105: Triple Trouble - why business owners should follow the Rule of 3 in their marketing and copy {Greatest Hits}
In this episode of ill communication, I’m continuing our Greatest Hits series and this episode is one of my personal favorites.
It’s all about the Rule of 3. This rule is a way to organize your copy and your thoughts into a pattern that is memorable to our human brain.
You’re going to find out why the rule of three is a powerful tool to have in your marketing toolbox. You’ll begin to use it to strengthen your message and after this episode, you’ll probably begin to see it everywhere.
As Aristotle said, three is perfection. Our brains love patterns and three is the smallest number you need to create a pattern. Once you start infusing this rule into your copy, you’ll love the way it turns out.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The reason this rule is so effective in marketing and copy
The science behind why we love patterns so much
Real examples of how you can use this rule to level up your copy
Once you start looking for it you’ll see how good things happen in threes and you can start infusing the rule of threes in your marketing as well. It can really help you write powerful, memorable, and entertaining copy.
Need some expert eyes on your copy before you press publish? Grab a No BS Copy Audit to find out what's working and what could be improved in your copy. For more information, head over to www.kimkiel.com/audit.
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[00:00:01] Hello, hello and welcome to episode 105 of the Ill Communication Podcast. As part of the 100th episode celebration I'm hosting over the summer, I'm flashing back to some of your favorite and my favorite episodes that I've recorded. And today's episode is one of my personal favorites, and I don't know why it hasn't gotten the popularity that I think it's due, so I am thrusting it upon you again because it was fun to record. It's fun to listen to, and it provides you with a great, actionable tip that you can use this week, today, this month in your copywriting, I'm talking about the rule of three. The rule of three is a way to organize your copy and your thoughts into a pattern that is memorable to our human brain, but I'm not going to give it away. I'm going to force you to listen to the whole episode, all seven minutes of it. Please enjoy. Triple trouble. Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients.
[00:01:48] Let's get started. Quick question for you. What do the Beastie Boys, Rice Krispies and the movie 9 to 5 have in common? If you guessed there are a few of my favorite things, you wouldn't be wrong. But in fact, these are all brilliant examples of a powerful writing and marketing principle that will help you write memorable, entertaining, and effective sales copy. Hey there and welcome to the ninth episode of the Ill Communication Podcast. Today you're going to find out why the Rule of Three is a powerful tool in your marketing toolbox. You'll discover how to use it to strengthen your message. And after today's episode, I promise you'll begin to see the rule of three everywhere. So back to the initial question. What do the Beastie Boys, Rice Krispies, and the movie 9 to 5 have in common? They're all examples of things in threes. Rice Krispies slogan is snap, crackle, pop. The movie 9 to 5 has three main characters Judy, Violet, and Doralee. And the Beastie Boys are the penultimate hip hop trio. Ad-rock, MCA and Mike D. Their songs Triple Trouble and Three MC's and one DJ further demonstrate the power of three. You see our brains love and remember things in patterns, and the smallest number of items you need to create a pattern is three. Presenting your information in threes makes it more delightful and more memorable. The power of three as a rhetorical technique can be traced back to Aristotle, who wrote Omne trium Perfectum. Three is perfection.
[00:03:28] When you think of presenting information like your offers or your services in threes, it helps you limit the number of choices your reader has to make. As we've talked about before, keeping things simple helps your reader or prospect take that next step with you because too many choices creates confusion and a confused mind never buys. So following the rule of three can help you simplify your sales. There are many ways you can use threes in your marketing and messaging. Use three icons to illustrate the outcomes of working with you. For example, on my home page I share three outcomes or desires women in business want. You want to find your fans, scale your sales, and keep your clients. And what's so funny is, as I was preparing for this episode, I realized that I only use three words to explain each outcome. So on your home page or services page, you could list three outcomes of working with you, or you could list the top three ways to work with your clients. Give your readers just three choices so they're not confused. If you're presenting a list of bullets in an email, a proposal, or some other kind of body copy. Try to list just three powerful bullets. Or if you really have several things to list, consider grouping them in threes or in multiples of threes. Many of the great speeches, plays, and stories of our time leverage the rule of three. Veni, vidi, vici I came, I saw, I conquered. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
[00:04:55] There are three wise men and a father, the son and the Holy Ghost in Christianity. Morley is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas yet to come. We have the Three Little Pigs, the Three Billy Goats Gruff and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. And even within that story, Goldilocks tries things that are too hot, too cold and just right. And think of all of the movies that follow the rule of Three, the Three Amigos. One of my personal faves, Ron, Harry and Hermione, are the main characters in Harry Potter. Luke, Leia, and Han Solo are the main characters in Star Wars. There are three fairy godmothers Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. And of course, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some of the most powerful and long lasting marketing slogans are also in threes. Just do it. I'm loving it. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Stop, drop and roll. Finger licking. Good? Yes we can. You can even consider naming your offer following the rule of three as so many online marketers do, like Simon Sinek's, start with why or Mel Robbins five second rule and high five habit. Marie Forleo has everything is figureoutable. Once you start looking for it, you'll see how good things happen in threes, and you can start infusing the rule of three in your own marketing as well. That's it for today's episode of Ill Communication featuring the Rule of Three. The Rule of Three can help you write powerful, memorable, and entertaining copy. And no, you don't have to follow the rule of three exclusively.
[00:06:32] That would probably get pretty annoying for your reader anyway. Also, it won't make sense to always list things in threes. You can't always distill your message or name into a three word slogan, but the next time you're writing for your business, keep the rule of three in mind, because it could turn a bland, boring message into something more memorable as you're reading emails and advertisements or watching TV and movies. Pay attention to how often things happen in threes. Thank you so much for joining me today. And I'm going to leave you with a famous movie quote that follows the rule of three. I'll be back. Hey, thanks for tuning in to today's episode. But before you go, tell me if this sounds familiar. You've just written or had someone else write your website or course or mastermind sales page. Or maybe you've had the copy up and running for a while, but it's just not performing as well as you'd hoped. Wouldn't you love to have an expert sales and brand voice copywriter review your copy to flag any concerns that might be creating friction for your ideal client. Wouldn't you love to get a custom list of changes and recommended copy upgrades to immediately increase your signups and sales, without having to pay thousands of dollars or wait weeks to get your copy optimized? If that sounds like you, you might be interested in my no BS copy audit. When you book a no BS copy audit, you'll get a deep dive review of your copy, a video review, a detailed checklist report, and some copy punch ups you can use immediately, all delivered within ten business days.
[00:08:04] Jennifer and Linda recently booked an OBS audit for their conference sales page. They'd hired different people to write and design the page, but it never matched what they envisioned and the conference sales were practically non-existent. Within a few days of booking their no BS audit, they had a detailed report of what was working, what needed to be optimized, and suggested coffee. They went from barely selling any tickets to selling out 300 seats at their event. They said we are so grateful for how you went above and beyond in your work for us. You somehow crawled into our brains and were able to put into words exactly what we were thinking and imagining. We've been looking for you for a long time. You over delivered and we can't thank you enough. No BS audits are delivered within ten business days and are a fraction of what it normally costs to work with a professional copywriter. If you want to book this quick and very effective service, visit Kim shimkin. Com slash audit to download a PDF info sheet that gives you all the deets and a link to book your audit. Within ten days, you can have some refreshed conversion focused copy and a roadmap to make other improvements and changes to get more leads, more clicks, and more sales with your copy. To book yours, visit Kimkiel.com slash audit.
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