You need a hook.

Remember Captain Hook?

When Stella was in teacher school, getting her masters’ degree at the University of Washington to sculpt high school minds, she learned a valuable lesson.

Attention must be won.

And the way to do that, at least at the opening of class, is with a “hook.”

As in, hook ‘em and cook ‘em.

Hook, line, and sinker.

Think I get through this blog post without mentioning hookers?

Anyway…

As a classroom teacher, the idea was to plan most every lesson with an opening sequence that engaged your students in the topic at hand. It could be as simple as a powerful question (“Do you think it’s the job of the U.S. to act as a policeman to the world?”), or as involved + experiential as setting up two factory lines in your classroom to demonstrate to introduce a unit on industrialization and unions.

As Chief Marketing Officer for your business, the hook is one of your best tools for nabbing the attention of your readers.

Here’s where hooks come in handy:

- the first line of your blog post

- the first line of your personal note in your newsletter

- the opening sentence of a sales page

- the beginning of your About page on your website

Basically, anywhere where snagging attention is going to help your cause.

Everyone talks about capturing attention with headlines. And yes, that’s really important, too. But you’ve got to make sure your “body copy” is as punchy and sharp as your headline. The headline catches their attention, and then the hook makes your copy irresistible. We can’t help ourselves. It’s like a great movie trailer… we want to know what happens next!

Next week, I’ll write about the hook’s cousin, the “pull question.” (Actually, spoiler alert: the hook in this article is a pull question, of sorts).

The main idea here is to lead with impact. Start your writing with a short, snappy sentence that ties in to what you intend to write about AND:

• Isn’t what people are expecting (Remember Captain Hook?);
• Makes a bold statement (Quit marketing. Start telling the truth.); or
• Riles feathers (I’ve seen veteran copywriter John Carlton mention farting in his hook, winning points for both impact and being gross – but hey, keeps us reading…)

Forget business as usual. Come out with your guns blazing. The first step is to make note of whose writing captures YOUR attention, and what the opening line or idea was that hooked ya. From there, it’s off to the laboratory, for practice, experimentation, and noting your results. Happy hooking!

Mighty thanks to Loren Javier Flickr photostream for Captain Hook.