Relationships are a form of capital. How the firm approaches networking: gathering information, finding connection, and laying the foundation for a relationship.
In MCG's method, networking is fellowship, never a pitch. The firm works from the Manifesto's FORM questions, The Power of 3, and the discipline of introductions: the moves that turn strangers into a network that speaks for you.
The Manifesto's method is four questions that build awareness of the other person, under the acronym FORM. The answers help with rapport, with thoughtful gifts, and with knowing how you can serve them. Networking is fellowship, never a time to criticize or object.
It is easier, and better, to be introduced than to introduce yourself. Ask for an introduction only with a clear purpose, and remember that the person who introduced you is now attached to how you behave.
Introductions are how you figuratively skip the line and go straight into the realm of another.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 7.3
FORM stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Motivation. The Power of 3 adds the daily habit: three new introductions a day, starting with 90 days. The full entry: Networking and Introductions.
Introversion has no place in building a personal brand. Networking is gathering information, finding connection, and laying the foundation for a relationship.
Introduce yourself to three strangers every day for a year, starting with 90 days to build the habit. Developed around 2019 for clients who needed a simple way to grow their network, and channel agnostic by design.
A quality contact list lets you solve other people's problems with a simple introduction, and makes you the person whose name comes up first.
Every endorsement is an extension of your good faith and your influence. Research before you attach your name to anyone or anything.
How you would describe yourself in less than a minute. The Manifesto's version is not a sales pitch; it sells you as someone to get to know or follow.
Sharing stories from your own life is one of the best ways to build rapport. People who only hear about your profession only stay for what they can get.
People buy from people they know, like, and trust. A seller with a personal brand is known before the first call, and that changes every conversation after it.
Buyers and sellers choose an agent, not a brokerage. The agent whose name the neighborhood already knows wins the listing before the first meeting.
Clients buy a consultant before they buy the service. A personal brand with evidence behind it is what lets you charge for your judgment.
Each defined once in Personal Branding Terms and Doctrine.
From the Personal Branding Tips, one practical move a day. Every Relationships tip is on the tips page.
Advice Isaac Mashman has given on this subject on his own shows and in interviews, as the Doctrine Library cites it, each linked to its transcript. His own guide to the subject, with his strongest explanation and more interviews, is on isaacmashman.com: Isaac Mashman's guide to networking for executives (opens in a new tab).
At every event, split from the people you came with for at least part of each day and meet people you do not know. Set a number of new connections you will leave with.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“what's the point of going to an event, especially networking event if you don't network”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Getting Flown Out To Washington D.C. By Meta | Not Wasting Opportunities”, May 23, 2022
Make a habit of connecting people who should know each other, for business, friendship, or collaboration. Do it without expecting anything back.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“the more introductions you make, the more it shows that you have a network”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Making Introductions”, February 18, 2022
Make relationship building a daily practice you enjoy, not a chore. Share a little of your life and routine, safely, with the people who follow you.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“fall in love with establishing relationships”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “People, Personality and Personal Branding”, September 26, 2020
As told in the Manifesto and on this site.
Thirty days of The Power of 3 produces 90 new connections. Ninety days produces 270, and a full year produces 1,095, before any compounding.
The Power of 3Knowing the right designer, lawyer, or producer turns you into the problem solver, and people want to reciprocate that generosity.
Building Your Contact ListSpeaking for another person ties your reputation to theirs. The Manifesto calls it edification: credibility by association, the opposite of guilt by association.
Giving EndorsementsFree. It scores all five pillars and returns the three moves that would raise your score most.
Take the Brand Audit (opens in a new tab)Engagements are accepted by application. The firm reviews every one.
Request a ConsultationThe 4 Pillar Questions, The Five Personal Brand Pillars, the Hierarchy, and the Brand Audit that measures them.
The Leaning Tower, leverage, controversy, crises, endorsements, and a record of wins that speaks for you.
Visibility and edification, distribution, omnipresence, and the executives, authors, and builders it matters to most.
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.
Consultations are virtual or in person. See what each includes, and what is asked of you: Virtual or In Person.
