Our Relationship With MCG

Personal Branding Agencies is a subsidiary property of Mashman Consulting Group LLC (MCG). MCG operates the directory, wrote its vetting standard and its Code of Ethics, and reviews applications and reports.

MCG is also a personal branding consultancy, which makes it a practice of the same kind as the ones listed here. We think you should know that before you use anything on this site.

MCG holds the first position in the directory, labeled Founder · Not for sale. It was vetted against the same seven criteria as every other listing and signed the same Code of Ethics.

The founder position is the only placement it holds. It cannot be bought by anyone, and it carries no advantage anywhere else on the site.

• The PBA Power Ranking. It is calculated from verified client reviews only. The founder listing and any relationship with MCG have no effect on it. How ranking works.
• Find Your Match. MCG is scored by exactly the same rules as every practice and receives no boost. The match finder runs in your browser, so your answers never reach MCG or any agency. Find your match.
• Your information. Leads are never sold or shared, with MCG or anyone else. Your shortlist lives in your own browser.
• Paid plans. They buy placement and presentation only, never vetting, ratings, reviews, rankings, or protection from reports.
• Reports. Anyone can report any listing, MCG included, through Report an Agency.

PBA may use technology that MCG built for its own work, where it makes the directory better for visitors and practices. We are conscious of how close that association runs. Using a tool MCG built never means a listing is judged by MCG’s methods, and it never steers a visitor toward MCG’s own services.

The Column is written by vetted practitioners at listed practices, and every piece carries its author’s name and practice. Pieces by MCG’s founder are held to the same editorial standards as everyone else’s. Editorial standards.

We are working to make Personal Branding Agencies an independent platform that benefits the whole industry, not only MCG. Every new practice that is listed, reviewed and ranked on equal terms moves it further in that direction. The plan, year by year, is on the roadmap.

If you think our relationship with any listing, ours included, has crossed a line, tell us at legal@personalbrandingagencies.com (opens in a new tab).