Good morning, this is the Not Boring Personal Branding. Your weekly tour guide for all things personal branding.

In Today’s edition:

• How to write viral LinkedIn Hooks (6 proven examples)

• Your Free LinkedIn Template

• ​Brand30 May Cohort Begins on May 16th​

If you’ve been in Brand30, you know that I obsess over helping people focus on their hook.

Why?

Because if people don’t read your hook, they aren’t going to read the rest of your content.

Your hook is the first domino that falls. If your reader can’t get that first domino to fall, they won’t get the rest to fall either.

Like it or not, this is the most important factor in whether your post sees success or goes nowhere.

And there are two main goal of your hook:

1. Get the reader to stop scrolling

2. Get the reader to click to “see more”

Yup, that’s it.

The content above the fold (the “see more” button) is about 3 lines when using a text-only post.

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Now, let’s look at the 3-question checklist you should ask before hitting post:

- WHO is this for?

- WHAT is this about?

- WHY should they read it? (ie. the BENEFITS)

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And here are 6 proven ways to write an scroll-stopping first sentence:

- Open with 1 strong, declarative sentence.

- Open with a thought-provoking question.

- Open with a controversial opinion.

- Open with a moment in time.

- Open with a vulnerable statement.

- Open with a weird, unique insight.

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To write a scroll-stopping hook, you’ll need to combine these principles.

Let’s dive into the 6 examples:

1. Open with a strong declarative sentence.

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2. Open with a thought-provoking question.

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3. Open with a controversial opinion.

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4. Open with a moment in time.

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5. Open with a vulnerable statement.

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6. Open with a weird, unique insight.

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The golden nugget from each of these examples is understanding the important of your first line.

So when creating your next post, remember the north star:

1. Get the reader to stop scrolling

2. Get the reader to click to see more

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And, use the 3-question checklist to write an effective hook:

- WHO is this for?

- WHAT is this about?

- WHY should they read it? (ie. the BENEFITS)

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And, the 6 proven ways to stop the scroll:

- Open with 1 strong, declarative sentence.

- Open with a thought-provoking question.

- Open with a controversial opinion.

- Open with a moment in time.

- Open with a vulnerable statement.

- Open with a weird, unique insight.

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Hope that was (not) boring!

Hit reply and let me know how I did. Good? Bad? Helpful? Have ideas you'd like me to dig into or questions you want answered?

Your Weekly LinkedIn Template

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**good thing** > **bad thing** (e.g. Trust > Love)