I was four years old. To my mother’s why question, I answered, “Because.” She said, “That’s not a reason.”

I knew she was right and felt embarrassed for the first time in by short life. Now, decades later I learn that maybe she wasn’t right after all.

Ellen Langer, a Harvard social psychologist, conducted interesting research into the power of the word because.

First she sought permission to cut in front of a line of people wanting to make copies on a Xerox machine at a library.

Here is exactly what she said using the word because:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?” (Emphasis added.)

Amazingly, 94% of the people she asked allowed her to cut in front. Hold on to your hat because this gets crazy…

Next, she dropped the word because and said:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”

Now only 60% allowed her to cut in…

To put this in concrete terms, in the first experiment only one person in twenty said No; whereas, eight out of twenty said No in the second .

That’s an 800% increase in the number of denials.

Finally, to really isolate the word because, Langer said:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” (Emphasis added.)

Just for fun, guess how many people out of twenty said No! to this asinine request? If you said, one, you’re right.

Get it? Just throw in the word because and you eliminate seven out of eight no’s in a group of twenty people.

So, what the hell does all this have to do with selling airbrush tattoos?

The Magic of the Word Because

Mother was wrong. The word because alone has seemingly magical power to flip a switch in most brains, to get people to do what we want them to do.

The insertion of this lone word without sensible support is sufficient to dramatically increase your sales and persuasive prowess.

There is no word more powerfully persuasive then because. So, be less concerned with your reasons and more concerned with using the word because… Because it works!

If I wanted to sell you on the idea of getting a tat, I would say:

“You need to get a tat because you’ll get so many smiles because you’re friends will love it and be jealous because it’s so cool, because it looks real and because it lasts long.”

If you’ll just start saying dumb stuff like that, you’re tat sales will soar because I said so.

Kirk