The Real Blind Influence

“It is a healthy thing now and then to hang a
question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”
- Bertrand Russell

Morpheus: The matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: Like everyone else, you were born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.

You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Remember, all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
(Scene from The Matrix)

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Blind Influence is how I describe the invisible impact advertising, marketing and friendly persuasion all have on impacting our daily decisions.  Some of these influences are benign, some are helpful and some are intentionally deceptive.

I would have named the blog: Stop Being Stupid, but it seemed a little harsh.  It bothers me that we (yep, I include myself here) are so easily fooled and manipulated.  It’s a flaw in the human brain unfortunately and is not likely to change anytime soon.  So this is my little part to help us be a little less stupid.

As a consumer reading this you’ll be armed with some knowledge to combat the shady techniques that are used to sell you products, services, lies, ideas and beliefs.

As an individual who needs to manage and build your personal and professional brands you’ll be armed with tools and techniques to authentically connect with powerful audiences. …and you’ll discover this in a fun way.

Since I love social media, learning about it and helping others to benefit from it, we’ll also explore the amazing revolutionary power of using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Wordpress blogs, Flikr, Squidoo, StumbleUpon, Digg, Ustream, Vimeo, YouTube, etc. to add value to your personal and professional lives and relationships.

Though the human brain has many flaws when it comes to making good decisions, there is one great operational feature.  Once you are made aware of how a subliminal advertising technique works you are very likely to notice it in the future.

The same can be said for covert and overt advertising, marketing strategies, cons, neurolinguistic programming, superstitions, false beliefs, propaganda, general bullshit and flat out brain washing. This phenomenon means that it’s easy to learn how to be fooled less often even though the brain has evolved to operate on flawed procedures.

My life of influencing began at KUNV radio in Las Vegas at the ripe old age of 16.  During my time there as a DJ, Music Director and Program Director, I learned how passionate I am about connecting people with resources – music, books, movies, information or people that forward them in their passions.

When I left radio for the record industry I enjoyed more than a decade of promoting professional recording artists (musicians and rock stars) to radio stations across America. Influencing has been a great love of mine ever since.

After working in the fields of social media, marketing, copywriting, sales, promotion and industrial psychology for over 15 years, I’ve learned a lot about the science of influence, promotion and persuasion. Earning my masters degree in psychology further increased my curiosity about why we do what we do and how we are easily persuaded.

Many additional years of study and experience around politics, advertising, religion and personal development have contributed to honing my critical thinking skills around what is going on behind the public presentations we are fed.

As a web strategist and agent of change, I use online technology to build strong communities that authentically serve niche markets.  As a Co-Founder / CMO of Oxstein Design Labs, I’m creating systems that build deeper trust, value and revenue to meet business needs by meeting social needs.  This develops long-lasting thriving web programs for companies that serve the communities that are passionate about their niches.

Hopefully you will learn and laugh as you read my musings on social media, life in general and what goes into making us good consumers of products, services, religions, politics, lies, ideas and beliefs.

Let me know how I can be of help in any way by shooting an email to me at Brett [at] BlindInfluence.com.