The power of influence: the easy way to make money online^®

First published 2010 by Wrightbooks

an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall Street, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Typeset in Giovanni LT 11/14 pt

© Sarah Prout 2010

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Author: Prout, Sarah, 1979-

Title: The power of influence: the easy way to make money online/ Sarah Prout.

ISBN: 9781742469751 (pbk.)

Subjects: Business enterprises — Computer network resources.

Information networks.

Internet marketing

Success in business.

Dewey Number: 658.054678

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All enquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Studio 131

Printed in China by Printplus Limited

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Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based upon the information in this publication.

Thomas and Olivia — this book is for you, my darlings.

It is also lovingly dedicated to the hearts and minds of inspired entrepreneurs.

Foreword

The existence of this book itself demonstrates its power.

Twenty years ago, this story would not have been possible. Sarah Prout is a young, single mother who has, using the very tactics outlined in this book, catapulted herself to media stardom.

She was then able to parlay that stardom into a book deal with one of the largest publishers in the world — the fruits of which you’re about to read. And she achieved all this in the span of three short years.

Would that have been possible pre-internet? I think not.

Today, stories such as Sarah’s are almost commonplace. I don’t tell you this to downplay the importance of Sarah’s accomplishments, but to allow you to open this book with a renewed sense of the possible.

See, that’s the cool thing about today’s new media stars. Many of them understand that there is more money to be made in sharing their secrets with you than in locking them away. They don’t care that you can become their competitor — because the online world is just too big to care anymore.

As I write this foreword the world population is 6.8 billion. Only 1.8 billion of those people are online — and around 150 000 new people are coming online every day. Barring bandwidth costs, you could contact each and every one of those 1.8 billion people for free. Converting a tiny fraction of them into your customers could set you up for life.

Sit down and think about that for a minute. When the reality sinks in, turn the page and get started.

Mark Joyner

Founder and Chairman

Construct Zero

<www.ConstructZero.org>

Acknowledgements

I’d like to acknowledge the following people with heartfelt gratitude for your love and support during the production of this book:

To my children (Thomas and Olivia) — I love you so much.

To my parents (Tony and Louise) — thanks for having me! I adore you both beyond time and space. My sister and brothers — Henrietta, David and Reuben, you are a lovely bunch of people and living proof that creativity is a strong genetic force.

To Mr Paul Widmer, who made me a ladder and showed me that nothing is out of reach. Your friendship and support has meant the world to me during the writing of this book.

Mr Sean Patrick Simpson — you’re a true star of inspiration.

To Mr David Dewitt — thanks for a decade of love, laughter and life experience.

To my special friends and amazing supporters — Si Dawson, Rebecca Lange, Cathy Penglase, Nina Springle, Michelle Haus, Joy Patterson, Pete Judd, Katherine Findlay, Jill Tait and my amazing Sprout coaching students.

I’d also like to thank Katherine Drew from John Wiley & Sons for the conception of such a strong book title. To my editor, Stefanie Di Trocchio — your amazing gift for unravelling information is extremely impressive.

And last but not least you. If you are a fan or a follower on Twitter, then I express my most sincere gratitude to you for your support.

xoxo

Introduction

I’m sitting on a beautiful sub-tropical beach on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. The water is the clearest blue you could imagine. My children are happily digging holes in the soft white sand and I’m lounging on a towel reading the latest copy of Vogue under the shade of my beach hat. While marvelling at how nice it is to have the afternoon away from my laptop my mobile phone rings. It’s a journalist in Sydney wanting to interview me for the Australian Financial Review. She is writing an article about the growing popularity of Twitter and my name ranks with the top media agencies in the country.

In just a few short years I have gradually built my reputation and influence online via social media. My life seems to have expanded at an accelerated pace. I moved from cosmopolitan Melbourne to a place called Noosa, which I define as paradise on Earth. Sir Richard Branson owns an island here and Brad Pitt has been spotted walking incognito down Hastings Street (the main esplanade) on numerous occasions. You see, the beauty of online business is that you can work from anywhere in the world. With a laptop and access to a café with wifi you could be selling eBooks about ice to the Eskimos from a beachside location. It’s all about entrepreneurial lifestyle design and making sure that you’re living life on your terms.

My driving force (above all else) is gratitude. As an online entrepreneur you need to live and breathe appreciation. It’s about striking the balance between work and play. This book will explain the precise steps that I took to get to where I am today, and show you how you can experience the same success for your business and lifestyle. I want to share with you all of the juicy details of my entrepreneurial journey so far. As a business coach and a social media strategist, I think I have quite a unique perspective on the new rules of marketing. The model I teach my students is based on authenticity. The number one key in this new age of business interaction is to be yourself. It might sound extremely simple, but it’s highly effective to give your audience a behind-the-scenes viewpoint on your personality.

When I wrote this book I wanted to be as authentic as possible and relate personal stories of my business adventures that would resonate with you. I wanted the chapters to be in my own voice, almost as if I’m conducting a coaching session with you via Skype. Please bear in mind that I can be a little quirky when illustrating certain points. I also have a tendency to share a little bit too much information and get slightly metaphysical, which is a really interesting method to approach business psychology. The reason for this is to give you a glimpse into my personality, which embodies the central philosophy surrounding the social web. I guess we’re all on a very similar journey — we’re all seeking to fill our lives with more freedom and more joy. My number one passion is the psychology behind entrepreneurialism. It’s always been such a strong fascination, and with the emergence of social media my level of curiosity has only intensified.

The format of this book is based on the questions that flood my inbox from clients and people I have connected with online. It is the culmination of travelling an intense journey on the internet and thousands of hours of trial and error. As the book title suggests it’s my ultimate intention to show you how to translate the power of your personal influence into making cash online.

This book will cover the practical elements associated with building online influence and will give you power tasks throughout the pages that will help to reinforce your brand on the internet. If you complete all of the tasks, it will improve your search engine optimisation and be in total alignment with the fundamental elements of using social media effectively.

Please feel free to connect with me personally via Twitter (my platform of choice) — <www.twitter.com/sarahprout> — or via my business website <,www.sproutempire.com>.

Yours, with entrepreneurial sparkle,

Sarah Prout

Noosa Heads, Australia

June 2010