How to Create Your Hook

One of the greatest things about having a "hook," otherwise known as a free offer, is that you create it once, and it is used over and over again, day after day, year after year to attract new prospects and clients. You never have to update it, change it or modify it unless you want to. Perhaps every few years you can change it, but why fix what's not broken? If it's still relevant and valuable to your prospects, leave it alone and focus on other aspects of your growing business.

So what is a "hook" anyway? It can be a variety of things, including a white paper, an e-course, an audio course, a video course or free teleclass or whatever you can cook up! It's up to you. If you don't like to write, an audio course may be a great option for you. If you do like to write, you can write a report, create free quiz, or a top-10 list. The choice is yours.

There are several reasons for creating a hook. First, you build your distribution list quickly by taking advantage of organic traffic to your site. Secondly, you gain credibility, which leads to future sales. You also build a list of people who learn to know, like and trust you and therefore, may hire you in the future and make referrals to you. For me, the best part of this strategy is that you don't ever feel like you have to hard sell or cold call people. It's a very proactive way of building your business.

The point of your hook is that you want your prospects to think of you as the person who provides valuable information that they need. They see you as the expert and feel good about purchasing your products and services and recommending you to others. Your hook should be broad enough to appeal to many, but address a specific problem that your target market faces and would gladly pay to have resolved. This is how your prospects enter into your marketing funnel.

Let's explore three options for disseminating your free offer.

In my opinion, the easiest way to create your free offer is through a written report that you create from scratch. You need to make it compelling enough for prospects to want to download it immediately - remember that 95% of your web traffic will not buy from you the first time they visit your site nor bookmark your site to revisit, so it's important to capture their email address on their first visit! Your written report should provide information on a topic that your target market may even be willing to pay for! My point is that your hook must truly provide value to your prospects, even though they are not paying for it. Your free offer is your way of showcasing a sample of your product or service directly to your target market. Be sure it makes a positive impression and doesn't come across as an advertisement. Nobody likes to be "sold." To receive the written report, prospects simply enter their name and email address and they are automatically registered for your ezine. Your "thank you" page, which is automatically generated, includes your report as a downloadable PDF.

Another great option is an e-course. You will need to have an autoresponder set up for this through an email management system, so that once you create your course, you can set up the system to send out the e-course to new subscribers automatically. The e-course can come in a series of emails, spaced out by a day, 2 days or a week. I wouldn't stretch it out any more than a week, or you risk having your new subscribers forget who you are and losing interest.

An audio course or one-time download is another fantastic option. There are many programs to create your own recordings, with no tricky audio equipment and simple to record yourself. You can use your "thank you" page to include a link to download your audio.

Now that you have your report created, it's important to post it on your web site. Research has shown that the best place to put this is in the top right corner of your home page. Include your headline and be sure to tell visitors that by downloading your report, they also will receive a complimentary subscription to your ezine. Make sure it is clear that they will be added to your list. This isn't intended to be a trick of some sort, only an added value. Once you have provided your prospects with highly valuable and free information through your hook and your ezine, you also have them asking, "hmmm.. what's next? I'd like more information." This is how you start to shift prospects into clients and work them through your marketing funnel. Your marketing funnel will consist of various ways that your clients have access to you and your knowledge, whether it's through an information product, a teleseminar, a live workshop, a mastermind group or one-on-one coaching.

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General Knowledge Quiz Questions

Question: What is a blue moon?

Answer: Second full moon in a calendar month

Interesting Fact: 'Once in a Blue Moon' is a common way of saying not very often, but what exactly is a Blue Moon? According to the popular definition, it is the second Full Moon to occur in a single calendar month. The average interval between Full Moons is about 29.5 days, while the length of an average month is roughly 30.5 days. This makes it very unlikely that any given month will contain two Full Moons, though it does sometimes happen. On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years. More info Create free quiz questions on www.skill-guru.com/quiz

Question: Where was chess invented?

Answer: India

Interesting Fact: The invention of Chess has been attributed to the Indians by the Persians. Abu al-Hasan 'Al+ al-Mas'kd+, an early Islam historian, provided scholarly details of the game as it was played in India and Persia. He details the use of chess as a tool for warfare strategy, mathematical calculations, gambling and even its vague association with astronomy. Mas'kd+ notes that Ivory was chiefly used for the production of chess and backgammon pieces, and asserts that the game was introduced from India to Persia along with the book Kelileh va Demneh during the reign of Persian emperor Anushirwan.

Question: What was Gatorade named for?

Answer: University of Florida Gators football team

Interesting Fact: Gatorade was created by Drs. Robert Cade, Mandel Dequesada, Alex DeQuesada, Dana Shires and Jim Free at the University of Florida in 1965 for the school's football team and named after the university's athletic nickname, the Gators. Cade entered into an agreement with the Indianapolis-based fruit and vegetable canning company Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (S-VC) to produce the product, which he had already patented.

Question: Why do whales spout?

Answer: To Breath

Interesting Fact: All whales have to surface to breath and when they exhale they produce a "spout" of moist, warm air from blowholes on the top of their heads. The different whale species can be distinguished by the size and shape of their spout.

Question: Who thought of Daylight Savings Time?

Answer: William Willett

Interesting Fact: Traditionally, Americans adjusted their hours to fit changes in daylight. Farmers, as well as railroads, steamship lines, shops, and factories changed their hours of operation seasonally. These seasonal schedules declined after American railroads implemented standard time zones in 1883. In 1907, an English builder and golfer named William Willett proposed the basic outline of what became daylight saving time. His plan found ready ears in the United States.

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Free and Easy Scholarships to Enter - 7 Easy Scholarships You Can Enter to Win

If you are just setting out to attend college for the first time or if you are returning to the classroom after a leave of absence, you may be shocked at just how expensive college can be. Sometimes, if you do not financially qualify for any free grant money, your degree can cost thousands of dollars, which is why finding free and easy scholarships to enter is really the best way to decrease you out of pocket costs.

Of course, this does not mean that you should not try for the harder scholarships such as those based on merit or field of study, but why not enter for some easy scholarship money, especially when it is free to enter?

Here is a list of easy scholarship contests you can enter right now.

1. Scholarship Zone: This is a scholarship contest that you can enter once a month and try to win $10,000 towards your education. All you have to is supply some basic information and review some possible schools to see if you would like to get more information on them for free.
2. Sallie Mae College Answer: This is a site set up through Sallie Mae, which is a large provider of college loans. Just by registering, you will be entered to win a $1000 monthly scholarship, plus you can also run a free scholarship search, download checklists, and apply for student loans.
3. Suntrust Off to College Sweepstakes: This contest is is again free to enter and you can win a $1,000 scholarship for first year expenses at an accredited college or private career school. One winner will be chosen every two weeks through May 14, 2010.
4. CKSF Intern Challenge: Scholarships are awarded through participants taking quizzes. New ones become available for participants on a monthly basis. Upcoming scholarships are announced 15-30 days in advance of the create free quiz start date. Quizzes are available 24 hours a day and generally for one week.
5. Create a Greeting Card: For this contest all you have to do is make a greeting card. If your card is picked as the best, you can win a $10,000 scholarship prize.
6. Zinch Scholarships: This $20,000 scholarship winner is picked based on user profile and votes. Zinch also has a weekly "Three Sentence Essay" Scholarship contest with a $1000 weekly prize. Plus you can find other interesting and easy contests there too including ones linked to the year you were born.
7. American Fire Sprinkler Association: Here is another easy scholarship contest. All you do is read an essay on fire sprinklers, complete registration, and take a quiz on the essay you read. That is it and you are entered to win up to $20,000.

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Is Your Relationship in Danger? Take This 10 Question Quiz to Find Out

You have the occasional argument. Sometimes you feel frustrated, and you have that uneasy sense that everything is not as it should be. Is your relationship in trouble? The answer may not be obvious. Create Free Quiz to measure the overall state of your relationship and highlight the trouble spots.

1. When you have an argument, is it about a specific issue, or is it about your partner's character? A specific issue would be, "You forgot to take out the garbage last night," while "you never remember anything," is a generalized character assassination.

2. Do you have more conflict or less conflict when the two of you get time alone together? Do a "date night" or a few days away renew your relationship, or create more stress?

3. Is there physical violence in your relationship? Have you come close to physical violence? Are there threats of physical violence?

4. How often does the thought that you would rather be with someone else pass through your mind?

5. Take one minute to write a list of what you like and what you dislike about your partner. How many "likes" and how many "dislikes" are on your list?

6. Do you seriously question your partner's faithfulness?

7. Do you have arguments about sex?

8. In times of emergency or grief - such as when a relative becomes ill or dies, do you and your partner pull together?

9. If you could turn the clock back to the day you first met your partner, would you choose a different direction for your life?

10. If you won the lottery, would you be overjoyed to share the blessing with your partner, or would you wish it were all yours?

Physical violence or threats are the biggest danger signs for your relationship and for your personal safety. If they are present, get professional help TODAY.

The following are all danger signs for your relationship. If several are present, your relationship is in real trouble:

• character assassination
• fantasizing often about being with someone else
• not having ready access to a list of your partner's great qualities
• doubts of faithfulness
• serious sexual incompatibility
• lack of mutual support in times of crisis
• a feeling of being stuck or obligated by the relationship

Question #2 offers hope that your relationship may be much sounder than it appears. Conflict in your relationship may be primarily a reflection of the stress in your individual lives.

Often, partners redirect frustration and anger about unrelated events toward each other. For example, your boss yelled at you, and you yell at your partner. This unconscious redirection is a behavior that can be overcome through conscious attention, and is not a reflection on the overall quality of your relationship. If you and your partner are loving and supportive toward each other in relatively stress-free situations, you likely have a basis for working through your other issues.

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