The MCG Wiki.
Personal branding by profession, and the core methods of the Manifesto. Every page traced to the book it comes from.
Two libraries, one method. Personal branding by profession takes every profession on the Brand Audit and sets out where to start in that field. The Doctrine Library sets out the core methods of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence in short form. Every page cites the subchapter it draws from, and links to the free tools on identitypositioning.com where one applies.
Personal Branding by Profession
Recommendations across The Five Personal Brand Pillars for every profession on the Brand Audit, with content ideas and what to avoid.
The Doctrine Library
The core methods of the Manifesto, from The Hierarchy of Personal Branding to the Power of 3, each with where it sits in the book.
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By Profession
Business Owners and Founders
Your company has a brand. So do you, and the two should grow together. A founder's personal brand opens doors the company cannot open alone.
Executives and C-Suite Leaders
More executives are becoming the public face of their companies. The ones who do it well build a presence before a crisis or a stock price asks them to.
Investors and Fund Managers
Capital is plentiful; trust and access are not. An investor's personal brand decides which rooms they are invited into and which deals find them first.
Consultants and Advisors
Clients buy a consultant before they buy the service. A personal brand with evidence behind it is what lets you charge for your judgment.
Coaches
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.
Creators and Influencers
A large audience is fame. Whether it buys, believes, or follows you to a new platform is influence, and that is the part a creator has to build on purpose.
Authors and Speakers
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.
Sales and Business Development Leaders
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.
Finance, Credit, and Banking Professionals
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.
Lawyers and Legal Professionals
Clients hire a lawyer, not a letterhead. The attorneys whose names are mentioned in the right circles are the ones who built a personal brand on purpose.
Real Estate Agents and Brokers
Buyers and sellers choose an agent, not a brokerage. The agent whose name the neighborhood already knows wins the listing before the first meeting.
Healthcare and Medical Professionals
A strong clinical reputation earns trust from patients who find you. A personal brand decides how many of them ever do.
Technology and Product Leaders
The best builders are often the least known. A personal brand makes the work you shipped visible to the people who hire, fund, and follow product leaders.
The Doctrine Library
The Hierarchy of Personal Branding
Six tiers that measure how far a personal brand reaches. Everyone starts at the bottom, and each tier above asks for more effort, time, and resources than the one before it.
The 4 Laws of Personal Branding
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.
The 4 Pillar Questions
Four questions MCG asks every client before any strategy, in this order, because each answer depends on the one before it.
Fame and Influence
The subtitle of the Manifesto names the two forces that decide what a personal brand can accomplish. Reach without trust is empty, and trust without reach stays small.
The Skyline Strategy
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.
The Five Personal Brand Pillars
How MCG measures the quality of a personal brand. Five pillars, always in this order, weighted into one composite out of 100.
The Power of 3
Introduce yourself to three strangers every day. Developed around 2019 for clients who needed a simple way to grow their network, and channel agnostic by design.
Seamless Branding
There should be no doubt who you are when someone introduces you, on or offline, and no question that you are the right person to follow.
The Elevator Pitch
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.
The Art of Storytelling
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.
Avoiding Clichés
A cliché teaches nothing and moves no one. In a crowded market, originality is what cuts through the noise.
The Leaning Tower
No matter how far a personal brand reaches, it is always a single misstep away from crashing down. The size of a reputation is not a shield.
Who Has Leverage Over You?
To be a public figure is to be watched. As your efforts pay off, the people who hold leverage over you, and what they could do with it, matter more.
Building Credibility
Follower counts only get you so far. What matters more is how much the people who follow you trust you.
Controversy With Purpose
Avoid controversy that concerns your own reputation. External controversy, handled with intent and class, can position you as the expert.
Dealing With Crises
Over a lifetime of building a personal brand, something less than ideal will happen. A crisis is rarely the end; how you respond decides most of the damage.
Giving Endorsements
Every endorsement is an extension of your good faith and your influence. Research before you attach your name to anyone or anything.
Compiling Wins
By compiling wins, future successes become easier to obtain. A record that speaks for you does the convincing you once had to do yourself.
Building Your Contact List
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.
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.
Communicating Intent
Be transparent about what you want and why. Letting your intent be known creates advocates out of the people around you.
Distribution
The last thing you want is to pour your effort into work no one sees. Distribution decides whether it reaches anyone.
Pivoting
Who you are today differs from who you were a decade ago. A pivot is not something to fear; it is an opportunity to promote something new.
Establishing Personal Brand Habits
Every commitment you add to a personal brand asks you to show up and deliver. Habits keep momentum; motivation does not.
Nothing matches that. Try a broader word.
Your name is already being interpreted. The question is who are they, and what are they thinking?
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.