by Jacob Aldridge

I’ve been a fan of KPI (that’s Key Person of Influence, not the other one) for many years now. As I’ve written elsewhere, KPI Founder Daniel Priestly was one of the first people I met in London, and in addition to learning from his experience I also stole one of his jokes.

So I was stoked to spend today at the KPI Brand Accelerator – their bi-annual big city launch event – in my home town of Brisbane. If you were there as well, I’d love to hear your experience in the comments below (feel free to link to your blog).

Here are some of my key learnings. Thanks to all of the amazing speakers (there are links in various headings, and I recommend following those to learn more). Thanks also to some of the great people I met, in person and also through the fabulous Twitter conversations that were going on under #kpimethod – a list that must include Glen Carlson, MayKing Tea, Reality Damage … and of course Australia’s own @KPIMethod.

OVERVIEW / INTRODUCTION

Presented by Glen Carlson, co-founder of KPI Australia

The KPI process is as brilliant as it is simple. It starts from the observation that in any industry, your industry, there are 3 types of people: the Newbies, the Worker Bees, and the Key People of Influence, the small number of individuals at the heart of every industry who have the most fun and create the most opportunities.

The road to being a KPI covers 5 core business projects:

1. Pitch
2. Publish
3. Products
4. Profile
5. Partners

The Brand Accelerator day covers all five! And also gave an opportunity for some KPI Alumni to share their business experience and story with those who may follow in their shoes.

PITCH

Presented by Matthew Michalewicz

• The person with the best pitch – not necessarily the best product – wins the business
• Credibility is key. Not just what you say; also what sits behind and around you
• Relevance – Pitch is as much about them as it is about you
• Passion. Either you have it, or you will struggle against those who do.
• The objective of a Pitch is not to win the sale. It is only to get to the next step! Don’t sell too soon.

Darren Finkelstein

• ‘The boat guy’ and a KPI graduate and case study. Plus, as a business owner and speaker he’s great!
• “What I took for granted turned out to be really valuable.”
• So, honey, let’s buy a boat !

PUBLISH

Presented by Andrew Griffiths

• Author, Speaker, Queenslander – I like Andrew immediately!
• “Never ever ever listen to all the people who tell you want you can’t do.”
• Everyone has a book inside them waiting to get out – write your book, before someone else writes it instead!
• Books are seeds that grow opportunities. Your book is your business card on steroids.
• And (here’s a thing I know having ghost-written a couple of books) – ebooks are fine, but they lack the impact and thud factor of a physical book

• Last lesson from Andrew. If you want to write a book, you’ve got to write the freaking thing! I’m guilty of that one.

Caroline Kennedy, from Gift Wrapped Up

• Another great KPI success story
• Realised they were in the business of loyalty, not gift hampers…
• Revenue tripled in 6 months!

Sarah Hunstead, from CPR Kids

• How is this for a great book title on first aid for kids: “A life. A finger. A pea up a nose.”!!!
• Publishing, Partnerships and a process shattered the ceiling of what Sarah thought was possible for her business.

Christian Langeder, from Thorough Performance

• “All of a sudden my clients could explain what I did.”
• This links to one of Matthew’s points about “Productizing your Pitch” so others can pitch for you.

PRODUCT

Presented by Tim Dwyer

For new readers, Tim is a great mate and business partner of mine at Shirlaws. Our team help entrepreneurs create more money, more time, and less stress – it’s a heck of a lot of fun!

• Income Follows Assets – Assets come first, but so many business owners think they need to create income first (and them get stuck there)
• Time based thinking and pricing HURTS. The better you get then the faster you get … then the cheaper you are then the less money you earn. Huh?
• Most businesses go from 10 leads to 3 proposals to 1 client. With a Product Architecture, that grows to 10-9-7!
• Product Architecture means an ecosystem of products – Gifts, Pre Product, and Core Product – that connect and grow your business
• Tim also ran through the Shirlaws Stages framework on business lifecycles – I’ve written about startups and Stages before

Geoff Anderson, from Sonic Sight

• “Step up – you are good enough!”
• And Geoff is living proof – author, videographer, business owner…and now an Amazon best-seller

PROFILE

Presented by Valerie Khoo

So great to see Valerie speak, having been a Twitter fan for many years.

• You’ve got to be able to tell the right stories to the right people through the right medium
• Your Passion Story – Have you go it? Do you know it? Do you tell it often enough?!
• Want to promote your business but not your name? Are you crazy?!
• Own the online Real Estate – for example, I bought jacobaldridge.com in 2010 even though I only started blogging here in 2014!
• You don’t have to publish on every platform. Can just be the ones your clients love or that you have fun with
• Your network is your net worth!

Tracy Angwin, from the Australian Payroll Association

• Our knowledge is an inch wide and a mile deep
• This led to more money and more fun

 PARTNERSHIPS

(also) Presented by Matthew Michalewicz

• Avoid the ILR – Illusion of Limited Resources
• Someone woke up this morning missing a you-shaped piece of the puzzle
• Tell me what you’re trying to achieve, and I’ll tell you whether it’s a good idea
• 2 Big Mistakes – Not believing you have value, and not understanding the potential partner’s goals
• Build Partnerships “looking at the sky (big vision) while walking on the ground (protecting yourself)”
• The things you think are impossible are so because your desire isn’t strong enough (and that’s ok)
• (In answer to a question about rejection) “I’ve pitched Bill Gates and George Soros. The reason they’re not in my presentation is because they said No.”

 

If you missed today, there will be another one. If you’re really quick, it kicks off in London in 30 minutes… (LINK)

Or in Brisbane, get along to a Discovery Workshop next week

 

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