The Influencer Economy is a movement and book to help you to launch your idea, share it with the world and thrive in the digital age. What I realized early in the process of writing this book and creating my podcast, is that in order to thrive in the digital age, you don’t need to go to business school. You don’t need an Ivy League degree. You don’t need to know celebrities. And you don’t need to have a lot of money. You just need to learn the new rules of success from the emerging leaders of the Influencer Economy.

When I worked at Disney, Machinima.com and began attending VidCon, Comic-Con, South by Southwest (SXSW), TechCrunch Disrupt and other tech and fan- geek conferences, I noticed two remarkable things: these events were celebrating geeks, technology, and modern social media; and no one was telling the stories of the awesome people embracing this new form of influence and the wildly successful businesses they were creating. I was on the front lines of what I called the Influencer Economy, and this movement was permeating all technology and media-based businesses, from California to New York to London to Mumbai.

I was inspired and went on to launch a podcast dedicated to interviewing the Influencer Economy pioneers. After speaking to more than a hundred artists, experts, and entrepreneurs—from world-famous YouTubers to New York Times best-selling authors to the most creative start-up founders and investors on the plan- et—I reverse engineered their careers, to understand the stories behind their success, and now present everything I learned in The Influencer Economy: How to Launch Your Idea, Share It with the World and Thrive in the Digital Age.

This is the book I wish I had when I launched my podcast and started writing this book. The three primary steps to success in the Influencer Economy—launch, share and thrive—can be applied to both business and life. I wrote about the fascinating stories of more than a dozen people who turned their visions, ideas, and hobbies into influential and profitable digital media empires. In each chapter I also provide the ”Influencer School Lessons“ derived from each of these individuals’ journeys for everyone to learn from. I aim for you to understand lessons from influencers, that will help you to launch your idea. I also wrote-out specific actions readers can take to launch their own ideas into the online universe.

The Influencer Economy features 10 key principles that are the building blocks of the Influencer Economy—with elements such as crafting your big vision, picking a platform, community collaboration, and opening doors for others.