The most powerful two words in marketing 🔥

The #1 best way to hijack the audience of well-networked people... Influencers will notice you with these two words 🥰

If you tell people you are ‘inspired by’ them → they will do whatever you want. 🥇

Quick story:

When I launched my product, I shared it on Twitter, and... silence. 💤

No one saw it. So I hit the delete button.

But then—a light bulb moment: I remembered a popular Twitter account with 300K followers that shared content similar to my product. ‘I should try to steal their audience!’, I thought.

So I re-posted the same tweet but added a twist at the end:

“Inspired by”. Voila! It worked like a charm. My tweet went viral. All thanks to a retweet from that account I randomly tagged.

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Next up, I took my product to Reddit. I found a community that aligned perfectly with my product. My post there was short and sweet (see the word underlined in red):

Ka-boom! 💥 Reddit even shared it on their official LinkedIn company page:

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In 2020, when I wanted the attention of the famous author Dan Ariely (before the madness), I sent him a cold email, letting him know that he inspired my project.

He replied within an hour.

Later on, he not only shared my project on his Facebook page but also published a video of himself discussing it! I was shocked by his level of support.

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The idea is crystal clear:

💡 Tell people they “inspired” you, and they’ll return the favor.

It’s the absolute #1 best way to connect with big names online.

If you write a short post about how those big names inspired you: they're likely to respond positively, support your work, and maybe even share it.

That's the golden ticket. 🎫

And it doesn't matter if you're a solo entrepreneur, a startup founder, or a big corporation employee: You can find inspiration in everything you do (even if you didn’t have that inspiration in the first place)—and it’s worth expressing publicly.

👀 Why does it work?

TL;DR - people love feeling inspiring (it's flattering).

1. Ego Boost 😎 It strokes their self-esteem, evoking emotions like pride and validation. In response, they may want to be associated with your project and publicly acknowledge it, enhancing their self-image.

2. Social Proof 🗣 Publicly endorsing people acts as social proof for them, validating their expertise. They're more likely to show interest in your project when they see a public statement that you found them inspiring.

3. Reciprocity 🫶 When you tell someone they inspired you to create something, it triggers an obligation in them. They may feel inclined to reciprocate by acknowledging your efforts, offering support, or sharing your creations. It's rooted in the desire to maintain fairness in social relationships.

🙋‍♂️ But wait… How can we make them notice us?

Now that you've shared your inspiration, the challenge is getting them to see it (and hopefully share it). Sometimes, even if you tag someone publicly, they might miss it because they're swamped.

First, once your post gains some traction, try sending them a direct message with a link or screenshot of it. It's a good starting point.

But my favorite hack, what I call 🔕 “The Quiet Channel” 🔕 approach, can work wonders — simply contact those famous people on a different platform where the storm of notifications is less intense.

Here’s the deal: When someone goes viral, it's usually only on specific platforms. If they're viral on LinkedIn, their inbox there is overflowing for sure.

But their Instagram, on the other hand, is likely much less hectic. That's where the hack comes in: Message them there, on the quiet channels.

It works.

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There are countless examples like these online. Here’s one of my favorite:

In his early days, Tim Ferriss often mentioned how Kevin Kelly's essay, "1,000 True Fans," deeply influenced him. Tim talked about it in his writings, podcasts, and recommended it to his audience. In return, Kevin Kelly appeared on Tim's podcast, and they've promoted each other's work several times since then.

👉 And it all started with Tim saying how Kevin inspired him.

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So tell me, on Linkedin or on Twitter… Have I inspired you today? 😏

See you next week ✌️

Tom

P.S. Thanks in advance for sharing this article. It means a lot to me.