Marketing with Kim and Brad

I spent a really great day in London yesterday at a Marketing Masterclass given by Kimberly Davis who appeared in BBC1 ‘The Apprentice’ in 2009.

The venue for the Masterclass was the New Players Theatre situated underneath Charing Cross Station and last week I had communicated with Kim as the main auditorium was down a flight of stairs. On my arrival, Kim came to meet me and explained the balcony area had been cleared to allow me to sit there as it was level access from the main lobby area. Kim was lovely and really wanted to make sure everything was ok for me. I felt like waving royally to the people below me but figured everyone would likely be wondering who the crazy person on the balcony was.

The first three sessions were given by Kim who explained what businesses should be doing to promote themselves. She explained all the different kinds of marketing available to us both online and offline and we all got involved by creating our “killer elevator speech” and practising it on each other (I practised mine with myself as my regal position in the balcony didn’t afford me a neighbour!) Kim explained how easy it is to get your marketing wrong but guided us on how we can avoid costly mistakes. She is a big fan of social media and spoke at length on how social media promotion can help businesses reach their target customers. Obviously I was already aware of this but Kim used the power of social media to promote the Masterclass so she was able to share her positive opinion on being involved. Kim is an extremely warm person and very enthusiastic about marketing. She was great on stage even though by her own admission she was nervous and everyone there yesterday warmed to her easily. I think it’s a good thing that she didn’t win The Apprentice as if she had, she would likely have vanished into obscurity professionally by now but the fact she didn’t win is a huge benefit to us small businesses as we are able to learn from her.

On NYE I wrote a Blog listing all my goals for 2011 and you may recall that one of them was to get a one to one with Brad Burton? You may also recall that I believed I had achieved that goal when I was one of 20 people to be awarded a ten minute telephone conversation with Brad and he and I spoke two weeks ago? Well not quite. Brad was speaking at Kim’s Masterclass yesterday and he had arranged for me to have a complimentary ticket to be there!

He burst onto the stage at about 3pm beginning his energy driven motivational speech based on his book “Get Off Your Arse” and spent about 30 minutes on talking. (I actually don’t know how long he was on stage as it felt like five minutes!) He was bouncing around the stage sharing the stories of how he got started in business which he delivered in his comedy style whilst holding his trademark pizza box. The box relates to the story of his “supportive wife” sending him out to deliver pizzas at weekends because he wasn’t earning enough money in the early days. He is very funny but it’s his energy and drive that you are most attracted to. He is genuinely a motivational speaker who motivates you until you feel you can conquer just about anything in life. I’m pretty certain a whole new league of “Brad Fans” was created yesterday. I’ll be surprised if anyone who heard him speak yesterday doesn’t either buy his book or join 4N. I’ve read the book twice now and was the first person to download the Kindle version! I’d already read it in paperback at that point too!

Following the last session which was a Q&A with both Brad and Kim on stage, the event was over for most but not yet for me. Brad had promised me a five minute chat at the end of the day and a photo for this blog. So in the bar area, I met Brad in person for a quick chat about the day and this picture (Thanks to Neil @estudiomaximus for taking the picture)

So on NYE I set a goal to speak to Brad in 2011 thinking it wouldn’t be an easy goal to achieve as I’m not a member of 4N. 18 days later, I’d not only spoken to him but had been given a free ticket to a Marketing Masterclass and met him in person! That’s pretty good going I say and it does show the power of making things happen or “getting off your arse and making things happen” as Brad would say.

Thanks to Kim and Brad for yesterday. Kim will be running more Masterclasses in the future so either follow her on Twitter @ApprenticeKim or visit her website to find out when the next event is. You can find out more about Brad and listen to the first two chapters of his book free at his website.