Brad Burton rang up the other day. ‘Kevin, I urgently need a three-minute video to promote myself as a motivational speaker. Can you get to Doncaster race course next Wednesday?’ When I first filmed Brad a few years ago I noted that while he was built like a gorilla, he had the rather squeaky high-pitched voice of a girl guide and we might have to do some work in post-production to bring it down an octave or two.

Brad has employed a voice coach and personal trainer and the man we filmed last week was a completely different gorilla. He practically charged onto the seminar stage, clutching his beloved pizza box, and held the audience of Yorkshire business folk (not the easiest to warm-up) in the palm of his hand.

There is an authority and confidence that booms out of him now, mixed with some incredibly honest stories about his own personal growth and development. His stroke of genius, that has taken him from box room to a boardroom in less than two years, was to recognise every business needs two things: people and appointments. Using his innate marketing talents and creative imagination he set up a new Business Breakfast Network. Everyone thought he was mad. There were breakfast groups everywhere. But Brad held onto his dream and designed a format that simply blew away the cobwebs of traditional style network breakfast meetings. If this Somerset success story doesn’t inspire and motivate you to develop your business and expand your contacts, then nothing will!

A big thank you to Peter ‘X-factor’ Dickson for his fantastic introductory voice-over, and Barry Mellor for his excellent photography on the day.

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I first met Brad in 2005 when he was rushing around Somerset promoting his marketing services and delivering pizzas in the evening. At the time I was working for Business Link and he nearly broke the door down charging in with an A4 folder filled with one zillion creative ideas. And his biggest one was the idea of creating a new breakfast networking group in Somerset, which in those days was very well covered by BNI. The 4Networking success has been astonishing and very well deserved and he has built an outstanding team around him. When I made a short film about 4Networking in 2006, there were thirty 4N breakfast clubs in the West Country. There are now over 400 breakfast clubs throughout the UK with 22,000 network members. Buy his book and catch some of the infectious Brad Burton enthusiasm. It has already achieved the highest accolade in the publishing world. Get off your Arse was voted ‘The Best Business Book of 2009′ by his Mum.