5 rules of personal branding, circa 2025 (with bonus genAI rule)

Find Your Superpower newsletter 100

Read time: 5 minutes

Topics covered: Personal branding, LinkedIn strategy, Brand Builder Mastermind

It’s been a busy week for me: one public genAI workshop with nearly 400 attendees, a LinkedIn storytelling workshop, and my first-ever improv workshop on Saturday. 

All of my improvisers had an incredible time learning to trust their instincts, speaking off the cuff, and associating public speaking with play.

Who could imagine that public speaking = play?

My Mastermind cadets are growing month after month, and I am a proud mama.

Today, I am going back to basics on what you need to know about personal branding, circa 2025.

I’ve posted on this topic before, but this post has newer thoughts added to it, including a bonus point on leveraging genAI as your branding assistant.

1. Anyone without a brand is a commodity

Here is a key logic sequence:

• If you don’t have a brand, you are a commodity.
• And if you are a commodity, then you had better be perfect.
• Because the definition of a commodity is someone who can be replaced.

On the other hand, someone with a strong brand doesn’t have to be perfect.

In fact, someone with a strong brand can be exceedingly flawed.

Let me explain: Taylor Swift isn’t a perfect singer or dancer, but I think it is fair to say that millions of people love her to bits. Taylor has built a powerful brand that endears her to her target audience, one that will stick with her and remain loyal to her through the ups and downs, the good times and the bad times.

In my experience, anyone can tell you their job description (JD), or basically "what" they do for a living, what they do to pay their bills.

But very few people can tell you their mission and their values, "why" they do something.

Do you know what your brand stands for?

2. Your brand should have as little complexity as possible

If you deviate from your brand persona (such as when you post on LinkedIn), it will not only confuse your target audience, your audience will also start re-evaluating their trust in you.

They may even start distancing themselves from you.

Are people being harsh? They aren’t.

All of this behavior is completely instinctive and not within their control.

Which is why if you’re known to be a leader in the automotive industry, and you suddenly discuss politics, marriage and fashion, you would confuse your target audience who then start to trust you less.

Consistency is associated with trustworthiness.

A brand is a 360-degree experience. Think of every touch point that exists for your personal brand, then audit it!

And if you really have to write about topics outside your brand, ensure that 80% of your content plays to your niche, and 20% to surprise & delight and gently expand your niche.

PS: Never forget who is your paying audience... likes on LinkedIn don’t pay the bills.

3. The narrower the niche, the more powerful the brand

In every industry, and not just the healthcare industry, specialists with in-depth knowledge are paid much more than generalists.

Rather than big, consider going small.

Rather than mass-market, consider going niche.

Niching down will make you far more money.

PS: Alex Hormozi has a great quote I use frequently, "Don’t make me niche slap you!"

To illustrate my point, these days everyone is a coach on LinkedIn. (Newsflash: I am a coach too.) If everyone is a coach on LinkedIn, then how can we stand out?

If you say you are a leadership coach, I can name 50 equally competent leadership coaches out there.

If you say you are a business scaling and performance coach, I can also name 25 equally competent business coaches out there.

But if you tell me you are a leadership coach to... <insert industry sector or demographic>... then you may be the only one I can think of in that category.

Which means, by default, you would be top of your category.

Which also means that you would be par to none—the best in your category.

Do you now see the difference?

4. Your brand is not static, it has to keep evolving

Many of my clients ask me if they should stick to a specific brand that they are known for.

This is where I buck the trend.

In 2025, we’ve now fully emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic with new work patterns established. The gig economy continues to grow, and many professionals are embracing portfolio careers.

We may work as solopreneurs, freelancers, consultants or coaches—or all of the above simultaneously.

As our career interests and goals change over time, and as we mature and develop new passions and interests, our brand has to evolve along with us.

In fact, I would be more concerned if you told me you have been doing the same thing for decades!

Have you heard the saying: "You don’t have 30 years of experience, you have one year of experience repeated 30 times"?

While we want to focus on our brand of today, we need to make strategic investments into our brand of tomorrow.

To do that, we must go for executive education courses, and reskill ourselves constantly. (Generative AI anyone, hello?)

5. It’s 2025, stop waiting for the New York Times to call

This is truly a 2025 branding tip: let’s all stop waiting for The New York Times to call us for a feature story.

This is written for those of us who were born in the newspaper era where, once upon a time, we could only attain clout and credibility by being quoted in a newspaper article or featured in a magazine.

That ship has sailed, because you can be featured by... yourself.

Don’t outsource your branding to other people.

Start posting on LinkedIn on a consistent schedule (consistency is more important than frequency).

You are your own media company in 2025.

Stop waiting for The New York Times to call you.

I pick me. Do you pick you?

Pick yourself.

[BONUS] GenAI is your branding assistant, not your replacement

This is a brand new point for 2025: with the rapid advancement of generative AI tools, many professionals are wondering if they should just let AI handle their personal branding entirely.

Let me be crystal clear: GenAI should be your assistant, not your replacement.

The most successful professionals I work with use genAI strategically:

• They use genAI to analyze their content performance
• They research industry trends and brainstorm content ideas
• They save time on formatting and editing their posts
• They optimize their schedules and workflows

However, they NEVER let AI replace their authentic voice or strategic thinking. 

Remember: Your audience can smell ChatGPT-generated content from a mile away in 2025. The personal stories, the lived experiences, the unique insights from your professional journey—these are what make your brand distinctive and valuable.

Use genAI as a copilot, but always keep your hands on the wheel.

🚨 LAST CALL: MAY 2025 COHORT CLOSING IN 24H 🚨

This is your final opportunity to join the May 2025 cohort of the Brand Builder Mastermind!

Since launching in January this year, nearly 200 professionals have joined me on my 2025 quest to build powerful personal brands that drive real business results.

Our Mastermind cadets have reported:

• Multiple features on LinkedIn News weekly roundups (on Asia, Australia, India, Europe lists)
• Significant increases in LinkedIn engagement and DMs
• Invitations to be interviewed on industry panels, radio, podcasts
• Being featured on industry Top 10 lists
• Successful launches of new businesses, online courses, communities, newsletters

This Brand Builder Mastermind subscription will give you access to the following virtual events EVERY MONTH:

• Q&A sessions and clinics with LinkedIn besties Juliana & Amanda
• Fireside chats and workshops with VIPs and experts who don’t easily give interviews 
• Bimonthly book clubs on business books that supercharge your learning curve
• Members’ forums led by a Mastermind cadet (priceless!)
• A private community of industry experts to pace you on your learning journey (priceless!)
• All training workshops from our popular, sold-out Six-Week LinkedIn Bootcamps (previously retailed at $1,500)
• VIP rates for our in-person events and summits

Receive an estimated total value of US$10,000 per annum on this offer.

[LAST CALL] SECURE YOUR SPOT NOW!

Rooting for your growth and transformation,
Juliana, your rocketship captain 🚀