✍️TWW #008: The Powerful Principle That All Creators Use To Manipulate You

Oh boy...It's here again 😖

I have a typical November-like cold.

I bet you know this:

• sore throat

• coughing every 30 seconds

• not being able to talk cuz there's too much phlegm inside you

In order words:

Suffering.

And that's why today...I'll keep it short & sweet for you.

In under 2 minutes, I'll teach you a principle that's going to:

• make people click on your posts like crazy

• help you make more sales

• understand how you are being manipulated by others

Also, this goddamn principle is responsible for me catching this terrible cold.

And that's where we'll begin today. Ready?

Let me take one more sip of my tea, and let's dive in.

 - Storytime -

It's a regular Saturday.

Except... a group of my friends are going ice skating, and guess who's not coming? Me, of course because well...I don't have skates.

But all good, I have my plans for today.

 - 10:30 -

*Sees a cute photo on an Instagram story*

Damn - they all look so happy.

So many great people I could talk to! Not only do I feel bad for missing out on this...but I'm also starting to feel a bit of a sore throat.

But here comes the good part: They invited me to go to a coffee shop with them.

Only about a 30 min meet-up, that would take me double that time to get to.

Yet still, at 13:30, and I'm walking in the rain from the bus station to the coffee shop, breathing in cold air, and not wearing a hat cuz I'm a cool girl.

When I get back home, I feel even worse.

And what's worse?

My fever's going up in the evening!

Boom - the November-like cold is here.

3 days of lying in bed & not being able to do anything fun.

This made me ask myself these simple questions:

Was the meet up worht it?

Hell nah.

Did I want to go there?

Not really. So why I did?

Why did I suffer through all of this just for 30 stupid minutes? Simple answer: FOMO.

Also known as the Fear Of Missing Out.

I was afraid to miss out on something funny or embarrassing that might happen in the coffee shop. I already missed out on a lot of fun with ice skating, and I didn't want to pass on anything more.

That was the inner desire that pushed me to go there.

The fear of missing out is dangerous at times.

But...it's a powerful feeling to invoke in your readers.

So how do you do it?

Ask yourself this simple question:

"What are the consequences of NOT reading the post/email/article?"

Brainstorm a few points. And ideally, I recommend you to study the Maslow's pyramid of needs, and address some of these.

Majority of the creators you follow use FOMO on daily basis. In fact, there are a lot of innocent ways they use it without you noticing it.

All you need is to consider the consequences, and then give little hints in the hook or the headline.

Here are a few examples:

https://twitter.com/ItsKieranDrew/status/1559520608521801729?s=20&t=_FXHlO9n5NRPSBzor6H87g

Consequence: If I don't read it, I'll never whether I suck at writing or not (and if yes, I'll never learn how to "unsuck" myself)

https://twitter.com/abhishekshah173/status/1554466052033187846

Consequence: If I don't read this, I'll never know the greatest marketing examples I might not recall.

https://twitter.com/Alexmathers84/status/1514589617605033985

Consequence: If I don't read this, I won't learn how to be insanely creative.

Use fear of missing out carefully - and never forget to actually deliver on the promise you have made in the hook/headline.

 Alright - that's it for today.

If you have found this helpful, I'll be glad if you'd click the reply button and let me know your insights.

Talk next Sunday,

Claudia "Healing" Stellner

P.S.: I gotta stay home for 2 days now which means I'll miss out on a lot more than a fucking 30 mins at a coffee shop. Choose your regrets wisely my friends.