Introduction: Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World by Brendan Kane
Here’s another book that’s longer than it needs to be. I liked Hook Point marginally better than his first book, One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days. The book is self-promotional with too many links to his services. Although Brendan Kane is obviously an expert in his field, he did a lousy job of defining what a hook point is. He explains the hook point process, gives you the elements of an effective hook point, and so on, but he never defines it. You have to figure it out for yourself.
This Book would have been better as a journal article. When I summarized and reviewed One Million followers, one of the things I said was that I would have appreciated it if Brendan Kane explained the Process Communication Model. I’m delighted that he did that in this book, Hook Point. One of the things that the author made very clear is that you have three seconds or less to get your message across.
Have you read?
Book Review – One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days
Summary of Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World by Brendan Kane
Purpose of a Hook Point
Get people interested in learning more about your content or business. Looking at my business, what are some reasons why people read books? For status, to participate in book discussions with friends. Hook points are helpful for standing out within the online clutter in today's fast-paced world.
“The Hook Point is powerful. It’s always attached to an authentic and compelling story that provides value and builds trust and credibility.”
How can I educate people? What is my hook point? It's more than just reading. It's also about information synthesis.
What is a Hook Point?
The author did not clearly define what a hook point is. He talks around it. You can use hook points both online and offline to grab attention in the shortest time possible. They can be composed of text, insight, concept, idea, personality, performance, product/service or a combination of elements. Hook points can help you to generate leads and followers at scale to create powerful brand messaging. They evolve as markets change and become saturated. You should stay true to your brand.
Frustration That My Audience Has
Buying books and not being able to read them.
- How can I get others to think differently?
- Why would you spend time reading books, cover-to-cover when you can digest sections and understand the text?
- What’s the process and philosophy behind what I do?
- How can I tell a story that people need to hear?
- What is not reading books costing you?
When choosing a hook point, be specific. The power of a hook point is to help you to stand out. What makes you different from others in the field? A good hook point can take an unoriginal idea and make it more interesting. Describe people's problems better than they can.
If/Then Formula
Point out your prospect’s problems or needs after the IF and use your product as the solution to their problems after the THEN.
If you have unread books that you bought at conferences or books you bought based on recommendations that have solutions to urgent problems or pressing issues, then I can help you to get through them in record time.
If you are to read the unread books on your bookshelf to get answers to pressing problems and urgent issues, then pay close attention to what I have to say.
Example of If/Then Formula
“If you’re looking to improve your golf game by five or ten strokes by the next time you set foot on the golf course, then pay close attention to the four secrets I’m going to share with you next.”
Approach marketing from a consumer-focused angle.
Elements of an Effective Hook Point
- Uses as few words as possible. An example is Zero to a Million Followers in 30 days.
- Remains true to who you are and why you exist as a brand.
- Makes people think differently and subverts expectations.
- Doesn’t make people think very hard.
- Doesn’t make people think too little.
- Has an element of curiosity that leaves audiences wanting to learn or view more.
- Stands out with originality.
- Combines a common/relatable element with something that is unique, and that draws your audience in.
- Can be grasped quickly.
- Offers a solution to your audience’s pain points.
The Hook Point Process: 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Hook Point
Step 1: Study What Works
- Book Titles.
- Headlines.
- Concepts.
- Launch Campaigns.
- Article Headlines.
- TV Commercials.
- Print Ads.
Make a list then replace their offers, words, businesses or services with yours. This is just an exercise to see what works. You cannot use these as your hooks. It’s just practice.
Step 2: Learn from What Doesn’t Work
Why didn’t under-performing hook points work? The following are clues why they didn’t work.
- Too wordy.
- Confusing.
- Vague.
- Overused.
- Not relevant to a specific audience.
- Outdated.
- Inauthentic.
- Not unique enough.
- Unappealing.
Step 3: Create Your Own
Practice creating your hook point.Imagine that you get the opportunity to be on the cover of a popular magazine. It will generate a lot of customers for your business. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Choose many hook points, and then choose the three best choices.
Step 4: Compare Your Hook Point
Compare your hook points to successful hook points. How do they stack up?
Step 5: Test, Reiterate, and Repeat
Show your hook points to colleagues and friends. The process takes a long time.
3-Second Rule
The more people you can get to watch your video's first three seconds, the better. Digital videos should promise their audience something within the first three seconds. This is a promise about the content and the way it will be delivered. A gut reaction is what you want your audience to have. Think about the effect you want viewers to have when choosing your hook point.
How to Get Satisfaction in Three Seconds
The first three seconds of an effective social video must be:
- Satisfying to watch.
- Moving at the right pace.
- Linear in delivery.
Process Communication Model
The Process Communication Model (PCM) is a behavioral observation tool that allows you to communicate more effectively. This tool helps you to achieve your communication objectives. When you tell your story, think of your audience.
In PCM there are six vocabularies that are related to the personality type. And each personality type experiences the world differently.
- Thinkers: perceive the world through thoughts, and logic is their currency.
- Persisters: perceive the world through opinions, and value is their currency.
- Harmonizers: perceive the world through emotions, and compassion is their currency.
- Imaginers: perceive the world through inaction and imagination is their currency.
- Rebels: perceive the world through reactions, and humor is their currency.
- Promoters: perceive the world through actions, and charm is their currency.
I learned about the Process Communication Model from Brendan Kane in his other book, One Million Followers. I thought it was a game changer. However, Kane didn’t give you enough information to sink your teeth into it. In this book, Hook Point, the following quote resonated a lot with me.
“If you’re a Thinker, for example, your preferred vocabulary is logic, and you’ll tell stories with messages made up of 70 to 80 percent logic vocabulary. Unfortunately, if Thinkers structure their stories in this way, they’ll miss 75 percent of the population who are not of the Thinker personality type. Effective storytellers, on the other hand, will use the logic, values, humor, imagination, action, and emotions vocabularies. They will insert messages for all six of the personality types so they can hook 100 percent of the audience.”
4-Step Copywriting Formula
A(sk) a “Yes” question, one your potential customer would answer yes to.
R(eveal) that you’ve been in your audience’s position.
C(all) out the discovery that brought you out of the fog.
S(end) them to do something. This is your call to action, and the desired impact of your communication.
This copywriting formula is very important, and the acronym ARCS makes it easy to remember.
Conclusion: Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World by Brendan Kane
Overall, Hook Point by Brendan Kane was too long, and you could easily get bogged down with information. Despite that, you’ll find some key pieces of information that could be game changing. One such piece of information is the Process Communication Model. I also appreciated the five-step hook point process.
Next Steps
- Buy and Read Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World by Brendan Kane
- Join the Art of Learning Membership Site
If you want access to Bookish Note Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World by Brendan Kane, which has more information than the above summary, please consider joining my membership site, the Art of Learning.
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