The Halo Effect

0:09

Yo, yo, yo. What is going on? Isaac Mashman here. Thank you for tuning into another episode of your favorite podcast, Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, the show that is all about helping you become a more capable individual through me sharing my experiences and knowledge. If you are able to cut time frames and learn from another person, then that means you are on the right track to success. I'm not one of those believers that, "Hey, I have 20 years to wait." I'd rather cut time frames and make it, let's say, five years, let's say 12 months. So today I'm going to be starting off the topic by asking you a question: is everybody equal?

Now, I'm not saying this in terms of race, color, creed, religion. I'm not saying that anybody is not a human or another person isn't a human. I'm not saying this in any way that is controversial.

1:12

But the question is definitely something that is going to spark curiosity in your minds. Is everybody equal? Now, what do I mean by this? Well, it seems to me that in the age of social media, in the age of followers and fans, and in the age of celebrity and influence, not everybody seems to be equal. Now, although we are, we oftentimes treat other individuals in a way of looking to them almost like a god, looking at other people as these larger-than-life figures. Now, this has been going on since the early days of Hollywood, and I would argue this has been going on since the beginning of time.

Where government came into play, we would view patriarchs, we would view monarchs and these kings of the old times as sons of God, and like they were better than everybody, that they were pure, that they were holy. That's why people would keep marrying within the bloodline, to maintain that purity in blood. But now that we have social media and we are so globalized as a race of human beings on this planet, it's like mankind has lost the ability to view everybody as man.

2:17

Now, there have been controversies going back to before written history, controversies over viewing people, because they are not the same race, as less than human. I disagree with all of those different things. I disagree that... it's despicable to me to think that somebody would view another person as less than based off of race or religion or belief systems, or even financial status. That seems to be the thing at the forefront. Now, I'm not here to get into a political conversation. I'm not here to get into a controversial conversation, but I am here to make a point. Think about your favorite celebrity that you follow right now.

Think about the person that you are looking up to as a role model, looking up to as somebody you can mimic, whether that's their success or what they do.

5:01

They have obtained this level of success, and therefore the general populace views them as these gods, as these people of massive, larger-than-life attitudes. This can be unhealthy. This can make people compare themselves. This can make people want to... it can lead to anorexia, because you're trying to look like this woman, look like this model. This can lead to depression, with people comparing themselves to a level of financial status. Now, this is known as the halo effect: automatically looking at one trait to determine the person as a whole. It's like they're walking around with wings and a halo above their head, like an angel. It's like, "Oh my God, this is where the attention goes. This is where the energy is brought to. This is who I pay attention to."

7:21

But if you view them as greater than you based off of their success or status, their social status in life, you all of a sudden lose all of your power, all of your leverage, because this person automatically thinks that you are viewing them as somebody who is above yourself. Now, most people, most celebrities, most influencers, most people that I have personally had a conversation with and been able to talk to, they think everybody is normal. They think everybody is... they're normal, the fans are normal, that, hey, they're a normal bro. They can have a conversation with you. They can have a drink with you. They can sit down and play video games. But at the same time, they also understand the power of the halo effect, and they understand the power of influence.

8:02

That's why these influencers are making a million dollars a year. This is why Kylie Jenner was able to make a billion dollars off of her cosmetics brand. These influencers are able to come back from controversy and completely flip the script and the narrative, because they understand how influence works. So in a networking sense, when you're approaching somebody, you always approach them with a level of equal respect: "Hey, I am building my own empire, and I respect the empire that you have built and are continuing to build. However, I am your equal." So let me give you an application of this. LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to connect with other business owners, and especially business owners that might seem to be out of reach: people that might have a few more followers on Instagram, or might have millions of followers on Twitter, that you would normally not be able to get in contact with, simply because they're not going to see your message in the big old sea of thousands and thousands and thousands of other followers.

9:00

However, if you go to LinkedIn, oftentimes they have a smaller audience, that audience is not as active, and you are able to shoot them a request to connect. You can connect with the person, but you can also give them a written connection request where you're able to type in a quick sentence. It's almost like a postcard. You're sending them a postcard with a message like, "Hey, this is me, and I would love to connect with you." So what I do is I say this two-sentence phrase. I'm like, "Hey, Maria, it would be great to connect with you here on LinkedIn. Much love and cheers to massive success in 2021." Or, "John, it would be an honor to connect with you here on LinkedIn. Much love and cheers to massive success in 2021."

9:44

You're saying, "Hey, I would love to connect with you. It'd be an honor to. I respect what you've done. Let's go ahead and build something in 2021." You're approaching them as an equal. But if you were to go in and shoot them a message and say, "Oh my God, Kim, I'm your biggest fan. I appreciate you so much. I value you so much," they're going to be like, "Man, this person is going to connect with me and want to use me, and then they're going to just try to spam me [and annoy me]." That's not somebody who they want to be connected with. That's who they're connected with every single day through their social media pages.

An example of this would be, let's say, Elena Cardone or Brad Lea or David Meltzer, Dan Fleyshman. I've been able to connect with these individuals, even Manny Khoshbin, using LinkedIn, simply by shooting them a message that, "Hey, I am somebody who is wanting to be in network with you." Those are the people who have accepted my requests. More times than not, I have more yeses than noes. With people who are active, I've been able to connect with CEOs of top 100 PR firms, literally some of the biggest public relations firms in the entire world, because that's the industry I'm in.

10:46

Mashman Ventures is a public relations firm, and so, naturally, I want to connect with larger players in the field. Now, I haven't actually sent messages to any of these people, but this also means that if they're scrolling through LinkedIn, there is a chance that they will see my content. There is a chance that they will see Isaac Mashman, and that name will go into their subconscious brain and be like a seed that germinates. Then all of a sudden I shoot them a message, and they see my content, and they register that, "Hey, this piece of content I saw came from this person who is messaging me now.

I like that piece of content, so let me give this person a chance." Based off of the way that LinkedIn works, this also means that I am one message away from being in contact with them, not popping up in the requests, but popping up in their inbox, a notification across the phone of the top CEO in the world...

11:33

...or of the top figures, or one of these larger-name influencers, these entrepreneurial mentors, these, quote, gurus. I am one message away, which puts me in a much better position than a fan who is viewing them as some greater-than-thou god. These people who have success, their success should definitely be respected, but they should not be worshiped. You can study these people, but you should not sacrifice your power in an attempt to connect with them. You lose your power the moment you come across as some fanboy, as some fangirl, as like, "Oh my God, I love this." You lose your power. To give you a real-life application, my very first business trip was up to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

It was when I was still in network marketing (in episode 48, I talked about why I quit network marketing), but I still to this day have massive respect for the vice president of the company I was a part of.

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His name is [Alex Morton]. He was speaking at this event. I remember seeing him walk in the room, and he had this energy about him that was like, you could tell that he was successful. Successful people vibrate at this level where you just know. They walk in the room and everybody's attention goes to them. If you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about. Anyways, I went up to him and I started asking him questions. I shared my story. I didn't view him as some god. I viewed him as an equal, but as somebody of status, and I was asking him questions.

I was picking his brain. I showed interest in him for who he was. I didn't show interest in what he had. That's the difference.

13:01

People were coming up to [him], my age at the time or even older. They were wanting pictures with his Rolex and admiring his shoes that had these crystal studs on them, but they weren't [caring] the first damn thing about Alex Morton, the individual. That's why I was able to get [invited] out to dinner with the entire team and sit two rows, or two seats, next to him at dinner and continue to pick his brain. Because I viewed him as an equal, and that is a strategy that I've leveraged to get in contact with these influencers. Outside of the people I listed through LinkedIn, over the past couple of years, [I've] put myself in positions that I never dreamed of being in, because I didn't sacrifice my power. I viewed these people as equals no matter what.

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That's why if you were to put me in a room right now with Warren Buffett, if you were to put me in a room with some of these highly successful billionaires, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, I would be able to have a conversation with them. I might feel a little uncomfortable at first, but then I'll get in the groove and be like, these [are] my equals. This is a man sitting across from me. This is a man who has success, but this is another human being. So I could wrap this up just by telling you that all men are equal, but the moment that you start worshiping another person is the moment you sacrifice your power. Use this to your advantage when you're networking. Use this to your advantage when you're trying to DM somebody.

14:16

When you're getting in contact with another person, don't come across like a fan. Come across as their equal and somebody who is on their level of playing. That's how the best conversations and relationships are started. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and if you got anything of value, make sure to share this. But please rate, review, and subscribe. I need to go ahead and get my reviews on Apple Podcasts through the roof. So if you got any value, not even from this episode, any episode, take a couple seconds and write a five-star review, a thoughtful review. Don't just hit five, but actually hit five stars and write out a sentence or two. I'll greatly appreciate it. [Much] love, and be on the lookout for another episode coming very, very soon.