A teacher already shapes how hundreds of students think. A personal brand carries that reach past one classroom, to other teachers and to everyone who wants to learn the subject.
The Manifesto names teachers among its use cases: mission-oriented school teachers can inspire legions of new teachers through their messaging while impacting the lives of hundreds of students. It holds that an expert is obligated to share their expertise, the way a master tradesman mentors the apprentice and the journeyman. Building in public, it argues, educates the people interested in a field and benefits the public as well.
It also sets a standard for what an educator publishes. Educators need to continuously expand their own knowledge so they can share more relevant information or revise their facts, and a cliché that teaches nothing new lacks any degree of depth. The record a teacher builds, the methods, the lessons, and the people they have helped, is what other educators and institutions come to know.
Mission-oriented school teachers can inspire legions of new teachers through their messaging while impacting the lives of hundreds of students.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 8.5
Most teachers are known to their students, their colleagues, and the families of one school. The Local Hero, known by name across a district, a campus, or a field of study, is the first tier to build toward, and it is reached through deliberate effort.
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 teachers and educators, 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 teachers and educators, 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.
Commit to a book, a course, or an audio each month. Track what you learned and where you applied it.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“the moment a person stops growing is the moment that they die”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Chase The Vision”, March 7, 2020
When someone earlier in their path asks how to price or position themselves, share what you learned so they skip the years it cost you.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“i did in essence a form of mentorship”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “3 Habits of High Performers”, May 25, 2020
Document how you get your results well enough that someone on your team, or a client's team, could run it. Train one person on it this quarter.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“your results have to be duplicatable”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “3 Steps To Regaining Momentum”, January 5, 2022
Before you launch a course or paid program, confirm it is in your core business and your proven expertise. Teach the side skills freely if you like, but do not sell them.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“i would never sell you a course on something that i am not an expert in”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The Future of My Brand and Chase the Vision Podcast”, August 18, 2020
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. | One concept from your subject, explained in a minute. | A book that changed how you teach. |
| EntertainMake it enjoyable to follow you. | The question a student asked that you could not answer on the spot. | What you do outside the school year. |
| InspireShow what is possible. | A former student's progress, shared with their permission. | The teacher who made you want to teach. |
| ConnectGive people a reason to reply. | Ask other educators how they teach a hard topic. | Where you went to school. |
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).
A cliché lacks depth. Publish what you have learned, tested, and seen work.
Keep expanding what you know, and revise what you published when the facts change.
Comment on politics, religion, or societal issues only with class and intention. Avoid statements that put you at odds with whole groups.
Twenty-five questions, about seven minutes, free. Choose Other on the intake, name your field, 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.
The firm’s topic guide on the subject, with the doctrine, terms, tips, and interviews in one place: Personal Brand Strategy.
Every teacher already has one; students, families, and colleagues know them for something. The Manifesto names mission-oriented school teachers among its use cases and holds that an expert is obligated to share their expertise. Building the brand on purpose extends a teacher's reach past one classroom.
Step by step teaching from your field, the lessons behind your methods, and the person behind the title: two pieces about the work for every one about your life, as the Skyline Strategy sets out. Make each piece teach something new.
By teaching in public and building a record others can check. Publish one piece of step by step education every week, mentor someone earlier in their journey, and pitch local media with a story that matters to their audience.
A coach's personal brand is the proof of the method. People hire the coach whose life and results already show what they are selling.
A book or a talk is an extension of you, not the whole of you. Authors and speakers who are booked again are the ones whose name is the reason people show up.
A degree and a résumé say what you have done. A personal brand tells the people who hire what you are working to become, and lets them find you first.
A cliché teaches nothing and moves no one. In a crowded market, originality is what cuts through the noise.
Follower counts only get you so far. What matters more is how much the people who follow you trust you.
A 2:1 ratio from Identity Positioning: A Macroscopic View on Personal Branding. For every two steps that grow the brand side, take one that grows the personal side.
Chapter 2 of the Manifesto sets out four laws that build in order. Without familiarity there is no connection; without fame and influence, a personal brand has little reach or weight.
How MCG measures the quality of a personal brand. Five pillars, always in this order, weighted into one composite out of 100.
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.
