Three seconds. That's all you get. That's the window between someone seeing your reel and deciding whether to keep watching or scroll past you forever. And most of you are torching that window with "Hey guys, welcome back" or "So today I wanted to talk about..." You just told the algorithm to bury you. A good hook does ONE of these things: stops the scroll with curiosity, makes a bold claim, gives a specific result, or names a problem your audience already has. That's it. Don't start with "I". Don't start with context. Don't be polite. Bad: "5 tips to grow on Instagram" Good: "I used to make my wife drop me off at Mexican restaurants so I could learn Spanish for Special Forces training" One sounds like a Pinterest infographic. The other sounds like a person you actually want to listen to. Go pull up your last 10 reels right now. Read the first 3 seconds out loud. If you wouldn't stop scrolling for it — rewrite it. Today. Not Monday. Not after you "research more." Today. Drop your niche below and I'll give you 3 hook templates that actually work for it.

Pulled up a real estate agent's reel last night. 84 views. She'd posted 47 of them. The opener: "Hey guys, so today I wanted to talk about three tips for first-time home buyers." Dead before it started. Here's what's actually happening. Instagram shows your reel to a couple hundred randoms first. You get about 1.5 seconds to make them stop. Watch past 3 seconds = algorithm expands you. Scroll past = the reel dies. That's the whole game and most of you are losing it in the first sentence. "Hey guys" is a death sentence. So is "today," "so," or your own name. Nobody knows you yet. Nobody cares. What works: name the pain or the promise in the first 5 words. "You're getting screwed on closing costs and nobody told you." Now I'm watching. Now I need the next sentence. Go pull your last 10 reels right now. Read only the first line out loud. If you'd scroll past it, your audience already did. Drop your worst hook in the comments. I'll tell you why it's not working.

1. https://www.instagram.com/p/DXFuxfGGOdY/ 2. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ-XIKaEn2r/ 3. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTIjl3CkSLv/ 4. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXwb8GGD6dY/ 5. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxqNOrVLdXK/ Hook 1: Unless you want bad knees the rest of your life…stop stretching like this 1. Dramatic, provocative and addresses my niche really well  Hook 2: I ski 30 days / year and here’s how I get the most out of my pass 1. 30 days is excessive so if you’re skier / snowboarder, you immediately can relate. Hooks me in and gives me enough interest to complete the video. Relevant due to how expensive ski passes are  Hook 3: 5 ways to ride longer on a pow day 1. Visual mapping, tells me exactly what I am getting into, trendy audio and applicable enough hook to the niche to keep me wanting to watch Hook 4: If your rotator cuff is still giving you trouble after basic band rotations this is for you 1. Points out the issue, what the competition / most common treatment is and why I should pay attention and listen Hook 5: I can’t believe I just made that 1. ASMR - visual hook, with a verbal hook that makes me interested in what he’s making

5 Struggles - I worked (and still am working) for several years for someone that has always paid well but consistently takes my work, creatives and such without thanks or payment and disrespects me rather consistently.  - I consistently put pressure on myself to deliver and I seem to always do well for other people but I’m not showing up enough for myself and my business  - I am not brave or bold enough to go “all-in” on myself and my business.  - I deal with moments of feeling overstimulated, overwhelmed and stressed with frustration. This in turn makes it harder to push myself and business towards where it needs to be because I feel I can’t give myself fully to any one thing during these moments.  - I am fearful of becoming my parents later in life. They didn’t do well to set themselves up for retirement, made poor investments and bad money decisions. I strive to do, in a lot of ways, the opposite of what they did and sometimes to the extreme.  5 Contrasting Wins - Disrespect: Even so, I learned EXACTLY how to operate a successful online business. The sales, the clinical skills, the product, the funnels, etc. Social media is the last piece. I know I’m off to the races if I can complete this.  - Pressure: When I apply that same pressure to myself, I succeed. There has never been a class, exam, client assignment, patient, etc that hasn’t lowered my standard for myself.  - Brave: I am brave and bold in so many ways within my life. Snowboarding in the Rockies and the Alps. Sticking up for friends. Protecting and supporting my fiance. There is no reason I can’t turn that on for my business.  - Frustration: The frustration in those moments needs to be redirected into productive energy. That won’t be what allows me to get to my goal nor aid me in my current work. But if I can harness that and repurpose it productively I can confidently take more steps forward.  - Fear: It’s pushed me to make sounder financial decisions, stress and worry about finances in a good way so that myself and fiance can live a happy life in our golden years. 

Online knee rehab coach for skiers / snowboarders. Goal: provide 3 month rehab programs for my niche to keep them out on the slopes and prepped for them in the offseason.