Where I live, we have a terrific professional soccer team, the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Earlier this year their owner, Bill Edwards, a real estate developer and billionaire who’s also a friend and neighbor, invited me to go to New York with him and former St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker to pitch Major League Soccer (MLS) on letting the Rowdies join the league as its eleventh team. It’s a good fit: the Tampa metro area is the country’s eleventh-largest media market, we have great fans, a great stadium, and more. So in January, Bill, Rick, and a whole traveling circus headed for the Big Apple (I couldn’t go) to pitch Mark Abbott, deputy commissioner of the MLS.
Later, Bill told me what he did and I was impressed. See, Bill’s a pitchman who made his fortune pitching VA loans to veterans. He wasn’t about to write a letter or do a PowerPoint. When Bill does things, he does them big. He showed up in a Gulfstream jet with twenty people, including Ralph’s Mob, the Rowdies’ support group; the team mascot, Pete the Pelican; some dancing girls, and a dozen community leaders. He even flew in with a crate of Florida oranges, and took out a billboard in Times Square—it was an overwhelming charm offensive.
At the time this book goes to press, I won’t know if the Rowdies will be joining the MLS or not. But it won’t be for lack of trying. Bill blew their minds, and that could be the difference. He told me later: “Sully, I pitched the hell out of ’em!”
That’s the point. Even a billionaire who can afford a $150 million franchise fee needed to know how to pitch. He knew his audience, made an entrance, broke down that force field, and more. It excited me, because it’s validation of everything I’ve said. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter how much power you have. At the end of the day, you have to know how to persuade. Everybody needs to know how to pitch.
The learning never stops, either. I hope you’re motivated to keep working on your Pitch Powers even after you put down this book, and I hope you’ll share your progress with me. Here’s how we can keep in touch:
• My website, www.anthonysullivan.com. This is the first place to go. Here, you can subscribe to my email list and get all kinds of exclusive bonus learning materials that you won’t find anywhere else. You can check out my “Pitch Powers” series of instructional videos and use those quick lessons to hone your own skills. You can find out where I’ll be speaking or doing a book signing. You can even sign up to get alerts about special pitching competitions I’ll be holding in the future.
• Facebook. My Facebook fan page is facebook.com/AnthonySullivan. I invite you to like my page, but also to send me a video of you giving me your best pitch. I’m always looking for great pitching stories, so pitch me! If I love your pitch, I’ll share it with all my readers and fans.
• Twitter. Go to twitter.com/sullyontv and give me a follow.
• YouTube. Find me on YouTube and you’ll find all of my pitching videos and a lot more fun, silly, and interesting stuff. When you’re on TV as much as I am, strange things are bound to happen.
Reach out anytime. Tell me about new Pitch Powers that I missed. Tell me about pitching tricks you’ve discovered or amazing things that you did with your superpowers. Ask me questions and I’ll try to answer them. But whatever you do, don’t stop working on your pitch. You can have everything you want if you know how to persuade the world to give it to you.