The Impact Of A Pitch: How To Perfect Yours

Mike Campbell – Man Coach, Amazon #1 Author of ‘Unleash your Alpha’ & KPI Member – might have scored a spot in the top 6 of Men’s Health Competition 2015 and landed a feature article in The Daily Telegraph, but the real muscle power behind Mike’s achievement is his mighty strong pitch!

The pitch: Mike helps men to become their perfect mix of James Bond, Nelson Mandela and Batman.

You already want in, right?

This new champion pitch is a huge leap from his previous intro of ‘I’m a personal trainer’ and once Mike learnt to own it rather than shying away from it, business really started pumping!

Naturally, we asked Mike to tell us exactly how he built it, strengthened it, and started flexing it in a big way to the world. (His pitch, that is.)

1. WHO ARE YOU & WHAT DO YOU DO?

I’m Mike Campbell and I’m a man coach. I help men become their own perfect mix of James Bond, Nelson Mandela and Batman. I do this through a complete mind and body transformation by focusing on 5 key areas in order to increase a man’s ‘Masculine Attraction’; mindset, nutrition, training, lifestyle and man-skills (the finer points of being a man), helping men to get in the best shape of their lives, not just physically, but in all areas.

2. WHAT WAS YOUR PITCH BEFORE YOU STARTED KPI?

‘I’m a personal trainer’… that was basically it. As I entered I was blogging about my ’52 meats in 52 weeks’ challenge, which certainly stood me out from the crowd, but it was still ‘I’m just a PT’.

3. WHAT WAS THE DEFINING MOMENT IN CREATING YOUR PITCH JUST OWNING IT?

The defining moment was a couple of days of being around a bunch of people where I was asked “what do you do?” a bunch of times. Each time I replied with my pitch, at first I didn’t fully own it or commit to it and said something like “I like to call myself a man coach…”. It really drove home to me that this wasn’t cutting it and I had to just own it. So after having practised over the two days and working out what needed improving, I just said to myself, “Next time, you have to just deliver it with confidence and own it.” So I did. I’ll be honest, at first, I felt like a d*ck, but the transformation I’ve seen in my business has helped me own it and commit to it.

4. WHAT HAS BEEN THE HARDEST PART OF THE KPI JOURNEY FOR YOU?

A lot of it has been getting the pitch right and actually having the balls to start using it and realising that the awkwardness that may accompany the pitch is exactly what you want – interest and intrigue in order to generate the “Tell me more”.

5. WHAT DOES BEING A KEY PERSON OF INFLUENCE MEAN TO YOU?

It means being someone that people look to as a respected source and example for which to follow. It means being able to control my business and do the projects I want and work with the clients I want in the capacity I want. It means opportunities (more easily) find me. It means standing out from a really crowded crowd and being a voice of reason and sanity for those who aren’t KPI’s, which is especially vital for what I do.

6. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

Turning men into Batman, of course…

But on a serious note, the best part about what I do is twofold;

#1 – Helping men break past their ego, working down into the bigger stuff, beyond the superficial and creating really significant change in their life for the better. Also seeing guys find clarity and purpose in what they do, seeing them feel confident and happy in their own skin and breaking free of the crappy story they have in their heads.

#2- Making money from this – doing this stuff allows me to live the life that I want. Am I where I want to be? Not yet, but I’m getting there and the fact that I can live by my own rules by doing #1 is awesome.

7. WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNT BUILDING YOUR PROFILE?

Be yourself. I’m pretty weird and have a load of eccentricities, so I try to allow that to come through, to be myself in my writing, in interviews and anything I do. Of course having your brand and personal brand in mind is crucial, however, I always try to ensure I’m not only selecting my highlights reel, as I think it’s important for people to see the other, less refined elements too. With all that said – hustle… You have to work at it. Self promote and be relentless on it. Some things do ‘just happen’, but mostly you have to make it happen. No one is going to pop up and want to promote the shit out of you, you have to do it. And if someone does, then awesome, but don’t count on it.

8. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE STRUGGLING WITH THEIR PITCH?

Keep it simple to start. Don’t feel like you have to write something that sounds really awesome (Ahem, like mine). Flush out what you do, what you’re passionate about and what separates you from the herd. Then play around with it and practise it! Pay attention to how it lands, workshop it, then you can wordsmith the cool stuff.

9. WHAT QUOTE/ MANTRA / WORDS OF INSPIRATION GET YOU FIRED UP?

• “I build the road and the road builds me” is an African proverb which to me means the road won’t be there ready for me to walk down nice and easy. I have to do the work in order to become the man/business/whatever applies. This leads me to just do more – pushing my limits to ‘build myself’

• “Step off the cliff and learn to fly on the way down.” I use this one on clients a lot too and it carries the same message for me: Just act! This is something I try to constantly do – act in order to get to where I want to go, regardless of what it takes.

• “If you don’t want to do it, then you have to.” This mantra is one I remind myself of when I find myself doubting or not wanting to do something that makes me uncomfortable – it challenges me and that is never a bad thing.

10. SERIOUSLY, ARE THOSE ABS REAL?

Ha! Umm, yes. I’m not Peter Andre and I don’t obsess, I don’t do extremes. I prioritise my health and live at a healthy standard for most of the time – let’s say 80% – the rest I’m incredibly relaxed. I drink wine most nights, eat ice cream multiple nights a week have a few beers with mates etc. If you’re not there yet you might just have to tighten those things up a bit (or a lot) to get there first.

Everyone is different of course, but people (guys) can have abs (or a very lean physique – depending on their body specifics) if they really want it, you just have to work at it – but it needn’t detrimentally take over your life.

Tweetable kudos: Copy and paste to your twitter

Kudos to @mcampbell2012 scoring Top 6 of Men’s Health Comp 2015 & landing a #DailyTelegraph feature. Refined pitch = big profile. #KPImethod