I want you to think of marketing like a magic trick. It looks amazing and unbelievable until you break down how it works. We’re going to break down and guide you through a fundamental trick I call, “the art of inception”. The way we are going to define inception is the art of implanting an idea or belief into a person’s mind with the hopes of generating an emotion that drives action. The art of Inception is a 4-step process and it’s easier to understand if you think of ideas and beliefs as a seed (you know the little things that turn into trees ). With that metaphor in mind, here are the four parts of inception we are going to cover.

The 4-steps of the art of inception

Step 1 – Picking your little idea seedlings. Not all ideas or beliefs will actually grow in the soil that is the human mind and you need to learn to pick the ones that will naturally survive and thrive.

Step 2 – Fertilizing the soil so your idea seeds can grow. Other idea seeds are competing with yours for the same nutrients ( your customer’s attention ) and you’ll need some fertilizer ( persuasion tactics ) if you want your idea to survive and grow in such a competitive environment.

Step 3 – Planting and growing your idea seeds into the minds of your customer. The smartest way to plant your idea is inconspicuously through a story. Because of the unique properties of stories they work like a trojan horse and allow you to easily grow trees (strong emotions) in the minds of your customers.

Step 4 –  Spreading pollen to grow your forest. Making one tree may have been easy but next, you need to be able to strategically move from one mind to another growing more trees as you go. Your job now is to grow a forest (aka build your brand) that you can eventually harvest.

So now that you understand our metaphor let’s jump in and get you on your way to becoming a world-class marketer.

1 Curated Resources

Inception

, Movie

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to enter people’s dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. This is a fun resource to get you to visualize your job as a marketer.