It's one thing to be an influencer; it's another to be an influencer to influencers. If the goal is to have an impact on the world in a positive way, then becoming an influencer to influencers is a great way to do it. An influencer is someone who has massive reach and can impact the actions of others with their words and actions. No, that's not from Webster's dictionary; that's my definition, so hopefully it'll do. The key to influencing influencers is to be sure of yourself and to be consistent in your work. If you're all over the place, and you're operating in your gift one week and, then taking the next week off, you'll never reach anyone that way. You have to be consistent, and you have to know what you know. We oftentimes hear people preface a statement with, “In my opinion,” or “I believe,” etc. I do it sometimes too. Well, that can take away from your influence if you do that too much. You have to know what you know and really stand behind it. One thing about my online brand is that I never questioned myself within a quote or statement. I spoke as if everything I said was a law from heaven. I did that because I wanted people who may be unsure to know that I was sure. I really was sure. I didn't think I knew what I was talking about. I knew that I knew what I was talking about. Before I said anything, I analyzed it from every angle I could think of. I thought of the arguments one might have from each angle, and I had a counterargument. Even with all of that I still could have been wrong, but you'd have to present a pretty strong case to convince me that I didn't know what I was talking about. Because of that confidence and surety, it helped me rise through the ranks online. My following grew so much faster because I sounded sure of myself. If a person is going to follow you, they want to know that you know where you're going. If you're guessing all the time, then they'd rather just go their own way. You have to know that you know or just shut up. I may not always be right, and sometimes when someone would make a great counterargument, I'd have to delete my tweet. Sometimes my message was just misconstrued because of my bad grammar, but there were times that I didn't analyze my point from the right angle. I had to eat those mistakes. I would post one sure thought, then an hour later I would post a rebuttal to the debaters. I wouldn't address them directly, but my next quote would be to them. It was funny when one would realize I was talking to them and would tweet me again even though I didn't mention their name. I was wrong at times, but I felt right most of the time. I taught by principles of life, not the exceptions of life. There is always an exception, but we can't base our life on that. Thirty years ago my model would have been an exception to the rule, but today my model of business is quickly becoming the majority. I know what I know, and you can't tell me otherwise, especially if the results back it up nine times out of 10. That's how you become an influencer to influencers.

What you have to realize is that we all have insecurities. I have insecurities, although I may not wear a sign on my forehead listing them. I need guidance too; but if I'm going to listen to anyone, they have to sound sure of themselves. They have to sound so sure that I feel 100 percent that they know what they're talking about. I hate it when someone gives advice, and then at the end of it they say, “But I don't know though.” It's like, what did you just give all that advice for then? If you're going to advise someone, then be sure about what you're saying, even when it comes back to bite you in the butt. I went on national TV once and advised a celebrity about what to do in her relationship with the father of her two children. She'd had two of his kids, but she still wasn't his wife. Things weren't getting better; they were getting worse. I gave her some advice and told her it was time to take a stand and walk away. I remember getting a call from one of my cousins who asked me how I did that. He said, “Cuzz, you're telling people what to do with their marriage, their life. I'd be afraid to death to do that. What if you tell them something and it ruins their life?” I said, “Cuzz, it's a chance I have to take. If a person isn't sure about their life, and I've weighed the options, and I've looked at hundreds of similar cases and saw how they all turned out and then gave the advice that I thought was best, then I did what I could. I'd rather the person make a definite decision than to be left hanging in the balance.” He said, “Man, you're a brave man because I can't do that.”

It's not the easiest thing in the world to give advice, but if you know that you know what you're talking about, and you've been put in that position, then people are counting on you. It may be fashion advice, dieting advice, financial advice, or life advice. It could be anything. You have to know that you know. If you don't know, then be one of those people who say, “But I don't know though.” But if you want to help impact the lives of many in a positive way, then speak up. If I tell a woman that she should stop letting a man run in and out of her life and take her for granted, how can that hurt her? That was years ago that I told that lady on TV to leave that guy, and she's doing just fine today. I knew there wasn't a downside to having self-respect. It's not like I said she should go hang off the side of the bridge and call him and tell him that she'd be hanging there until he came and rescued her. That would be bad advice. If you can't be sure about what you're talking about, then don't talk about it. If you have studied so hard and long and seen hundreds or thousands of those cases play out, and you feel you can help a person figure something out, then help them.

I tell athletes to cut their own checks, monitor their bank accounts if someone has access to it, and not give their families so much that they have to fall from grace when they retire. You'd be surprised how many don't do those simple things. I give that basic advice as though I'm sure that if they don't do those things, then really bad things can happen. The smart ones listen to that advice. I know that listening to that advice won't bring any harm, so I can give that advice and rest at night. Just like the tips I give in this book. If you do it my way, it may take longer but I know it won't ruin you. I can share these tips with confidence that they won't hurt you to be hands-on in your business, take your time before signing with a major, learn something about every aspect of your business, and be consistent in your gift. I'm very confident about that advice because there's no downside to it. You may let your manager go tomorrow because this book helped you realize that they are just taking a cut for no good reason. I know that letting a deadweight manager go won't hurt you. I wouldn't tell you to cut a manager who is bringing a different deal to the table every month; that would be stupid advice. You may take some of my sure advice and go shock the world over the next five years. Then you'll write me and say, “Hey Tony, I took your advice and became more consistent in my gift and my career has taken off as a result, and I'm reaching thousands of people now.” Guess what that means? I became an influencer to an influencer just because I knew what I knew.

I learned quickly that everyone has life questions. If I have the answer to certain questions, then I answer them for whoever I can. I have one client who has tens of millions of followers online and a lot of influence. This client talks to me often. I help where I can, and I give sure advice. But that client has some wisdom that I don't have because they've made more money than I have and had to learn how to handle greedy family members. I asked my client for advice on that matter. My client gave me very sure advice without any hesitation or questioning in the answer. I felt I could trust that answer, and I took that advice. My client is an influencer, I'm an influencer, and we've influenced one another. That's how it works.

There was a time while I was still working a full-time job that I went in to work the morning shift, so I got there like 6 a.m. I sent out a tweet because I was up early. It was a Saturday morning, so most people were asleep in the United States. On the West Coast it was 3 a.m., and on the East Coast it was 6 a.m. I sent out a quote, and I can't remember what the quote was exactly. The next thing I know, I get a direct message from an A- or B-list celebrity. This celeb asks me to give him a call. So I dart outside of work, and I give him a call. Then he says, “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you've been so instrumental in my growth. You have no idea how many times your advice on Twitter has gotten me through the day. If you ever need anything, just give me a call. If you're ever in LA, swing by my house so we can talk more.” I was blown away. I was like, here is this megastar watching my tweets and growing from them. I then would notice that the person's tweets started to sound just like mine. The person started motivating the hundreds of thousands and later millions of followers in the very same way that I do. I'd been an influence to an influencer.

I didn't really understand how it happened, but I knew it started with that tweet to Alicia Keys. Because of that I started telling the guys who were coming to me for mentorship that they should get the attention of a celebrity. I told them to just send an encouraging tweet to a celebrity once a week or so. Well, a couple of the guys went overboard, and they pinpointed the celebrity they wanted to target and sent a quote to the person every day and sometimes multiple times a day. Well, the same thing that happened for me, happened for them. The celebrity would retweet their quotes and as a result, their followers would increase into the thousands. Now they could just tweet their quotes and reach so many more people. It was crazy to realize that these celebrities are human just like us, and they need guidance and motivation just like the rest of us. If you know what you know, lend that advice to someone in need. It doesn't have to be a celebrity. I've coached people who had virtually no following, then fast-forward a couple years and they were reaching millions. I coached their potential, and their potential translated into production and turned into influence.

I recently watched a guy on YouTube start teaching about wealth. When he started teaching, all he had to show for it was a car. I know if he had then all that he has now, he would have shown it all in the first video because you can tell that's just how he is. Well, he started sharing advice, and in the advice he confronted every doubt about him that you may have. He sounded very sure of himself and very matter-of-fact. He was talking about some pretty heavy stuff that was over my head, stuff I'd never heard of. I didn't really want to get into it because it was too hard for me to understand. He couldn't explain it to a 6-year-old, and neither could I. I could tell that he had the gift. I knew that he would rise to the top. I'm not sure how long he'll last there, but I know he will get there. I looked back on YouTube a few months later, and he'd gone from a guy with a car to a guy with multiple cars and a massive house. Outside of that, he'd become an influencer to influencers. He would be hanging out with them, talking with them, and featuring them. I'm not sure how he found them or how they found him, but it happened. I know it happened because of what I'll call the three C's: his confidence, his content, and his consistency. Those three things combined, and he had a winning recipe. The other thing he has going is his complexity. If an athlete or influencer wants to make money, he will sound like he knows more than other people, and that will keep them interested for a long time.

Just like anyone else, you know something. You don't have to argue what you know. You don't have to debate what you know. Just know what you know and keep sharing it. That's all I did, and that helped me build to the point where people who have larger brands and earn more money started coming to me for advice. For the longest time, I didn't know what to tell people when they would ask me how to get celebrity clients. I'm not sure if there is only one way or a surefire way; I just know that no one will follow someone who is unsure of themselves.

If you can't get your gift or product to an influencer, then take a different route. Find someone on the brink of success and connect with him or her and build from there. Help one another. If you have something to offer, they'll be able to tell. If you just want to ride their coattail, they'll be able to tell that too. Know what you bring to the table and don't back down from that. I went from no one knowing my name and having no celebrity clients to some days looking in my text messages and only seeing the names of top influencers. It's crazy to see how that happened. We live in a world today where you can get in front of influencers rather easily. If you have a product, some influencers will promote it for you for a fee. If you know your product is good, then you could pay them once and have a supporter for life. My wife buys these jeans for my sons that she found on Instagram. The woman who makes them is just a regular mom. She made a pair for the daughter of a mega star once, the mega star posted the jeans on her Instagram page, and the lady's company went through the roof. That same mega star retweeted a blog site that I used to blog for, and the blog went through the roof. From that retweet of the blog post the founder of the blog became a celebrity, got a book deal, met Oprah, and now tours the world. If you're consistent, you'll find yourself in the right place at the right time one day, and your life will never be the same. Start positioning yourself to become an influencer, and if you get the chance, leverage the power of influencers you come in contact with. Nearly everyone whose brand grew organically did so with the help of someone with a large reach. Don't run from it if you get the chance, but don't be desperate for it either. You may have to pay your way if a stamp from an influencer costs, but that's marketing and there's nothing wrong with that if you have the money to spend.

If all else fails, do it the old-fashioned way and just work until you get your break. There may not always be an easy way or a clever idea that comes to mind, so you just have to stay the course and wait your turn. There are actually influencers to influencers who no one knows. There are people who don't have a following, aren't online, but yet they influence some of the biggest influencers in the world. They were operating in their gift and happened to be in the right place at the right time and their life changed forever. Their influence helped shape cultures and generations, and the world at large never knew who they were. If you look at the people who have inspired you or just influenced you, you may not know who their influencer is, but that doesn't lessen their influence. I look up to the work of John Maxwell. I've never followed him as closely as I followed Zig Ziglar, but I see myself one day writing as many books as John Maxwell has. He pumps out stuff daily that is life changing. I've never read one of his books because from what I've seen, our message may be similar. I don't want to just copy everything he says, so I don't read his work on a routine basis. I'll look at something once a month, but I see how much he produces and it inspires me. I don't know who his influencer is. I'm fairly sure it's God, but it may also be a person. Whoever influences him has a lot of influence, and we may never know their name. I know my wife influences me, my father influences me, my sons influence me, my mother and my sister influence me, but none of them have large followings. My wife has touched a lot of lives because of her influence on my life. The millions who have seen my name online may never see my wife's name, but they were influenced by her influence on me. I say that just to say, there are many ways you can be significant and have influence in the world. Don't feel like you have to do it the same way I did it or that you need to do it at all. If it's your calling and if it's meant to be, it will come to you along the journey. If and when it does, embrace it and run with it—you'll be a world changer!!