how creating a culture of fun at work led to a $970,000 increase in sales, with kevin madison

Episode #7: Kevin Madison at ThoughtLeaderRetreat.com/kevinm

How Creating a Culture of Fun at Work Led to a $970,000 Increase in Sales ______________________________________________________________________________

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Alan: Good morning, afternoon or evening, everyone. Welcome to Episode 4 of Thought Leader Retreat. I’m your host

Alan Brymer.

Today, I’m going to be speaking with Kevin Madison. He’s a strategic marketing consultant from KGM Group with clients

such as GNC, QVC, Sky Magazine, and others.

We’re going to be talking about direct response marketing, and getting the response you want from as many angles as

possible. In other words, you have so many assets available to use in getting leverage for your business, that you may

not even be aware of all of them.

So let’s take a look inside as we go in this episode. But first, here’s what going on with me personally. I had to rush back

from lunch, well, a nice lunch I had with a good friend of mine.

Speaking of comics, Kevin, he is a creator of an independent comic that he has been doing for years now, Brian

Clevinger, the comic is called Atomic Robo. I’m not sure if you’ve hear of that one.

Kevin: Wow.

Alan: It’s always very exciting to see someone who’s able to support themselves as an artist, just through their art. That

has grown in leaps and bounds since he began it years ago, and it’s fun to catch up with him. He happens to live right

here in Richmond with me.

Do you hang out with people in the comics industry as well? I know you’re into them.



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Kevin: Well, I’ve been able to find myself hanging around a lot of people that are in their early to mid-30s that have the

same love and passion as I do for the comic-related movies. We’ve gone as far as getting T-shirts and everything and

hats whenever there is a premier, so to answer your question, yes.

Alan: Isn’t it so funny? It used to be a dorky thing to read stories about super heroes, and now they’re the blockbusters.

They’re as pop as it gets. It’s funny how times change.

Kevin: It does, without them Hollywood would probably be on its last leg.

Alan: It’s interesting too, no matter what type of content someone creates, it could be your own music, your own

comics, your own fiction, or which is probably more applicable to our listeners, your own informative articles, right, your

own training videos, your own speeches, your own book…whatever it is, there is always the need to promote it. About

two-thirds of success is great promotion. Obviously, you want to create great content and of course we cover that here.

Let’s not forget the marketing aspect as well, because even if it’s the greatest stuff in the world, no one is going to beat a

path to your doorstep unless they discover it in the first place, would you agree?

Kevin: I concur 150 million percent.

How Kevin Got Started at General Motors

Alan: I don’t think that’s possible, but I’m flattered. Why don’t you tell us a bit about your

story Kevin and how you got started?

Kevin: It’s pretty simple. Man, I was basically working at General Motors. Let me first say that I was very grateful, very,

very, very grateful. At the age of 21, I believe, I’m getting a job that started out $50,000 a year, so at that time and place

in my life, I was extremely happy and grateful, and thought I had just hit the lottery.

Alan: What planet did you get this job on?

Kevin: It was planet Earth, man, and General Motors, at least back then, was known to pay very well and they did. I

believe it started out at $25 an hour, $26, something like that and being that I worked third-shift, they had what was

called a shift premium, which was an extra $2.11, so I was close to $30 an hour starting out.

I was elated. I was happy and again, I thought I hit the lottery at such a young age and still living at home and - yeah, it

was great. There’s something to say for time, when just the everyday monotony of doing the same thing over and over

kind of gets to you.

To make a long story short, and not to make this some kind of long peroration, but after four years of doing that—during

that time I had a daughter—I went to college, the University of Cincinnati, so I’ll shout out to all the Bearcats who might

be listening.



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She and I had a daughter, my girlfriend at the time, and after years of being able to provide for her well through my

employment in General Motors, it just started to wear on me mentally. I began to grow weary of the kind of

conversations that I would have with co-workers.

It was always - not all employees, co-workers that were there, but a good number of them, Alan, a good number, but it

was about the lesser side of life, what was happening to them, instead of being grateful for having such a good job.

It was always something to complain about, and then on top of the fact that for eight hours a day, there were no

windows, my only outlet was a 15-minute lunch break that by the time I got to the part of the building where I could exit

to go outside, I had to start walking back, to get back on the job and continue building cars.

Alan: Were you ever tempted to start smoking, just so you could go out and have a break more often?

Kevin: No, but you know what man, what I did do was I was very innovative with my antics, as I like to say. I used to do

some of the most lewd, crazy, looney-bin stuff that would have even upper management looking at me, like, “What is

wrong with this kid?”

I was the guy who, of course I was young, and during that time I was very fit. I was extremely fit, very well-built and had

muscles on top of top of muscles. I would do things like run around the plant, and jump up on a beam and start doing

pull-ups in the middle of…

Alan: Everyone is like, “What is he doing here?”

Kevin: Oh man, and given that my mom was in upper management, she was actually head of labor on my shift. She was

like a bigwig, so every single thing that I did, it was looked upon very closely and judged, because of who my mother was

in the most asinine way, as I like to say, because everything I did, they made it to be such a bad thing. Now, of course,

looking back…

Alan: Exercising? That’s not proper! For royalty in our company?!

Kevin: Right, especially not in a car plant.

Alan: Obviously, you weren’t going to last long. What happened?

Kevin: My friend, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. It was June of 2004, and I was standing at the gate, and many

people may or may not know, when you work in a manufacturing plant like that, you basically have these turnstiles that

have a red light and a green light, you either come in - green means go and red means basically it’s locked.

I remember one particular day in June 2004, I was standing at the gate and I looked around, and I saw everyone, grown

people, full adults tapping their cards, waiting and gathering like a herd, looking up at the light to see when it would turn

green, so we could go and enjoy our life.



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I looked at that, and I said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. I feel like cattle.” I feel like cattle, and that particular day, it was

on a Friday, actually, I said when I walked out of the door that Friday, now this was literally an immediate thought that

came about at that very moment.

I had always titillated and excited myself with the thought of leaving one day, I always had that fear as well, that brought

me back down to reality of you can’t leave this job, it’s $50,000 a year, what are you going to do?

At that given moment, that particular day, June 2004, I made the decision standing right there and I literally said, “This is

the last time I’m coming in here.” Now, this was no full warning to my mother, not to my girlfriend, my brother, nobody,

it was a decision I literally made right there. I said, “I can’t take this. I’m not coming back.”

I received a lot of backlash. My mother being who she was, she got on my behind a lot. There was a lot tension created

from my very whimsical decision of just leaving a good job, a coveted job that many people would have done nearly

anything to have.

I just couldn’t do it in my spirit, my sanity, and as far as my time, the most precious asset that each of us have, it was not

mine. I made that decision that Friday in June 2004, I said I’m not coming back. I have not been back since and that was

over 10 years ago now.

Strategic Marketing Based on The Strategy of Preeminence

Alan: Yes, here we are 11 years later. Tell us about what you do right now?

Kevin: Well, as you made mention in the intro, I’m a strategic marketing consultant, the basis of everything I do pretty

much comes from or derives from I learn from a mentor of mine, Jay Abraham, Strategy of Preeminence.

Direct response marketing is the methodology in what I use to create leverage in my client’s businesses that allow them

to not so much be worried or compete with other peers in their industry in their respective fields, but create leverage

that allows for them to appear and become the top of mind, absolute preeminent choice of their ideal audience. That is

what I do now and again, after leaving General Motors, it was a long journey in getting to this point.

A lot of reading, a lot of trial and error, and network marketing, and jumping from company to company, but those were

all lessons learned in the building blocks to getting to what I am now, which is I feel operating at my purpose and my

naturally God-given gift of thinking, absolute thinking, creating ideas of leverage, just using my God-given mind to think

and create windfalls of results for my clients who I take on.

Finding Clients Through Content Sharing, and Flying Business Class

Alan: So here you are now a strategic marketing consultant. How do you differentiate yourself?



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Kevin: I really don’t, believe it not. This may sound contrarian, but I don’t differentiate myself, man. I let providence

move about. I don’t know if our mutual friend has shared with you how I am or my philosophy of life.

I’m a very firm believer if you work on your gifts, they will make room for you. In saying that, providence moves about in

my life in every facet, business, personal, socially. The opportunities that are meant for me literally, and not to sound all

woo-woo, and Sedona, Arizoniaish…

Alan: Cosmic portal?

Kevin: Right. I am literally guided in the right people and who I’m supposed to work with appear. They manifest

themselves in some way, whether I’m - now I do fly business class every time I fly, so I meet a lot - probably 90 percent

of my clients that I have met, while traveling, or because of me sitting in business class.

There’s a reason why that particular person in business class sat next to me, or that particular person sat behind me and

maybe I needed to help them get their bag, and I complemented them on their bag, and that led to the short walk up

the tarmac tunnel where you exit the plane, that led to an exchange of a business card, that led to a conversation, that

led to an affinity for one another, that led to six-figure contract.

It’s just a small series of events, the serendipity at its best that I rely on. I don’t do a lot of promotion, but I do a lot of

sharing, and I guess you can consider sharing promotion, but I do it sincerely without any want.

The things that I share, the things I post, the content that I lay out on my or any other media platform, I do it without

want. I do it because I was able to accrue knowledge from a lot of great individuals who asked nothing of me early on,

nothing.

Besides, me understanding the fact that most human beings even with information laid out on a silver platter that would

change their life immediately really take action. I can give away, which I do a lot of the best stuff that I’ve done, that’s

generated millions of dollars, and know that it will still be worth that much a year, two, three, four, five years later,

because most people won’t take action then.

Case Study: How Creating A Culture of Fun Led to $970,000

Alan: Let’s talk about it. Can you give us an example that you’ve done to help out one of your clients to grow their

business?

Kevin: Yes, yes. In fact, there’s many cases, but my favorite is we decided that the industry that he was in very boring.

We established off top, and I let it be known that there’s nothing sexy, fun, or exciting about your industry.

What we’re going to do is bring some fun into the industry of small machine parts manufacturing. Just the sound of it is

ugly. What we did is just a simple strategy, all we did is we inculcated fun in every facet of communication, from

management to employee, from management to distributor, from management to sources, management to logistics, all

the people who had a part in this business running, right in Independence, Ohio, which is right outside of Cleveland.



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What we did was in all of our communications, we stopped talking like a machine parts factory company, and started

talking like a human being, and started letting them know about our quirky weekend. We started talking to them as

though they were actually human beings talking to another human being, none of the industry jargon.

We started incorporating jokes and little side notes in all of our means of communication, whether it was invoices. In our

invoices, what we would do is we would insert a little envelope or a little tab that told a joke with the tie back to what it

was that we offered.

We always kept it, we didn’t make it so unrelatable that it was like, okay, what’s this. We also put in a personal insertion

of something that was funny, comical, but tied it right back to why they’ve chosen us.

Just in that means of communication with people as though they were human beings was enough to change the

response of every single person related to that company, whether it was from an employee standpoint, whether it was

from a truck driver standpoint, whether it was from a distributor standpoint.

It allowed them to feel as if they were doing business with a human being, and the beautiful part about it is that in about

nine months, just that practice alone generated just a bit over $970,000.

Alan: What? How do you track it back to that?

Kevin: Orders increased man. Affinity for us or for my client increased because they were able to humanize and bring a

softer element to an industry that usually just talks in code and numbers, 2,000 units of this, 4,000 rivets, I mean it was

stuff that was just unsexy.

What we did was, we started saying, let’s leave actually what they’re doing business or what they’re communicating us

for, let’s leave that for the very bottom. Let’s make the entire invoice absolutely fun. Let’s actually put a coffee stain,

cup…

Alan: Circle.

Kevin: Circle, yes, on the invoice and put a sticky note to it that says good cup of joe, but I was too lazy to print another

one off, stuff like that. They thought I was crazy for doing that, they’re like “That’s unprofessional.”

Well, that unprofessional, the particular invoice series that we had done for that period of time when we first used that

strategy, I remember, I was actually in - literally in the office when the phone call came from one of the clients of my

client, he said, “Dude, I just..” And now, mind you, when they called before, all the conversation was, “Hey, Rick, how

are you? Hey Joe, hey John, whatever how are you?” It was very structured, very straight to business.

This particular time all he said was dude, this invoice is absolutely great, I love it and they begin talking as friends. Now

mind you they had been doing business, if I’m not mistaken, for four or five years prior to that and they never knew

anything about one another, but a coffee stain circle on an invoice with a tab that says, great cup of joe, but I was just

too lazy to correct it.



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Just one simple element like that, changed the trajectory of that relationship. That led to larger orders, more consistent

orders, to the point where that is actually who bought out my client’s company.

Alan: That’s interesting. I can see how it would affect response. It captures someone’s attention immediately with the

coffee-cup stain, that’s direct response, right.

Kevin: Um-hmm.

Alan: It builds an affinity between that company and them.

Kevin: Yes.

Alan: Most invoices I get if it says due in 14 days, then I stop paying attention immediately and come back to it 13 days

later.

Kevin: Yes, or not at all in some cases. Not the best of decisions, but in some cases not at all because what evokes - in

people’s minds, the fastest way to evoke disconcerted feelings is to give them bad news, and usually a bill is bad news

for a lot of people.

Alan: That’s right.

Kevin: It just makes it so that why don’t we just look at common sense. As a marketing consultant, I don’t look at being

complex. I don’t look at being razzled, dazzled to be the coolest which a lot of - even in the marketing space, you have a

lot of - in the big advertising marketing space with companies with superfluous budgets that can pretty much pay for

another Earth, if they wanted, they do things to be cool, to be known, to be talked about on social media or the morning

shows the following morning.

To give an example, Super Bowl Sunday. Very rarely do you see ads that truly honor the consumer that they’re trying to

connect with. They don’t honor them. They want to entertain them, but entertainment doesn’t last but a minute,

because if I see this movie that was hilarious, I’m going to see another movie the following week, that’s just as hilarious

and there is no loyalty in terms of what makes that one more special than this one. It’s just another one.

Alan: That’s right. In fact, I can’t even remember who the company is half the time. Like the one had Lawrence Fishburn

in it the Super Bowl ad.

Kevin: Right.

Alan: I don’t even remember what the car company was, I just remember dying a little inside, seeing Morpheus in a car

commercial or Bob Dylan in a car commercial.

Kevin: That’s right, that’s right.



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Alan: It sounds like you changed the whole culture of that company. The existing customers for sure with paying

invoices, but from what you said, it sounds like it applied to finding new customers and even applying to

communications with employees which can improve profitability enormously as well from the inside, although we don’t

talk about it as much.

Changing The Internal Culture of a Company Through Content

Kevin: Well, I’m glad you asked that question, Alan. The first thing that I teach and impress upon my clients is that the

first - your base asset, yes, is your customers, clients, or patients, depending on the sector of business you’re in, but I

said it’s not the people who pay you money.

I said your first priority, or your first customer, client or patient that you need to focus on and appeal to the most is the

people who make and yield you the money, not the people who pay you money, but the ones who actually are

responsible for helping you yield it.

For the longest time, as most manufacturing companies and plants do, just as my experience with General Motors

affirmed, most manufacturing companies treat the employees, basically the people responsible for the revenue

generation, as cattle, as cattle.

I had to try to kind of change the culture, the ethos within my client’s company off the bat, because what I saw when I

first observed and did my walk-through and just did my observation, I noticed that the employees, they didn’t smile,

they spoke to upper management just as a “hi” and “bye”. There was no comraderie. It was just those are our workers,

and this is our business and this is what we do.

I said “Well, this is one thing that we’re going to have to do. This is going to take a several week process, but it’s a

process that if you do it, and abide by every last one of the tenants that I express and share with you, you will see a

change in your company culture.”

To make a long story short, not only did we see a change in culture, but you had actual employees coming and smiling,

happy to be at work, because there was no more dictum to follow, there was no scared or fearful thoughts of getting in

trouble, if they turned up their music, or if they wanted to bring a George Foreman grill and cook in the employee area.

There were no more restrictions.

I said, “How about you guys allow them to do all the things that you guys have restricted?” If they don’t compromise the

safety, if they don’t compromise the integrity of the company, why would you guys stop them?

Alan: That’s so interesting. I would normally be talking with a guest about outbound communication, but let’s talk about

the ways that this company communicated their new beliefs, their new values to their employees.

How exactly did they do it? The days of the memo are gone. Probably no faxes. Are we talking about emails, newsletters,

meetings?



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Kevin: I went old school. I went old school, man. I said, “Of course you have every last employee’s physical address.

We’re not going to create an industry newsletter. We’re going to create an employee newsletter.

We’re going to let these people get to know you guys. All they know you guys is as upper management, but first name,

Scott, Rick. All they know of you guys as their boss. We’re going to create an employee-based newsletter, and you’re

going to send it to their homes. You’re going to send it to their homes on the day that they’re paid, so that it becomes

concomitant to receiving something good from you.”

When we did that, you had employees coming in, “Oh my gosh, Rick, I saw your dog, or I saw that you fell over and your

kids - on your kids’ skateboard in the driveway, or in the garage…” I mean, I’m just going off the cuff, this was what four

years ago now.

It changed the culture of the business, because they felt as though they were included from the top on down, instead of

just the top to the top. They didn’t feel as if they were segregated to only confer and gather and talk amongst

themselves as employees and then you have management. No. We made everything seamless.

Having that internal employee newsletter gave a very strong tie to upper management to where there was no more

separation. There was no more us versus them.

Alan: That makes sense, because an organization of that size is its own entity. It might as well be working in harmony

with itself the way any organism would.

Kevin: Right, we’re not talking a huge staff. His work force, I believe, was like 313 people, but enough to where people

feel isolated. People feel as if they’re not heard, they’re not appreciated. So it was small, but large enough to have that

prevalent thought of us versus them.

Alan: I can see that. Even on a small scale, a business is a reflection of its owner or of the management.

Kevin: That’s right.

Alan: So if the business owner is complaining about some aspect of the culture, what he or she is not mentioning is their

hand in creating that. There’s a lot of companies where they value fast turnaround for example, “Oh, I’ve got to

outsource this. I need someone fast!!!”

Kevin: Right.

Alan: Why? Why, because you waited until the last minute to ask them to do it in the first place? I always say you have

anything sooner, if you ask for it earlier.

Kevin: You ain’t lying about that, man. You ain’t lying about that.



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Alan: We intend to attract the complement or the people who go along with those values, but in your case, you helped

them to not only change their values, but communicate them and I congratulate you for your success with that. That’s

really cool.

“Fun” Pays Off…How Culture Can Be a Main Factor in Selling Your Company

Kevin: I appreciate it man, and as I mentioned a few minutes ago, that’s client was bought out by one of their clients

and the reason why the acquisition even occurred and the main linchpin behind them feeling as though that was a smart

acquisition was because they said this company has a great sense of unity. That was the determining reason why they

said, we want to buy you guys.

Alan: No kidding.

Kevin: Yes, that was it man.

Alan: It wasn’t all - it’s about the numbers, it’s about the bottom line.

Kevin: The numbers made sense, but the reason - remember they were doing business years prior to me even coming

on board as their consultant, but when the culture and this took a matter of I don’t know, two, almost three years I was

with them, but in a matter of a short period of time as that, in terms of business, in under three years, we went from

changing the culture and the ethos of the company from a relationship standpoint.

And from a consumer standpoint, from a distributor purveyor standpoint, every facet, every angle that they interacted

with the public or with their internal necessary components, and people that they needed to run.

Everything changed, man, the culture changed. They required no capital outlay that was ridiculous. It required nothing

that you’re scared you’re going to lose your shirt. It required hardly anything in comparison to the benefit that came out

of it.

Alan: That’s awesome. I appreciate you sharing that. Let’s skip ahead, Kevin to the brain pick section of this week’s

episode. I’m going to ask you a couple of rapid fire questions.

Kevin: Sure thing.

What Thought Leaders Have Influenced You?

Alan: The first one is, for you personally what thought leaders have influenced you, or that you follow, and how so? You

mentioned Jay Abraham earlier. Who else?



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Kevin: He’s definitely one of them. Malcolm X is one of them. I would have to say without a shadow of a doubt, Mother

Theresa man, Mother Theresa. A lot of people feel that she was this very meek, very wholesome little old woman, but

no, actually she ran her entire life with an iron fist, but a loving iron fist.

I love her philosophy. I love how stern, but yet how soft, and how pliant she was with the condition of the human spirit

being broken and just people needing love and nurturing, but yet, an iron fist. I just love her entire way and approach to

living. Who else…

Alan: Well, it’s interesting that of the three people you’ve mentioned, the majority of them are civic and social leaders,

and not just business leaders.

I think that’s very important, because I have a lot of friends who are in business and training and that kind of thing. You

see from time to time posted on social media, “You hang out with - you become like the five people you hang out with

the most.”

Kevin: Very true.

Alan: It is true. “So are you hanging out with rich people or poor people?” I see that, and I’m like “This is pre-supposing

that…”

I don’t know, it’s like - sometimes I’m a dick, I respond to them like, “Well, how would Mother Theresa fit into this? How

would Jesus Christ fit into this?” He didn’t seem like he had a lot of money, or the Buddha, or whoever.

I like that you’re pointing out that kind of leader, because those are the ones that shape our society.

Kevin: Literally, man, literally. Another thing I like to say I’m - for title sake to give an illustration so that people can see

it vividly, a lot of people have this idea, this concept that Jesus was this absolute - people have to remember, if you’re a

Christian, or if you believe in the one they call Jesus, a lot of people have it misconstrued, thinking that he was this kind

of different human being.

The reason why story says that he was a human is because he had to experience, and it was meant for him to experience

what it was like being a man, going through having all the human emotions, the ups and downs, the highs and lows. You

cannot tell that Jesus did not act and pretty much get in the ass of his disciples when they did something stupid, but he

did it in a loving way. That’s just my take.

For me to look at the idea and the stories, the examples of Jesus, when I do study the ancient scripts, I literally look at it

in a very pragmatic sense, that okay, they paint the picture of this person that literally was ethereal and perfect. That’s

the idea, but I’m looking at what would God really, really want us to gather from the lessons of Jesus. He was a real

human being, and when you’re a real human being, there ain’t no fake in that, there ain’t no perfect.



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He was Jesus, the man. Therefore, I know for a fact that when he was hanging with his buddies, his crew, his homies, i.e.,

the disciples, I know when some of them said something stupid, I know he did not say this very reverent, nice thing to

them every single time. He got in their behinds, I really do feel that.

Alan: I can picture him face-palming at Peter sometimes. A bearded dude that calls out bullshit and hypocrisy sounds

like my kind of guy.

Kevin: Right, and I know he did, man, but again, people have this whole idea of that in their minds, it must be correct,

because they’ve been conditioned and bombarded and inundated since the time they came out of the womb with this

image.

But as I like to call myself, an evolved Christian, where I don’t claim any kind of denomination or anything, I believe in

God, period, I like to think that Jesus was a flat-out man, a homie that I could hang with, that would say, “Kev, come on

man, chill out, that’s bullshit.”

Look at him, it’s like this cat really means chill out because he cares about me. Evidently, he sees something in me that

I’m not doing or that could lead to harm, hurt or danger and he’s telling me this because he cares, he loves me, that’s

why he’s my homie. That’s why I’m willing to die for him. Do you think the disciples were willing to die for him, just

because he was so nice?

Alan: It makes sense to me.

Kevin: No.

Alan: No. Now, I’ve got something for you to try. This is what I do when I go bowling. Don’t take this the wrong way.

Every time I go bowling, they ask for your name, right, so when you type it in the computer and it shows your name up

on that screen…

Kevin: Right.

Alan: Sometimes they showcase you if you get a strike or whatever, so I always say my name is Malcolm, so when I get a

strike it says real big on the screen “Malcolm X!”

Kevin: I’m taking that one, dude. I’m taking that one.

Alan: People are like what if it says - what is you get two in a row, there’s no Malcolm XX. I’m like, “Well, I don’t usually

do that well, but if I did, I’d say my name is Rated.” I’ve always wanted to see “Rated XXX” up on the screen.

Kevin: We’ll take care of those, Malcolm or Rated I am, I’m taking that one.

“If You Work on Your Gifts, Your Gifts Will Make Room For You.”



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Alan: Back to the topic at hand. What is a really good quote from a thought leader that you have been inspired by?

Kevin: Oh man, that’s a lot, brother. That’s a lot. I would have to say - I mean again, whether you’re a believe or not and

to the listeners as well, you know Jesus is such a rich repository of examples and good words, but the phrase that was

used over 2,000 years ago. If you work on your gifts, your gifts will make room for you. That’s probably one of my

favorites, brother.

Alan: Work on your gifts, meaning you’ve got certain strengths, you’ve got certain gifts, focus on those? Improve them?

Kevin: Meaning you have something, a special quality, an element about you. If you lined up 100 men, 100 people that

can stand toe to toe, eye to eye with Alan Brymer, you guys can have the same exactly skill, but inside of you is that

element that only you and you alone have.

No matter how good or talented those other guys are, because it’s your gift, because it’s that special quality, element

that you’ve been given, you will outshine even the best of them.

That’s what I mean, where you will be seen for what uniquely is yours to give and purvey to the world and then we’ll

make room for you, just like when I do business or I find myself in situations where I’m attracting clientele or these

people in very esteemed positions, owners of companies, and business leaders and so forth, even in business class, I

don’t tell them what I do. Probably nine times out of ten, they tell me everything I do. I just ask questions.

Alan: No, I can tell you live this because when I asked you how you positioned yourself, you didn’t have a 30 second,

tightly-worded elevator speech. You basically said, “I’m Kevin Madison, I’m full of Kevin Madisonness that no one else

has.”

In other words, like everyone I’m a collection of gifts, and strengths, and characteristics, and interests, and passions, and

values, and results, and what does that have to do with you and what you need and how could we work together?

Kevin: That’s it, man, that’s perfectly put, man. I just don’t - I don’t promote myself, brother. I allow again providence to

move about. When I’m sitting and talking with someone, like I landed a very - a very good client, Morellifit, he is the

creator of Hit Max, which is a very up and coming and they are moving a fitness company.

We actually met in the lobby of a hotel, man, and how he became a client was, we were at dinner, and we left the lobby

of the hotel, we went to dinner. We’re in San Diego, and during the course of dinner, all I did was ask him questions.

All I did was listen to his answers, sincerely want to know more behind the answers he was giving and ask deeper

probing questions. He came to the conclusion himself, and he simply said, “All right, what does it take for me to hire a

guy like you?” There we were.

Alan: I love it. Basically you were what he was looking for and enough time and exposure is going to demonstrate to

people what you are. And you can’t fake it, but it does take time and it does take listening.



14

You could even apply that to content marketing, everyone who’s listening, your values and your personality can and

should be coming out in your blog posts, podcasts, episodes, videos, speeches, all the content you’re producing.

Kevin: That’s right, man.

Alan: Even if you can’t define it, it exists, and people will sense it, and if it’s their style, then they will respond.

Kevin: That’s right.

Kevin’s Report,“The Sacrosanct Six: The Core Principles to Constructing Your 7 Figure-a-Year Business”

Alan: So Kevin, I appreciate your time, we’re going to wrap things up, but can you tell us real quick how people can

reach you online and a little bit about the free resource that you’re offering to our subscribers.

Kevin: Well Alan, just like the scenario I gave you with my small machine parts client several years ago, I have chock full

report that delineates and describes many of the processes that I’ve used, it’s six core processes that I use with every

single one of my clients, no matter what industry, no matter what size of their business, company, or practice, but the

report that I created is called the Sacrosanct 6.

That’s spelled S-a-c-r-o-s-a-n-c-t 6, Sacrosanct 6 and that can be found at Thekgmgroup.com, and it’s a report that after

being released for about a month, I started to get emails, emails from a guy in Arizona who owns a couple - not Arizona,

I’m sorry, New Mexico, he owns ice cream parlor stores, and he just send me an email random. I didn’t know who the

guy was.

He said, “Dude, because of this report, it’s all things that I was familiar with, but you put them together so concisely well,

it’s yielded me an additional six figures to my bottom line in just a couple of months, this report.”

Another guy who basically was starting on his business who was looking for every resource - he couldn’t necessarily

afford high end training, he said he read it, and he said he followed it to a T.

He created an app on the iTunes network and he said that app now generates him enough to where he is able to quit his

second part-time job, and now I believe if I’m not mistaken, he doing apps and building apps full-time.

So this report, I tell you without any want or any means of acquiring you as a client, listeners, the Sacrosanct 6 is

definitely one of the best pieces that I’ve ever written that describes how one builds a seven-figure a year business,

following them to the T, you will love it.

Alan: I can tell you’re proud of your work. I will check it out. Good practical information conveyed concisely. You’ve got

me and you know what, I’m going to pitch that to my comic book writing friend, because the Sacrosanct 6 sounds like a

comic series led by Mother Theresa. Am I right? A super hero…

Kevin: That’s right man. Interesting way of putting it man.

http://thekgmgroup.com/



15

Alan: Oh man, I’ve had a lot of fun today, Kevin. I really appreciate your time and for sharing your story and your

inspiring message with our listeners. This has been a lot of fun.

Kevin: I appreciate you Alan. It’s been a blast, man, and our mutual friend is one of the best dudes that I know online,

man, and I really appreciate him connecting us, man.

Alan: He’s talking about Justin Christianson, everyone, who was our very first guest here in Episode 1 of Thought Leader

Retreat.

If you’ve enjoyed hearing what Kevin had to say as much as I do, then check out the Sacrosanct 6 and make sure to apply

the things that you’ve learned today, not only in your outbound communications with the world, but your internal

communications with your team and yourself.

Thanks everyone. Have a great week. We’ll see you again soon, Kevin.

Kevin: Love and light, my friend.

how creating a culture of fun at work led to a $970,000 increase in sales, with kevin madison

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kevin madison

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