Hello Brian
First of all, no question is silly, feel free to ask away, that’s how we learn!
Now Weight and Local Pref are used only to influence outbound traffic. Specifically, Weight, which is limited only to a single device, influences the exit interface chosen for outbound traffic from a particular BGP router, while Local Pref will influence the choice of path to exit a particular AS. These locally configured attributes will have no effect on incoming traffic.
Incoming traffic on the other hand can be influenced, but cannot be enforced. What does that mean? When influencing inbound traffic using BGP, it is the far end router that has the last word on the subject. No matter what you do, the far end router has the capability of overriding any attempts you make to influence incoming traffic. If the far end router(s) are owned by an ISP, the best thing to do in such situations is to involve the ISP in the network configuration process. Talk with them, tell them what you require and find a solution that will be mutually beneficial.
The particular attributes that can be used to influence (but not enforce) incoming traffic can be found in the following post:
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz