What's a hook and why does it matter? Here's the short answer. The title of your
book
nike
air max 90 white canada , article, speech or sales ad is a hook and it's
designed to grab the attention of your reader. The longer and more appropriate
answer is that a hook is the single most important piece of text you write to
get people to read your book, article, speech or sales ad. Your hook is
everything. If your hook does not immediately grab the attention of your reader,
nothing else matters. Let me explain. Joe Sugarman, the author of "Triggers," is
recognized as one of the nation's top copywriters. According to Joe, the purpose
of your hook is to get the reader to read the next line of text. Period. If your
hook causes your reader to open your book or read your article or listen to your
speech
nike
air max 90 blue and white , it's a good hook. If it doesn't, you're
wasting your money. Up until recently I spent very little time thinking about
the title of my articles or the headlines of my Google ads. But all of that
changed when my son and I started researching how to use social bookmarking
sites to generate traffic to our website. What caused thousands of people to
read an article entitled, "Headless Man Seen Running Through Southeast Asia"
when only a handful of people took the time to read, "Writing A Hook?" Here's
what we discovered. As human beings, we have a sense of wonder that causes us to
act in a certain way. We're told not to open Pandora's box and we open it. We
have an opportunity to prove the status quo wrong and we take it. We're told
about something that is contrary to our belief system and we challenge it. For
example, did you know that it's impossible to fold a piece of paper more than
eight times and it doesn't matter how big or thin the piece of paper is? It's
simply impossible. As a marketing person, I don't need to tell you to try it.
You're sense of wonder will take over and you'll grab a sheet of paper and fold
it seven times. Then you'll grab a tissue and fold it seven times. And, if by
some freak of nature you do fold it eight
times
nike
air max 90 mens canada , you're going to make sure I know about your
success. People who write great hooks understand how to take advantage of a
person's sense of wonder. Here are five quick ways to grab the attention of your
reader using their sense of wonder. Start A Story. This one gets me every time.
What happened to Hansel and Gretel? Did the Big Bad Wolf catch Little Red Riding
Hood? Who was the headless man seen running through Southeast Asia? I just have
to know, and so do millions of other people. Find a way to tell the first part
of your story using no more than seven words and your readership will go up by a
factor of ten. How Is That Possible? In the marketing world this is know as an
unbelievable claim. How can a laser beam brighten your smile in less than five
minutes? How is it possible that doctors can grow hair on a bald man using
chicken feathers? Don't you want to know? Of course you do. Your sense of wonder
won't let you stop until you find the answer. Is there something amazing about
your product or service that seems impossible? Use it to write a hook that
engages your readers. Disclose Information Mosquito repellants don't actually
repel mosquitoes? In every episode of Seinfeld there's a Superman somewhere?
Forty percent of all people who come to a party in your home will snoop in your
medicine cabinet. I didn't know that and I'd bet you didn't either. Disclosing
information is a sure way to stir the sense of wonder. Better yet, it will cause
people to read your article, book or sales ad. The Biggest And The Best Way back
in 1996, John Travolta starred in the movie, "Michael." The movie was about
Michael the Archangel who was sent to Earth to mend some wounded hearts. Once
his job was completed Michael was expected to go back to heaven. But before he
left he took his entire cast of characters across the country to see the world's
largest everything. That included the world's largest frying pan and the world's
largest ball of sting in Cawker City, KS. It's not just archangels who are
interested in seeing and reading about the biggest and the best. Every human
being wants to know what's the world's oldest or tallest or fastest. Be
Controversial Do you want the attention of Red Sox or Yankee fans? If so, here's
a hook that will grab them both. "Ten Reasons why the Red Sox are Better than
the Yankees." Or maybe you could entitle your
article
cheap nike air max 90 , "Ten
Reasons why the Yankees are Better than the Red Sox." Either way you're going to
get the attention of both. One person wants to read your article because they
agree with the headline and the other wants to read your article because they
disagree with it. Controversy sells. So what does a headless man seen running
through Southeast Asia have to do with writing a hook? You read the article
didn't you?