Fame is the result of accumulated attention: what it is, how relative it is, and why on its own it is useless. Lesson 5 of Personal Branding 101: An Unrivaled Series, from subchapter 1.5 of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, narrated by Isaac Mashman. Free, with no sign-up.
Fame is the result of accumulated attention: what it is, how relative it is, and why on its own it is useless.
Would you rather be known by everyone or known by the right people? Welcome to Personal Branding 101. I'm Isaac Mashman, founder of Mashman Consulting Group and author of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence. This is lesson 5, Fame.
Fame is hard to quantify, and perhaps even more difficult to define. The best definition I have come to is, fame is the result of accumulated attention. Fame is also relative. You could become famous in your industry or famous to everyone. There is a term for the second kind, a household name.
A name known by virtually every person talked about at the dinner table. Knock on your neighbor's doors, and nearly all of them could tell you who it is. Every new relationship contributes to your fame. Whether your content goes viral, you go on a news station, meet someone at an orchestra, or get a contract notarized, each interaction adds to your pool of fame.
And fame can be limited to a niche. When I spoke at the 2024 Atlantic-Oase Professional Conference in Denver, an event for water feature professionals, one name kept coming up in my private conversations. He wasn't even in attendance.
Yet person after person told stories about him. He is otherwise unknown to anyone outside the water feature industry. But inside it, he is virtually a household name. Here is the hard truth. Being famous by itself is useless.
It is purely a measurement of vanity. Remember the influencer from lesson 1, with millions of followers who couldn't sell her own apparel? She had fame and attention, but lacked influence. You could also be famous for the wrong reasons.
Jeffrey Dahmer, Billy the Kid, Jack the Ripper, you know who they are. But do they have influence over you? Or are you duplicating their crimes? I would hope not. Fame is impartial to the cause.
What you are looking for is influence. So put it to work. Define the one industry or community where you want to be a household name. Build there until the people inside it would recognize you before you try to reach anyone outside it.
And give that attention somewhere to go. A list, an offer, or an invitation. So here's your question. Do you want to be famous? If you do, why?
And if you don't, why not? Every lesson in this series comes from my book, Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence. Next is lesson 6, Influence. I'll see you there.
Each lesson takes one subchapter of Education, the Manifesto’s opening chapter, and animates it in a few minutes: the foundation the rest of the book, and the firm’s work, is built on.
In one word: you. What a personal brand is, how it differs from a company brand, where the term came from, and why it already exists before anyone sets out to build it.
Watch Lesson 1, 3:50Pharaohs, kings, and conquerors: people have carried personal brands for as long as there has been history, and the names that lasted are still studied today.
Watch Lesson 2, 2:59Why personal branding is the world's oldest form of branding, long before any company had a logo.
Watch Lesson 3, 3:08Leaders of the last 150 years, why personality can outweigh promises, a tattoo artist who put her village on the map, and a personal brand started on one phone.
Watch Lesson 4, 3:06Fame is the result of accumulated attention: what it is, how relative it is, and why on its own it is useless.
Watch Lesson 5, 3:06Influence is trust, and the ability to get someone to act or change the way they think: the heat in the fire that is a personal brand.
Watch Lesson 6, 3:13The four questions the firm asks its clients for clarity before the work begins, starting with why.
Watch Lesson 7, 3:33A six-level pyramid for the reach a personal brand can aspire to, and how to see where yours stands.
Watch Lesson 8, 5:13Would you rather be known by everyone or known by the right people? Welcome to Personal Branding 101. I'm Isaac Mashman, founder of Mashman Consulting Group and author of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence. This is lesson 5, Fame.
Fame is hard to quantify, and perhaps even more difficult to define. The best definition I have come to is, fame is the result of accumulated attention. Fame is also relative. You could become famous in your industry or famous to everyone. There is a term for the second kind, a household name.
A name known by virtually every person talked about at the dinner table. Knock on your neighbor's doors, and nearly all of them could tell you who it is. Every new relationship contributes to your fame. Whether your content goes viral, you go on a news station, meet someone at an orchestra, or get a contract notarized, each interaction adds to your pool of fame.
And fame can be limited to a niche. When I spoke at the 2024 Atlantic-Oase Professional Conference in Denver, an event for water feature professionals, one name kept coming up in my private conversations. He wasn't even in attendance.
Yet person after person told stories about him. He is otherwise unknown to anyone outside the water feature industry. But inside it, he is virtually a household name. Here is the hard truth. Being famous by itself is useless.
It is purely a measurement of vanity. Remember the influencer from lesson 1, with millions of followers who couldn't sell her own apparel? She had fame and attention, but lacked influence. You could also be famous for the wrong reasons.
Jeffrey Dahmer, Billy the Kid, Jack the Ripper, you know who they are. But do they have influence over you? Or are you duplicating their crimes? I would hope not. Fame is impartial to the cause.
What you are looking for is influence. So put it to work. Define the one industry or community where you want to be a household name. Build there until the people inside it would recognize you before you try to reach anyone outside it.
And give that attention somewhere to go. A list, an offer, or an invitation. So here's your question. Do you want to be famous? If you do, why?
And if you don't, why not? Every lesson in this series comes from my book, Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence. Next is lesson 6, Influence. I'll see you there.
Read further: Fame and Influence, and Chapter 1 of the Manifesto (opens in a new tab).
The chapter the series is drawn from, word for word from the Second Edition.
Read Chapter 1 (opens in a new tab)The firm’s full answer, with the laws, the pillars, and the Hierarchy in one place.
Read the GuideSee where your own personal brand stands across the five pillars of Identity Positioning™.
Take the Brand AuditEngagements 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.
