Can you resist answering this question?
@owlwings (43915)
Cambridge, England
February 5, 2008 3:24pm CST
Did you, at least, resist the temptation to read further? Not if you have got this far, at any rate!
What kind of question compels you to, at least, click it ... and read the first sentence?
As you may have realised by now, this is not a shallow discussion topic requiring a trite answer. I am asking you to analyse what kind of question or statement makes YOU buzz ... and what turns you off after the first word you see!
I certainly can't reach all the (nearly) 120,000 users of MyLot ... I can't even hope that everyone who DID see this discussion will have clicked on it. But YOU, my friend, did ... I appreciate that!
Please would you say WHY you did. What were your thoughts at the moment you opened the discussion to see more?
If you sell online, this information is vital ... not WHY you have read this far but why your customers might (or might not) have done so.
I don't claim to be an expert in Sales Copy writing (and nor do I have anything to sell here but a thought, an idea ... which is FREE for anyone who wants to take me up on it!)
OK ... enough questions! Your answers please (to some of them ... even if it's only what made you read this far!)
6 people like this
11 responses
@tinkerick (1257)
• United States
5 Feb 08
Well in this case, the question was intriguing - had to find out what the irresistible question was!
In most cases I read discussions that have questions as their title or ones that have topics that sound like something I'm either interested in, or knowledgeable about. I don't answer every discussion I read either. I only respond to ones where I feel I have 2 cents worth to put in. -Tink
2 people like this
@jhl930 (3601)
• United States
6 Feb 08
I have never saw a question like this before I think that it is kind of cool....Part of why I read on is because I read the first few sentences and I was kind of compelled to keep reading on becaues I didn't understnad what the question was..so I kept on reading a little farther and then about the middle of the paragraph I still couldn't understand what it was you were asking so I kept on reading and I didnt understand until I got down to the bottom of the paragraph..and then i understood it was like a joke!
2 people like this
@pumpkinjam (8540)
• United Kingdom
12 Feb 08
Oh, I noticed it was posted twice. I thought it may have been accidental as I didn't look at the category, I just answered the first one as I saw them both at the same time.
@nannacroc (4049)
•
6 Feb 08
To paraphrase someone we both know.
I've answered this question
And that is enough.
Said his friend,
Don't give yourself airs.
Do you think I can spend all day on this stuff
Be off or I'll................................
@SViswan (12051)
• India
7 Feb 08
1. You are on my friendlist and I got notified of your discussion
2. I read all my friend's discussions before I decide if it's interesting enough to respond.
3. I felt I could respond to this one because it wasn't one of those news discussions, it was general and something I could respond about.
NOw, I actually decide first which discussions I DO NOT want to respond to. There are a few categories I'm not interested in...like politics, technical,health...etc. So, I don't bother with those.
Sometimes, the topic heading and the post content mean very different things...so I usually do not judge what I am going to read by the topic heading alone. I read the whole post before I decide if it's interesting enough.
It's like the shopping I do. I check out all aspects of the item before I decide to buy or not...and I don't pick up anything that catches my eye....I work systematically to buy what I need.
2 people like this
@kykidd (6812)
• United States
5 Feb 08
I was intrigued. Intrigued to see what else you had to say. The subject line is what catches our attention.
The ones mostly catch my attention are the ones that I think I might be able to help in some way form or manner.
Not sure that I have here, but you did make me curious enough.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
5 Feb 08
Yes, you have helped. Curiosity, as they say, killed the cat (but, presumably, only after 9 tries at it, LOL).
The art of writing a catchy/good subject line/question in about 5 words is what I am studying. This one was, of course, a pretty simple trick (if one wants to see it as such). There are simple tricks, however, which never fail to delight and there are those which become incredibly boring and which we learn to avoid. In one sense, both kinds can make us feel slightly foolish but some seem to be done with malice and others without. The latter are the ones we tolerate, I think!
2 people like this
@pumpkinjam (8540)
• United Kingdom
12 Feb 08
I got here by looking at someone elses responses on their profile! I continued reading because I wanted to know what you were talking about. I may not have read the entire discussion if someone other than you had begun it! I know you do not do shallow discussions so I will always make the effort to have a proper look!
I like intriguing questions, if something says "don't read this" or "can you resist" then I will be inclined to at least look. Then if I can give a constructive answer, I will try. I like to answer a variety of questions and it will really depend on what mood I am in at the time. Your questions get answered by me when in "intillectual mode"! Other times, I will not really want to think too much and that's when I will answer the "what colour are your eyes?" questions.
I will not respond to discussions which aren't clearly worded or where the author has not put any thought into it.
@whittby (3072)
• United States
14 Feb 08
Well, I saw the question, looked at your avatar and number, and thought oohh, and who is this person? So here I am to find out.
What questions I answer depends on the day. Some days I don't feel like a lot of heavy thinking and I'll answer lighthearted questions or questions I have a ready answer for. And today I am a bit more curious than mayabe another day?
Best to you...Whit
@zigzagbuddha (4601)
• United States
10 Mar 08
If you were selling something I could have resisted, but since you're offering something FREE! I was wondering what it was. But that's only why I answered. Why I kept reading was because I am indulging in an owlwings fest tonight.
