Don't Let Your Words Drag You Down

Dear Legend,

Have you ever made a mistake and it turned out that the mistake was actually the best thing that happened?

Months ago I posted two almost identical posts on LinkedIn except for ONE small difference:

Can you spot the difference?

You got it! Image A has a typo. REQUIRE was misspelled. I left out one letter. A few minutes after I posted it, I realized that there was a typo and felt so embarrassed. I really wanted to delete the post, but decided against it.

The post with the typo ended up getting 2,114,935 impressions! After a couple of months I decided to post it again, but this time I fixed the typo. Same post, now with a corrected image - 105,798 impressions. That’s almost 20x less effective.

My mind was blown. A mistake that worked better? Turns out, the Pratfall Effect might explain why. (I wrote about this in the Wednesday issue of Legend Letters. Go find it or you can click HERE.)

Instead of arguing about what LinkedIn is doing behind the scenes to make the post with the mistake work 20x better, let’s focus on something that’s more tangible. This brings to light a fundamental truth about copy and messaging - 🧠 small changes can result in big differences.

In my case it was a letter. But what about a comma?

• I’m sorry I love you.

• I’m sorry, I love you.

Same words, very different meaning. All because of one tiny comma.

Seemingly small details can make such a big difference in meaning. It makes me wonder about the way we ask for things, or try to communicate the value of our ideas or our services… how often are we letting our words drag us down? I suspect it’s more often than we think.

❤️ We spend so much time making ourselves and our services valuable, that we forget to use the right words to show its value.

I want to share with you 🧰 three copy hacks that are proven to work:

1/ The Effort Hack

In a Wharton study, reports labeled “8 hours of prep” were rated far higher than those labeled “30 minutes”with identical content.

So instead of saying: “New guide is live.”

Say “I spent 12 hours testing and simplifying this so you can take action fast.”

2/ The Specificity Hack

Real estate data showed homes priced at $801,032 sold closer to asking than those priced at $800,000.

So instead of saying: “I helped increase a company’s revenue by 50%”

Say “I helped increase a company’s revenue by 51.7%”

3/ The “Free-to-Refuse” Hack

In a consumer research study to get donations, ending a request with “but you are free to refuse” boosted donation rates from 10% to 48%.

So instead of saying: “Go buy this offer now”

Say “Feel free to skip the offer if it’s not a fit”

Remember that small changes in your word choice can have big results. Be more intentional about how you communicate your value so people actually can perceive your value correctly.

Which one will you try?

Want more?

Listen to my solo episode. It’s way shorter than my interview episodes. This one is 12 min 31 sec. Check it out on Apple, Spotify, or on the web. I also shared a PDF of these 3 copy hacks on LinkedIn.

The other thing I’m working on that’s ALL ABOUT WORDS is a workshop helping people create a one-liner.

The Legendary One-Liner workshop is a 2-hour workshop that takes you step-by-step through a process to get you to a line (with the right words) that wins hearts and opens doors. (See the happy faces of past participants showing their work!👇🏽)

Feel free to skip this workshop, but if you feel like it’s something you want, something you need - go check it out.

Lastly I want to give a shout out to Jonathan Philips from Misfit Engine™️, he showed up ready to engage in the workshop 🔥 and if any solopreneurs are out there looking for a business-building system that don’t fit the typical startup mould, reach out!

Make your mark, live your legend 🤘🏽

I’ll see you on Wednesday (Influence Science will now come on Wednesdays! 👏🏽)

Howie Chan

Creator of Legend Letters

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