Once you know what you sell, your DUTY is to spread your message. This chapter will show you more about my tactics to increase my influence and income online…   I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this publicly….   But before I bootstrapped my way to my first Funneling Live event, I started having conversations with my wife, and all I would focus on was telling her how intimidated I felt...     Nobody knew who I was   I didn't have a list    I’d been doing funnels for other people, but I hadn't learned how to charge yet.    I was still overcoming a lot of money-based objections in my own head.    In all the promos, Russell was saying things like, “You're gonna be around millionaires...”    Immediately, I my mind started thinking, “I Arrgh, 'm outclassed. I can't go perform in this game. There's no way…”   Finally, my wife was like, “Don't tell anybody that you're not a millionaire yet. Who needs to know?”    … and I felt like I had to hide.    BUT LET ME TELL YOU…   First of all, understand, that was the most absolutely wrong mentality that I could have taken, I just didn't know any different.    Second of all, I didn't understand that during those first few years, when I didn’t have influence or income, I was actually in one of the most powerful positions of my entire life. .    INFLUENCE & INCOME ONLINE   Looking around now, I see it a lot of people who (like me) have their own dreams... but as they start to pursue them, they look at the assets, the influence, and the authority of others ahead of them in the game, (and just like I did), they feel:    Disqualified   Unworthy   Outclassed    ...which is one of the reasons I really feel like I understand where the mind of a brand new beginner is -  because I walked the path and it sucks.   I felt VERY outclassed.    But if that’s how you’re feeling at the moment, I want you to understand that…   You don’t need to start with Influence and Income in order to get them.    … I certainly didn’t.   HOWEVER…   The good news is that there are a few simple plays that you can use to help successfully increase both your influence and income where you’re a beginner, or further down the road.   HOW TO BE INFLUENTIAL   So anyway, about eight months ago, I was asked to be a part of this project and because of how long the project took, (I'm not complaining at all, it's just the nature of the project), it took a long time to come to fruition…   … it takes a long time when you're working with the kind of people that are involved in this kind of project.    A lot of the BIG guys have launch calendars with their time planned out for months in advance.   I already have a launch calendar; I know exactly what I'm gonna be promoting in five months from now.    Another Example:   You may not know that the One Funnel Away, 30-Days Book was in the making for like six months, but no one knew…   It’s the same with some other projects that I can't talk to you about… ;-)    But…   The book that I was asked to be a part of, about eight months ago, is called Influence and Income Online…   And the prompt I was given for my chapter was:    What are some of the steps somebody should take to master influence and income online?   I do A LOT of coaching… (the One Funnel Away, Two Comma Club X, OfferLab, and OfferMind)… and *that* question actually comes up frequently.   DO YOU HAVE THIS FALSE BELIEF?   One of the most common false beliefs  out there is that:   “ Stephen, no one will buy from me because I don't have any following. I have no influence or no authority on the internet.”    And I got to tell you, ...that's just a completely false statement.    You have to understand that three and a half/ four years ago, no one knew who I was…   *NOBODY*   I haven’t even graduated from college when I went to that first FHL…    Then I started working for Russell... and still, nobody knew who I was for a little while.    And that's okay - that's a part of the game.    That’s why I tell everyone to ‘freak