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.
The Manifesto opens with the sales maxim that people do business with whom they know, like, and trust, and asks why so much emphasis goes on accolades and scripts while the personal side is missing. A seller whose prospects already know them has skipped the hardest part of the sale.
It also describes edification as one of the most potent sales tools: a manager praising a salesperson's attention to detail in front of a buyer. A personal brand is edification at scale, and its opposite, visible need, is what sinks a seller.
The desperate salesperson will never sell as much as the person who doesn't communicate their need to make a sale.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 7.1
Most sellers are known to their book of accounts. The Local Hero, known across a territory or an industry niche, is where inbound conversations begin.
Where most stand: Tier 2, Friends and FamilyBuild toward: Tier 3, The Local Hero
The tier measures how large a position is. How good it is, is measured by The Five Personal Brand Pillars. Read more about the six tiers.
The moves MCG starts with for sales and business development leaders, grouped by pillar, in order. Each one cites the subchapter of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence it comes from.
Advice Isaac Mashman has given on his own shows and in interviews that applies to sales and business development leaders, from the same library MCG consultants work from. Each one keeps the words he said it in, and links to the transcript where there is one.
For each client result you share, add the part people relate to: what the person was facing, what changed, and why it mattered to them. Cut any post that is only a number.
“you're not connecting with someone on a deeper level”
Unrivaled Results with Mashman Ventures, “UNRIVALED: Personal Branding Training”, April 13, 2022
When you need a conversation with someone, ask for the soonest time that works instead of offering next week or next month.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“what is the quickest you can do this”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The Disaster Known As Procrastination”, April 22, 2022
Set a ratio for your content and conversations where most of it connects and adds value and only a small part promotes. Let the offer come up naturally once the relationship is there.
“i'm not pitching you 24-7 and that's by design”
Unrivaled Results with Mashman Ventures, “UNRIVALED: Personal Branding Training”, April 13, 2022
Close other tabs, silence notifications, and put your phone away for every call, interview, and consultation. Do not check anything mid conversation.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“the direction that you need to go in is very simply being present”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Get Better At Speaking With These 5 Tips”, April 1, 2022
All consumed media educates, entertains, inspires, or connects. The Skyline Strategy asks for two pieces about your work for every one about your life. Here is one of each, for each purpose.
| Purpose | Brand Post | Personal Post |
|---|---|---|
| EducateTeach something useful. | How to open a call without sounding like a pitch. | Your pre-call ritual. |
| EntertainMake it enjoyable to follow you. | The objection you never expected. | The worst sales call you ever had. |
| InspireShow what is possible. | The deal you almost walked away from. | Who taught you to sell. |
| ConnectGive people a reason to reply. | Share a lesson from a customer. | Ask what made buyers trust a salesperson. |
Draw a Week
Two posts about your work, one about your life, drawn from the ideas above.
Plan the ratio with the free Skyline Planner (opens in a new tab).
Visible need to close drives buyers away. A personal brand built on service removes it.
Lead with a personal hook and a professional punchline, never a script about results.
Fortune is in the follow-up, but a greeting that is really a sales attempt reads as disingenuous.
Twenty-five questions, about seven minutes, free. Choose Sales / Business Development Leader on the intake and the audit scores all five pillars, places you on The Hierarchy of Personal Branding, and returns the three moves that would raise your score most, each traced to the subchapter it comes from.
You already have one; every prospect forms an impression before the first call. Building it on purpose matters because people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Being known before the first call shortens the cycle and changes the tone of every conversation.
What you learn from customers, how you solve their problems, and the human side, at the Skyline Strategy's two to one ratio. Never a constant stream of pitches.
Your company owns its brand. Yours, built on your name, your relationships, and your reputation, travels with you.
Clients buy a consultant before they buy the service. A personal brand with evidence behind it is what lets you charge for your judgment.
Buyers and sellers choose an agent, not a brokerage. The agent whose name the neighborhood already knows wins the listing before the first meeting.
In finance, trust is the product. A personal brand is how a client decides to trust you with their money before they have ever met you.
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.
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.
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.
