7 Reasons Why You Should Read This List of 7 Reasons

Reason #1) It’s A List

We can tell that people like lists because we see them all over LinkedIn, the blogosphere, late-night television, and every marketing website ever created. When I was a kid, I had a roll of “Book of Sports Lists” toilet paper. I owned the book, too, incidentally.

Reason #2) Organization

A list must stay at least somewhat organized, by its very nature. Paragraphs can ramble. Sentences can run on. With a list, the author had to at least consider in what order he or she would make his or her points.

Reason #3) Reason #4

Even if reason #3 is terrible (as this one is), It’s only one point of several. You can easily move on to the next one.

Reason #4) Minimum knowledge

If a person writes an article, you can’t be sure they know a darn thing until you’ve read a bit of it. A 12-item list, though, implies the creator certainly knows a minimum of a dozen things about the topic (in this case, lists).

Reason #5) The Count

We Americans all watched Sesame Street. The show's mathematically inclined vampire taught us to love counting things. Admit it, you can hear Count Von Count’s Transylvanian accent in your head whenever you read a list, saying “Five! Five Reasons to Include Yik Yak in Your Content Marketing Mix!  Hahahahaha!”

Reason #6) The Cute Photo

Reason number 6 includes a picture of an adorable child wearing a shirt advertising one of my projects.  Generally speaking, at least one entry per list has some image, animated gif, or infographic embedded in it. Look! Pretty colors!

This young film enthusiast has I Am Douglass on her list of must-see movies

Reason #7) It’s Finite

When you read an article, it can drag. You find yourself scrolling down to see if you have a chance of making it to the end of the prose before your children are grown. Even with a stupid list like this one, you at least know it will come to an end once it has reached its appointed number. Listmakers seem to have a really good track record for honesty. If they say their list will have ten reasons, you can feel pretty darn certain it won’t have eleven, or twenty-six, or a hundred-forty-seven. When it’s over, it’s over. As this list thankfully is.

Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns and related creative projects for sports entities through his company, Rush Olson Creative & Sports.

RushOlson.com

Linkedin.com/company/rush-olson-creative-&-sports

Facebook.com/RushOlsonCreativeandSports