The concept of personal branding has evolved, causing confusion among professionals. Initially, it was simple, involving a basic website and portfolio. Now, with the rise of various social media platforms, the expectation to constantly market oneself has intensified, leading many to feel overwhelmed by the need to produce content daily. This shift has made the act of doing work secondary to the performance of self-marketing, leaving many creatives feeling exhausted and unsure about their identity in an increasingly chaotic digital branding landscape.
Recognising this makes me feel, at turns, embarrassed, guilty, or defiant, depending on my mood. But also, it makes me wonder: when exactly did we all decide that existing professionally meant transforming ourselves into some sort of walking, talking marketing campaign?
At some point on this epic journey, we were told to 'niche down', 'build an audience', and 'post daily content'. Suddenly, we weren't just professionals doing work; we were Content Creators™.
But now we're exhausted by the constant self-marketing. It's not enough to do the work; we have to be seen doing it, seen talking about doing it.
Worse still, the current landscape is, to put it mildly, a mess. Creatives are bouncing between platforms like pinballs... trying to remain 'relevant'.
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