Leaders 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. Lesson 4 of Personal Branding 101: An Unrivaled Series, from subchapter 1.4 of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, narrated by Isaac Mashman. Free, with no sign-up.
Leaders 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.
One phone, no credibility, no social proof. That is how my personal brand started once I decided to build it in public. 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 4, New World Examples. Over the last 150 years, radical communist and totalitarian leaders have risen to power and persuaded the entirety of countries to do their bidding. How could a single man's actions lead to the deaths of millions of people? A wretched example, but one that will certainly cause you to stop and think.
The people in power all had strong personal brands. They had reputations, fame, and influence. What they are remembered for is, in some cases, awful. But we still know of them and of their lasting impact. Now look at how leaders are chosen.
Is it the policy itself that elects the politician? Or is it the politician who can properly convey the policy? I'd make the argument that in many cases, personality takes precedence over promises. Still, popularity does not always mean support.
It is much better to be trusted than to simply be known. The same is true far beyond politics. Musicians, artists, models, and prominent CEOs are not in the business of their profession nearly as much as they are in the business of promotion and of building their personal brand.
Public figures can be found in the most remote parts of the world. Whang-od of Buscalan in the Philippines was over a hundred years old when I wrote the book. As a tattoo artist, she single-handedly created a market for tourism in her village, preserved the Kalinga style of tattooing from going extinct, and in 2023, appeared on the cover of one of the most notable fashion magazines.
When I started consciously building my personal brand in 2017, I used it as a sort of experiment. I was 100% obscure. No one outside my school and classmates knew me. My very first podcast was recorded on an outdated smartphone a friend gave me.
It took me roughly six years to see the fruits of my labor pay off. But it is possible to go from a nobody to a somebody. Put it to work. Record your first piece this week on the phone in your pocket. So here is your question.
What is a new world example of personal branding you would add? Every lesson in this series comes from my book, Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence. Next is lesson 5, Fame. 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, 5:13One phone, no credibility, no social proof. That is how my personal brand started once I decided to build it in public. 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 4, New World Examples. Over the last 150 years, radical communist and totalitarian leaders have risen to power and persuaded the entirety of countries to do their bidding. How could a single man's actions lead to the deaths of millions of people? A wretched example, but one that will certainly cause you to stop and think.
The people in power all had strong personal brands. They had reputations, fame, and influence. What they are remembered for is, in some cases, awful. But we still know of them and of their lasting impact. Now look at how leaders are chosen.
Is it the policy itself that elects the politician? Or is it the politician who can properly convey the policy? I'd make the argument that in many cases, personality takes precedence over promises. Still, popularity does not always mean support.
It is much better to be trusted than to simply be known. The same is true far beyond politics. Musicians, artists, models, and prominent CEOs are not in the business of their profession nearly as much as they are in the business of promotion and of building their personal brand.
Public figures can be found in the most remote parts of the world. Whang-od of Buscalan in the Philippines was over a hundred years old when I wrote the book. As a tattoo artist, she single-handedly created a market for tourism in her village, preserved the Kalinga style of tattooing from going extinct, and in 2023, appeared on the cover of one of the most notable fashion magazines.
When I started consciously building my personal brand in 2017, I used it as a sort of experiment. I was 100% obscure. No one outside my school and classmates knew me. My very first podcast was recorded on an outdated smartphone a friend gave me.
It took me roughly six years to see the fruits of my labor pay off. But it is possible to go from a nobody to a somebody. Put it to work. Record your first piece this week on the phone in your pocket. So here is your question.
What is a new world example of personal branding you would add? Every lesson in this series comes from my book, Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence. Next is lesson 5, Fame. 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.
