Dotty ScottAskDotty Membership - I always have your back 😊, AskDotty · AskDotty Membership - I always have your back 😊 at AskDotty

What is your hook?

20 Sept 2022 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:03

In this brief interview, Speaker B shares practical writing advice focused on creating effective hooks for emails and books. The core recommendations are twofold: first, treat the subject line of an email like a book title—craft it as a compelling hook that intrigues the reader and encourages them to open the content. Second, clearly define the intended audience (e.g., CEOs, coaches, entrepreneurs) within the hook, so the message immediately signals relevance to that group. By combining an attention‑grabbing subject line with a specific audience cue, the writer increases the likelihood of engagement. Speaker A reinforces the point by emphasizing the importance of being explicit about the ideal customer.

Do you have a tip or two that you can share with our members right now?
Well, if they're going to be writing anything, whether it's an email for engagement or whether it's a book, you need a good hook. So two rules about writing, whether it's an email or a book, is the subject line. And that's like the title on the book is the same thing as the subject line. It gets people to open the book or open the email. A hook is something that intrigues people and gets them to want to look further. And the other tip is Who are you wanting to open this? Coaches, entrepreneurs, corporate structure like CEOs. Who do you want to open it? Put that there and say CEOs, multiple streams of income for CEOs, right? And then multiple streams of income becomes, oh, I'm interested in that. It's a hook. And CEO is, it's for me because I'm a CEO, or it's not for me, I don't want that.
So being very clear on your ideal customer.
And that makes a good book title, and it makes a good subject line for your email.