This writing mistake makes people want to do the opposite of buying from you

In 1985, a copywriter named Tim McClure was sitting with a blank page and a problem.

The Texas Department of Transportation needed a new anti-littering campaign. And Tim was trying to find the right word.

Litter.

It felt wrong. Then he started thinking about his mom. And the words she used to use to scold him when his room was a disaster.

He thought about the way she said it, and the feeling it created. And that memory became the foundation for the one of the most successful behavior change campaigns in American history and reduced highway littering by more than 72%.

Most people completely overlook the power of word choice in their writing.

And today I want to talk to you about a specific type of word choice you might like to be aware of. Because ultimately, the original Texas anti-littering campaign didn’t just fail, it made the problem worse. Same thing happened in Montana in the late 90s. When schools tried to get college students to stop drinking, they only made incidents of binge drinking on campus go up.

Same thing happened in Cialdini’s famous petrified wood preservation campaign.

Again and again, the normal thing… the thing every well-meaning leader, coach, and educator instinctively does to inspire change… doesn’t just fail to work.

It actively works against them.

It makes people less interested in following them. It makes people less likely to subscribe to their email list or newsletter. It makes people less likely to buy their offers. And worst of all…

Most people have no idea that they’re doing it.

So if you want to make sure you’re not making the same mistake, and you want to know what specific type of word choice separates writing that pulls people in from the writing that pushes people away, it’s waiting for you inside Legendary Writing Secret #6.

Available now in the classroom for premium members and above.

Here’s the link:

https://www.skool.com/kevin-hood-8749/classroom/44fc096e?md=b27cc62bc34b482b8e68e335fc82def4

Your pal,

Kevin Hood