{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":0.48,"endTime":4.24,"body":"I've made thousands of hooks in my content, and this is what I've"},{"startTime":4.24,"endTime":7.6,"body":"learned. Did you see what I did right there? I used a hook. I hope"},{"startTime":7.6,"endTime":11.28,"body":"it worked. And you know what? If you're still listening, it worked. Let's talk about"},{"startTime":11.28,"endTime":15.105,"body":"hooks in this episode. Hooks are just that they hook"},{"startTime":15.184,"endTime":18.564,"body":"your viewer, your listener, whoever is consuming"},{"startTime":18.705,"endTime":22.224,"body":"your content. Hooks are arguably one of the most"},{"startTime":22.224,"endTime":26.064,"body":"important parts of your content. Now, before we really dive into"},{"startTime":26.064,"endTime":29.904,"body":"hooks here, I do want to share. I just recently learned where hooks"},{"startTime":29.904,"endTime":33.69,"body":"originated from, and that is from TV shows. You know, when"},{"startTime":33.69,"endTime":37.05,"body":"host would come out and do like a cold open or a monologue, that"},{"startTime":37.05,"endTime":40.89,"body":"essentially is to hook the audience to keep watching. Saturday Night Live"},{"startTime":40.89,"endTime":44.73,"body":"wasn't the first to do this, but they still do this today. Like, whoever is"},{"startTime":44.73,"endTime":48.285,"body":"the guest host on the show at the beginning of the show, like, they'll come"},{"startTime":48.285,"endTime":52.125,"body":"out and talk. And that is a form of a hook. It's hooking the viewers"},{"startTime":52.125,"endTime":55.645,"body":"to watch the full thing. Another example you would see across social"},{"startTime":55.645,"endTime":59.325,"body":"media is hooks in videos. Now there's all sorts of different types"},{"startTime":59.325,"endTime":62.579,"body":"of hooks. There's visual hooks, text hooks,"},{"startTime":62.8,"endTime":66.64,"body":"auditory hooks, sometimes multiple at once, but they"},{"startTime":66.64,"endTime":70.479,"body":"all have the purpose of hooking a viewer in real time to keep"},{"startTime":70.479,"endTime":73.84,"body":"viewing the thing that you made. The hook will make or break your content because"},{"startTime":73.84,"endTime":77.605,"body":"it's the first thing someone sees. It either keeps them watching or"},{"startTime":77.605,"endTime":81.365,"body":"they tune out. When analyzing what's working in your content to, you know,"},{"startTime":81.365,"endTime":85.205,"body":"determine is this working or not working? It's the hook. You can look at"},{"startTime":85.205,"endTime":88.585,"body":"your hook and then you can see your retention rate. Did people"},{"startTime":88.81,"endTime":92.57,"body":"tune out? Were people dissatisfied after the hook? Everything"},{"startTime":92.57,"endTime":96.09,"body":"happens after the hook. And there's psychological principles at play here."},{"startTime":96.09,"endTime":99.45,"body":"There's curiosity gap. If your hook opens up this"},{"startTime":99.45,"endTime":103.13,"body":"idea, is the gap big enough that people are like, I need to"},{"startTime":103.13,"endTime":106.645,"body":"fill in this gap. Like, I can't go on about my day"},{"startTime":106.865,"endTime":110.385,"body":"without knowing what happened. A great example of this would"},{"startTime":110.385,"endTime":113.905,"body":"be the news. News headlines do this all the time. Donald"},{"startTime":113.905,"endTime":117.505,"body":"Trump just had a three hour conversation with"},{"startTime":117.505,"endTime":121.32,"body":"Zelensky and Putin. If that was the news headline that creates"},{"startTime":121.32,"endTime":125.16,"body":"a curiosity gap, which you're like, what happened? Right? That's"},{"startTime":125.16,"endTime":129.0,"body":"a hook. Another psychological principle at play is pattern interruption. So"},{"startTime":129.0,"endTime":132.795,"body":"in this case, it would be when you do something so wild"},{"startTime":132.795,"endTime":136.155,"body":"or different than what someone was expecting that they can't help but"},{"startTime":136.155,"endTime":139.915,"body":"stop and view what it is. Usually, this is combining two"},{"startTime":139.915,"endTime":143.755,"body":"things that, like, don't go together. For example, if you were pouring syrup on"},{"startTime":143.755,"endTime":147.21,"body":"an acoustic guitar. A wild example, but that's gonna interrupt someone's"},{"startTime":147.21,"endTime":150.73,"body":"pattern of thought. Right? They're gonna be like, what? What is going on here? Now"},{"startTime":150.73,"endTime":154.33,"body":"that's an extreme example, but it is a pattern interrupt. Another"},{"startTime":154.33,"endTime":157.69,"body":"is storytelling instinct. And that's when you follow just the simple"},{"startTime":157.69,"endTime":161.315,"body":"storytelling structure, the setup, conflict, resolution. And"},{"startTime":161.315,"endTime":164.995,"body":"sometimes depending on the format that you're delivering the content, you might"},{"startTime":164.995,"endTime":168.515,"body":"not actually give the resolution, which can drive people crazy and it"},{"startTime":168.515,"endTime":172.195,"body":"creates open loops. Marketing experts talk about how attention is the most"},{"startTime":172.195,"endTime":176.04,"body":"valuable commodity in content. And while there is truth to that, I don't think"},{"startTime":176.04,"endTime":179.58,"body":"it's the full picture because what you do with that attention is arguably"},{"startTime":179.879,"endTime":183.64,"body":"more important than just getting the attention. Just because you have a million"},{"startTime":183.64,"endTime":187.4,"body":"people looking at what you're saying or doing doesn't mean you"},{"startTime":187.4,"endTime":190.695,"body":"have magical keys to the kingdom. Right? And I think this is where a lot"},{"startTime":190.695,"endTime":194.215,"body":"of people, especially just starting out, mess up is because they just want"},{"startTime":194.215,"endTime":198.055,"body":"attention at any cost. So they disregard values, even"},{"startTime":198.055,"endTime":201.735,"body":"maybe go against their own beliefs in an effort to get as much attention"},{"startTime":201.735,"endTime":205.335,"body":"as possible. And they cheapen their brand over the long run. But here's the"},{"startTime":205.335,"endTime":208.659,"body":"thing. Hooks don't really care about your"},{"startTime":208.879,"endTime":212.239,"body":"beliefs and your values and things like that. You can use them for good. You"},{"startTime":212.239,"endTime":215.599,"body":"can use them for bad. A lot of times, I think when we talk about"},{"startTime":215.599,"endTime":219.315,"body":"hooks, it's often through the lens of viral marketing. I"},{"startTime":219.315,"endTime":222.834,"body":"see it as a lever that should be pulled. Like,"},{"startTime":222.834,"endTime":226.455,"body":"imagine you had the most important information to share with me"},{"startTime":226.515,"endTime":230.355,"body":"for a problem that I was going through, and I'm inundated with content."},{"startTime":230.355,"endTime":233.315,"body":"I just see so much stuff, and I don't even know where to find the"},{"startTime":233.315,"endTime":237.04,"body":"answer to my problem is at. And you have the answer, and you made"},{"startTime":237.04,"endTime":240.88,"body":"a perfect video about it, and it's in the video, and I come across the"},{"startTime":240.88,"endTime":244.72,"body":"video, but I don't watch it because I didn't even know it was for me."},{"startTime":244.72,"endTime":248.385,"body":"It didn't hook me to keep watching it. Like, your solution to my"},{"startTime":248.385,"endTime":251.905,"body":"problem was in the middle of the video or at the end, but I didn't"},{"startTime":251.905,"endTime":254.545,"body":"even make it to the beginning. Is it my fault I didn't make it to"},{"startTime":254.545,"endTime":257.345,"body":"the beginning, or is it your fault that you didn't hook me to watch the"},{"startTime":257.345,"endTime":261.105,"body":"video? I would say it's your fault because you didn't set it up. You"},{"startTime":261.105,"endTime":264.73,"body":"didn't hook me. Now there's different ways to hook viewers"},{"startTime":264.73,"endTime":268.35,"body":"for different problems. Pouring syrup on a guitar is not gonna work,"},{"startTime":268.81,"endTime":272.57,"body":"for every industry. So for your audience, it might not be a good idea"},{"startTime":272.57,"endTime":276.074,"body":"to use very unexpected type hooks. It might be"},{"startTime":276.134,"endTime":279.815,"body":"better off using more curiosity driven hooks or benefit"},{"startTime":279.815,"endTime":283.495,"body":"oriented hooks, or just clear and concise where there's no"},{"startTime":283.495,"endTime":287.095,"body":"fluff, very straightforward. I love hooks like that. And I often think"},{"startTime":287.095,"endTime":290.84,"body":"that hooks are one of the kindest things you can do as a creator because"},{"startTime":290.84,"endTime":294.6,"body":"it sets the clarity and context for the rest of the thing that"},{"startTime":294.6,"endTime":298.36,"body":"you're delivering. We live in a time where there's more content than ever before. We"},{"startTime":298.36,"endTime":302.039,"body":"wanna be able to discern what is for us and not for us as"},{"startTime":302.039,"endTime":305.705,"body":"quick as possible. And a good hook lets us make that decision."},{"startTime":305.765,"endTime":309.445,"body":"What's worth mentioning also that hooks in the context of everything I'm"},{"startTime":309.445,"endTime":312.885,"body":"talking about in this episode are always at the beginning of your"},{"startTime":312.885,"endTime":316.57,"body":"content. In your YouTube videos or podcasts, it's at the"},{"startTime":316.57,"endTime":320.25,"body":"very beginning, the first minute or less. Oftentimes, the first like five"},{"startTime":320.25,"endTime":323.93,"body":"seconds. In your social media, it could be if you're doing a"},{"startTime":323.93,"endTime":327.37,"body":"carousel post on Instagram, it's the first slide. If you're doing just an"},{"startTime":327.37,"endTime":330.755,"body":"image that has text on it, it's the first line. In your"},{"startTime":330.755,"endTime":334.595,"body":"video, it's the first sentence. In your caption on your"},{"startTime":334.595,"endTime":338.435,"body":"social media post, it's the first line. In your emails, it's your"},{"startTime":338.435,"endTime":342.275,"body":"subject line, and usually your first sentence or two within the body of"},{"startTime":342.275,"endTime":346.04,"body":"the email. On your blog post, it's in your first sentence. It's"},{"startTime":346.04,"endTime":349.88,"body":"always at the very beginning. And the better you get at matching the"},{"startTime":349.88,"endTime":353.639,"body":"right hook for your right audience, the more your retention goes up,"},{"startTime":353.639,"endTime":357.115,"body":"the more your audience grows, and the more successful you'll be as a"},{"startTime":357.115,"endTime":359.915,"body":"creator. I'm gonna list out a bunch of hooks. You can go to"},{"startTime":359.915,"endTime":363.675,"body":"DylanSchmidt.com/hooks, and that will lead to"},{"startTime":363.675,"endTime":366.634,"body":"a blog where I'll list out a whole bunch of examples so you can check"},{"startTime":366.634,"endTime":367.215,"body":"it out."},{"startTime":370.41,"endTime":374.19,"body":"You know what's interesting about growth as a creator? It's usually not those massive"},{"startTime":374.33,"endTime":377.95,"body":"overnight breakthroughs that make the biggest difference. It's those small shifts,"},{"startTime":378.17,"endTime":381.77,"body":"those tiny insights that you can implement day after day that really start to add"},{"startTime":381.77,"endTime":385.315,"body":"up. That's exactly why I started writing my weekly newsletter. Think of it like getting"},{"startTime":385.315,"endTime":389.075,"body":"a letter from a friend, someone who's in the trenches with you, sharing"},{"startTime":389.075,"endTime":392.915,"body":"those little moments about creator life and entrepreneurship that could shift"},{"startTime":392.915,"endTime":396.45,"body":"your perspective just enough to make a difference. Each week, right around"},{"startTime":396.45,"endTime":400.13,"body":"Wednesday, I sit down and write about one key insight that could help you"},{"startTime":400.13,"endTime":403.97,"body":"be just 1% better than you were before. Now, 1% might not"},{"startTime":403.97,"endTime":407.59,"body":"sound like much, but compound that over weeks and months,"},{"startTime":407.705,"endTime":411.405,"body":"That's where the magic happens. My goal is to not overwhelm you with information."},{"startTime":411.625,"endTime":415.385,"body":"We already get enough of that already. It's about giving you something meaningful that"},{"startTime":415.385,"endTime":419.065,"body":"you can actually use, you can understand, and something that helps you"},{"startTime":419.065,"endTime":422.74,"body":"become more informed, more engaged, and ultimately make a"},{"startTime":422.74,"endTime":426.26,"body":"bigger impact with what you're creating. If that sounds like something you'd value, just head"},{"startTime":426.26,"endTime":429.94,"body":"over to dylanschmidt.com and you'll see where you can sign up. It's completely"},{"startTime":429.94,"endTime":433.78,"body":"free and who knows? Maybe that next 1% improvement is exactly what you need."},{"startTime":433.78,"endTime":436.665,"body":"Thanks again for joining me today. Until next time, keep creating."}]}