Lists
Have you noticed how much of our information has become lists — TV, magazines, the interwebs love lists? The ten most amazing, most marvelous, most something this or that . . . is ingrained in every media. Even children’s learn-to-read books have started to favor lists. David Letterman has the best of them … click the image to check them out.
Here’s a list that lists why lists have taken center stage in the world of content.
- Lists are easy to build.
- They don’t require segues or transitional phrasing.
- They don’t require deep research or extensive fact checking.
- Most lists match the average attention span of a bus ride, coffee break, or other infosnack.
- Lists can be built in a fraction of the time a piece of depth might take.
- Lists are very bottom-line oriented.
- A quality list is . . . what you see is what you get.
Lists are the sound bytes of print. They’re easy, quick, and often useful. The writer makes a point and readers move on feeling satisfied that they’ve heard something complete and whole — without too much work.
What’s not to love about that? Hmmmmm.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
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Lists are some of my most successful posts. Honestly, they are my most successful. I believe it was you Liz that really brought that to my attention. If not you personally, it was something I really learned at SOBCON08.
I use lists when it makes sense. Interestingly enough, it’s the fact that folks know exactly what they’re getting into that makes lists work so well. When someone reads ‘top 10…’ they know how many points there are, and also that they can likely just read the points.
Additionally, if the list is spread down the page enough, it builds reader anticipation as they close to the last item.
Cheers to a great tip.
Great tip, lists tend to be my most popular posts. From my perspective they can be quick, easy, and fun to build and I believe from my readers perspective they are the same 🙂 Good tip, as always!
I agree with you Liz. Not only are the most successful blog I write, they are also the ones I enjoy reading. Get in, get the information and get out. This format is also particularly good for skimmers. Lists allow you to break up the text on a page making it easier to read. I like your phrase “Lists are the sound bytes of print”. Pretty much sums it up.
Thanks for the good tip.
What if something important is left out and one strictly adheres to the list?
Lists are very cool, Liz.
It’s one of those aggregate groups that’s overlooked, possibly because it’s part of every culture – something that’s there but doesn’t get elevated as often as it can.
I appreciate this reminder to add “lists” to my marketing arsenal, especially since the Solo Business Marketing site was just revamped.
Shirley