Sphere of Influence is a process of building “systems of invisible influence” that work to MOVE people towards YOU.
Put another way: people are ATTRACTED (PULLED) towards you, not interrupted, pushed, coerced, pressured, or bribed to listen to your message.
The distinction is important.
There’s a very different and POWERFUL dynamic at play when people are exposed to you and your world in a way that RESHAPES their own installed beliefs and worldview, in a way that creates A-HA! moments and a new way of thinking for them.
In fiction writing, there’s a concept called worldbuilding. It’s the process of constructing an imaginary world.
Within these “worlds” specific mechanics and dynamics exist (physics, geography, culture, etc.).
Think Lord of the Rings. Star Wars. Game of Thrones. Lost. And my favorite recent example, Westworld.
I’m dyslexic, so reading and writing have NEVER come naturally to me. So it’s kinda strange perhaps that I’ve always created narrative-based marketing that forms the engine of how I ATTRACT people into my sphere of influence.
I then use these “worlds” to allow people to SELF-IDENTIFY. They’re either ATTRACTED (and MOVE in my direction), or they’re REPELLED (and get filtered out).
Either way, I win (as do they).
I win because, by the time someone adds themselves to my email list, they’re HOT and EAGER for MORE.
Almost everyone else filters THEMSELVES out before ever ending up on my email lists.
This reframe is the FIRST mental shift you need to make.
Less is more.
You’re SELECTIVE about who you choose to do business with. And you then IGNORE EVERYONE ELSE.
I know it’s hard to turn people away.
Especially before they even make it onto your email list. Unless you’re competing with McDonald’s or Walmart, it’s the best way to do business.
SOI and Jay Abraham
My SOI system is heavily influenced by Jay Abraham’s Strategy of Preeminence.
In 2004 or 05 I was lucky enough to be exposed to it. It connected with me so viscerally that it completely reshaped how I viewed and approached marketing, and how I did business with prospects and clients.
SOI, ARM, and everything else I’ve created has been heavily influenced by Jay’s Strategy of Preeminence.
SOI is all about:
- building “worlds” (systems of invisible influence) that move people in your direction,
- choosing to do business with fewer people, not more (not everyone),
- using your worlds to install and reshape the beliefs and worldviews of the people you care about serving and mattering to,
- reframing the idea of trying to “sell you” to “I want to serve you”,
- taking on the responsibility of being their most trusted adviser (their definitive trusted source),
- an attitude that you look at everybody out there that you want to do business with, and that you make it a point of deciding you’re NOT GOING TO WAIT FOR MONEY TO CHANGE HANDS BEFORE YOU START contributing, guiding, counseling, advising, and protecting them,
- establishing yourself from the VERY BEGINNING as THE ONLY VIABLE SOLUTION, to a problem, a challenge, an issue, or an opportunity in their life.
What you should be getting a sense of so far is that this is NOT about building another (better) “mouse trap” funnel that pressures and squeezes and coerces people into taking action.
In many ways, SOI represents the OPPOSITE to that.
It’s about creating marketing that affects what people NEED to BELIEVE, REALIZE and AGREE to in ADVANCE before they can ACCEPT the NEED for the product or service you have for sale.
Approaching and achieving this is as much about CARING (as in, honestly giving a fuck about the people you want to serve and matter too), as it is about influencing through the strategic reshaping and reframing of hearts, minds, and beliefs.
The first (next) lesson will probably be the most challenging to (initially) wrap your head around. And even harder to implement.
Don’t let this put you off.
You’ll get better with practice. I know I have.
And even when you initially execute this poorly, it’ll still work exponentially BETTER than what you’ve ever done before.
Just saying.
The great thing about building the “doorways” into your SOI — the mind-altering journey you expose your audience to — is that once a doorway and narrative path are set up and working well, it rarely needs much changing and maintenance (read: these engines are very evergreen).
I still have doors into my SOI that I created nine years ago, that STILL attract and bring in new people daily.
Another dynamic about SOI is that you don’t have to “eat the whole elephant” in your first sitting.
You can implement just the first module’s worth of teachings, and you’ll still get results that will blow your mind.
Like Robert here:
Robert only applied one element of SOI to an internal evergreen launch, and they smashed previous records to pieces.
The more of SOI you implement, the better the systems of influence will work for you. But just know, you DO NOT have to execute it all out the gate.
The first lesson is about mapping out a chain (or ladder) of beliefs.
This lesson is where you start to reshape and reframe the lens through which your audience sees the world and views you, which then opens the door to a new way of thinking and change.
The chain (or ladder) of beliefs is the art of creating change by understanding, reshaping, and reframing beliefs.
Before I share this first lesson with you, you need to watch the two videos below.
The FIRST is feedback I received from my friend, Nate (Nathan Dye), after sharing with him the initial rough draft of SOI.
Although Nate didn’t create this video for me to share with you, I’ve chosen to because I feel it does a brilliant job of “setting the stage” for what you’re about to be exposed to.
It will also give you a further perspective on the hidden power of this system and method.
My personal favorite is at the 5 min mark when Nate talks about the difference between the conventional sales method of PERSUASION vs. the SOI method of INFLUENCE. The dynamics between the two are very different.
Now watch this video where Dave Gray explains The Pyramid of Belief. Dave’s Liminal Thinking is yet another perspective on how belief stacking leads to a person’s worldview.
In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to influence the beliefs of the people who enter your SOI, so that instead of NEEDING to CONVINCE them of your point-of-view (al-la the typical sales letter and funnel approach)…
… you get to move (influence) them in your direction by reshaping their beliefs (what they NEED to BELIEVE, REALIZE and AGREE to in ADVANCE before they can ACCEPT the NEED for the product or service you have for sale).
NEXT: Frank & Matt