The worst case

"In the first 15 seconds of every new experience, we’re all lazy, vain, and selfish."

Scott Belsky

To make people do things, you have to account for human nature:

• People are lazy
• People are vain
• People are selfish
• People are also busy
  
  

That may sound harsh, but actually it’s quite logical.

Really, we’re efficient.

We’re machines that look for the shortest path to value. That’s why we get addicted to sugar because sugar is so easily converted to energy.

Really, we’re insecure.

We look for society’s approval. We’re designed to fit in because, for millions of years, social exclusion typically led to death.

Really, we’re surviving.

We’ve got this far by looking out for number one. We all ask “What’s in it for me?”. We rapidly assess new things by:
 

• how much value we get
• how likely the value is
• how long it’ll take
• how much effort it’ll take

Really, we’re overwhelmed:

• Digital = 349 emails, 33 tabs, 19 newsletters, Netflix, Spotify.
• Physical = Dinner with friends, long commutes, loud offices.
• Health = Sugar crashes, poor sleep, brain fog, low energy.
• Financial = Rent, energy bills, inflation, redundancy.
• Emotional = Failing relationships, low self esteem, anxiety.

We turn up into our readers lives on our schedule. Which means we’re likely to turn up at the wrong time.

Our reader might be tired, preoccupied with work, or about to binge Netflix.

Lots of writers forget this and their writing shows it. It's not interesting or novel. It uses unfamiliar words or clichéd phrasing. It's not even useful. You'll still get readers. But only ones who care to make an effort.

Writing that satisfies people who already love you is best case scenario writing. And, if you write for the best case, you'll forgo most readers.

Instead, you should write for the worst case scenario.

I'm talking about the commute, the noisy office, or the tiny screen. I'm thinking of readers who are pre coffee, worried about debt, hungover, tired, or about to watch Netflix.

Writing doesn't only compete with other writing, it's up against life. So if you write for the worst case, you'll unlock readers in these delicate states while still pleasing your devotees.

We writers must write for the reader at their worst.

Follow the advice in my guide and you’ll be writing for the worst case.

But at a high level, here’s how to counteract human nature and life’s bombardment.

You have to work hard to offer things of high value but low effort. Something irresistible. Something even the lazy person could summon the energy to do. Free guides, free trials, two minutes, no credit card details, one box to fill in, one button to click.

You have to work hard to show your reader how your thing makes them look good. Like how you see Rolex ads with Brad or Beckham. Sell things by their status. People have always belonged to tribes and have always wrapped themselves in identities powered by their beliefs.

You have to work hard to quickly show your reader what they get out of it. What beneficial experience? What result? Whatever you do, don’t focus on you or your product. That’s you being selfish. Don’t sell ‘factor 50 sun cream’ when you can sell a ‘burn free summer’.

You have to work hard to reduce your copy until you’re left with only what’s important at that moment. No extraneous detail. No fluff or filler. No clutter. The irreducible version of your message. The Atomic version.

It's because the writer succumbs to human nature and distraction as their reader does.
 

1. We’re lazy so we don't want to write much
2. We’re vain so we focus on ourselves
3. We’re selfish so we want our reader's time and money for nothing
4. We’re busy so we would rather it all didn't take so long
   
   

It’s hard work to switch the focus from us, to the reader.

But great copywriters know it’s their duty to fight human nature, so readers can indulge it.