Contents
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
This book has very powerful ideas that will have you achieving much more in far less time. Hard work is not enough; if you want to make it big, you must strive to become a Key Person of Influence. This book shows you exactly how to do that faster.
Mike Harris
Creator of three multi-billion pound businesses and Author of Find Your Lightbulb .
Why be a worker bee when you could instead be a Key Person of Influence? Daniels book explains exactly how to get into the inner circle of any industry, fast. Read this book!
Mike Southon
Financial Times Columnist and best-selling Business Author.
I dedicate this book to my late father, my first and best mentor.
Kevin Harrington
I dedicate this book to the people who have used their power of influence to improve the world. To those of you who think about the future and act now, I hope that the ideas in this book assist you in creating a world that works for everyone.
Daniel Priestley
USA EDITION FOREWORD
In 2010, when I released the book Become a Key Person of Influence, I never knew it would become such a huge hit in such a short period of time and receive praise from some of the worlds best entrepreneurs and leaders. As a result of writing the book I met Kevin Harrington in 2013 and we began a great friendship. He saw the five-step method in the book and said that it was exactly how he had built a massive fortune.
The five-step KPI Method in the book not only hit a chord with Kevin, but with thousands of other people. Focusing on Pitch, Publish, Products, Profile and Partnerships is changing the game across more than fifty different industries. Each week people write to me and tell me how this little book changed their business and sometimes even their life. Ive had contact from startups to CEOs, students to professors, people with traditional businesses to people with really wild ideas. As a result of the book, people have been pitching for big deals and winning them. Remarkably, it has inspired hundreds of people to write their own books as well.
I love discovering new products that people have created after applying the KPI Method. As a result of the Product chapter, Ive seen people innovating products ranging from scones in England to power boats in Australia. Ive seen people who were stuck trading time for money start to turn their valuable insights into hot products that can be delivered worldwide.
I have also discovered that high profile people have used the KPI method. Celebrities with millions of views online, regular media personalities, high-profile speakers and entertainers have all described ways the KPI Method has helped them go to the next level. By far, the best part of the last few years, has been to watch the Key Person of Influence community spring up around the globe. In the UK, Australia, USA, Singapore and other countries, there is a thriving community of entrepreneurs and leaders who are using the KPI Method to make the most of the times we are in.
One of the best personal benefits Ive had since writing this book is my friendship with Kevin Harrington. To become close with one of the USAs most celebrated and successful entrepreneurs has been sheer joy. I know Kevin has made hundreds of millions of dollars, I know hes sold billions worth of products, that hes a best-selling author and is famous around the world on the TV show Shark Tank . But better than all that, hes one of the most generous and insightful men Ive ever met.
It is a serious honor to co-author this special USA edition of Key Person of Influence with him and to include the kind of wisdom only he could add. Both Kevin and I believe that were in exciting, transformational times and theres never been more opportunity for you to have a big impact with your business or your message.
If youre reading this book for the first time, youve stepped into something thats producing real results for a lot of people. Enjoy the book, join in with others who are using the method, and share your experience with the world. If youve read the book before, welcome back; youre on a powerful journey and I wish you all the best for your continued success. Thanks for taking the time to delve a little deeper and discover what it takes to get to the next level.
As for me, Im thrilled to be a part of this unfolding entrepreneur revolution. Ill keep playing this game for a long time to come and sharing the journey with as many people as possible.
All the best,
Daniel
INTRODUCTION
Highly valued, highly paid and having fun
At the center of every industry, you will find an inner circle of people who are the most well-known and highly valued people. They are the Key People of Influence. You probably already know of these people in your industry:
Their names come up in conversation for all the right reasons.
They attract a lot of opportunities the right sort.
They earn a more money than most and it isnt a struggle.
They can make a project successful if they are involved and people know it.
Key People of Influence enjoy a special status in their chosen field because they are well connected, well known, well regarded and highly valued. They get invited to be a part of the best teams and projects, and they can often write their own terms. Key People of Influence also have more fun. They get invited on trips. People buy them dinner and drinks. They are treated with respect and others listen when they speak. These people are in demand; they dont chase opportunities, they create them.
People think that it must take years or decades to become a Key Person of Influence (KPI). They think that KPIs need degrees or doctorates. They think KPIs must be gifted or from wealthy families. But they are wrong. While time invested, qualifications, talents and a wealthy family are helpful, they are not a reliable way to make yourself a Key Person of Influence. There are plenty of people who have been in an industry for years who are not a Key Person of Influence. There are plenty of MBAs and PhDs who are not yet KPIs. There are people with talent and people born into privileged families who arent KPIs either. And then there are unusual stories like Kevin Harrington.
Kevin was born to a normal family, had a normal education and grew up with the usual challenges most of us have experienced. Nothing about his past would lead you to expect he would go on to build a business with multi-billion dollar revenues, create the worlds leading entrepreneur network (EO), become a best-selling author, a celebrity, a highly-paid speaker and an award-winning businessman. But he did. And along the way, he created dozens of millionaires, made several people into household names and helped to raise money for important charities. In the high-intensity world of direct sales and television shopping, he built a thirty-year reputation as one of the most fair and professional people in his industry.
How did he become so wealthy, successful and influential? He did the five things youll see explained in this book.
Kevin met me and read my Key Person of Influence method and instantly said, Thats how I did it! And whats more, he said, Thats the formula for how almost everyone does it! Its certainly how I built my success.
I started with very little and built a global business turning over millions, all before the age of thirty. Ive made deals in Australia, USA, Asia and Europe, and discovered that the method in this book is powerful wherever you go.
People all over the world respond to the KPI Method that youll learn in coming chapters. Its a method based on clearly communicating your value and packaging it up in a way the market finds desirable. The principles in this book have been tested across fifty different industries, in over a dozen countries, by over 1000 entrepreneurs and leaders, and they have proven to be universal.