The 8 Emotional Receptors
THAT MAKE UP YOUR BRAND BELIEF SYSTEM
Your brand belief system is where sales happen! There are eight questions you need to be able to answer, at a moment’s notice, before people are going to start throwing hell yeahs around like confetti. The answers to these questions pack all the heart and soul you’ll need to create content that filters out everyone but the people who'll elbow a bitch to hire you.
Just eight questions. My kid asks more than that before my eyes are open in the morning!
written by: DRE BELTRAMI
reading time: 10 minutes
the brand belief system receptors
Each of these eight questions tickle a different receptor in your buyer’s belief system. I call these receptors our emotional g-spots - a.k.a “go-to” spots for activating emotions.
These emotional g-spots represent the eight layers of your brand belief system (and our personal identities). Click any of the layers below to jump straight to that section if you're coming back for a refresher. Otherwise, let's go through them one-by-one.
our belief system is the lens we see the world through.
They are why we can all see or hear the same thing, yet feel totally different. We filter everything that hits our senses through our belief system which translates that information to our brain… in feelings.
Because, yeah, we’re big time feelers!
We’re emotional, irrational, complex, weirdos who feel their way through situations and then scour the ends of the Earth looking for logic to validate those feels.
When we find someone who validates the way we’re feeling, our emotional g-spots activate, which shoots dopamine (our happy hormone) up to our brain. The more g-spots that are activated, the more dopamine that’s released. The bigger the dopamine release the deeper emotionally attached we become.
Addictive brands belief build.
Your job as a brand is to understand where your state of mind intersects with your buyer’s belief system because if you don’t share the same lens you can’t possibly enjoy the same view.
The one thing every last legendary brand has in common is that they are always, always belief building. They don’t talk about their products, they talk about the people. They align their belief system with their buyers because once people buy into your mind, mouth, and mission the sale is just a matter of time.
From the mundane to the unmentionables, successful brands sell a feeling, a mood, and a lifestyle - their products and services are just the means.
Depends® doesn't sell adult diapers, they sell strength.
Dove® doesn't sell soap, they sell confidence and real beauty.
Dollar Shave Club® doesn't sell razors, they sell enjoyment.
Brand belief systems sell!
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION...
WHAT DO YOU REALLY SELL?
Belief System
FREE EDITABLE PLAYBOOK
These eight questions will help you pinpoint the intersections between your brand’s state of mind and your buyer’s belief system so you know exactly what belief building you need to do in your content to tickle every last one of your buyer's emotional g-spots.
To make getting started even easier, download the free Brand Belief System Playbook so you can capture and tame the flurry of ideas that are going to boil up as you go through this lesson.
DIVE IN ONCE YOU DOWNLOAD THE PLAYBOOK
Question No. 1
Who are you?
This layer in your brand belief system is your innate being — who you are if you were stripped of all your material possessions, accolades, and societal status.
The psyche is our human mind as a whole. It’s you, at your core, before you layer on any life experiences, culture, or outside influences.
There’s no better tool to unlock the doors to your psyche than brand archetypes... and I just so happen to have the internet’s dopest Brand Personality DNA test. It’ll tell you exactly what your archetypes are (in less than 5 minutes) — and be forewarned, you are going to get hooked on my psychology-based approach to branding.
Archetypes are universal, unconscious patterns and traits that have existed across humankind for centuries. You know and see them every day in movies, TV shows, books, commercials, plays, and brands. They’re so ingrained in us that we use them (subconsciously) to make sense of ourselves and our surroundings.
That’s why people need to know what the DNA of your psyche is. They need that intel to make sense of who you are so they can decide if you’re for them or not.
**Disclaimer** You may not be the same archetypes as your buyer. That’s normal! The goal here is not to manufacture an identical identity but to understand what you have that your buyer wants more of. They might be a Caretaker who needs a Hero to push them. They might be a Innocent who needs an Outlaw to inspire them. You’re not a clone, you’re a kindred.
Question No. 2
What permission slips do you sign, seal, and deliver?
This layer of your brand belief system is your prerogative — the wormholes you methodically excavate people out of.
Your audience is damaged by a lifetime of dream dictators and buried under an avalanche of unsolicited permission slips.
They’ve had people telling them they’re too this and not enough that for so long that they have a steady chorus of shitty voices in their head telling them what a boring, untalented, amateur they are all day, everyday.
Their confidence has fallen into utter despair — and that shit ain’t gettin’ up without some heavy duty equipment.
You’re going to be the indestructible excavator that digs them out of every box they’ve been shoved into over the years. The one who says: “You’re right! They’re wrong!"
You want to give them permission to take back their right to be, think, and act however they hell they see fit so you can redefine and reframe the way they see themselves, and the world. Brand belief building at its finest!
Question No. 3
What norms are you against?
This layer of your brand belief system is your antivenom — the norms you give a middle finger salute too.
Norms = the bullshit some overhyped guru said 5-10 years ago that the masses are still peddling as gospel… that’s reeeeally just an outdated, well-funded advertising campaign that should have been put to rest years ago.
You’ve got to ruffle those feathers if you want to end up with a pillow fight full of kindreds.
Right now, your kindreds are reluctantly accepting the norms infesting your market as truths because they don’t hear anyone telling them otherwise. The only voices they hear going rogue are the ones in their head — and those hooligans can not be trusted (they’re being shitty to them, remember?).
They’re waiting to be rescued from the “dark side” but they need to hear someone else, who knows their shit, come out and declare it.
You want to dish out “norm antivenom” like you’ve got a surplus that’s about to detonate so you can set them free from all the rhetoric and rules that have prevented them from seeing results up until this point. You’re going to clear the clutter out of their emotional line of sight so they can see you’re the missing piece.
**DISCLAIMER** Don't worry about offending warm bodies, your buyer is the prize to keep your eye on. Don't worry about the haters trolling around the corner, they’re part of the ecosystem. Don't worry about being politically correct or overly polite, you’re not a politician, you’re an entrepreneur. Speak unapologetically, like you mean it!
Question No. 4
Who is the thelma to your Louise?
This layer of your brand belief system is your kindred — the kind of people you seek out.
Ever heard the expression “You’re the company you keep”? Cliche but true. You can tell a lot about someone by looking at the people they surround themselves with.
Your buyers want to know who you surround yourself with so they can figure out if they’re going to fit in with your circle. You want them to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you’re talking to them!
Avoid leaning into checkbox demographics. You want to tap into who they are at an emotional, financial, and situational level.
You want to paint a self-portrait that’s so vivid, with such graphic emotionally-driven details, that it feels like you crawled into their brain and rummaged through their thoughts.
You want to describe them better than they can describe themselves so they know how deeply you understand them.
Question No. 5
Who (or what) do you blame?
This layer of your brand belief system is your ammunition — the ammo you have that proves why what you teach (and preach) matters so much.
You want to tell them what’s really going on! They think they have a multitude of incurable symptoms and they’re blaming themselves for all of them. You’re going to set them straight by providing the scapegoats they need to believe in themselves again.
Instead of chattering on about the how (which is where most brands lose people), you’re going to breakdown the real problem. You’re going to enlighten them about who and what is really to blame for their current circumstances so they can see that you’re the missing piece to the brighter tomorrows they’re chasing.
Without a scapegoat, your buyers will keep thinking it’s their fault and believing they are the real problem. You want to free them from the blame so they can trust themselves again. They need to believe in their own potential before they can believe in yours.
Question No. 6
What makes you so different?
This layer of your brand belief system is your calling card — the unfair advantages that never make it on to your resume even though they matter more than any of the other crap.
You’re not applying for a job. You’re not writing a resume. You're turning the differences between you and the solutions they’ve already tried into reasons to believe - which are called your differentiators.
You want to celebrate the ways you’re different from the people and brands that have tried to help them before so you can renew their hope. When they realize a viable option still exists, hope comes flooding back into their life!
Not only have you helped them see that it’s not their fault that they’re in the place they’re in when you gave them the scapegoat(s). Now, you’re validating that there is a way that’ll work - they just hadn’t found you until now.
If you share the windy road it took to get where you are today (which usually has shades of where they want to be) you’re giving people the emotional intel they need to create a dopamine-laced narrative for the story they tell themselves about you. A story where you come out smelling like a barrel of fresh air on a particularly apocalyptic day.
It doesn’t get more memorable than that - brand belief building for the win!
Question No. 7
WHERE ARE WE?
This layer of your brand belief system is your atmosphere — the vibe people can expect from you.
The vibe someone prefers isn’t really something you can change, it’s a pretty immovable part of our psyches. The type of people, personalities, and energy we seek out (and steer clear of) are not things you want to spend energy trying to reframe. But, you do want to spend energy leaning into them!
You want to create an atmosphere for your kindred that’s so real it makes them feel like they’re physically there. A setting that’s fully stocked with the backdrop, people, and conversations they're craving, so you can disarm them with an experience ripped from their daydreams. You want to create an escape where they can come to feel more like the person they want to be.
Our atmosphere shapes our experiences and influences our brains. Case in point, conversations in a boardroom are very different than ones had over high tea at a 16th century English garden party. Conversations in a gym look very different than ones had over cigars and whiskey at a posh rooftop bar.
Where we are and who we’re surrounded by effects what version of us you’re going to get. Having an atmosphere that breeds your buyer’s best version means you have a dopamine-laced thread you can weave through every fiber of your brand to create an experience in a league of its own.
Question No. 8
WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU?
This layer of your brand belief system is your credibility — the promises people can hold you to.
You have to make promises so people have something to hold you to, that’s how trust is established.
People have to know you’re trustworthy before they can believe you and the only way to prove that for realsies (without any outsie clauses) is to make promises… and follow through on them. That’s it!
Trust can’t be convinced or forced, it can only earned the good ol’-fashioned way, with a genuine, heartfelt, long-game investment.
If you try to build trust with one of those calculated marketing-of-the-day tactics flying around, you’re never going to be able to strike hearts and minds with force, which is where bonds are sealed, loyalty is born, and wallets pop open. Remember, selling happens at the intersection between your brand’s state of mind and your buyer’s belief system!
When it comes to this question it’s not the size of your promise that matters, it’s the devotion in your potion. Worry less about how life-changing the promise is that you’re making and more about delivering what you said you would. If you deliver every single time you show up, they’ll start hanging on your every word in record time.
Next Step
brand belief building framework
These eight questions were pulled straight out of the belly of my brand belief system framework called The Octagon of You, which represents the eight psychological receptors that you have to activate in your buyers to grab their attention, rationalize their concerns, and validate their beliefs so the only thing left on their mind is… what payment methods you accept.
It’s a psychology-backed, personality-driven system for gathering and packaging up all the emotional intel and logical ammo you’ll need to change their mind, renew their hope, and earn their business in record time.
Because as you now know, selling is really belief building.
THE OCTAGON OF YOU IS GOING TO HELP YOU:
By the time you’re done devouring the eight micro-doses in this free brand belief building training you’re going to know how to tickle every last one of your buyer's emotional g-spots.
Grab your all access hand-stamp below and let’s get you belief building like the legendary brands before you…
The Octagon of You
90-MINUTE BINGE-WORTHY SERIES that'll teach you how to build a brand belief system that sells
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