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Excerpts

Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. Who Are the Influentials?

Demographics Are Not Influence · Shared Characteristics and Diversity · The Activists · Profile: Isabel Milano · People Who Are Connected · People with Impact · Profile: Larry Lee · People with Active Minds · A Product That Works: The Cell Phone · Trendsetters · A Product That Can Wait: E-Books · Case Study: The Entrepreneurial Wave · Are Influentials Born or Made?

2. The Influential Personality

A Clear Sense That "This Matters" · Aspirations: The American Dream, the Good Life, and Life's Necessities · Belief in Growth and Change · Profile: Shelley Miller · Balancing Community and Self · Values: Family and Engagement First · Where They Are Satisfied and What They're Working On · Profile: Rick White · Case Study: Green Marketing -- the Influential Balance · An Idea That Works: The Integrated Home · Idiosyncrasy

3. The Influence Spiral: How Influentials Get and Spread Ideas

The Spiral of Influence · Profile: Sophie Glovier · The Water Station · Multiple Sources of Information · Nothing Beats Word of Mouth · If You Get It, Share It · Continuous Provement · Case Study: Influential "Inflection Points" and "Plateaus" · Media: In the Beginning Was the Word · But They Use Other Sources, Too · Profile: Teresa Graham · An Idea That Works but Should Work Better: E-Commerce · They Trust Their Instincts

4. The Message of Influentials: The Age of Autonomy and the Rise of Self-Reliance

The Self-Reliance Movement · The New Century: The Changes Come to the Surface · Older, More Educated, and More Adept · The Role of Influentials · Opportunities and Challenges · A Different Kind of Activism · Thinking Out of the Orthodox Box · Profile: Mike Williams · Return to Values · Different Levels of Confidence · "The Best Places to Have Money" · Implications for Government and Institutions · Self-Improvement and Learning · Profile: David Pendergrass · A Time for Building Up

5. The Influential Vision: Seven Trends for the Future

A Window onto the Future · The Legacies Agenda · Profile: Leonard Pitt · Global Connections · High Pace, High Peace · A PC-Centered World · Living Longer Stronger · Profile: Walter Arrowsmith · No Big Brothers · The Limits of Convenience

6. Developing an Influential Strategy: Six Rules for Getting into the Conversation

"Mission Control: We've Got a Problem" · 1. Be Where the Information Is · 2. When Critics Come Knocking, Invite Them In · 3. Get Out into the Community · 4. Make It Easier -- Then Make It Easier Still · A Product That Works: Debit Cards · Profile: Tim Draper · 5. Know "The Exceptions" -- and Keep Up with Them · 6. Be a Brand, and Tell the World · Profile: Sarah Vokes · The Good News -- and Your Challenge

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX