought. I think back in 2014-5 when I first started to come across personal branding, it was starting to feel nauseating. There were a lot of big personalities out there with 10k masterminds matched by big branding. Brand photos were de rigueur back then, with the biggest personalities on Facebook.
Thousands of dollars were spent on makeup, hair, clothes, and ‘themes’ where entrepreneurs would settle on a niche area and use a particular theme to demonstrate their expertise. This could be anything from food-themed photos to people dressing up in black lace or red leather or whole sets of images with people underwater. (er..why?) This is what gave personal branding a bad name. The trend was becoming over-saturated and bloated with egotistical self-love.
Looking back now it feels over-the-top and ludicrous. But these were different times. We’ve all been through a lot since then, and trends and themes come and go. We may be suffering from authenticity fatigue, but personal branding still has a place in
business, whether it’s purpose or image-driven.
According to William Arruda writing in Forbes in January of this year, he predicted 9 trends for personal branding, a few of which I’ll refer to here.
Polyworking. I predicted this earlier this year as well, but referred to it as ‘hybrid working.’ With the global economy as it is and businesses cautious about spending, it seems sensible to have more than one source of income. Making sure you’ve got all bases covered will keep the lights on and the financial cogs turning.
Yes, freelancers have always had more than one income stream (especially copywriters) what with courses, books, webinars, and masterminds, but we’re talking about working in different areas, and not just within your own specialist area and main business. I know of some freelancers creating things that have absolutely nothing to do with their main business, but it works and it pays the bills.
The question is, how do you turn this into a personal brand? Is this where purpose comes in? Or is this business model too difficult to apply a personal brand/story to because you’re stretched over so many different areas? Yes, flexibility and diversified income are great, but does ‘polyworking’ jeopardize your brand?
Inclusion is featuring big in 2025, but that’s not new, it’s had a bigger presence for a while, according to Arruda the focus will be on ‘celebrating the unique perspective, skills, and experiences individuals bring to the workplace…’ which could either be their home office if they work for themselves.
So, could this be more purpose-driven branding? There’s been a lot of neurodivergent people coming into their own in the past 2 years (myself included), who may see their business as having a purpose rather than seeing themselves as a brand (I see myself as the brand and my purpose is to work with more caring brands that have their own purpose). But I believe you can still grow your brand even if you decide to align yourself with these trends.
If you break it down to its simplest components, you simply need to stand for something and be honest and heartfelt, without focusing too hard on authenticity until it loses all meaning. You can be a hybrid freelancer or ‘polyworker’ and be known for your purpose and area of expertise. You can be inclusive with a strong brand and be authentic without proving it or bombarding people with endless selfies.
I still believe in personal branding and I still believe it’s the key to growth, but I also agree with Jesse N. Dan Yusuf writing in Medium that impactful purpose is important too.
What is my purpose?
I want to work with nonprofits and assistive technology brands that have their own purpose - to enrich the lives of the disabled and those with mental health conditions, so they can have a better quality of life and in turn make their own contribution to society.
Personal branding may evolve with the changing times we’re living in, but it can have both purpose and a strong presence. It still smells, sounds, and feels like branding, it’s just taking on a subtle new identity and taking its time about it. We are having to adapt to the lack of constancy and certainty of our times and the changing mood of the consumer, and with it branding will adapt and evolve.
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I'm looking to work with nonprofits, assistive tech firms, and therapists who are looking to work on their web copy, brand story, or content writing e.g. articles, essays, and case studies. Please take a look at my service pages and my packages to see how I can help you.
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