A True Story of When a Handlebar Mustache Killed a 7-Figure Deal

Beware: Your professional social media persona may attract one audience, but it could simultaneously lose you the deals that matter most.

As I answered the phone, my client instantly began gushing over the vendor she’d just spoken with. After days of combing through all the top options, interviewing and heavily scrutinizing each one, this vendor was able to close a sale in the span of one 20-minute conversation, site unseen.

Well, he was able to almost close a sale.

For context, I’m currently orchestrating a somewhat complex cross-country 7-figure deal which, unfortunately, requires a number of different parties (other than the buyer, seller, and advisor). One crucial party is a vendor who stands to make a pretty penny, but on whom the deal hinges. In other words, if this one vendor can’t perform (to the level required), we could all lose the entire deal, thanks to a domino effect of consequences.

In this case, after scouring the top vendors for this transaction, a referral from a trusted source led to one vendor who hadn’t crossed my radar. The trusted source had sung his praises, so my client decided to give him a ring.

After her 20-minute virtual bonding session with him, she was 99.9% sold. In fact, she was drafting up the message to give him the business, just when I sent one little thing (in case she hadn’t seen it). Somehow, the one very public piece of information I sent over — and all the easy-to-dig-up ancillary content to follow — changed her mind completely. She instantly recoiled, deleted her drafted message, and crossed him off the list entirely.

Did that seem a bit rash and harsh? Yes, it did; but it also proves a very real point. Sometimes the very branding, social media presence, and/or side hustle that you think could “make” you could also just as swiftly “break” you, and that’s exactly what happened here. Let’s explore just where this “top of his industry”, nationwide “authority”, public figure, speaker, and mentor went wrong and lost out on millions of dollars in minutes.

Be careful who you’re attracting (and repelling)

You can practice (and monetize) an expertise, you can teach and mentor others to master that expertise, or you can do both. This “expert” vendor had decidedly positioned himself as an educator and mentor, helping aspiring professionals in his field learn to build a following. To his credit, he’d definitely done that: By the social media numbers alone, he seemed decently successful — at building a following, at least.

Oh, and the aspiring professionals in his field were eating it all up. Why? Well, mostly because the industry has been highly conservative, discreetly marketed, and a bit on the older, traditional side. This vendor expert easily stood out from all the noise with his loud, bold, outlier branding, and struggling industry veterans and younger aspiring newbies were awestruck by his starkly opposite approach.

They were so awestruck that they flocked from near and far to hear him speak on stages and reveal his audience-building secrets. Unfortunately, what they failed to consider was whether this vendor had the more crucial, industry-relevant expertise and track record to back up all those followers.

Attracting an audience is one thing, but being able to deliver on a product or service is another entirely, and when you’re tossing around high 6- and 7-figure deals, I’d argue the latter is paramount.

Ironically, it was this very social media persona and content that would do him in with the audience that actually mattered, like my client.

No, it wasn’t just the theatrical handlebar mustache or the blinding neon background that made my client double-take on the man she thought she’d be awarding her business, though they didn’t help. To be frank, it was approximately everything else he did as well, including:

• The overly enthusiastic, clown-like character he played in every reel
• The far-from-professional poses and highly eccentric outfits he donned
• The fact that his content clearly, 100% centered on growing an audience, rather than providing his service of expertise

My client’s confidence in this “expert” automatically plummeted, as well as all the rapport they’d spent nearly half an hour building over the phone. It was evident to her — and to anyone who takes even a cursory glance at his social presence — that this man was attempting to target one audience, and it wasn’t her. While attracting that audience of intrigued, awestruck followers and prospective students or mentees, he successfully alienated the audience who mattered most: The one seeking his actual industry expertise, products, and services.

Sadly, this expert’s one-sided positioning swiftly lumped him into the bucket of unqualified online gurus who attempt to make money shilling education around a service they themselves couldn’t quite master. Moral of the story? If you aim to serve two different groups, make sure content attracting one doesn’t deter the other.

When polarization works and backfires

I think we all know that one of the easiest, fastest ways to go viral is to play the polarizing card. Spew some crazy talk, hammer home an offensive viewpoint, or double-down on wild misinformation and you just may get digi-famous. The problem is that kind of polarization may work, but it may just as well backfire, and every public post carries a risk of consequences.

This expert’s polarization was exactly what garnered him the audience of awestruck aspiring professionals. They had never (or rarely) seen a successful party in their industry with a presence or approach like handlebar mustache man’s. They were attracted to how he was turning the industry standards and traditions on its head with everything he said.

Perhaps he failed to consider that sometimes industry standards and traditions are so for a reason, and in this case, his polarization was the very turn off that spooked my client. Believe it or not, sometimes doing “whatever it takes” to build up a following (and succeeding) may be a person’s demise. There are many risks to take in life, careers, and business, but those that jeopardize your reputation are perhaps the gravest to pursue.

The risk of visibility (and why less may be more)

In recent years, as every business, professional, and expert has taken to social media to “check the box”, some have failed to realize that more isn’t always more. Yes, in some industries a strong social presence is expected or required; in others, it’s an added plus. However, there are a few myths desecrating the reputations of (and losing sales for) many otherwise competent, qualified, respected professionals. For example:

• Something is better than nothing…right?
• Followers are better than crickets…right?
• Low-quality or mediocre content is better than not showing up…right?

Actually, no. Sometimes, less is more, and other times more is far less. In the aforementioned case, one piece of feedback we received from a colleague of the handlebar mustache man was:

The social media content is probably harmless — just a fun side hustle. But I wouldn’t work with him on this deal; I’d find someone less distracted.

To the naked eye and someone evaluating whether handing this “expert” a 7-figure contract, the perception from his social media content and eccentric personal branding is that he’s distracted. His content — though industry adjacent — didn’t elevate his expertise and competence. Instead, it called it into question, alongside his commitment to the expertise and products for which my client was planning on retaining him.

Simply put, visibility comes with risks, and before posting a single piece of content or crafting a digital persona, you should consider exactly how each target audience will receive it. More isn’t always better, and just being there because you think you’re checking a box today’s digital and social media-centric age requires could come back to bite you in the you-know-what.

Entertaining and selling are two different things

The biggest mistake this expert made is to conflate performing for a crowd with performing for — or impressing — a business partner or high-ticket client. Sure, he was able to rile up a crowd of tens of thousands of enthusiastic, curious onlookers-turned-followers, eager to learn his unconventional secrets. That said, in so doing, he compromised his credibility and reputation with the more conventional onlookers who matter most, and the ones who pay — or in this case don’t pay — his bills.